Horse Talk

[Bunnylady]

What price peace of mind, eh?

The Wee Foal test cost me about $30.

 

[abigalerose]

It probably would've cost me $30 if I could've used my regular vet but he wouldn't do a farm call all the way to my grandparents house

 

[abigalerose]

I rode June today. Shes got a bad attitude. Well I guess it's not that bad, she just tosses her head a lot. I wanted to ride her in the pasture but the head tossing freaks me out so I kept her in the arena up by the barn and just worked on fine tuning some things. Whenever I'd try to turn her and she'd start tossing her head I'd pull her head all the way to the side and make her keep it there, by the end of the night she wasn't tossing her head anymore. And then I worked on making her just stand still and not walk until I said so. I think the only thing that "trainer" she went to did was just try and get her to lope all the time. I can tell that she just wants to speed up as soon as I get on her, and I know she doesn't like going fast so she's also cranky about riding now.
So anyways, I'm gonna keep working with her in the arena because it feels like we just need to take some time to get to know each other again.
And I can keep her on a diet while she's up there since she's a fatty

 

[PeepersMama]

I rode June today. Shes got a bad attitude. Well I guess it's not that bad, she just tosses her head a lot. I wanted to ride her in the pasture but the head tossing freaks me out so I kept her in the arena up by the barn and just worked on fine tuning some things. Whenever I'd try to turn her and she'd start tossing her head I'd pull her head all the way to the side and make her keep it there, by the end of the night she wasn't tossing her head anymore. And then I worked on making her just stand still and not walk until I said so. I think the only thing that "trainer" she went to did was just try and get her to lope all the time. I can tell that she just wants to speed up as soon as I get on her, and I know she doesn't like going fast so she's also cranky about riding now.
So anyways, I'm gonna keep working with her in the arena because it feels like we just need to take some time to get to know each other again.
And I can keep her on a diet while she's up there since she's a fatty

Dude

Ive been having the exact same issue with Smoke.

Whenever i stop him, he tries to spin around and go the other way. It's like he predicts what im gonna do - well, tries. >:}

Try backing her a couple steps as soon as you get on her. It'll put her out of gear for at least a couple seconds so you can get your seat.
When you get on her, ask her to yield her head/neck around to you, so she looks like she's sniffing the stirrup. That way all she can do is spin in circles instead of jumping forward. It takes quite a bit of ground work to get her to the point where she'll keep get head there with minimal rein pressure, but it's worth it. Smoke does it out of habit now whenever i put my boy in the stirrup. And then when he finally DOES stop he puts out right back by my boot, like he's offering for me to get off.

 

[Kusanar]

Just remember, with horses, do whatever they DON'T want to do. So, if they want to run fast, make them work primarily on slowing down and relaxing for a day, if they want to stand around and sleep, wake them up and make them run some. If they are acting spooky at something, you have found your exercise for the day, making them not spook at that object.

I agree with Peepers on the mounting, teach them to flex around and touch their shoulder slightly in front of where your foot would be when mounted when you touch the rein, do this on the ground until they are pretty light (not having to haul them around), then when you mount, flex all the way around to the left shoulder, mount, hold the flex for a second or if they moved hold the flex until they stop moving around and then hold for a second more, then flex the other way, if they move when flexing left, make them hold the flex until they stop moving, then flex right, then back left, make sure that the last time you flex in each direction they simply flex around and don't move their feet. Once you are content that they are standing still and not trying to rush off, go ahead and straighten the neck and walk off.

Something else that is NICE to have in your tool box is a good 1 rein stop. If the horse isn't expecting to be 1 rein stopped, and you try it for the first time while being run away with, you can cause the horse to go down with you on top, so it is MUCH nicer to teach them before you need it. To do this, once you have gotten them flexing nicely and walked away from the mounting block (or wherever you got on), sit a little deeper in the saddle and randomly (random as to which rein) pick up one rein and flex them around to your boot while they are walking, don't give any leg aids, and hold them there until they stop moving their feet, once they stop, flex them a few more times (you left rein stopped, flex right, left, right before moving off again) so that they don't start moving off as soon as you let go of a flex. Do this at a walk until you are comfortable that the horse is starting to stop pretty quickly when you flex them around at a walk with either rein. Once you are comfortable with that, you can move up to the trot. I would also suggest pairing the 1 rein stop with "whoa" once you get them stopping pretty good, so, the sitting deeper will be their 1st cue to stop, then the verbal "whoa", then if they still didn't listen, being pulled around. This will do a few things, it will teach the horse to rate back and stop off of your seat alone, it will teach them that the word "whoa" means to plant all 4 feet and don't move a muscle (I use "easy" if I want them to calm or slow down, "whoa" is only for STOP NOW!), and it teaches them to be light on the reins.

I was riding Stud with a friend riding Lolli one day and a big tree branch fell in the woods, Lolli spooked which spooked Stud, I was caught a little off guard, so Stud got in 2 big canter strides and was working on a buck before I got him flexed around, but all I had to do was grab mane with 1 hand and pull one rein and he flexed to my boot, spun in a circle about 3 times and came to a halt. When I got him stopped, I looked for Lolli and he was at the other end of the ring being pulled to a stop, so the 1 rein stop got him stopped faster, and he didn't bolt as far as the more trained horse that doesn't have a 1 rein stop. I held Stud flexed until he relaxed a little more, then I flexed him back and forth a few more times, and walked off on a loose rein.

 

[abigalerose]

Just remember, with horses, do whatever they DON'T want to do. So, if they want to run fast, make them work primarily on slowing down and relaxing for a day, if they want to stand around and sleep, wake them up and make them run some. If they are acting spooky at something, you have found your exercise for the day, making them not spook at that object.

