Training tips please....spooking tense stupid TB.....

[FestiveSpirit]

Do all TBs have memories like goldfishes, or is it just mine

I havent schooled Bob regularly for about 3 weeks now for various reasons, but have now regained some motivation so he has been back in the school 3 times in the last 5 days. He is being a total nightmare

He wont concentrate on anything I am asking him to do, he is too busy spooking at every corner of the school AND in the middle

Nothing dramatic, but incredibly tense and stupid, ignoring my aids, scuttling forward whenever he thinks he sees/hears anything

What is the best way to cope with this sort of horse

He was working beautifully in the school before, and nothing has changed - same diet, same grass, same saddle, back and teeth checked regularly etc etc

Is it just persisting in taking him in there until he settles again

I did get some lovely moments out of him today which really encouraged me, but then he went back to sticking his head in the air like a giraffe, bending anyway but to the inside, and bouncing up and down like an idiot when I stopped him running off

 

[toomanyhorses26]

no mine does too

I normally just have to suffer a few sessions of 20 m circles in trot just spiralling in and out and eventually the brain cell fires up and I can move onto other things. I try and lunge a fe times as well first if we haven't been in the school for a while .

 

[Cliqmo]

Are you cross with him when he does this? Eg assertive agitated body language? It might be if he is a "sensitive soul" that he is feeding off your negative energy and it is making him worse?

Maybe try quietly (as in uber uber calm) loose reining him in the school first, letting himself get rid of 'the buggers' and then try more constructive work once he has blown off steam?

 

[seabiscuit]

Mmm, Woody ( non- TB ) is exactly like this from time to time! Dont think it is a TB thing, more of a personality thing.

Can be several things-

1) Recent rain (?) depleting magnesium levels in the grass causing mag deficiency and making them hyper-sensitive and alert- the concentration span of a gnat! Would feed a calmer or the feed Mollichaff Calmer, which I really reccomend as it is genuis stuff TBH. Have had W off it when he went silly again...

2)Have you been tired when youv'e been riding him? run down, lacking mental, physical strength? Any mental tiredness they can usually pick up on immediately and start to play up. Its only a fresh, strong mind from the rider that can then control the mind of the horse ( sorry if that sounds wacky- backy- but its true! ) I simply cant ride W if I'm not in the right frame of mind for him.

3) Simply, anything going on at the yard around him that is making him wound up?machinery/drilling/silly children/new horses...etc? Nothing you can do expect wait for the enviro to calm down.

If none of the above..! Then just stay calm and keep him in a soft rein in walk, doing lots of lateral work . Maybe forget about intensive schooling and just hack out until he's in the right frame of mind.. Also, you're not riding him at feed time?

 

[TableDancer]

I probably wouldn't take it TOO seriously at this stage, especially if, as you say, you had some super moments too. If he has been out of the schooling groove for a little while, it's not totally surprising it'll take a bit of time to get back into it. My instinct would be to completely ignore the bad behaviour, but in an assertive way: don't punish him for it but keep riding forwards and working him quite hard into the contact: keep him really busy with lots of exercises, transitions etc. If there are particular places in the school that he's particularly bad, keep your work away from there until he's settled and working well, and ideally getting a bit tired!

If he's still being a goof in a few days time, we'll think again

He does have a particularly well-developed sense of humour, after all

 

[FestiveSpirit]

[ QUOTE ]
IIf there are particular places in the school that he's particularly bad, keep your work away from there until he's settled and working well, and ideally getting a bit tired!


[/ QUOTE ]

At the moment his particular places are A to K (wheelbarrow

), V to E (gateway

) S to C (absolutely no idea why there

) R to P (scary arena banner

) and F to A (horrible nasty shed where jumps are stored

) Which sort of limits me to where I actually CAN ride

I think having read the feedback I have been getting cross with him (all the spooking is SO unnecessary

) rather than just riding him forwards - I know it is no excuse, I just find it so hard to carry on doing what I am doing when we are catapulting sideways/forwards every 30 seconds

I shall stick to doing simpler stuff for now, and just think happy thoughts

so try and keep calm myself

OB - he is on a calmer already, couldnt imagine how he might be without one

Thanks for the ideas.... and breathe.....

 

[Befney3]

I've just got back on my boy after 2weeks off on box rest & he's gone from laid back & schooling nicely to a complete loon! The only trot I can get is a massive medium which turns into a canter as soon as I even half relax. He's also developed a liking for doing eveything sideways

.

I find I get this occasionally, often after time off but sometimes just because he feels the need to remind me he is a TB not the donkey he likes to be 90% of the time. I find the most effective way of dealing with it is to lengthen my stirrups, sit up, half halt (lots) & ignore him. Usually he gets bored & settles.

Last time we had a TB week I think it was just Chilli getting cocky 'cos he was finding things easy. I couldn't jump a cross pole without him doing his racehorse act & he decided that any schooling should involve shoulder in whenever possible & flying changes at warp speed

. I chucked my friend (who actually enjoys dressage, unlike me

) on for a couple of fairly intense schooling sessions & when jumping we jumped all cross poles from walk & then moved straight onto all uprights & oxers at 1.05m & did plenty of grid work. By the end of the week he'd settled back into donkey mode.

The problem with TBs is they're clever little beasts. Try to relax & not get cross & just ride thro the silliness.

Good luck.

 

[beckieswann]

I would go back to basics, starting from the ground. He sounds like he his disrespecting you by ignoring your aids, and also not trusting you completely. My horse was like this, and through a lot of patience, ground work and lots of relaxing when riding (walking long and low, introducing circles, transistions to halt etc) whilst also making sure my position and thoughts weren't the one causing him to turn stressed and tense we have finally turned a corner, and even though he is extreely spooky and prone to being a stresshead he trusts me and respects me when I ask him to ride through it.

If you feel you need something extra I definitely would recommend a magnesium based calmer, especially if it helps you get closer to your goal in having a relaxed and trusting horse

 

[emilyR]

if i were you i would try lunging for 10mins or so before you ride. this will get some of his excess energy out of him so he would be a bit more likely to behave. Then after a while you'd be able to stop this once he gets back into the habit of schooling properly.
Also is he a gelding - are there any mares near in season/or is she in season?

 

[emilyR]

and another thing - what do youre schooling sessions consist of?
perhaps he is getting bored? or maybe you need to be more repetitive and do lots of circles, some spiraling in etc.

 

[FestiveSpirit]

LOL thanks for all the advice but pleased to report that Bob was just being Bob - went in the school yesterday and he was foot perfect, didnt spook at all and did some fabulous flat work

Numpty horse