Ups and downs of bringing on youngsters!

Oh dear abacus!

If I do free school him it will be in our indoor school and he won't be able to jump out. We are lucky we have this option but the indoor school is small, 15m by 25m i'd say. It has been helpful to have as his attention is so much better in there and I can trot around on him calmly. I wouldn't dare try to loose school him in the outdoor school, I think that would be the last I ever saw of him!
 
Yes, it was exciting... is it wrong that my first thought was 'nice jump!'?

Having an indoor is fab and I hope it will work. My only other thought is that even though you want to keep the consistency going, if his behaviour really is down to the time of year, then don't risk yourself and his confidence... chuck him out to be an idiot until the first grass is over.

Good luck. x
 
Thanks Abacus, that is good advice.

I guess because he was going so well and then I had to start again after he scared himself over my first fall I have been pre occupied with getting him back to where he was initally. I hadn't contemplated leaving him be for a while. Will have a think about that.

It certainly was easier riding him in the dark with flood lights- less for him to see! If only it was still winter!
 
I've been reading this post with interest as am in the same situation.

Was thinking exactly the same as Abacus about free schooling - my 4 yr old tb mare would jump out in excitement i am sure and its the reason i've never tried it with her.

I havent got as far as cantering baby tb, she lunges on command, was easy to back and learnt to walk, trot and halt quite quickly and easily it seemed. Then she learnt that if she didnt want to go she could rear and I fell off the back :-(

Confidence has dropped, we are up and down at the moment, I let her have a rest then am slowly walking and trotting again although on Monday she was wild!! Even on the lunge. She did calm down and I did ride her slowly in walk but there was no trotting as her mind was clearly elsewhere.

I'm in the same situation hacking wise - nowhere safe to go only roads and no-one to hack out with as my sister is 7 months pregnant and only us two on the yard she owns with our horses. So its not safe for her to help if baby tb throws a wobbler.

Its so hard, i'm having a short lesson tomorrow if the weather is fit but am dreading it already!!

(would also like to add that we sent this mare away for professional backing last yr as she is flighty and athletic and intelligent - she athletically threw herself out the arena while being lunged and is now blind in one eye - so I am also cautious as she doesnt seem to have 'safety' for herself as a top priority)

Just taking it slowly with her, hope for a good one tomorrow as she is lovely when she is working.

Good luck with yours x
 
Blimey ha903070! I can see why you are worried! I hope she comes round for you.

It is easy to loose your confidence when you have a rear or in my case a leap and hump buck. That is one of the main reasons I work with him everyday and at least am lead around in hand in walk on him so I don't loose MY own confidence!

He is generally a good boy and wants to please but some times has a lapse of concentration which results in gymnastic displays! Part of me wants someone to do it for me but I am an instructor myself and can't afford to send him away.

I need a gutsy rider who can sit his bucks- any offers?!
 
It just seems you start to feel a bit happier and - oops - there they go again!
Yesterdays wildness was enough for me it was caused by a change of grazing and routine, the arena is now further away from her friends in the field so I think she was concious and more nervous. But thats enough to make me back off her and be steady so that she thinks next time' it was ok last time i did this'.

My instructor doesnt like her as he was the one lunging her when she had her 'do' so he's seen what she can do when she doesnt want to do what is asked of her. But he is supporting me with her still. Part of it is learning how much you can 'push' them and when she says no she sometimes means no and its dangerous to carry on trying to make her do.

I think part of it is trust - when we sent her away she didnt know him, after her accident we spent a long time with her on box, at vets etc treating her and she is more plausible now - i'm sure its down to trust. That is now why I wont send her away again or let anyone she doesnt know ride her. So I cant do the gutsy friend thing :-(

I'm sure we will get there with some more falls along the way but when we backed our big mare it was so easy and stress free with no fallings off this just seems so hard. Its def a tb mare thing!

I think we need to be brave and perservere with them
 
Def need to perceiver with them. It does seem you are going through the mill with her, dam these TB's! Just be careful with her and take it slow. I dont envy you, a youngster who says no so early on is no fun at all. I do hope she comes right for you. What is her history?

The difference with my boy is it is just excitement and a lapse of concentration rather than no I'm not doing it which is slightly easier to contend with. I take my hat off to you
 
We bought her 18 months ago for £150 as a 2.5 yr old she was quiet as a lamb when we went to see her and brought her home - have questioned that perhaps all was not as it seemed but she's nice enough. The lady said she bought her from the sales and she wasnt going to make as big as she needed (which we can see is def true she is a small tb and the lady was too big for her).
She's never been great to handle on the ground but not been horrendous. She is just a free spirit sometimes.
She didnt like being picked at but would tolerate being groomed as long as you were using a brush! Hated being 'looked after' for example with a cut leg to wash it was a nightmare. Even sedated the vets struggle with her and injecting her with antibiotics has been very interesting!
Have to admit the longer we have owned her the better she has been and more trusting, but she does have a stroppy side. And once it shows you just cant seem to get through it it means stopping and coming back to it later.
There have possibly been some issues in her short life but we will never know, she is extremely well bred which we didnt know til we contacted Wetherbys.

Being blind ni one eye after her accident has in a way settled her down a bit, not fully but she is better to deal with in all respects. And I think the not fully is due to her age.

Incidentally we do have an older tb mare who had issues when we bought her too, in schooling there was no way you could force her through a battle of wills either as it also got silly and you ended up getting nowhere. Backing off for a minute then getting on and trying again worked well and now she is an angel to ride. Yet again trust is a huge thing with this mare too. I just think it may be a breed trait?
 
I have 2 youngsters, one I've started and we've only been taking forwards steps and massive forwards steps at that!! So either all my backwards steps are waiting in store for me in my other youngster which I'll be starting later this year! (highly likely as he's a warmblood!!) or I've been very very lucky!!!
 
Poor girl ha903070, it sounds like something has occurred in her past. She is lucky she has found you. Does she have a racing background or was she home bred?
 
I wouldnt worry too much I dont think its just youngsters at the moment who are feeling a bit "fresh" and "high". All the horses seem to know Springs in the air - mares coming into season etc etc.

My youngster is a bit high at the moment, things that were not scary when he was getting backed a few weeks ago i.e. mounting block - suddenly is a scary monster! Even though there is nothing physically wrong with him (back, teeth and tack all checked regularly) and hes been brought on very slowly to get to that point. So were just desensitising again at the moment, till he chills out a bit :)
 
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