After some advice/confidence tips please - girthy horse

[Little-red]

Hi all! I am new here and would love to ask some advice from any fellow rusty "returning to riding" riders!

A bit of my background with horses - started riding when I was 3, rode for 10 years and had to stop due to family problems resulting in there not being the money any more. Never owned my own but helped out where/when I could, rode everything from tiny lazy ponies to huge fast TBs so have a lot of experience in general; rode to WTCJ level but never did any dressage or competitions as i am happy to be a happy hacker and always have been! Have also never taken any formal exams or training for BHS etc so all I know has been passed down by instructors I've had and my own reading online, although I am now looking into taking the stage 1 horse care.

So fast forward another 10 years since stopping and my boyfriend surprised me with a riding lesson last summer for my 24th at a family friends school (I think he was sick of me lusting over every horse we pass!) As you can imagine I was instantly hooked again and have been back in the saddle at every opportunity since, now schooling once a week. I've done a mixture of schooling and hacking and am working my way back up to jumping at the moment - have been lucky to find the perfect school 2nd time around with an instructor I completely trust and have learnt so much from, so there are no confidence issues when riding at all. Generally I'll give anything a go till I get it right in the school and am absolutely fine and calm with any spooky horses out on hacks (had some close calls with an ex hunter out hacking a few times with cars but that's Surrey drivers for you!)

My issue which is really getting me down is lack of confidence with horses on the ground after a particularly nasty experience with a very girthy horse at a stables I volunteer at which teachers disabled people to ride. He had bitten me once before not long after I joined the centre as a volunteer back in October which hurt but I got over it. The second time he bit me though a couple of weeks later he REALLY bit me - whole forearm in his mouth, twisted my arm round so I could not get free and made my whole forearm blue. I've now got a lump of tissue in my arm which will never heal and was torn up out of place by the force of his teeth. Luckily didn't break the skin as I had my trusty Musto on and a couple of long layers underneath but I just wept for what seemed like hours afterwards at the pain. I still get pain in my arm months later. Both of these bites were a response to having his girth fastened, gently I will add as we know he has a problem and are trying to deal with it in a positive manor with no hitting etc as a punishment. I completely avoid this horse now, won't even stroke him.

Now I seem to have lost my nerve with the slightest protest at the girth being fastened or even when holding the head at a mounting block. With horses who are vice free and with good ground manners I am fine and have no fear but at the slightest toss of the head or mouthyness I panic, legs go to jelly and I loose my nerve completely at fear of this happening again and causing real damage over the already damaged arm! Particularly fearful as I am an artist so can't afford to loose any feeling/ability in my drawing hand. I'm fine with tacking/untacking, turning out etc. It's just this stupid fear of being badly bitten again!

Does anybody have any advice or coping mechanisms to use in this type of situation when I can feel myself getting into a panic? Also any tips on how to restrain a restless horse without putting myself at real risk whilst being mouthy would be very helpful! Sorry for the mega long post - wanted to make sure I give some background!

Thanks all!

 

[squidsin]

I would tie up a horse prone to biting before tacking up, so they can't get their head round to bite you. Mine is a bit girthy but she only ever threatens, she doesn't actually bite.

 

[Little-red]

Thanks for your reply; this is the ideal for me too as is what I've been used to in the past but unfortunately wouldn't help with the horse that bit me. He is fine when tacking up, which is always done tied up, but once the rider is mounted and girth tightened a final time is when he goes for you. When ever a rider is mounted and an instructor doing final tack checks before a ride, a volunteer has to hold the horse from the front - hence why needing to get over this confidence issues so I can tackle this problem. Thanks though!

 

[tikkitti]

Our fells girthy, can be a sign of ulcers, anyway with ours I tie her up and put her girth up loosely then tighten before my daughter jumps on. As for the nerves, try and look at the bigger picture, if every girthy horse actually bit, there would be a lot of injured owners, ime many scowl( pull faces) or nip or just threaten but not many actually take chunks. Lots of mares can be girthy, but our mare responds well to just being respected enough that I don't just chuck the saddle on and tighten it super tight I fasten it before mounting tighten it then once she's mounted check it again. We all have stuff that's happened in the past that changes our outlook on things but it's so important to not allow it to stop you doing something you enjoy. x

 

[tikkitti]

Could you not hold both reins evenly behind head near buckle on noseband that way the horse would struggle to nip you. x

 

[squidsin]

My mare is also distracted by food! Sometimes I let her graze while I tighten her girth as then she forgets to blow herself up and get all grumpy. Actually, she did nip me the other day when I tried a new girth on her, so that girth has been returned to the shop and we are sticking with her old one!

 

[Little-red]

Again thanks for the reply; it is good to hear that other people do have to cope with girthy horses and find a process that works for them and their horse. It's not ulcers or any other pain with this horse as that's been looked into regularly (vet check was last week in fact) but there is a theory in the stables that he has past pain/fear as a result of over girthing and being roughly tacked up which is the opposite to how we do it with him. Such a shame that some horses are treated this way and can develope lasting problems

Same process as you mention tikkitti was done with doing his girth up, slowly and taking time to let him get used to it; doesn't seem to make a difference at all as he still protests and swipes out at whoever is leading him. No option of distraction by food either squidsin as our riders mount in the school only although it does sound like this would make life a little easier sometimes! Hope she didn't get you too hard!

