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Post by heathere on Jan 29, 2015 15:56:02 GMT 1
I have a lovely little mare that has been very slowly backed and brought on over the past year, I have been walking her out in hand since she was two years old and she will follow me anywhere, she is very light and forward going to ride, we only hack locally on our own and with one or two others, never doing more than an hour of gentle walking and some trotting, she lunges nicely about once every other week, so things have been very relaxed and slow to progress which is fine with me because everything has been good, or so I think, but she obviously doesn't think the same and is clearly trying to tell me something but I just don't know what!
After about twenty minutes of riding she will throw her head up, it starts with little ones, and I just ask her to walk on, it progresses more often and more violently, I try to keep calm and ask her to walk on, until she throws a fit and wacks her head up so that her mane and ears touch my face, she goes into mad reverse, skwirms about, throws her head even more until the front feet come off the ground, at which point I say OK thats it I am getting off, and she stands quietly whilst I swap my stick over take my feet out and dismount calmly, so what is all the fuss over? She clearly wants me off. She will then walk in hand, although in a proper mood until she calms down, if she has a good rest she will then let me get back on but if I try too soon she will not let me on.
I feel as though she must be tired or her back aching, she is only 14.3hh and arab cross irish cob so still has some growing to do, and I weigh 9.5 stone.
If she had a serious back problem surely she would not stand for me to get on in the first place, I use a mounting block all the time and she will stand fantastic. She loves a routine!
I do have a problem with the bridle, one day she pulled back when taking the bridle off and got it caught between her teeth and she reared up then took off with it hanging from her mouth, since then we have a had battle which has been getting much better, when we get home she will start throwing her head and glaring at me in preparation for what is to come, but as long as I am patient and wait for her to stand calmly, tickling her ears, then we can get the bridle off without issue.
It is this same head throwing that we have when riding - her way of telling me she doesn't like what I am doing.
But what is it about riding she doesn't like? Friends tell me that's youngsters for you but I am afraid I just don't understand why a horse would make such an argument without reason. Any ideas?
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Post by aljinks on Jan 29, 2015 20:32:56 GMT 1
Hi my first thing if not done so already would be to get her physically checked ( back ,teeth )I would also get saddle checked. Hope you work it out.
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Post by clipclop on Jan 29, 2015 20:46:37 GMT 1
To me it screams saddle - possibly putting pressure behind the withers which with the added weightof a rider (albeit a lightweight one) gets too much
Everyone knows a saddle that is too narrow pinches at the tree points but what a lot of people don't realise is that if it is too wide, the saddle puts pressure higher up at the side of the withers where the saddle each side of the gullet comes into contact with the horse.
It sounds like she is trying to be very well mannered in telling you she's not happy.
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Post by heathere on Feb 4, 2015 15:20:39 GMT 1
Her teeth have been checked and all was OK. I have also ridden her in my treeless saddle with the same issue of twenty minutes down the road a stroppy fit happens. I get off, lead her for ten minutes and get back on, all is OK until we are nearly home and another stroppy fit!
Previously, her girth strap became rather short as she grew and filled out, resulting in a battle to get it onto the first hole, at this time she wasnt being ridden only led out in hand, but she told me quite clearly that she did not want that saddle on her back and the pulling of the girth, no way was I getting near her with it, so I went out and bought a longer girth and after a couple of easy pull ups of the girth she said OK thats better and has never flinched again, saddling up is perfect and she will stand beautifully still for me to mount and doesnt move off until asked, if the saddle was to blame for her stroppy fit there is no way she would let me remount whilst out riding.
Interestingly, since Christmas, four times I have ridden around our little block, a good half hour route, and not once has she had a stroppy fit, its a route we did alot when she was younger and in hand, and it is the only route I know I can do safely on my own as she is very comfortable and knows the road well. She never spooks or plants herself and rides with a bounce in her step on this route. Could the stroppy fit be because she is uncertain of going different places or is bored following another pony and wants the challenge of being up front? She will lead for a while on other routes but then plants herself at something scary and will then happily follow another horse past, she is a confident horse albeit young and with the typical arab hot head!
