Young Horse Inconsistency ...

[Boodles79]

I posted a while back about my daughter's young Irish horse. We didn't give up and we are now 4 months in, we have been working really hard to essentially get the foundations we want to build on - not the ones he came to us with. With the support of a fabulous trainer + schooling livery (who confirmed he's very green and objects when asked to use himself and do things properly, in the form of minor strops, nothing dangerous) my question is how inconsistent should they really be at just turned 6years old - we have good days, of calm consistent behaviour and steady collected approach to jumps where you couldn't imagine him being anything but the lovely horse he is, then its absolute mayhem on other days, bunny hopping / head tossing charging at jumps with head literally vertical in the air etc (he never bucks, rears, bolts thankfully)- I have put this down to my daughters riding, perhaps she's tensing up on certain days, she is a good rider, he certainly reacts to being asked to steady on, on these off days. Teeth, Saddle, Back, all done very recently.

 

[ihatework]

Having looked at your previous post, What I would do now in this situation is to have a basic vet check - flexions, trot straight & lunge on hard and soft plus a good feel of the back and a check of mouth. Whilst it won’t rule everything out, especially if there is a subtle niggle, it should catch something more obvious.

Then assuming all ok I’d book the horse in for a least a months training (ideally more) with someone good locally. Ideally a lighter weight female and someone who understands that they are assessing and improving the horse for your daughter. Ideally also someone who teaches so that your daughter can ride from them under supervision. They can then see if the consistency can be improved with more experienced rider and if the horse can be made suitable for your daughter in time, or whether you would be better off selling and trying again.

 

[maya2008]

What does your schooling livery say? They're riding him, they should have a good idea of if this feels normal to them for his level of training. Is he showing the same behaviour for an adult?

Can it be the rider? Absolutely, especially in a horse that likes to jump with a younger, less experienced (in young horses) rider. Been there, done that! But if it is, he'll settle very quickly with an adult on board and go back to being the sweet horse you see on other days.

If they are struggling also, less likely to be that, more likely to be something hidden that needs a vet.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

My first instinct would be to get a vetting done. My second would be wondering if he's overfaced and/or worked too repetitively.

 

[Polos Mum]

Ruling out pain is always a useful step - even if you've checked, no harm in checking again as your support team (Physio, dentist, saddle fitter, farrier etc.) are only human and can miss stuff

Keep a detailed diary and see if there is any pattern - lack of turn out, ridden straight from stable without a token feed, wind, 4 schooling sessions in a row - there's probably 1000 things that he could object to that a subtle so a diary helps remember precisely the circumstances that cause a problem.

As a very rough guide there are 3 horse years to a human year so a 25 year old horse is 75 human years old, 10 year old horse is 30 human years etc.

So a 6 y/o is about 18 years old - and IMHO 18 year old teenagers can be pretty unpredictable and definitely not consistent.
Horses also don't stop growing until they are 8 ish
So I'd expect real established consistency from 8 in a horse (24 in my teenage son!)

 

[Boodles79]

He was 5 stage vetted with x-rays when purchased. Would you do it again so soon? He's getting better just still so inconsistent. To answer other questions he's definitely not overfaced, he was I think as a youngster in Ireland but we are taking it slowly and small. He does an awful lot of hacking saddle time to form a partnership (that has been fantastic for them), jump lesson or flatwork lesson - once a week. he's in the school only twice a week.

 

[Boodles79]

Yes the diary is something I have done and I can see improvements in our journey, but I see other 6-year-olds out one-day eventing, we are nowhere near.

 

[Boodles79]

Saddle fitter booked as he's gained muscle since we purchased him...

 

[ihatework]

He was 5 stage vetted with x-rays when purchased. Would you do it again so soon? He's getting better just still so inconsistent. To answer other questions he's definitely not overfaced, he was I think as a youngster in Ireland but we are taking it slowly and small. He does an awful lot of hacking saddle time to form a partnership (that has been fantastic for them), jump lesson or flatwork lesson - once a week. he's in the school only twice a week.

Yes I would get him vet checked - there are plenty of things the less scrupulous can do to get a not right horse through a vetting. Often involving steroids into joints.