I agree with Peepers on the mounting, teach them to flex around and touch their shoulder slightly in front of where your foot would be when mounted when you touch the rein, do this on the ground until they are pretty light (not having to haul them around), then when you mount, flex all the way around to the left shoulder, mount, hold the flex for a second or if they moved hold the flex until they stop moving around and then hold for a second more, then flex the other way, if they move when flexing left, make them hold the flex until they stop moving, then flex right, then back left, make sure that the last time you flex in each direction they simply flex around and don't move their feet. Once you are content that they are standing still and not trying to rush off, go ahead and straighten the neck and walk off.

Something else that is NICE to have in your tool box is a good 1 rein stop. If the horse isn't expecting to be 1 rein stopped, and you try it for the first time while being run away with, you can cause the horse to go down with you on top, so it is MUCH nicer to teach them before you need it. To do this, once you have gotten them flexing nicely and walked away from the mounting block (or wherever you got on), sit a little deeper in the saddle and randomly (random as to which rein) pick up one rein and flex them around to your boot while they are walking, don't give any leg aids, and hold them there until they stop moving their feet, once they stop, flex them a few more times (you left rein stopped, flex right, left, right before moving off again) so that they don't start moving off as soon as you let go of a flex. Do this at a walk until you are comfortable that the horse is starting to stop pretty quickly when you flex them around at a walk with either rein. Once you are comfortable with that, you can move up to the trot. I would also suggest pairing the 1 rein stop with "whoa" once you get them stopping pretty good, so, the sitting deeper will be their 1st cue to stop, then the verbal "whoa", then if they still didn't listen, being pulled around. This will do a few things, it will teach the horse to rate back and stop off of your seat alone, it will teach them that the word "whoa" means to plant all 4 feet and don't move a muscle (I use "easy" if I want them to calm or slow down, "whoa" is only for STOP NOW!), and it teaches them to be light on the reins.

I was riding Stud with a friend riding Lolli one day and a big tree branch fell in the woods, Lolli spooked which spooked Stud, I was caught a little off guard, so Stud got in 2 big canter strides and was working on a buck before I got him flexed around, but all I had to do was grab mane with 1 hand and pull one rein and he flexed to my boot, spun in a circle about 3 times and came to a halt. When I got him stopped, I looked for Lolli and he was at the other end of the ring being pulled to a stop, so the 1 rein stop got him stopped faster, and he didn't bolt as far as the more trained horse that doesn't have a 1 rein stop. I held Stud flexed until he relaxed a little more, then I flexed him back and forth a few more times, and walked off on a loose rein.

When I say I was pulling her head around to the side, I mean flexing. She flexes pretty good, it was one of the first things I taught her on the ground when I got her. Last night when she was tossing her head I'd have her flex whichever way it was that I wanted her to turn, then when she gave I'd do it to the other side as well. Sometimes just once and sometimes I'd make her do it a few times to change things up so she didn't know what to expect. I use to have a horse (Jade) that when you were riding, if you stopped her she'd stop and just automatically start flexing both ways while you just sat there, because with her previous owner, any time she acted up, he'd stop her then make her flex to get her attention lol.
But anyways, I do need to work on the one rein stop, that'll probably be something I do soon.
And when she wants to speed up I either make her stop, turn, or back up.

 

[Eggsoteric]

I rode June today. Shes got a bad attitude. Well I guess it's not that bad, she just tosses her head a lot. I wanted to ride her in the pasture but the head tossing freaks me out so I kept her in the arena up by the barn and just worked on fine tuning some things. Whenever I'd try to turn her and she'd start tossing her head I'd pull her head all the way to the side and make her keep it there, by the end of the night she wasn't tossing her head anymore. And then I worked on making her just stand still and not walk until I said so. I think the only thing that "trainer" she went to did was just try and get her to lope all the time. I can tell that she just wants to speed up as soon as I get on her, and I know she doesn't like going fast so she's also cranky about riding now.
So anyways, I'm gonna keep working with her in the arena because it feels like we just need to take some time to get to know each other again.
And I can keep her on a diet while she's up there since she's a fatty

The crankiness, rushing and head tossing could be a pain/teeth issue. When were her teeth last floated?

 

[Lazy Farmer]

When I clicked on the link to this thread I expected to see "Mr. Ed".. My bad..

 

[abigalerose]

The crankiness, rushing and head tossing could be a pain/teeth issue. When were her teeth last floated?

It's not a teeth issue, it's a "hasn't been ridden since December and doesn't want to turn away from the herd" issue lol. By the way she was working yesterday it should only take a day or two to finish working through it. Head tossing has always been her go to when she doesn't wanna do something, even when I first got her and would ground work her with a halter on, if she was mad she'd toss her head.
I will probably have her teeth floated this fall though, thanks for reminding me.
From the way she's riding my best guess is that the "trainer" only rode her like once a week and just got on and got after her to speed up the whole time, so I say hasn't been ridin since December because I dont think she's been on a real ride since then

 

[abigalerose]

OH MY GOSH!! Guess what! I rode June tonight for a few minutes but then I decided to get off and do some groundwork instead, so I walked her out into the yard (so, no fences in sight) and I started lunging her for a while, I kept making her switch directions and made sure her attention was on me, then after a while I took her halter off and tied it around the top of her neck behind her ears, and started lunging again, then I eventually moved it down to the bottom of her neck and lunged a while longer, AND THEN! I took the rope OFF! And I lunged her! And she did circles around me! AT LIBERTY! AT A TROT!!
I'm really excited!! Lol. She just went around a couple times the first time so I stopped and gave her some love and then I did a few more times and built up to doing quite a few circles around me. We probably did Liberty circles for about 15 minutes. Ahh. I've been dreaming of this since I first started working with her last year