You are absolutely right about not letting one experience stop me doing something I love so much; I just need to find a way to calm the nerves now! I was holding the horses head collar as taught in our volunteer training in a way that sounds similar to your suggestion of holding the reins and I think this actually allowed him to really get hold of my arm easier as he threw up his head and caught my arm on the way with it - i am only 5ft so am not the biggest person to control a horse though so maybe this didn't help!

 

[Stamper]

No wonder you're scared! At the very least I'd get something like this:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172966861/plain-leather-bracers-for-costuming

I'm also an artist so I know exactly where you're coming from there.

 

[Jessey]

If the RS want that horse held they had best get an employee to do it who is covered by their insurance! that would be my view anyway, or teach the student to hold the horse and adjust the girth themselves while mounted, though as you say he's now been taken out of lessons...probably for the best but too late really.

My mare went through a very girthy stage a few years ago, not aggressive to me but to the point she would rear and flip over, in a separate incident as a 2 year old she reared and boxed me in the face, so any feet off the ground action from her and I get very nervous. I have changed her saddle and tacking up routine and thankfully the issue seems to have disappeared. I totally get why you are wary, remember as a volunteer you don't have to do everything asked of you, don't be afraid to say no if you think it could be dangerous as its pretty evident they weren't concerned enough not to put you in a dangerous situation with a known aggressive horse.

If I had to hold one in your situation, I would hold both reins together snugly under the chin while standing facing forwards as that will give a horse the least opportunity to get you.

 

[OwnedbyChanter]

Completely agree with @Jessey let the paid staff take the risks.

My ex racer is girthy. He was treated for ulcers I have to be very careful tacking up funny that like Squidsinif he is eating a hay net he takes no notice of me but if no he reacts. So I know it is not pain but a learnt reaction from him as he is checked every 13 weeks by the physio.

Any way, I would do as Jessey said tight reins and stand in front but do it on other horses for a while first. I also would have a horse treat in my hand so when he is good I would reward with that.

 

[USpony]

I'm sorry you got hurt. You were attacked and shouldn't have been put in that situation since the horse was already known to have a problem. I would have anxiety after that also. One way to overcome anxiety is to do the thing you are afraid of, but do a lighter version of it. It sounds like that is exactly what you are doing. The trick is to just keep at it by working with calm horses on the ground and I think your fear will dissipate over time.

Another thing that I think would help is learning some appropriate discipline techniques you know you can use with normal horses so you feel more in control of the situation. There have to be consequences when a horse misbehaves before it becomes a serious situation like what happened to you. I hope I didn't make it sound like your fault. The people who own the horse are the ones responsible for it and for what it does and for teaching it better.

On a happier note, welcome to newrider and I hope to see you around. I'm so happy for you for being able to have horses in your life again!

 

[squidsin]

You definitely should have been warned that the horse was a biter before you were sent in to tack it up - I think it's very poor that the RS didn't do this. Forewarned is forearmed! I lead a biter in RDA - she is headshy and will lash out when asked to trot. I also grab the reins right under her chin so I can control her head. She is little though and I can use my strength against her, and this isn't always the case with big horses and small people. It's a shame you were put in this situation, and understandable that you feel anxious about it now.

 

[Little-red]

So sorry it has taken me FOREVER to reply to you all - thanks for all the comments and suggestions!

Since I posted this I have worked a lot on my basic horse knowledge, going right back to the very basics, making sure I'm doing things the right way and not just any way as we all pick up bad habits along the way - so making sure I'm following consistent tacking up routines, entering stables correctly etc and have also had a brilliant session at the stables I volunteer at leading my favourite boy there who behaved beautifully. After the lesson I helped with we had a good cuddle and quick tidy up before I turned him out to bed for the night. It's amazing how a horse you have a connection with changes everything! I've found both of these have really boosted my confidence on the ground since and I feel much calmer. I've noticed that the biter is being used less and less since posting this funnily enough so I don't think I'm the only one with concerns.

Just wanted to clarify that where this happened is not the stables I ride at; I don't think I made myself clear here. Where I ride the horses are all fine and we are well looked after by paid staff and instructors. The place where I was bitten is a completely volunteer run centre so there are no paid staff to take the risks unfortunately (not naming names as I don't believe it is their fault ultimately; I rather blame the original owner who loan them the horse as they surely have the responsibility to ensure he is safe for a school loan environment?)

Funnily enough I think all this encouragement has helped in my ridden confidence too which I didn't think I had an issue with. Jumped my biggest ever jump yesterday and horse who thought it would be fun to jump a good few feet higher than expected took me off guard and I took a hard tumble to the floor but I was confident enough to get straight back on and we rode that jump till we landed it; I think the situation would have ended in tears had it happened a month ago or so. So thank you all!