tips needed for staying in control!

[Firehorse]

my pony is v fwd going once in the country. we love a good blast and he does stop. his only naughty thing, is that we can never walk anywhere. once we get somewhere we hve cantered before, thats it, he's off. or if i actually manage to make him walk, we get half way thru the field and then he decides he's off. in all honesty i dont mind because he will stop at the end, but it gets flippin annoying when i'm riding with friends. once he starts, there is no holding him. he will begin by getting joggy and tucking his nose in. he then will try to swing his bum to the side, which i've now nipped in the bud. but when he runs out of tricks, he will do a small rear and as he comes down, he's off. now i know he shudn't rear, its a big sin etc. but he's not doing it to be nasty or throw me off, its jst his sheer excitement gets the better of him, as coz i'm holding him back its the only place he can go.

in the school he is an angel. i do loads of transitions with him and keep things v calm. he will rev up if we do canter work, but then i work on calming him again.

do u think, out hacking, if he takes off, i should pull him round onto a circle and force him to work hard, each and every time he takes off. would this maybe make him think, its easier to behave than charge off and be made to work? i've tried everything else such as varying routes, staying on the roads for weeks and doing no fast work, avoiding his "Naughty" places etc. what hve others done?

 

[Kat]

I think you might have to experiment a bit. I think everytime he goes, circle him, bring him back to walk and try again. It is important though to let him walk out and allow him forwards. Don't actually stop him as he is already rearing a bit. In fact when he starts getting joggy I'd circle him and ask him to walk properly before he goes or goes up. Walking on a small circle will help stop him from going up or clearing off.

It is important to be as strict with him on your own as in company, and I'd leave off all canter work outside the school until he will sensibly walk and trot in the open.

 

[Kenzo]

I think to be fair from what you have said, you are your own worst enemy.

If he decides when he's off, then you let him, because you enjoy it, then he's going to expect that is what happens everytime his feet touches grass or at least on his usual streches, so in his mind he's not really doing any wrong, obviously riding out with friends and expecting him to behave is not going happen because its not just his strength, its in his mind.

As Katt said, I would make a habbit of just walking, leave out the cantering for a while, and if your ride out with friends, stick to just walking or trotting so he doesnt think you have to blast everywhere.

Yes some ponies/horses won't just change in a matter of months but from the sounds of it you have let him play and enjoy his fastwork a bit too much so your going to have to put the time in now to reverse all that.