Very hot horse?

[EquiMaddie]

Hello everyone!
It's been a while since I posted here but I have a little question. I have a veeery hot 8 year old Welsh Section D mare. Shes the sassiest thing you could ever meet, very bold and full of energy. It's never bothered me, I just let it go over my head haha! However, the energy is GREAT for jumping. On the ground when I'm leading her she isn't as bad, shes usually a little bit calmer, especially on hot summery days. Shes a herd mare so when theres other horses on the yard she HAS to know whats going on and that can be very exciting for her. When we are riding in the school, she gets very fizzy, bouncing around and hopping lol. Me and my dad have been working on this for a while, doing "calming" sessions in the school where we would walk around and calm her down. It works, but as soon as we get trotting its all exciting again! I've kind of accepted that shes just very enthusiastic, and I forgot to mention that she is also extremely physically fit. I've been riding her everyday for the past 5 weeks or so, and now shes bouncing off the walls. I had to get her fit for pony club camp, which worked, and now she can't stand still lol.
Anyway, my question is, is her fizziness bad? I'm so used to it that I've started to just accept it and ignore it a bit, however I try to work on calming her a lot. The fizziness is great for jumping, as I can pop her over huge fences with ease, but its a bit of an issue for dressage. I went to a local show yesterday and was very tempted to try out working hunter classes on her, but when I watch the others their horses are so relaxed. They are working on the bit 24/7 and very calm. I'd LOVE to get her working like this! I know its usually a matter of experience and knowledge, but I'm not sure how to get her there. I'm hiring an instructor very soon, which will help, but I was wondering if anyone here had any tips. Dont get me wrong, I have 100% control when riding her as shes in a Kimblewick and goes perfectly in it. She listens to me when I tell her to slow, stop, turn, steer, everything. She even goes on the bit for a few strides, but her excitement breaks it and she throws her face around lol.
Shes an amazing, little willing mare and will do anything to please. Her jumping is absolutely astounding, and everything I know is mainly from her. I can promise you all, I'm no brilliant rider but I can pop her over anything! I know shes just excited and enjoying the work, its not "pain" or "nerves" because shes been like this for 3 years. Shes a rescue horse, and when I adopted her they told me shes always been a bold colorful thing and she needs a committed, patient owner.
So, has anyone got any tips or advice? Is her excitement bad? Shes not terrible, she listens and will do whatever I ask, but when I want to do a simple flatwork lesson I just want to have a nice trek around the school and shes hopping around wanting to canter. People have told me so many things; "its because you jump her too much", "shes in pain", "youre getting nervous and it effects her" etc, I've heard it all, but its really not like that. Shes just a happy little kangaroo! I'm just wondering, is there any way I can get her to calm just the slightest for flatwork and competing? Thanks! <3

 

[Farma]

Its a hard one to reply to as obviously theres a lot to this ie: how much and what is she fed, how much does she go out, what excites her, how often and how is she ridden and how often does she hack/school/jump etc?
Excitement isn't a bad thing if you are in control but is it tension and stress or excitement? If you want to compete in showing or dressage she will need to show relaxation and submission and therefore her entire management needs to be considered for you to achieve this x

 

[Bernster]

Yep, I'd echo that. Buzzy and keen is great but undue tension or stress is not. I'd be looking at her feed and management, lots of starchy stuff or alfafa can send some horses loopy. If people are commenting, it would make me want to double check if everything was completely right in her feed or management. It doesn't mean you would lose her character, but she might actually be a bit more settled and happier as a result.

 

[Cortez]

It's only bad if it limits your enjoyment, the mare's ability to perform (not good for dressage, I would imagine), or the horse's sanity. I don't mind horses which ping about a bit, it suits what we do, but if the horse ONLY does that and won't calm down when required then I wouldn't be happy.

 

[Barnacle]

I think a little fizzyness is actually a good thing. Horses that are enthusiastic and forward are much more fun to train than horses that want to plod about. However, their energy needs to be channeled appropriately!

So to answer your first question, no, I don't think it's a 'problem'. However, I think you probably aren't in a position to train her to the level you would like so the fact you are getting an instructor is a very good thing and will help a lot.

In the meantime, I think it may benefit you to read around a bit about what it means to be "on the bit". It's not about the horse's head being "on the vertical". It's a lot more than that. Once you understand what that phrase really means, you'll be able to work towards achieving it. I'm not on a computer where I can do this right now but I'm sure others can come along and post some useful articles for you to read on the topic and then google from there

 

[Brummyrat]

You could be talking about my old Section D, he was fabulous in every way but very fizzy to ride, would be jogging as soon as you mounted, hacking was "fun" and dressage was ridiculous but entertaining for the judge - fantastic for jumping though! I tried every calmer going, nothing worked. He was fed two small feeds of cool mix and some sort of chaff. Then one day I was given bags of free feed, a new competition mix from a well known manufacturer beginning with S. Well he became a different horse overnight! I think it was down to the magnesium in the feed but he stayed on it until the day he was pts aged 23. I went from nutcase to actually winning dressage and Im sure the feed was the key. Competition mix though, who knew!!!