To Much For Me?

[Danyele]

Hi!

Well, after saying I'm back to the board I haven't been on in a long time, and Life has just gone downhill.

Prince, My 14.3hh Welsh D, Has started being such a pain that I daren't hack him anymore.

When I first got him he was a dream - I could hack all over the place without a twitch on the reins. Now, and I can't think of what's triggered it, even the shortest of hacks end up with me or my brother on the floor, and if he get's his feet on grass I'm a goner.

I do school him, But it's become difficult recently as the only place I can school is the menage down the road, which involes, you guessed it, hacking down there.

I've had lessons, I've been and ridden other horses, He's had everything it's possible to check checked and it's all getting too much.

My mum insits we keep trying, and to be honest I don't want to give up on him either, but it's destroying my already shattered confidence even more and I just want my pony back the way he used to be:(

Any ideas?

Sorry for such a long post,

Danyele

ETA He's fed a handful of happy hoof and a handful of pony nuts in the morning, and what he has in the morning plus a handful of sugar beet, some glucosamine, a conditioning supplement, a hoof supplement and a carrot in the evening.

[Skyhuntress]

Riding should be fun, first and foremost. Now, you should be working through things, but you come to a point that you almost end up making things worse because of your lack of confidence.

Would it be possible to have someone else go out and hack him for a bit and school him while hacking?

[Mossy]

Hi!

Well, after saying I'm back to the board I haven't been on in a long time, and Life has just gone downhill.

Prince, My 14.3hh Welsh D, Has started being such a pain that I daren't hack him anymore.

When I first got him he was a dream - I could hack all over the place without a twitch on the reins. Now, and I can't think of what's triggered it, even the shortest of hacks end up with me or my brother on the floor, and if he get's his feet on grass I'm a goner.

I do school him, But it's become difficult recently as the only place I can school is the menage down the road, which involes, you guessed it, hacking down there.

I've had lessons, I've been and ridden other horses, He's had everything it's possible to check checked and it's all getting too much.

My mum insits we keep trying, and to be honest I don't want to give up on him either, but it's destroying my already shattered confidence even more and I just want my pony back the way he used to be:(

Any ideas?

Sorry for such a long post,

Danyele

ETA He's fed a handful of happy hoof and a handful of pony nuts in the morning, and what he has in the morning plus a handful of sugar beet, some glucosamine, a conditioning supplement, a hoof supplement and a carrot in the evening.

You say he is fed twice daily. Has he had a change of grass recently? It sounds to me like over exuberance. Try cutting out the pony nuts. Beet and chaff will help him keep his weight an dhe is getting his vits and mins with the supplements. Good luck

[NoviceNic]

Did you canter at the same places everytime??? Are these the places he wants to canter now and you dont??

If you are nervous when you hack him then he will definately pick up on your nerves and be worried too.

[Danyele]

We don't canter at the same place everytime - and when he's bolting it's mainly on the road. Which is just plain dangerous.

My friend and I are organising a "Pony Swap", in which She is going to ride prince and school him whilst hacking, and I am going to ride her little confidence giver.

Thanks for your help:),

Finger crossed

Danyele

[xxxkristinaxxx]

I would see about changing his diet, if he is a good doer he may not need pony nuts or sugar beet.
I have already made this mistake with over feeding and with high energy feed (by accident) and when I changed the feed and amount it made my horse go back to normal.

Also if you don't feel confident enough to ride him when you get down to the arena you could lunge him then ride and he will be more calm!

Good luck with the situation

[Afellpony]

I take it you've had his back and teeth checked.

[eventerbabe]

happy hoof is loaded with sugar, i've seen it send usually sensible horses up the wall. That combined with sugar beet and the flush of grass may have been enough to tip him over the edge. I'd certainly reasses his diet.

Has he had back, teeth and tack checked?

[Danyele]

Yes, He's been chacked all over.

I've cut down his feed and forced myself to ride at LEAST every other day.

And I'm so happy.

I took him out on friday and he started napping, but I just thought "I am not going to be put down by you horse!" and made him turn back the right way.

He was an absolute angel after that, apart from an episode with a lorry, and we even had a little trot on the final stretch :D

Thanks everyone

Danyele xx

[Alfies-slave]

Definately cut out the Happy Hoof and the sugar beet. Only a handful of the stuff is enough to send some ponies loopy!

What about getting a frelance instructor to give you a few lessons to get your confidence back up?

Is there anyone with an experienced, sensible horse who could hack out with you?

Is there an older, confident, experienced rider who could come and ride your pony to get him back on the right track?

[fairlady]

Hey sorry to hear you are having a few probs, me too with my young Welsh Sec D:) aged 2.