Dont compare your horse to others his age. There will be different considerations for each one. You need someone to really assess what is going on for your daughter and the horse.

 

[fredflop]

Always worth getting things double checked by a different set of eyed

 

[Boodles79]

Schooling livery says he's very green and opinionated, she said that he went nicely and was getting the hang of it - he was there 2.5 weeks, again didn't overface him by putting him in school every day, did hacking too. Said he was a lovely horse quite reactive to being told what to do.

 

[maya2008]

Schooling livery says he's very green and opinionated, she said that he went nicely and was getting the hang of it - he was there 2.5 weeks, again didn't overface him by putting him in school every day, did hacking too. Said he was a lovely horse quite reactive to being told what to do.

Is he still being ridden by an experienced adult regularly?

 

[Polos Mum]

Does your daughter have regular lessons with him? What does the instructor say?

Most of the horses winning young event horse classes at 5 y/e are retired lame by 10 so you don't really want to be comparing yourself to those !
If you look up the BE registered names of those that win at that level - very few are still competing 5 years later.

 

[sport horse]

Find yourself a good BS jumping coach to help you.

 

[MidChristmasCrisis]

Just because some 6 year olds are out competing doesn’t mean yours is ready. I’m guessing your daughter may not be totally ready either..so take the pressure off them both..move away from schooling livery and ride/train with a good teacher for both of them.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Honestlt, other than the vet check and saddle check I would give hime six months break from jumping, poles on the ground fine, but focus on flat work and hacking then slowy re introduce the jumps.

 

[Boodles79]

Thanks all - daughter had been competing BE100 with her other horse to give you some idea, so she’s definitely ok with the competing side of things - she’s competent but still a child and they can only know so much. He’s definitely getting better - we have really started to slow things down - got him using himself properly, I think he’s just a lot younger mentally than he is due to his start in life.

 

[Alibear]

As others have said, I would let my vet know what you've told us and book them to come and check the horse over, flexions, etc.
I have very limited experience, but my 6-year-olds were very variable. Some days, they rode like a finished horse, and other days, they were more like a squirrel that had eaten too many blue smarties.
They are still growing at 6, and I found mine would need me to back off for a few days when they seemed to be feeling a bit off. At 6, I still did in-hand work for 5 minutes or so before getting on so I could see how they were that day, and then I'd work accordingly.
Good luck.

 

[Melody Grey]

Inconsistency isn’t unheard of at 6- he’s still firmly in the Kevin years, especially with warmblood types which have been slower to mature (in my experience compared to TBs).

Do you have him on a good gut supplement? I’ve seen a lot of inconsistent behaviour from horses that are a bit ‘tummyish’ which can be linked to grass intake. I’ve had really good results with aloe Vera juice too at settling things.

May be worth considering scoping for ulcers if you get to a stage of vet involvement- they can certainly be stress induced and could have been brought on by the yard moves it sounds like he’s had within the last few months or potentially stress of schooling if it’s been intense? Can result in inconsistent good day/ bad day types of presentation as well as the explosive, unpredictable type.

 

[Melody Grey]

Could also be sore- still growing and maybe struggling with workload, especially if lots of it is on a surface?

 

[SEL]

My 6yo had me off twice in a fortnight! I was at a clinic for the most dramatic rodeo and it was like sitting on a toddler who'd been at all the blue smarties. He was horrible.

Weekend after he was an absolute saint.

6 = teenager in human years. Need to start to step up and grow up whilst still having moments where you realise they are just a child

 

[Boodles79]

Just to update you all vet all clear sound, fit and healthy, decided not to scope as no other symptoms to suggest but may well revisit should unwanted behaviour come back. We have seen a massive improvement with the introduction of a Demi Anky Neue Schule, and I suspect my daughter relaxing. We are way more consistent in our approach when jumping, and flatwork is coming on a dream. + the miles and miles of hacking they’ve done through the forest over summer while my daughter has been off school has really secured their understanding of each other. We have however hit a new chapter of knocking poles but that’s because we’ve got a slower more connected canter not the flat out head in the air one - he’s learning a new way of using himself so I’m sure it will come.