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SA rider

SA rider

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Oct 28, 2004
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I love my mare to bits, despite her horrendous biting habit, laziness, unpredictable bucking whenever she sees a jump, or if a horse leaves the school....
At the moment though she just seems so, well `dead'. I feel like I'm kicking her round the school, until she decides to suddenly shoot down the centre line, leaving me frantically trying to sort out my seat aids to slow her so that I don't have to whop her in the mouth.
I'm not a bad rider, I've been riding for 25 years in fact (only dressage for two and a half years though) but her behaviour can be so tiring and I end up feeling like a beginner - and a pretty hopeless one at that.
Mind you, funnily enough, two weeks ago we were going fabulously and I felt on top of the world.
I guess I just need someone to send me good karma - and maybe some tips - anything please to stop me sinking my teeth into the nearest wooden post.
 
Oh don't feel like that :( She is still young, and you have done great things with her. I don't have any tips for you cos I am crap anyway, just try not to get too stressed with her, she'll know :cool:
anything please to stop me sinking my teeth into the nearest wooden post.
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You had better not be thinking of sinking your teeth into the school fence, I know someone who would be very very annoyed at you for that (and he is closer to you at the moment than he is to me ;))

Are you still hacking her out regulary? Maybe she is fed up of the school?
 
Tell us more, SA Rider .. .how old is the mare ? How long have you had her ? What is her name ? Where is a nice piccy of her ?

Sometimes it gets like that with a young horse. You shouldn't feel you are having to push her all the time .. go back to your roots - go think about what she 'should' feel like ... go and picture yourself giving her very, very, light aids, just a gentle squeeze and ecpecting her to change gaits ... then if she doesn't :eek: act suprised ! 'what !' and a sharp little tap ... two three strides of the faster pace, then slow to a walk again and reward her for her good response... then, after a little break, ask again, very gentle nudge forward. Don't get yourself trapped into this nag-nag-nag with the leg that we all tend to on a lazier horse. The lazier the horse, the more reason to always return to the softest cue.
 
Kate she is the pretty little chestnut in SARiders avatar, and if you click the link in the siggy you will see the gorgeous Chica
 
Yep she's young - think I get a bit stressed when a show's coming up and there I am thinking she's going to be `on the bridal' blah blah and when we practice the test we get `giraffe-head' followed by `dragging back legs syndrome' and if her back was any more hollowed we could insert a swimming pool.
But anyway points taken you guys, and will go for the back to the basics thing and will stop expecting too much too soon.
Actually bearing in mind that its an in-house show, here at the Saddle Club, I should do well, so far I'm the only entry in the intermediate section............ that'll be a red rosette for me THEN!!!
Thanks Kate and Angel will go have glass of wine, look at more pictures of real dressage horses and dreeeeammme. Oh and will also read over u advice Kate and try that out. Maybe have got in a nagging habit..
 
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..First thing I'd do is have her really carefully checked out. Feet, back, legs, etc. I always think horses who don't want to go forward have a problem lurking. Get an expert in, someone who can look at the situation insight-fully. Think how lousy you would feel if you actually discovered there was something wrong! and how glad you would feel if when you were able to fix the problem and make it all go away leaving a happy-to-go-forward-again-horse.
 
Rowena I would love to do that but its so difficult in Cyprus. The British Forces RAF vet has looked at her and said she's fine, but I will ask him again just to be sure. The thing is I suspect it is just boredom because the minute I aim her for the gate for a hack suddenly she's a NEW pony and she's trotting away practically turning cartwheels. I've been thinking about it and will try a short hack before each schooling session to see if it will help.
When I trot her in the school there's lots of huffing, ears back, the odd miserable grunt and tail swinging at the moment. But when we're out the gate it's ears forward, bouncy trot, bright eyes.............
 
Wow, Cyprus! always wanted to go there...
I'm from Cape Town, SA.
Anyway, your Chico must be the prettiest pony around. I think she looks gorgeous!

My horse has the same attitude about arena work... a bit like trying to have dancing lessons with an unwilling partner! :eek: but you should see him strut his stuff out on a hack, boy oh boy, I would be getting 8's for the extended trots he gives me out in the guava orchards! Sigh...

