Really need help...sorry massive essay

mazda

mazda

maz xxx
Apr 14, 2005
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Dorset
Haven't been on in here in ages but back and I really need help.

My mum brought me a horse in Febuary to back and bring on eventually show and do the workers with. I keep him where i have always ridden-a private showing and backing yard and so have had lots of help from riders and instructors that are really good.

He was 7 and had never really been handled because he was bred on the forest and then turned out with 75 other ponies. My RI thought he would be easy to break in as he was so gentle and loving, to begin with she was right.

He started off nicely and then started going mental. He would gallop full pelt and broncing at the fences of the school, dead stop turn and go again until you fell off. He had so much power behind him that when you did come off you went flying over fences or across the school etc. After lots of falls he seemed to stop and we had his back done and he seemed to get better.

Anyway by August he was still evasive and wouldn't drop his head at all or bend it when doing circles or corners. Infact he used to completely lock his head to the left and this was the same with even the best rider I know. A girl I know came back from eventing over in America and offered to help me with him. She rode him and by the time she had finished he was brining his head in nicely in walk and trot but still locking and she said she never had a horse fight her so much.

After a week of her helping we had his back done again and he had put his poll out, his back out and his pelvis. After this he slowly got better.

She left in September and then a week later he seemed to click and was amazing to ride.

However, he has just gone downhill again and now im really stuck :(

He started off bucking when schooling and napping but after a week he stopped but now he locks his head out to the left again and has started moving his bum into the middle of the shoool when bending if you ask him not to he throws himself on the fence.

He also has started resisiting any contact on the bit. He throws his head right up and fights until you frop the rein contact completely. We had his teeth done again and played with bits and the Bec (the eventer) has tought me new ways to ride him. Other people have tried riding him but found him impossible.

I feel like however much hard work i put in I get so much less out. My RI says hes the most avasive horse she has ever worked with and thats saying something! But he is still getting worse.

Please help
...x
 
If he keeps getting better after you've had the physio then that would be the first thing that I'd check again.

Are you using the same saddle? It might be worth getting it checked to see if it is causing problems.

From your description is doesn't sound like he's *just* being evasive but that he's being evasive for a reason.

It also might be worth looking at how he's being ridden. Are the people who are riding him heavy on the reins? Do they land heavily on his back in trot? Are they kicking him into a strong contact?

It's really worth looking at everything that you can think of but I'd start with the physio and saddle checks to be honest.


Good luck x
 
Same again, if he gets better after seeing the physio, then gets gradually worse again I would guess pain related. And if he's still in the same saddle maybe it's the cause.
Definitely further investigation into the back and saddle - can you borrow a treeless to ride him in and see if he's happier? If he is even slightly better after a couple of sessions then you can at least pinpoint it to a problem with the saddle / something which the saddle is aggravating.

xxx
 
mazda

you don't say much about your horse - though you say he was in the forest with ponies ? Is he a native ?

We have a native pony who was newly backed when we got her. Her tendency is the reverse of yours - as she tends to stand stock still and refuse to move :rolleyes:

But - she had no idea about contact and giving to it. And without controllable forward movement, teaching her was going to be difficult. I've only really started working on this over the last few months.

The things I found helped us were (a) lunging and (b) long reining. For you the long reining may be more relevent - do you do either of these now ? If so, do you see the same behaviour there ?
 
We have had his back done again but my RI is going to get another person to check for another opinion. We have has his saddle redone becuase it was new when we got it so just needed a bit more flocking in the front. We had his teeth done and I spoke to the vet then and he looked him over and said he couldn't see anything wrong.

Yes he is native he is a forest bred new forest (there isn't anything conformationlay sp? unabling to go well apart from he is a little long in the back) and yes we did some lunging but it didn't really help however, long reining did but after a few sessions of this he started playing up with that too.

Bay Mare when he is ridden you have to be really soft with your hands and sit really still as he is so sensitive, even if you adjust your weight when in the saddle he moves straight away. If he doesn't like the way he is being ridden he will either take off with you or throw you off. Due to that fact its only really me and another girl who ride him. Before anyone asks he hasn't been smacked or anything - he is the type of pony that you can't tell off or get angry with at or he will sketch out and always remember it. Its got me really upset because now i'm begining to think its my riding that is making him like this.

He was turned away for a bit to go have some grass and relax but when brought back into work he was tense to begin with (was to be expected) but then went back to his old habbits.

Thank you though guys
 
sounds like because of his age you are expecting too much too soon. try backing right off, start again and treat him tho he his a 4 year old. you may have just 'fried' his brain........
 
Yes he is being taught like a four year old at the moment we are just having a bit of fun (which funnily enough is only fun for him as hes a nut case out on hacks!!) I think i am just going to keep him ticking over during the winter and then start again next year. He has given me more trouble than any 4 year old hehe.
 
Mazda I really don't want this to sound critical but it will do, you got him in Feb as an unbacked basically had nothing done with him, yet in August you're jumping him? That is possibly your problem you have far too much too soon and his body cannot cope with it.

If you think about athletes they have to have a long time to build up the muscles etc for racing, you wouldn't expect a human toddler to go and jump a tonne of hurdles or do a long jump and not be unhappy about it.

To give you an idea, when I backed my off the forest NF she was hacked for the first year turned away for three months taken right back to basics and rebacked and now she has been backed 2.5yrs we're starting to do heavier stuff with her like jumping and driving, but it will take a good year IMHO for them to be ready to jump as you can easily overface them, I think you may have caused physical problems for him in his muscles by overworking him before he has got the required muscles to do the job
 
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