When you have that feelng of explosion between your legs....

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toulouse1

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My confidence is low and tonight I ride my new boy in an open field, he hacked there fine but as we got half way round the field he started to jog, kept flicking his head and he felt like he was going to explode ....screaming to the other horses at the yard
Now my head was telling me to tell him to stop prattling about, but my body froze and I let me be away with it an as very still and walked home
Has ant one got any tips to help me to ge over this, my fear I guess is me coming off as I don't want that to knock our new bond..... Help
Shall I still to the school for a few months?
 
I would suggest going to the open field with a steady buddy, or at least someone on foot, for a few times before you go back alone. Also insist on going at the pace you are happy with. My boy naps when hacking alone and although we were making progress, recent minor injury (put my foot in a rabbit hole...grr) and daughter in hospital has meant less riding and some backward steps. So I empathise with that concern about crossing the line between strong take-no-nonsense riding and getting into an argument that may end badly. Good luck
 
I have suffered a lot with loss of confidence but what has helped us is groundwork. I have had groundwork lessons with a "think like a pony" trainer, teaching my boy to back up out of my space, stop when I tell him to, control the speed of his gait, yield the hind quarters. The theory is that by taking control on the ground, your horse feels safe with you and this transfers to when you are sat on him. It does take time but it's defo working for us, now hacking pretty confidently alone. It's really good fun too when you get into it. Good luck.
 
Suffolk mare thanks for advice , In hind sight should have taken a buddy but I was being determined as I didn't want a horses where I needed to rely on company, but I guess for a baby there needs to be an element of this and hopefully he will get confident over time
Kinneygirl1, what and where did you have these lessons, sounds interesting!
 
I cannot rate highly enough having a neckstrap or balance strap on your saddle to grab onto in these circumstances - mine has saved me on many such occasions and once it has helped you sit a couple of explosions you may find your confidence has grown knowing you can cope with their exploits, and horsey learns you're going to stick around!
 
Have some strategies.

For me, the last thing I want to do is hang onto his mouth, but I do want to distract, so I will immediately try neck flexuous and shoulder in. In fact, one option is to return to the school, practice a few things and then when you hack, make it more like a schooling ride?

Also, do remember, to gently turn the head away from anything you feel is scary, remember that horses spook away from things. Good luck!
 
This has got to be a contender in the 'Thread Title of the Year' awards.....

That aside there is some great advice on this thread.
 
kinnygirl1 said:
I have suffered a lot with loss of confidence but what has helped us is groundwork. I have had groundwork lessons with a "think like a pony" trainer, teaching my boy to back up out of my space, stop when I tell him to, control the speed of his gait, yield the hind quarters. The theory is that by taking control on the ground, your horse feels safe with you and this transfers to when you are sat on him. It does take time but it's defo working for us, now hacking pretty confidently alone. It's really good fun too when you get into it. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I was lucky in that there was a trainer local to me...I have ended up moving to her yard actually but that's another story.... They have a website if you google think like a pony may be one local to you. I love it cos if Stanley is having a particularly "sharp" day, I can still give him a really good work out but from the ground, so I feel safe,he still gets work and we improve our bond into the bargain. Not for everyone but works for is.
 
As canteron says, have a plan - it's amazing how that gives you confidence. If you are in an open space do lots of serpentines, changes of direction, keep him busy and thinking - if you are on a bridleway which doesn't allow for that, think of things like leg yielding, shoulder in, anything to focus his mind on you and give him something other than gallopy gallopy to think about. But plan it BEFOREHAND so you will have the confidence to go there in the first place.
 
My horse cannot stand being overtaken, even by people or dogs sometimes. He gets very joggy and can buck. I have three strategies:
1 - a **** strap, a breastplate, and my reins are attached to my breastplate with a flash strap. He's actually quite responsive to a jerk on the breastplate.
2 - groundwork. We do clicker training (not as often as we should) and I have got him to the point of being able to halt on a voice command. He then gets a click and a treat. He LOVES sweeties more than he loves jogging and bucking :D
3 - if all else fails, safety is far more important than staying on, so I get off and remind him of his groundwork training from the ground. We stop, start, move forwards, backwards and sideways. It's only ever got to this point once, and he focused on me really quickly. He is also trained to stand wherever I put him so it's easy to get back on again later!

I am a bit of a nervous rider, but my little chap has given me so much confidence by being well-trained and responsive. Don't get me wrong, he's not perfect - he HAS to sniff poos along our ride (thinks he's the resident stallion) or he throws a tantrum and plants! He has naughty quirks ;) but I am happy to purposely ride him into awkward situations to further / reinforce his training, because I know I have the above three things to rely on!
 
Lol I did think that after I posted!
But my boy friend was on the ground with me at the time telling me to get on with it and I was trying to tell him how I was feeling and this was the only way I could describe it!
Thanks for all advice guys, I will make a plan and definitely go back to the school to get the basics right before we try again!
 
planete said:
Or me!
Click to expand...

Me too.

I'm currently riding a three year old and getting them out and about on their own is a huge thing. I walk her out in-hand a lot, so she gets used to the idea of being in new places. Riding, she needs to know that we are not leaving home forever when we ride out the gate. I know that, but she doesn't. So I start by riding out the gate for 100 m, turn around and come home. Tomorrow, we will go for 150 m, turn around and come home. You get the picture.

I'm never afraid to get off if I think things are going to turn to custard. Bouncing off the ground from a great height hurts and I'm not a ballsy rider by any stretch of the imagination. So if things get hairy, I get off and walk. If I take her to a new place and things are going well, I quit while I'm ahead.

Maggie is young horse number seven, and I've never been any different. All of them have ended up happy and confident, so I figure it must work. I took her to a riding club rally yesterday, and after four outings in company this was the first time she was totally relaxed and not worried about the other horses. And breath .....
 
We have a particular field where two of my horses just want to go, they are 11yr old and 5 yr old, twice now we have the same reaction at this field, until I try my oldies up there to see their reactions, I'm teaching the other two to stand when asked, then do a carrot stretch, the idea being, if I ask for a stand at this field, they, expecting a treat, will stand and not try to take off, my other option is to find out how the oldies react at the field, if ok use them to teach the others, this is a new area for us, so this isn't learned behaviour, it's just this one field out of many we ride around
 
No comment on thread title :D

As others have said, neck strap always! And the thing I've found helpful when the pony/horse I'm riding in an open field feels like it's going to go off on one is to use the thistles (or docks, or anything else, even if imaginary). Pick one clump and ride towards it, then pick the next one in a different direction. It's very random but you should find that because you're focusing on which way you're going next, you start to expect your horse to do what you ask and it overrides your nervousness. Sorry if I haven't explained very well.

The other thing, if it's possible, is to find a friend who is chilled and can ride with you and as you're walking along just chat about anything, especially if it makes you laugh. I rode with someone one time and we were both on potentially stressy beasties, but because we were both laughing our heads off about something silly, the horses walked along calm as anything.

Failing that, as I think someone else suggested, just sing. I've done that and as I sing so badly I end up laughing at myself. Horse must think I'm mad!

And, whatever else you do, always ride past the gate so they don't know when you're going to turn and head back out of it to help them avoid becoming nappy.
 
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