And just like you, I know he's OK, because of what he's like out of the arena.
Someone suggested I put interesting obstacles like trotting poles etc in the arena to add interest. I'll keep you posted on ideas if this works

Cheers,
Rowena.
 
Maybe a lot of it depends on the rider's attitude ? The more people I know with horses, the more I see horses who look like their owners. This was brought home to me the other day when I was working with my buddy, who is very laid back, and her grumpy old mare. Every time she pinned her ears (the mare, obviously :D ) my buddy made her gallop about the (huge) arena. After a little while of me pushing my joePony towards her, to provoke her grumpiness, I stopped altogether and was day-dreaming. Oddly enough, Limerick carried on kicking out and having to do her hard work. I wasn't doing anything - it was all joePony .. he'd keep edging towards her and pushing on her flank til he got a reaction. Then he'd stand there chuckling as she galloped about yet again. She stopped kicking out soon enough .. but my buddy remarked "you can tell who's pony he is ... pushy, pushy, pushy ... just like his Mom". And she was right.

How boring is schooling ? I ask, because I used to be bored with it, but that was before I was able to come up with a plan. Now, armed with my plan, I find it so fascinating. I tend to practice a little of, some of, what we've done before, not all of it every time... then work on pushing forward something new. If I get a real big 'try', I quit, right there. (Sometimes, I'm doing a flying dismount even as I'm thinking, "wow, joePony, that was a great effort...!" )

Schooling is the coolest thing. My buddy, I was telling you about, was finding schooling pretty boring because her horses 'just aren't into it'. Since we've been working together more, and sharing our ideas, and setting ourselves little goals between us ... way hay ! all of us, including our sluggish horses, all of a sudden have a whole lot more 'get up and go' :)
 
O my god if ponies are like their owners then mine is a daydreaming ditz (very intelligent though.... of course).
Yes I love schooling. Get a real thrill out of aiming for something and achieving it. Chica was actually better today after our little hack out, more oomph involved. But I still felt I was using my reins too much - you know, dragging her this way and dragging her that. I'm sure its all my fault, but it doesn't help that she's one of those ponies that is interested in everything around the arena, outside the arena, up in the air, down on the ground, anything except what I'm asking her to do.
The strange thing is that when we do a show - on home ground - suddenly she starts concentrating a bit more. Maybe my jitters do something to her?
 
You know, I just re-read your description of her, hollowed out, giraffe neck trailing legs. OMG that is EXACTLY the description of my Rosie when I school her (except her legs don't trail out so much as stamp up and down like a toy soldier). Rosie is half arab ... and I think perhaps she's just not ready for the whole schooling thing. I don't know - over here, everyone's doing canter lead changes on their two year olds, and I'm struggling to get a forward trot on a 4 1/2 yr old. Her lack of control of her own feet is laughable. Most horses her age are schooling over trotting poles. She struggles to walk over a single walking pole - gets half way then gets stuck. Over a pole on the ground :eek: I'm thinking bodywork/chiropracter type thing for my mare ...and then lots and lots of long straight lines going forward, What's that parelli-type of saying, about 'short' horses needing long lines and long horses needing short lines.... he's talking about balancing the horse's desire to go with the rider's need for control and softness - naturally forward going horses (long horses) can be ridden in short lines (circles, schooling) but naturally short horses (lazy, or nappy horses) need to be ridden long lines - rides out, lots of forward. I'm thinking maybe just riding my mare forward for the winter and seeing how she feels again in the Spring.
 
It's been suggested I lunge her in side reins too so I'm going to start that to get her on from behind and hopefully achieve less `giraffe'. But what you said about long lines, yes that might help out too, because I've been doing alot of work on small circles so maybe it's just not suiting her. She may be finding it a bit too intense. I think maybe I have been putting the pressure on her a little too much. I'll try and alternate with `long work' and lunge work, see how that goes.
Bless her, her attitude on the yard is getting loads less aggressive too (AT LAST) and she is leading in hand very nicely (she used to charge around) so I should really be concentrating more on the little achievements and stop beating me and her up so much about at what we are not achieiving.
I even managed to put her fly mask on her in her paddock the other day without her attempting to remove my face with her teeth..
Chica's a bit older than Rosie, she's seven. But she had a foal young (before I owned her) so really wasn't ridden very much, she's more like a four or five year old.
 
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