However I was a bit :eek: when I saw what you were feeding him. Have you no grass? Welshies are such good doers, I feel guilty sometimes cos to be honest Morse is getting absolutely zilch, even at 2, he is growing quickly has a nice shiny coat etc and quite honestly I do not think he needs any type of feed at the moment other than good grass. Winter yeah, I will give him something.

The most he gets is a handful of high fibre nuts and scoop of chaff, but I was only giving him that to encourage him to spend time and chill in the stable and I must admit it paid dividends cos it worked when he had to stay in to be wormed. He gets that about once a week now when I just pop him in the stable for a 20 minute reminder of 'hey this is not so bad'.

I would stop feeding him altogether if you have the grazing and just give him the odd carrot:)

[eml]

I love Welsh D's but do find them more challenging than most other breeds!!

How old is Prince?

I had my old D from a 2yo to his death at 28 and never had a dull moment. He alternated between brilliant and scary; working at Medium dressage on a good day and leaving me eating dirt on a bad one all through his life. He was the easiest youngster I have ever met , polite and sane as a four year old, volatile at 7 to 9 then talented but with attitude for the rest of his life, still doing passage when excited in his late life!

Current one was quiet at 3 and then developed attitude!! I suspect at 6 he is seeing some sense but I wait to see :eek:

Oh and do not feed them anything apart from basic poor grass/hay these ponies are designed to thrive on fresh air!!

[Joyscarer]

Joy is a Welsh Sec D and all she is getting this time of year is chaff to stick her pink powder, seaweed and garlic in but she is out on grass 24/7. In winter if her condition drops off I will gradually add fibre nuts and a bit of speedibeet.

Joy is a very good natured mare but you do need to be very consistent with her or she could take the mick!

I revert to doing more work on the ground if she is in season or got out of bed on the wrong side, I always carefully asses her mood when I am getting her ready. I do this ground work because I am happier, more confident and have more control from the ground. Not only that it means that I am reinforcing my role in our relashionship!

Not only that but I am very honest about my own mood in any given day because Joy picks up on how I am feeling very quickly and needs an example to follow. Some days I am not what she needs so I find it best not to ride then!

If you are riding her straight from the stable you could try popping her loose out for a bit before you ride to allow her to let off some steam.

I know you said you have had lessons, but were these with somebody who came in to work with you and your horse? I found this particularly beneficial with Joy :)

[cariadbach10]

I've got my welsh d a month ago after knowing her for two years.They are a breed that is anything but predictable! She'll be an absolute plod for ages and then the other days she bolted past a field and up the lane to the yard, scattering cars/ people in her wake. All becuase the colt in the field had scared her!

I do agree with the other posters who suggest feeding welshies next to nothing. As you can see from the pic mine is a right porker. She gets fed a handful of chaff and a scatter of pasture mix with gralic in the evening. I make it really sloppy so it looks like more! She still manages ot be fizzy on that - and she's out 24/7!

[Cheeky]

How about lunging before you ride?

[Danyele]

Okay, thanks for all the advice!

I've cut out food altogether now - he was given more to build him up when we first got him, on the advice of the woman riding him as I couldn't.

I've been teaching him to lunge, but it's taking a while, and I rang the girls down the road and seem to have made some good friends to hack out with:D

thanks again,

Danyele xx

[atillathefun]

Sounds as though if you didnt let him get his own way napping and then he was good that he might just be trying you out and seeing what he can get away with.
Could you walk him in hand to the menage??

[dunrobin_topper]

welshies are amazing ponies..very biddable but V CHEEKY! They are very clever ponies and my welsh cob x is no exception. I have had him since a yearling and he was backed and brought on easily...he was even broken to be driven as well! But and there is always a but! He is very strong and stubborn! We went through the terrible 2s, 3s,4s,5s,6s and its only since he turned 7 (he is 11 now!) that he really has started to listen and respect me! lol we have done all the ground work, leading, lunging, long reining, schooling (not to a v high standard but he understands voice commands and when to stop most importantly!) Welshies are quick to learn which can be a pain when they learn a bad habit e.g. he learnt how to reverse (in trot i might add!) but we have undone that over the last year!

Ditto all the above! You really dont have to feed unless you have really really bad grazing! We literally rug him up and give him lots of hay! hi-fi lite for feeding oil and garlic supplements and a handful of conditioning cubes in the winter and thats only if its really cold and he is being ridden!

What i will say is they like to be active (even if its just plodding about!) but you have to keep things interesting otherwise they get bored really easily and muck about! Vary what you do e.g. lunge then ride/long rein, jumping, hacking rotate it day by day! Its hard work even for a native you would think they were TBs or something! Luv my welsh to pieces but on his grumpy stubborn bad days you really cant push him!! On his good days he is brilliant and anyone could sit on him! :rolleyes: