Speedy mare...

[oakley_lover]

Hello everyone :) I have a question for you all about my mare...

My 6 year old haflinger QH mare has been very speedy lately.
She rushes her trot and canter and goes extremly fast. We have been working on half halts, stopping and backing her up when she gets fast, and we changed her bit again as well. During the winter we had a pelham bit on, but she was getting much more controllable so we switched her to a full cheek french link for about a month and she was pretty good!
By the end of the month, she was getting very fast and fighting signals to slow down again, so we switched her back to the pelham again as a "refresher" :) When she is going at a steady pace, she is wonderfully smooth, and balanced, and she has a wonderful jump form that I dont want to waste just because shes being silly. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for some training exercises i could do with her ,and MYSELF too :D to help this issue?

thanks!

Oakley_lover

[inhs]

First check feed & exercise. too much feed & little time outside = rocket :)
Also check pain - any pain can cause horse to rush forward.

If both ok, then a litle reschooling. Does your horse lean on bit as well?

heres the brakes

http://irishnhsociety.proboards41.com/index.cgi?board=usefulinformation&action=display&thread=311

and the leaning on bit / your hands

http://irishnhsociety.proboards41.com/index.cgi?board=usefulinformation&action=display&thread=319

[Torny]

Hi there,

My initial thought is the fact she is still very young and although balanced in walk with a rider, she has not quite mastered trot or canter. I would suggest doing lots of transitions, work on circles and lateral work, which helps strengthen a horse to carry a rider.

TIME IS THE KEY POINT, Don't rush things, because it unravels quicker ;)

It would also be worth checking tack, which may be causing discomfort. Also make sure there isn't anything you may be doing without knowing, that could be making her rush forward. :D e.g tensing, wobbling a whip , things that you are not inteionally doing but she might be sensitive to.

Best wishes :-)

[oakley_lover]

thanks so much you guys for your ideas :)

She doesnt get any feed, and shes been living outside at the moment., so I dont think its that.

I think i'll ask my riding instructor to check her teeth and all that to make sure its all ok. :) I will deffinately work on the transitions and stuff, thanks so much for your ideas everyone! :)

[wundahoss]

My first thought, like others, is pain, if this is a new behaviour. Saddles are generally not overly comfortable for a horse and very many are actually hurtful and restrictive. Even if the saddle was fitted very well to begin with, horses change shape, get wider or narrower through the year and with exercise, so a saddle should be checked every 6 months for fit, preferably being wider than the horse at the shoulders, to allow for more or less padding when shape changes.

I would definitely rule out any possibility of pain before treating this as a training issue.