Post by mygirlgmissy on Jan 4, 2016 3:36:51 GMT 1
I've had my mare Missy for just over a year now. Bought her off my husband for 20p after he fell from her and refused to get back on. (Nothing she'd done wrong, just husband being silly).
When we first bought her for husband she was a dull, switched off, dopey mare that i could trust anyone to ride. I didn't have much to do with her while she belonged to husband, i'd ridden her once or twice but nothing extravagant.
When ownership was transferred and she became mine, i started to do a lot more work with her and she changed. Thankfully she very quickly came out of her shell and began to enjoy work. However i began to notice a few minor quirks that puzzled me slightly, but i didn't think anything of them.
Every little thing i do from the moment i bring her in from field, has to be done a certain way or she gets upset and gets all grumpy and backwards-thinking. I've worked out she's a creature that likes things to be done a certain way, a slight OCD if you like. If we're doing some work and i'm tacking her up, she has to be tied one side of barn doorway, if we're not and i'm just washing legs or whatever, she has to be tied the other side.
If i take rugs off and groom her, she takes this as we're working. If we don't go out and i put her in her stable, then she gets all grumpy and 'b*tch-faced'
(This is no bother, this is just to give you an idea of her 'quirks')
Anyhoo.. I taught her how to work with coloured poles.. after she spooked at one in the field and cantered sideways the whole length of the field and back.
I realised she's a 'natural fence' jumper than a 'coloured pole' jumper, and we worked with this over the course of the spring/early summer last year (2015)
After all of my previous confidence issues over the years, i was over it. Me and Missy were flying! A proper team, completely trusted each other 1000%.
Then i messed up.
I stupidly moved yards for 2 months. It was 2 months of hell, and our ridden work went to pieces. She began to buck/rear/bronc and she bolted. EVERY check under the sun was made, all tack inspected and changed if needed, and we had 3x vet visits, with all results coming back clear. Her behaviour became so bad she was unridden for 7 weeks as she scared me that much. Then we came home and it all changed. Missy returned to her normal self within hours of being back home.
Since we returned, I've been bringing Missy back into work slowly. Tried riding her and she napped terribly. **Please note that Missy has always been terrible hacking alone, before we left we had plenty of people to ride with, but when i left so did all my friends. I moved back to find no other liveries there
so we were on our own and i had to go solo**
It got to the point where she'd rear when i tried to tack her up. Vets called again, 2 different practices, chiro came out again..nothing wrong with her. It was then i was faced with 3 options.
1) Give up and sell her on.
2) Continue fighting and battling with her and risk getting us both hurt in the process.
3) Take a step back, and ask Missy what her problem is.
Thankfully i chose 3. And within a few minutes of groundwork she very quickly told me she had zero confidence.. in me or in herself.
I had her on the long line and asked her to go forwards through the yard gate. I was stood roughly where her girth would go, but 2 foot or so away from her body and she had plenty of line so i wasn't affecting her movement in any way. She sniffed the floor, snorted, went forwards a step or two then panicked, span and ran back to me.
She literally hid her head in my back.
This was 4 weeks ago. Since then, i''ve worked with her every day on the ground.
Started with baby steps.. Getting her comfortable to go out of the gate and then up the lane. A couple of strategically placed feed bowls with a few polos or chopped up carrots in worked a treat.
I've always incorporated groundwork with my horses, but Missy needed a lot more work than usual. So thank you Kelly Marks for your wonderful books
I'm now walking her in hand along the same route almost every day, asking her to go forwards. She has come on so well, our bond has been re-established and we adore each other again. She's happy to do what i ask of her, as long as i keep my methods the same. She's pretty much leading me around this same route now.
I rode her in company a week ago for the first time in months, on a slightly different route, and once i'd mounted she flew out of the gate and left her hacking buddy behind for the entire 20 mins ride. She didn't nap once, she was bold and confident, and very forward going.
I should be delighted, right? Nope. It freaked me out a bit, and now i'm worried she'd be difficult to handle when i try to ride her solo.
My worry is this... During our solo work, we've been doing the same route, the same thing.
So.. how do i introduce a new ride?? I can't be riding her around the block forever.
Husband says i should walk her in hand once or twice each time i introduce a new route, but some of these rides are 1-3hrs on horseback... i couldn't possibly walk them in hand?
Plus she's done these routes a hundred times before we moved, so is this necessary?
Another issue is that i so desperately want to get back on her, but where she's so fresh i worry she's going to scare me again. I can't be getting on her feeling nervous, which will then make her nervous and she ends up at square one again.
