Young horse throwing head

[dolloe]

Took baby horse out today to an arena hire. She was very spooky to start with and even when she settled, she was still throwing her head. She does it occasionally at home but only after a flatwork schooling session.

Is this normal? Any tips?

Teeth and saddle done recently.

 

[LEC]

Normal - balance, contact, strength, usually one of those.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

As LEC says, totally normal. My tb is 17 now and the only time he throws his head is when he doesn't understand something.

 

[SEL]

For mine it's when he gets tired - mentally &/or physically

He's usually better the second time at a place.

 

[dolloe]

Thank you - so putting it down to mental tiredness as she was already so worked up before I got on anyway. Will ride tomorrow to see if she is doing it at home too but she hasn’t except if I’m asking her to use her muscles

 

[Kunoichi73]

I've been riding a baby pony at my RS. He does the head throwing thing. It tends to get worse if he's getting tired. Today it was nuts. However, it turned out one of the helpers had put the wrong saddle on him and he was obviously uncomfortable. We cut the lesson short. I know you've said you've had the saddle checked, so it's probably not that. One other thing that can make him do it, is if he gets hot and sweaty, he must get a bit itchy. He then tries to rub his head one you once you get off.

 

[Puzzled]

Absolutely normal….may be wanting to stretch her muscles…..especially over her back. Could also be teeth coming through. I ride numerous young horses and it’s very common….let her stretch out.