Feeling utterly depressed and hopeless. HELP!

KP nut

KP nut

I'd rather be riding.
Dec 22, 2008
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Oh dear. :(:(:(:(:( I've mentioned before that Zak developed a bit of a head dropping habit and once a week or so on a transition to canter or after a jump he would drop his head. RI felt it was behavioural. He has carried on doing it, but it's such a minor fault that my girls have been able to sit back and maintain their balance and he has not escalated the behaviour. I hoped it was just a minor quirk of his and he would stop over time. Well today they were in a jumping lesson in the jumping field and as he was approaching a little hedge he dropped his head much lower than normal and bucked. Twin 1 came off. I hopped on as she felt scared, and he dropped his head immediately and bucked. I kicked him on and kept his head up and he reared slightly. When he landed I kicked on and he bucked, I pulled his head up and he reared vertical. When he landed I kicked him into canter and cantered him over the hedge then circled him and jumped it 4 times in a row on a tight rein so he couldn't ditch me on landing then a double twice on a long rein. He made no effort to buck again. We left it at that. I checked his back as the physio showed me how and he showed no sign of pain. Not that I'm an expert but I keep making tack/back related excuses for him and I really don't think it's that.

So what is going on. The girls are really upset. They saw it all of course and are now terrified at the thought of riding him again. And they asked 'why did he jump it so nicely last week and then do that today?' Good question! He was last ridden on Monday and was good as gold. So I doubt he is either sore/tired or overly fresh.

If he were just my pony I could work through this. But he is meant to be a confidence giving novice pony. I can;t expect them to cope with this kind of stuff. And the problem is so intermittent so how can I school him out of it?

Any advice? Feeling very, very upset about this and at a loss.
 
No advice, I'm afraid, just wanted to sympathise with your frustration, confusion and at-a-loss-ness. Sounds like you and your girls have had your trust in him shaken quite badly.

Hope you all can find a way to work through this together:)
 
If he's messing you around to the point where your girls are scared to ride him and the bucks are getting bigger I'd consider using grass reins. They'll only come into use when he drops his head and you can cobble them up using baling twine so you don't actually need to buy them either.

If you're sure it's not tack\back related (and I'm sure you've checked that out) you can use grass reins until he learns dropping his head gets him nowhere. You can ride with or without but just pop them on for the girls. They're also good for stopping greedy ponies putting their heads down to graze with a small rider on board.
 
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I don't really have any advice, just sympathy. I guess the solution is for you to ride him for the next week or so and see if he does it again. If he keeps doing it, maybe send him to a trainer to get it sorted out (well that's what I'd do anyway.)
 
Yes teeth are fine.
Chev he had grass reins on already as we use them in the jumping field when the girls are riding there to give them a bit of confidence.
 
I just assumed you hadn't used them with you saying he dropped his head far lower than before, sorry.

What bit is he currently ridden in?

How old are your girls?
 
Would a change of bit help?

When I had similar problems with Gelfy (he was more of a spin-and-buck merchant) I took him out of his nice gentle happy mouth snaffle and put him in a Waterford. I don't like Waterfords particularly but it did solve the problem. That's why I ask how old your girls are. Mine were a lot younger so they had the snaffle to ride in and that was on the lead. By the time they were old enough to ride off the lead he was back in his nice gentle happy mouth snaffle again. I'm not really one for solving problems with tack or gadgets but they can have their place.

How much experience do your girls have? Would you be able t try a different bit or are they too novice for that?
 
That's pretty extreme behaviour to have come out of nowhere. If he was mine I'd want him properly checked over by a vet because I find it hard to believe he's protesting that strongly for no reason, or even for a minor reason. As well as the things other people have mentioned I'd also wonder about foot pain since jumping seemed to trigger it.
 
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I don't have the experience to help, but I am so sorry to hear this. Zak seems to have a touch of the Mr Hyde in him, I can't imagine why.
 
Oh no not one in a million Zak. I can't believe he is doing this...Sounds so out of character for him, i would get everything checked out...you said you were jumping in the field are your fields very dry and hard at the moment and is he barefoot?
 
