Youngster keeps ditching rider!

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Hecken92

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My mums filly has a half sister who was backed and broken as we did ours. She's always been a bit more difficult than our filly but has taken to ditching her rider if she's taken away from her sister (even if ours is in the small paddock next to the school in full view of her!). She does it by leaping sideways to unseat you and then having a bit of a tantrum to get you off. Last time she did it, she cracked the riders ribs. Understandably, the rider has now been well and truly put off! So I wondered if anyone had any ideas on how to stop her doing this and how to stay on when she starts on a tantrum as I'm the next crash test dummy lined up!
They're already working on seperating the sisters - long reining and lunging one in the school while the other is elsewhere, out of sight.
 
Based on your previous posts, I would say you're not the right jockey for this little horse.

Send it away for a month and let a professional sit on it.
 
Firstly i would get the horse seperated totally seperate fields, stables away from each other if possible etc, and try not to do anything with them togeather this will just help re-enforce their bond and reduce the bond you have with her. i would then ensure you have everything checked back teeth etc just to rule out anything medical so you can focus entirely on the behavour without any underlying issues. i would then go back to lunging and ground work along side riding until you are fully in control of every situation and she knows who's in charge, i would then try and mimic this behavour once aboard, make session short and sweet with lots of phraise until she gets out of the habbit of trying to throw you, and when she does try to misbehave try stay confident and be firm but fair, maybe ask her to do some change of directions to to help her forget about the fact she is without her sister, as hard as it is if you do fall of get straight back on and carry on like nothing has happened, reapeating the things she is good at until she has gained more confidence in you.. you dont have to beat her for this misbehavour but do be firm without scaring her.. im not an expert so this may not be correct but this would be how id approach the situation, always make sure you have your body protector on and someone with you, maybe get an instructor to be with you during this.. Hope this helps :)
 
Hecken92 said:
Amy may, why do you say this? I've never mentioned this horse before in any previous posts...
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From a recent post of yours:

Hecken92 said:
I have a 16 y.o gelding that I've owned for the past 4 years. He was bought unseen (bad choice, I know! But he was going for slaughter) and to start with, was a lovely horse to hack out on and we went miles together.
After a slight accident (no injuries, just fright) 2 and a half years ago, he's been nervous when going anywhere new (even in company) and has bolted with me down a main road! His being nervous has made me nervous (especially as I wasn't hugely confident before) and so we ride the same old hack and nothing more outside of the school.
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I'm only nervous with him though - I've worked/ridden 5+ others since that accident and been fine with them. Plus, it's only hacking that I worry about coming off - more for the horse than me. If I'm in a school, they can't get hit by a bus if I come off.
 
Hecken92 said:
I'm only nervous with him though - I've worked/ridden 5+ others since that accident and been fine with them. Plus, it's only hacking that I worry about coming off - more for the horse than me. If I'm in a school, they can't get hit by a bus if I come off.
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Fair enough.

Well, as long as your not phased at the thought of coming off, and have a backside that sticks like glue - give it a go.

Always work the horses separately, and out of sight of each other though, as advised previously.

Good luck - let us know how you get on.
 
Unfortunately you've succeeded in training this filly to throw you off. A bit of a disaster really.

Send filly away for professional help. Love and bonding will not fix this issue. Best to send the gelding too.

This may seem harsh and somewhat nasty but in both cases you're not helping either and it just won't get better. Especially not with Internet advice. Filly needs re-started properly.

FWIW, mine are always started with other horses in the fields around them at all times. 2 different groups. Sometimes the horses are around, sometimes not. Sometimes the horses in the field are running around like idiots. I find this is so much better than keeping everything quiet as possible. It's such a nice thing riding a baby when all heck breaks loose and baby is focused on rider. Doesn't matter if I'm in the arena or fields, they're used to all of this and so it's not an issue. In the groundwork phase these problems are easily sorted before a rider ever gets on.

Terri
 
It may seem harsh but I would consider sending away to a professional as others have said, for the sake of the horse and your confidence.

If you are going to do it yourself, I would advise you to ride in a more 'defensive' position. I have had an episode with my youngster recently where he did a violent spook (slamming the breaks on, dropping a shoulder and pi$$ing off in the other direction) unlike any he has done before and I came off. He did the same 2 days later as he obviously thought it was a fun way to get out of work.

After that I made sure my lower leg was quite forward - if your lower leg comes back it's almost impossible to stay on if they are spooking / bucking / swerving etc. I also made sure I had a finger in neck strap and kept my upper body more back than normal as he was dropping a shoulder. I 'survived' a few violent spooks like this and he has *hopefully* given up that trick for now.

I think they go through phases where they think they are in charge and can't see the point in working so they mess about to try and get out of it. Being thrown off just reinforces this behaviour.

Have you got an instructor who can help from the ground? I sometimes find it helpful to 'set up' a situation where the horse will misbehave when I have my lessons and get help in coping with it, so that when I'm on my own I have a bag of tricks up my sleeve ready.

Good Luck! :-)
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Unfortunately you've succeeded in training this filly to throw you off. A bit of a disaster really.

Send filly away for professional help. Love and bonding will not fix this issue. Best to send the gelding too.

This may seem harsh and somewhat nasty but in both cases you're not helping either and it just won't get better. Especially not with Internet advice. Filly needs re-started properly.

FWIW, mine are always started with other horses in the fields around them at all times. 2 different groups. Sometimes the horses are around, sometimes not. Sometimes the horses in the field are running around like idiots. I find this is so much better than keeping everything quiet as possible. It's such a nice thing riding a baby when all heck breaks loose and baby is focused on rider. Doesn't matter if I'm in the arena or fields, they're used to all of this and so it's not an issue. In the groundwork phase these problems are easily sorted before a rider ever gets on.

Terri
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This sums everything to a T. Unless you have someone with an ext-ream super glue bum, the whole situation is just going to go from bad to worse and you end up with a horse that is un-rideable. Please for the horses sake seek some professional help.
 
Ditching rider has become a good game to this youngster. The only way to stop it is to stay on. Be honest with yourself and if you know you're unlikely to be able to do so, please send her away to be schooled / re-backed otherwise you'll have problems for life.
 
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