Young horse playing up on roads. Any advice please

N

NELSON11

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 June 2009
Messages
775
Location
In the Midlands
Visit site
Some of you may be aware, my rising 5yo 17.2hh TBXWB has spent 8 months away being backed/produced, I picked him up in February and he was diagnosed with DJD in both hocks. We are very upset after waiting 8 months to bring him home

Anyway he has had Tildren last week, HA injected into hocks, Adequan and now resticted to walking in a straight line for the rest of the year.

He has always been an exuberant boy, but when first went to school, it was put into his work, now he is ambling down the lane, the little devil inside him is coming out. For example he walks down the lane (in company) snorting with his ears almost up my nose at times.

He is relatively good in traffic and has met various different vans/cars etc. However he has this annoying thing where he is refusing point blank to walk over junction with a white stop line on the way home although he is happy to on the way out on his hack. Even with his fellow companion not hesitating, he couldn't give a monkeys and will refuse point blank to walk over anything like that. But on the way home only. When he went to school they said he was funny about the little step up into the wash box.

So today I thought right, and tried to ride him really forward over the line and he feels like he is getting ready to launch over it, So I gently again, no, so gave him a gentle tap with my schooling whip, still refusing and bunching up backwards. So I smacked him a little harder on the bottom and he threw a massive buck in and I nearly came off on the road.

Anyway finally by sort if zig zagging I managed to get him across and then turned him around and made him do it again.

I just feel so despondent that the youngster on day 4 of our walking is testing the boundaries already. We have a year of this and the hacking around us is pretty rubbish

Any advice on what to put on him that may help him a little and not get his head up so high and start to relax on the road also.

Thanks
 
Personally if he is making a fuss about the same thing on every hack I would spend 10 minutes or so walking him backwards and forwards over it to the point of dying of boredom!

Obviously you can only do this if the road is relatively quiet though?

If not I would put a chalk line out on grass or in the school at home and do the same- don't make a fight out of it and act like you have all of the time in the world for him to go where you want.
it can be hard to keep calm when they are playing up on the road and you are aware of traffic so maybe good idea to do it at home anyway to start?
 
Go to the local car spares/breakers yard. Buy rubber car mats then lay them out in the school. Spray a white line across them, then practise walking over them.
 
To be honest I would try not making a big fuss about it and try ride normally (as possible) to this 'bogey' line! If you can, go with a friend and ride relaxed and try doing anything else other than looking or thinking about this point of the road - look in another direction if possible (anything basically!). Essentially cos you know he has an issue with this, you will inadvertently be thinking about it too and they can be so sensitive to any small changes in how you are riding.

Personally I wouldn't try the line chalking or anything like that, if you are doing any type of schooling work (ie straight lines on a grass surface or something) then maybe incorporate some lines, poles for him to step over but I wouldn't make a big point about it. When you are out riding, pratice half halting and then asking him to walk on and such things, just really so he learns to listen properly to what you are asking and it also takes your mind off thinking about his silly behaviour.

At the end of the day he is a youngster, they will go through these stages. Christ I have a 24 yo pony who is STILL terrifed of walking over trotting poles (I've had him 16 years!) and can still be a tad suspicious of road markings! All horses have their 'thing' I guess.
 
ladyt25 said:
To be honest I would try not making a big fuss about it and try ride normally (as possible) to this 'bogey' line! If you can, go with a friend and ride relaxed and try doing anything else other than looking or thinking about this point of the road - look in another direction if possible (anything basically!). Essentially cos you know he has an issue with this, you will inadvertently be thinking about it too and they can be so sensitive to any small changes in how you are riding.

Personally I wouldn't try the line chalking or anything like that, if you are doing any type of schooling work (ie straight lines on a grass surface or something) then maybe incorporate some lines, poles for him to step over but I wouldn't make a big point about it. When you are out riding, pratice half halting and then asking him to walk on and such things, just really so he learns to listen properly to what you are asking and it also takes your mind off thinking about his silly behaviour.

At the end of the day he is a youngster, they will go through these stages. Christ I have a 24 yo pony who is STILL terrifed of walking over trotting poles (I've had him 16 years!) and can still be a tad suspicious of road markings! All horses have their 'thing' I guess.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice guys. I just find it bizarre, he has no issue walking over it on the way out, but he does on the way home, will try some of the things you have suggested, he is not to do any pole work at present, so guess repitition is the key and yes whilst I am relaxed I believe on him, I did think about the line when I got to it today, although tried really hard not to.
 
I had a problem like this with my old pony , in fact we had to hack past a school , loads of screaming kids all running up for a look but the most scary thing for jack - a white triangle painted outside the school ( with white line child in it ) very scary , i had to do some in hand work there ( after school kicked out ) with carrots and lots of praise , worked in the end he was happy for me to walk over it first , i think it gave him the confidence to realize it was 2D.. and food is always a good incentive for any pony!
 
He's at that age, try not to worry too much though, hell it's only the start of some of the problems you may have. ;):D

Seriously, just keep your cool and carry on, he'll settle down eventually when he gets past his 'Kevin stage', could take a few months, could take 6 months to a year, but just let him digest little bits at a time, he sounds very much like what my lad used to be.

Try not to force the issue too much otherwise he's get himself worked up even more, sometimes repeating something (thinking they will get used to it) can sometimes make them worse, he will soon wise up all sorts of things that may upset him at this age, all you can do is carry on and not get too disheartened, time is a great thing. :)
 
Kenzo said:
He's at that age, try not to worry too much though, hell it's only the start of some of the problems you may have. ;):D

Seriously, just keep your cool and carry on, he'll settle down eventually when he gets past his 'Kevin stage', could take a few months, could take 6 months to a year, but just let him digest little bits at a time, he sounds very much like what my lad used to be.

Try not to force the issue too much otherwise he's get himself worked up even more, sometimes repeating something (thinking they will get used to it) can sometimes make them worse, he will soon wise up all sorts of things that may upset him at this age, all you can do is carry on and not get too disheartened, time is a great thing. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks. He is known as Kevin the Teenager. It's almost like he has had a taste of real work. Jumped BN in December whilst away at school and loved it. Now he is bored!

We will keep ticking away on our walks! :)
 
I think the not making a big deal out of it advice is good! I know with my boy I can't get cross with him otherwise he point blank refuses to co-operate. Just practice quietly. It's still early days and he is bound to question you.

As an asside, has he had his eyes checked? I know it's a bit far fetched but it could be that (like my boy) he has a problem with one of his eyes making one side more spooky than the other... Stick with me! so on the way out on a hack the white stop line will be more visible out of his right eye and not so out of his left (as that is the side the verge is on) but when returning home could the line now be visible out of his left eye (which perhaps he can't focus properly with or as quickly) and therefore he is GENUINELY unsure? Just a thought...My boy has two 'doughnuts' (a bit like catteracts but with a hole in the middle) in his right eye and I have noticed that he is definately more spooky on that side...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top