Speaking more from logic than expérience it does seem very extrême behaviour.
although i think You did the right thing by riding him yourself i'd still be pondering on a vet visit...........
sorry not to be helpful .
 
My initial thoughts are that he is getting confused between you riding him and making him work properly, and the girls riding him in a different style. I have seen this before in mother/daughter shares and when we were discussing it with a RI at camp, she said that some ponies are often better just being ridden by the children. From previous posts you have said that you like to work him properly in an outline etc. and that he is not used to doing this. Therefore you are high in your expectations of him and he is therefore more resistant in his objections to you, hence him rearing vertical.

I don't really see the little bucks with your children to be a huge issue. All ponies will buck from time to time and this is part of learning to ride. I own the most saintly horse in the world, but even he has bucked me clean off his back before. In the circumstance that you described I think that it would have been better to let your child get back on and deal with it, rather than you. It isn't fair to expect Zak to be 100% perfect all the time, he sounds like a typical cheeky pony who can be fun and loving to ride, but also a little naughty when the mood takes him.
 
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Are you in touch with his previous owners? How old was his previous rider? Naughty Zak, he really is in the doghouse now. Hope you find a solution soon and your daughter aren't too shaken up by it all.x
 
MP speaks the truth - most ponies aren't saintly. I was regularly bucked off by riding school ponies as a kid. Even the ones I work with at RDA are prone to the odd buck or even bronc when ridden by better and more competent riders, as they prefer the easier ones where they get to plod about on a lead rein! The one I usually lead had to be removed from the end-of-term picnic before it even started as she went down and rolled with all her tack on. I think the excitement of the day had got to her, but you can't put a disabled child on a pony that might roll - certainly not when I am leading it, and responsible! Zak is good 95% of the time - does that make up for the other 5%? Only you know the answer to that one KPNut!
 
I agree with Mary P. I have had a hard time riding a saintly childrens pony. One problem is time and consistency in schooling. I did not ride enough and kids rode her too. You have other ponies on your mind and are asking a lot more than your daughters might. I was bucked with a few weeks ago and had increasing difficulty with an over excited horse. Who knows whether it is summer food and warm weather. My conclusion is that if a pony is doing a fine simple job as a lead rein or beginner childs pony it is better not to complicate things by asking it to do another job. The pony I was riding finally jumped with me while in canter , unpredicted behaviour which led to my falling and Ive decided not to ride her again. In your daughters case you could take it simply, progress step by step and see how he goes when returned to his main job. I would abandon competition too. Striving to get admiration and rosettes for your girls may add stress both for the children and their ponies. Build your Rashid style understanding instead.
 
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Mary Poppins said:
I don't really see the little bucks with your children to be a huge issue. All ponies will buck from time to time and this is part of learning to ride. I own the most saintly horse in the world, but even he has bucked me clean off his back before. In the circumstance that you described I think that it would have been better to let your child get back on and deal with it, rather than you. It isn't fair to expect Zak to be 100% perfect all the time, he sounds like a typical cheeky pony who can be fun and loving to ride, but also a little naughty when the mood takes him.
Click to expand...

Can I quote this to parents of kids who are RS riders! No pony may 'buck' in any lesson, take a 'large canter stride' or as decribed by one mother 'gathered himself together to rear' ( actually just started to work correctly from behind on a circle). Sorry but really no small child's ponies should buck, run off or pull the reins out of their hands. I used to put my then small daughter on beautiful show standard but naughty ponies, they were sharp and needed riding but would never buck or rear,.
 
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My 12.2hh used to snatch his head down to buck, he was a welsh b show pony and I got him when I was 2 and on lead rein but once off lead rein I was over horsed and he constantly had me on his neck or the floor:( This continued until I'd lost all confidence in him. I then had a saintly inherited a older 13.2hh schoolmistress who could do anything and later went back to my 12.2hh. So I do believe there are saintly ponies out there but they are few and far between, my daughters fell is good but definitely not saintly, I live in hope:)
 
My second daughter came off after a spook and broke her wrist. She was gutted when the doctor she saw told her no riding for six weeks. The pony she was riding was a saint but even the saintliest ponies' haloes can slip.
 
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