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Post by portiabuzz on Feb 5, 2015 0:31:00 GMT 1
How old is she now?
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girlmechanik
Novice Poster
I like my horses heavy! X
Posts: 37
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Post by girlmechanik on Feb 5, 2015 23:10:13 GMT 1
I agree with above and it does shout saddle. Is it slipping as your riding? Even if it's not noticeable to you, it may be to you mare? Have you had it fitted recently? If she has filled out fairly recently, as you mention with the girth, it may just be pinching a little but over a ride maybe a little too much for her to cope with as well as a longer/newer ride? X
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Post by heathere on Feb 6, 2015 14:11:44 GMT 1
She will be five in May. I didnt start riding her until late last summer, and only hack out twice a week for an hour at the most or a short lunging session, so she hasnt done much really. I havent done much because she can be stressy, and I want her to relax before we go onto anything else. Typical arab, snorts at things, jumps at her own shadow, gets jelly legs at cyclists but will happily stand back from the road for a tractor and trailer to pass! When she is placid she is brilliant, but if things are not going her way, like I am late with dinner, she throws her toys out the pram!
I have surprised myself and remained confident and calm with her, because she has never done anything really nasty to me, but I dont want to end up in the situation where I am on the floor and with a loose horse and then I do loose confidence!
When I take the saddle off her coat is never squashed or pulled backwards or marked in any way to think one point is getting more pressure, I always massage her over the saddle area after riding and again no flinching. She has a very long silky winter coat!
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Post by clipclop on Feb 6, 2015 15:03:35 GMT 1
Let me ask you a question - have you ever worn shoes that are fine to begin with but cause discomfort after wearing them for a while? Does that discomfort always have visual evidence? If you take those shoes off for a while, do they hurt immediately when you put them back on or are they ok to begin with and then get uncomfortable after a while again?
When was her back last checked? Was her saddle fitted by a professional? When was the saddle fit last checked?
I know you say she was the same in your treeless but that doesn't mean she's comfortable in it.
Of course it may not be the saddle but surely it's worth ruling out?
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Post by lesleyking1 on Feb 6, 2015 22:47:21 GMT 1
Have you bought her on by yourself, or had professional help? Your post makes me feel like I wish I could see what she is doing, if you see what I mean, as her issues might have different meanings to her rather than what you think they are. I ride an Arab, he's a veteran and a good school master, because your riding has to be technically good or he tells you off by throwing his head up and spooking at everything, he is sweet though, issues are just big enough to let you know he's not happy and when you sort yourself out he softens and goes beautifully, he's taught me so much. Several people ride him and he goes different for us all, we all have the same teacher who knows him really well and when first riding him she needs to be there to explain what he wants. It's not that he one of those types that is so quirky he has to be ridden his way, I've gone on to bring on my TB by riding her in the same way, it's just that hotter sensitive types are better if your riding is technically better, as my teacher says you must not get in their way. Hope that doesn't all sound patronising, perhaps get another good rider to have a ride and see what they think or how she is with them. But do all the other basics first. How is she with her seasons, do they make her issues worse, somebody once said to me that years 5&6 are the worst and my TB was awful, no point doing any thing at certain times of the month, last year, 7, she really settled and I could hardly tell when the hormones came and went and her work came on beautifully.
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Post by rosemaryhannah on Feb 9, 2015 8:49:41 GMT 1
The other thing worth looking at is the bit - what is she like with a different bit or in a bitless bridle?
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Post by antares on Feb 9, 2015 14:54:48 GMT 1
They change shape so drastically at that age. My saddler insists on fittings every 6 month as standard between 4 & 6 years of age with the occassional trip in between if something is not quite right. Antares has needed his saddle altering in some way or other nearly every time and needed a different saddle in the spring when he turned 5.
I agree with the others that this sounds saddle related - is it really going to cause you many problems to have it checked & rule it out if necessary?
Then I would be on to physio or at least a good bodyworker - I disagree with your friends that this is normal youngster behaviour
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Post by holi on Feb 10, 2015 22:14:24 GMT 1
Ditto what's been said and I would recommend a bodyworker or mastering method as through both of these, problems were found in my mare that many missed
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