un-schooled horse troubles :(

H

harmony_

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 April 2007
Messages
709
Location
lincolnshire
Visit site
since i bought my mare last year in july, i will admit for about 7 months i was just bothered about having fun, and not about schooling or anything like that, now im starting to feel like giving up
frown.gif
harmony is just getting quite bad, and i have been not giving up for months on end now, we have got abit better with our head, but she is so heavy handed and constantly leans on the bit, she has a normal noseband on and a fulmer snaffle mouth, but i cant get her to work lightly and relaxed, lessons arnt a option atm unfortunatly. self pity post sorry, but i just dont know what to do no more!

we had problems cantering on the left rein, and it got to the point where we couldnt do it AT ALL, she would just take up on the wrong lead and bounce, the other day we got a very unbalanced, fast canter on the right leg, but i still feel like im getting no where, i feel like my ridings just got down hill
frown.gif


sorry to rant on, i just wondered if maybe you could give me some help.

thanks,
R.

confused.gif
 
Do you have someone at your yard who can help you - sometimes just having someone look at what you're doing can be enough. Although lessons would be the best thing.

Remember though you can do lots of schooling out hacking, it doesn't have to be all about going round in circles. Will she strike off on both legs when you ask for canter out on a hack??
 
Have you thought about going back to basics and giving your self and your horse a chance to gain a bit of perspective and breathing space?
I was having similar troubles with my TB mare early last summer - she had always been fine out on the road and her canter had always been lovely - and then all of a sudden her canter went right out of the window and was being cow on the road. I think I was over -fretting things in my mind, which then my fretting was transferring to my mare.
I went back a stage, and went back to just spending time with my mare (literally sitting in field / stable with her) and talking to her (yes I really am crazy), and then went on to doing simple lunging and a bit of long reining.

She did seem to chill out when I chilled out - and then we were closer than ever after I had just been spending time with her! She is almost affectionate these days!!!
cool.gif
cool.gif


Just give your self some time - and don't worry - everyone has not so good times - they wil come good again!
 
[ QUOTE ]
she is so heavy handed and constantly leans on the bit, she has a normal noseband on and a fulmer snaffle mouth, but i cant get her to work lightly and relaxed,


[/ QUOTE ]

well, i hate to be the one to say it, but she's not the one who's heavy-handed, if she's leaning on the bit all the time - you are! it takes 2 to pull.
get her teeth checked, get her back and saddle checked, and then concentrate on your own position as much as possible, because the better you ride, the better she'll go, and on continually relaxing the rein for a split-second every time she leans. you may have to do it 50 times, or 100, or 1000, but she'll get the message that YOU decide how much contact she has, and half a ton isn't acceptable, she's got to carry herself, you're not going to do it for her!
then concentrate on keeping it relaxed, rhythmical, and forwards (without rushing). don't fixate on where her head is, that's the worst thing you can do, that's the last bit of the puzzle to fall into place, not the first. when she's relaxed, rhythmical, obedient, balanced, responsive and getting more supple, her head and neck position will just happen. trying to get that bit right first is like trying to ice the cake when the ingredients are all still in the boxes...!
hope that helps a bit.
 
i do have someone down there, but without sounding funny, they wouldnt know what to look for!

Our relationship on the floor is great, she is affectionate, and calm, has manners, her excitment levels just go through the roof when i get on her back, she bolts to jumps, no matter what, even if its 1ft -

i can get her onto both leads on a hack on most days, but i dont very often get to hack her, there isnt alot around us, and i mostly ride in the evenings after my mums finished work, ide really love to do abit of dressage etc, but i just cant see it happening
frown.gif
 
have you thought about giving her a holiday? sometimes a break from doing anything can be good so you can start 'afresh'. if you do that remember to get everything checked - a horse 'MOT' back, teeth, saddle, etc. The go back to basics - walk, halt, turn yada yada yada

To be honest thought lessons would be the best thing - i couldn't be without them! Having someone on the ground looking objectively can help a lot.
laugh.gif
laugh.gif
 
she has just had vet out and everything is ok there, back woman came out about 1 month ago and everything was ok, dentist came out in december, and we got an ok there, and im getting a new saddle in march due to only having a sh***y wintec, sorry to anyone who likes them! we just dont agree with it.
which i think may be half the problem here!
 
you're stressing yourself out too much! give yourself simple tasks/aims whether you are out hacking or schooling.

For example can you open and shut a gate without taking your hand off it? Being able to do that is just as challenging as being able to do leg-yielding say in the school!
Perhaps you can decide to trot to a certain tree and have a nice downwards transition to walk exactly where you ask for it...the same in canter etc etc etc.

Skills like these are plenty to be going on with and will give you real benchmarks to guage your developement by if you can't afford lessons currently.
 
[ QUOTE ]
i do have someone down there, but without sounding funny, they wouldnt know what to look for!

[/ QUOTE ]
Fair enough.

You're going to have to save some pennies then and organise some lessons.

If you have one a month that will only be around £20.00. Possibly affordable??
 
Agree that lessons will help the most but if that's not possible currently, I would buy a book that will give you some ideas. A friend of mine gave me "100 Ways to Improve Your Horse's Schooling" as a pressie & it's easy to read & has some useful stuff in it.
Then - practice! Don't expect too much, just keep trying & be happy if you get a small improvement. Concentrate on the walk to start with because that will also improve the canter. Read as many articles as you can in magazines & on the net & get ideas from them also. Don't give up - just keep at it and soon you'll look back & be able to see the improvement you've made.
 
Get someone to film you, then you can watch yourself and your bound to see some things you are doing that you can improve on and some bad habits you can start to correct yourself.
smile.gif
 
There's plenty of schooling type activities you can incorporate on hacks but if you dont know what you're doing, you won't be able to tell if you're doing it right (forgive me if you DO know!) and therefore make sure your horse is working correctly. There must be an instructor in your area who could come to you, and give you a half hour booster lesson in your paddock once a month? I reckon you'd have to pay in the region of £30 for that but surely it would be worth it?

For the canter lead, I'm sure you know but you need to establish a good trot first - I find that Henry leans on me (he's HUGE and thinks he needs the support); what really helps me get him engaged is constant transitions in trot, say from working to collected to working to medium to collected to working etc... I usually ask for about 10 strides of each once he's warmed up and we're facing a long straight out hacking - it really helps.

But again, there's no substitute for lessons..!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top