Youngster mad when ridden in open field!

badgerdog

badgerdog

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My recently backed 3 yo has been going great. I take her for gentle hacks up the country lanes and she's a little star. She's good in traffic and isn't spooky. She is frightened of cows but even this is becoming less of a problem.
The problem is when I try and ride her in the field on the farm. When I first backed her I used to ride round it and she was fine. We even had a few canters! However, over the past few weeks she's started to go a bit loopy when I take her in. She gets quite stressy and feels like a coiled spring. I try and have a chilled walk and trot but she just gets so wound up and gives a few mini broncs. She's bronced me off in the past so I'm now wary about pushing her on when she is in this state of mind.

She was like this tonight. I managed for 10 minutes, but before she decided to blow I took her for a half hour hack down the lane where she became very chilled and plodded along like an old hand.

Am I asking too much of her to ride around a big open field? We haven't got an arena although I can hire one that's within hackable distance. I know she's still very much a baby so I don't want to push her too much.

Is it just normal behaviour for a youngster or is she being a bit quirky?

I know I over react about everything with her. She's my first youngster and I've had her since she was a foal. I take everything so personally!
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Take it back a few steps...and break it down...walk out in hand...long rein in the field...take your time...don't get into a situation you are stressing about...because your youngster may well pick up on it....don't rush things and put pressure on yourselves or him/her to be doing things by the "book"...coz the books never been written! They are all different, and can be, on different days...and don't take it personally...and most importantly...don't be afraid to ask for some moral support/advice from someone that has worked with youngsters...that can see what's going on from a totally objective perspective. You'll have lots to learn, and many moments...but it is so rewarding.
 
Thanks, that's very reassuring. I was wondering about walking around the field with her in-hand. I've also called upon the friend who helped me break her in, he's very calm and objective and helps me get things in perspective. I don't mind taking a few steps back, I'm in no rush, I just want to get things right.
 
probably a good idea...oh...and the other thing you'll unfortunately have to get used to is lots of unwanted advice..and horror stories!....be selective in what you take on board...you'll be fine...it's all a stage
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i wouldn't worry this sounds like a typical baby! it sounds like she is now confident in these fields wheras before she was unsure and hence well behaved- now she is more confident and stronger that is why she is playing up a little. as suggested some in-hand work, lungeing in the field will help. also could you ride around field with a sensible nanny horse which might suggest to your youngster how she should behave?
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I'd have left out the cantering in a field! I used to school my mare in a huge open space and she was obsessed with wanting to gallop off all over it, so we used to go to the furthest corner which had trees or a bit of a barrier on 3 sides and work in walk on circles. If she stayed reasonably calm we moved up to trotting. Gradually we went up to cantering circles, and if she was good I made them much bigger, but the first sign of silliness it was back to the small circles again and at a slower speed. After about 3 months I could let her canter or gallop in straight lines and know that I could pull her up.
 
I had a very similar problem when we moved to a new yard - with lots of fields. 18year old daughter galloped all over them the very first time she rode Star out in the fields and basically blew Star's braincell!.
I sorted the problem by a. removing daughter's riding priviledges and b. just basic schooling in a corner - gradually making the shapes bigger/ moving away from the edge - but going back to basics when she got a bit silly.....
 
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