clairebearnz
Well-Known Member
I've got a 6 year old OTTB. I've had him about a year and he is a bit of an odd duck. He was a dream as a 5 year old, do anything, go anywhere. However, this spring, he turned into an absolute mental case. He was a nightmare on the ground as he was incredibly spooky and reared a lot, he started mounting my mare (although this stopped when he got two hooves to the chest), and he went very hot and very silly under saddle. I eventually turned him out for a few weeks after he broke my finger (kicked me in the hand) and dislocated my thumb (tried to buck me off) on consecutive weekends. Now the grass has died off, sanity has returned but we're left with a few issues.
He's always been a bit of a backwards thinking horse. He's fairly lazy under saddle and I call him Mr Minimum Effort over jumps. He'll jump fine but he's never been one for putting in more effort than he needs to whether the jump is 65cm or 1.10m. He's a nicer mover on the flat but lengthened trot has been our big sticking point. I do feel that a lot of the time, he's not truly through and forward even though he's tracking up. He's behaving better on the ground but will still rear if he thinks he can get away with it.
Jumping wise, he's usually pretty keen and forward but once he stops for whatever reason, he will simply keep stopping. He doesn't do dirty stops, but he props in front and basically refuses to go forward before grinding to a halt. If he's smacked with the whip, he kicked out at the whip and has a tantrum but he will not take a single step forward. The more he's reprimanded, the more he refuses to walk on. I've found the best solution to getting him over things is he doesn't even get to look at it. He comes in at a strong canter and he's going over first time, even if it's ugly as sin and he usually will go. If he stops once, he'll stop 4-5 times. I always get the feeling that he's simply choosing to jump when he feels like it vs actually listening to me.
Ditches, however, have been our big battle. It took 45 minutes of persuasion to convince him over his first ditch (which was all of 60 cm wide!) and he threw the toys in quite spectacular fashion. He's been jumping everything else confidently, so I took him XC schooling yesterday and he....threw the toys about a different ditch. Having a lead made no difference, letting him have a look made no difference, letting him stand made no difference, smacking him made him seriously pissed off. He did jump it. He would not, however, jump the 65cm pallisade and I eventually had to give up as we were losing the light. He confidently popped over far bigger stuff as long as there was no ditches. He gave the pony we were with a lead into the water (where he did insist on stopping and submerging his entire face).
I don't so much mind the ditch issue (although any suggestions on replicating ditch problems would be appreciated) but the propping to a stop and refusing to go forward (even if not facing the jump) worries me as he simply switches off to what I'm asking.
He is, however, damn pretty:
Having grown from this as a 5 year old
On the flat
And over fences
He's always been a bit of a backwards thinking horse. He's fairly lazy under saddle and I call him Mr Minimum Effort over jumps. He'll jump fine but he's never been one for putting in more effort than he needs to whether the jump is 65cm or 1.10m. He's a nicer mover on the flat but lengthened trot has been our big sticking point. I do feel that a lot of the time, he's not truly through and forward even though he's tracking up. He's behaving better on the ground but will still rear if he thinks he can get away with it.
Jumping wise, he's usually pretty keen and forward but once he stops for whatever reason, he will simply keep stopping. He doesn't do dirty stops, but he props in front and basically refuses to go forward before grinding to a halt. If he's smacked with the whip, he kicked out at the whip and has a tantrum but he will not take a single step forward. The more he's reprimanded, the more he refuses to walk on. I've found the best solution to getting him over things is he doesn't even get to look at it. He comes in at a strong canter and he's going over first time, even if it's ugly as sin and he usually will go. If he stops once, he'll stop 4-5 times. I always get the feeling that he's simply choosing to jump when he feels like it vs actually listening to me.
Ditches, however, have been our big battle. It took 45 minutes of persuasion to convince him over his first ditch (which was all of 60 cm wide!) and he threw the toys in quite spectacular fashion. He's been jumping everything else confidently, so I took him XC schooling yesterday and he....threw the toys about a different ditch. Having a lead made no difference, letting him have a look made no difference, letting him stand made no difference, smacking him made him seriously pissed off. He did jump it. He would not, however, jump the 65cm pallisade and I eventually had to give up as we were losing the light. He confidently popped over far bigger stuff as long as there was no ditches. He gave the pony we were with a lead into the water (where he did insist on stopping and submerging his entire face).
I don't so much mind the ditch issue (although any suggestions on replicating ditch problems would be appreciated) but the propping to a stop and refusing to go forward (even if not facing the jump) worries me as he simply switches off to what I'm asking.
He is, however, damn pretty:
Having grown from this as a 5 year old
On the flat
And over fences
Good luck. I don't know if it is the "correct" way to help a horse like that, but I have seen it work on multiple horses. The key is patience.