Sorry for the essay.. Tea and biscuits if you've made it this far.
ANY help or advice would be appreciated.
When we first bought her for husband she was a dull, switched off, dopey mare that i could trust anyone to ride. I didn't have much to do with her while she belonged to husband, i'd ridden her once or twice but nothing extravagant.
When ownership was transferred and she became mine, i started to do a lot more work with her and she changed. Thankfully she very quickly came out of her shell and began to enjoy work. However i began to notice a few minor quirks that puzzled me slightly, but i didn't think anything of them.
Every little thing i do from the moment i bring her in from field, has to be done a certain way or she gets upset and gets all grumpy and backwards-thinking. I've worked out she's a creature that likes things to be done a certain way, a slight OCD if you like. If we're doing some work and i'm tacking her up, she has to be tied one side of barn doorway, if we're not and i'm just washing legs or whatever, she has to be tied the other side.
If i take rugs off and groom her, she takes this as we're working. If we don't go out and i put her in her stable, then she gets all grumpy and 'b*tch-faced'
(This is no bother, this is just to give you an idea of her 'quirks')
Anyhoo.. I taught her how to work with coloured poles.. after she spooked at one in the field and cantered sideways the whole length of the field and back.
I realised she's a 'natural fence' jumper than a 'coloured pole' jumper, and we worked with this over the course of the spring/early summer last year (2015)
After all of my previous confidence issues over the years, i was over it. Me and Missy were flying! A proper team, completely trusted each other 1000%.
Then i messed up.
I stupidly moved yards for 2 months. It was 2 months of hell, and our ridden work went to pieces. She began to buck/rear/bronc and she bolted. EVERY check under the sun was made, all tack inspected and changed if needed, and we had 3x vet visits, with all results coming back clear. Her behaviour became so bad she was unridden for 7 weeks as she scared me that much. Then we came home and it all changed. Missy returned to her normal self within hours of being back home.
Since we returned, I've been bringing Missy back into work slowly. Tried riding her and she napped terribly. **Please note that Missy has always been terrible hacking alone, before we left we had plenty of people to ride with, but when i left so did all my friends. I moved back to find no other liveries there
so we were on our own and i had to go solo**It got to the point where she'd rear when i tried to tack her up. Vets called again, 2 different practices, chiro came out again..nothing wrong with her. It was then i was faced with 3 options.
1) Give up and sell her on.
2) Continue fighting and battling with her and risk getting us both hurt in the process.
3) Take a step back, and ask Missy what her problem is.
Thankfully i chose 3. And within a few minutes of groundwork she very quickly told me she had zero confidence.. in me or in herself.
I had her on the long line and asked her to go forwards through the yard gate. I was stood roughly where her girth would go, but 2 foot or so away from her body and she had plenty of line so i wasn't affecting her movement in any way. She sniffed the floor, snorted, went forwards a step or two then panicked, span and ran back to me.
She literally hid her head in my back.
This was 4 weeks ago. Since then, i''ve worked with her every day on the ground.
Started with baby steps.. Getting her comfortable to go out of the gate and then up the lane. A couple of strategically placed feed bowls with a few polos or chopped up carrots in worked a treat.
I've always incorporated groundwork with my horses, but Missy needed a lot more work than usual. So thank you Kelly Marks for your wonderful books
I'm now walking her in hand along the same route almost every day, asking her to go forwards. She has come on so well, our bond has been re-established and we adore each other again. She's happy to do what i ask of her, as long as i keep my methods the same. She's pretty much leading me around this same route now.
I rode her in company a week ago for the first time in months, on a slightly different route, and once i'd mounted she flew out of the gate and left her hacking buddy behind for the entire 20 mins ride. She didn't nap once, she was bold and confident, and very forward going.
I should be delighted, right? Nope. It freaked me out a bit, and now i'm worried she'd be difficult to handle when i try to ride her solo.
My worry is this... During our solo work, we've been doing the same route, the same thing.
So.. how do i introduce a new ride?? I can't be riding her around the block forever.
Husband says i should walk her in hand once or twice each time i introduce a new route, but some of these rides are 1-3hrs on horseback... i couldn't possibly walk them in hand?
Plus she's done these routes a hundred times before we moved, so is this necessary? Another issue is that i so desperately want to get back on her, but where she's so fresh i worry she's going to scare me again. I can't be getting on her feeling nervous, which will then make her nervous and she ends up at square one again.
Sorry for the essay.. Tea and biscuits if you've made it this far.
ANY help or advice would be appreciated.
