Problem Horse

[Fran_C]

One of my friends has just bought a pony, (that I previously knew) that has serious problems. I don't want to but my nose in and tell her she is doing things all wrong, so I just said why dont you read elightened equitation, she said the book was great but insisted that it was pointless trying the methods out because her pony was so set in its ways. Not wanting to appear like a know it all I just agreed with her. However recently she now asks me for help, realizing that she does have a difficult pony. First of all could anyone give me some useful exercices for her pony who:
dosent bend properly, is on its forehand, pulls like a train, opens its mouth, strgazes very badly and who's trot is lacking in rythm. The pony is ridden in a kimblewick and a grakle anything less and it is unstoppable but she refuses anything stronger. I have ridden the pony and found that after half an hours work with a very light contact it will begin to work better tracking up and becoming a little softer in the mouth. Any comments pleez???

[LindaAd]

My daughter had a pony that was unstoppable in a Kimblewick (that was what she came with); someone suggested she might have teeth problems, or be afraid of the bit. In fact it was both: after some dental treatment and a change to a plain snaffle, she was much calmer. Your friend's pony seems similar to me ... Could you persuade your friend to get the teeth checked at least, and perhaps try a different bit?

[Wally]

There is not a horse more set in his ways than Rossi! He's 17 this year and been a trekking horse all his life. Never done any school work as far as I know. I tried Heathers techniques on him and he responded so well and without any guess that he'd never been asked to do this before. Horses are not set in their ways half as much as humans are!

[Fran_C]

Yes, I think it could be a problem in the mouth, or in the back was another thing I thought of. This pony's saddle dosent fit neither does its rugs and its browband pinches. It has rubbing on its nose from where the headcollar doesn't fit, but the grakle goes over this rubbed spot. Before I convinced my friend to ride in a kimblewick it was in a snaffle, this to look at was heart wrenching to merely slow it slightly took htonnes of force on the reins with its lips being pulled right back, at least in the kimblewick you dont have to put so much damaging force into it.

[horsy]

Stargazing is a problem commonly associated with the pony's back. Also her teeth should be checked, and see if anybody has a spare snaffle bit so you can just try it out for a few minutes. Check the fit of your saddle too.
horsy
xxx

[Fran_C]

As I said Snaffle was used previously before the kimblwwick. The sanffle was horrendous to watch absolutley ut wrenching seeing the force required to yank that ponys mouth until it would stop, its mouth is so dead that it simply didn't respond even when I got on and tried to ride it with gentle aids like I would on my pony. After 21 years of wearing the sanffle and having its mouth pulled to pieces the kimblewick is a great improvement

[Dizzy]

I think that you have got the measure right when you say a very soft contact on the mouth. Any bit is severe if used strongly, I would try to concentrate on using my body and legs to dictate the speed, starting in walk, an indoor school would be a big help, if not put him on the lunge, ask him to walk on with virtually no contact on the mouth, unless of course he bolts.

Ask him forward, but have a very gentle contact, with a horse that resists bit contact, but steps out when asked, will be confused by the command to walk on, then being asked with the hands to slow down. If he walks on praise him but use your body and very gentle squeezes of the rien to contain the pace. If he breaks into trot let him have a few srides, then ask again for walk.

The communication breaks down when they are being asked forward by the leg and at the same time being asked to stop with the rien. Its the equivalent to riding a bike with the brake on. Often upping the severity of the bit encourages them to resist harder. Before you get him working on an outline, he probably needs to understand exactly what you are asking. To get the outline you need to ride him from behind into your hand, its communicating the fine balance of speeding up and collection, its a very fine line and is easily misunderstood by the horse. Especially if he's used to strong aids on the bit.

Hope this helps

Lesley

[Sharon H]

If the saddle and the bridle don't fit him properly it won't matter what exercises you try the pony will still be in pain and will react in exactly the same way as he does now. These things are so important that they need to be sorted out before anyone gets on him again in my opinion.

[Fran_C]

If it was my horse the first thing I would do would be to buy new tack but its not, its my friends and its only a loan horse. In fact I have given her my old browband now which doesn't pinch and my old back riser has been put under the saddle which improves the fit of the tack, but doesn't improve the horse. Although I should think its happier anyway, I think the problem is more in the the riders fixed hands. Thanks Dizzy I'll pass the advice on.

[Dizzy]

Somehow I missed the post when you said the tack doesn't fit, Sharon is absolutely right, if he's uncomfortable he'll never give to her, its like us wearing an uncomfrotable pair of shoes, or a pair of jeans that are too tight. He'll be unable to relax.

Could your friend not approach the owner and come to some sort of compromise, maybe go halves, you can pick up 2nd hand tack quite cheaply. If she is serious about making progress with the horse, she'll have to make him comfy, then begin to tackle the problems he has, which unfortunately sound manmade,

Good luck, you're in a difficult situation.

Lesley

[jed lewis]

hi fran,c how long has the pony been ridden in tack
that does not fit .Do you know much passed historey on
this poor pony ,was he vetted before purchase .
there may be more problems besides the poor fitting
tack .can i advise you have someone to fit his tack
or find tack to fit him before your friend goes any"
further if not that might add to the pain he could be
in when ridden .if the pony has ridden hollow for a
while ,it will take a while to bend in the opposite
direction due to wrong contraction of the muscles ,
i would have his teeth and back and pelvic checked then
ask your farrier to see if his limbs and hooves are in
need of realinement ,hoof and incorrect fetlock
alinement can cause many problems not just in limbs
but also pelvic and shoulder and back region .
when all is well plan a correction schooling plan in
slow biulding work and take his time after a while
you may find the pony trusting the riders hands if
your rider could learn to yeild her hands when the pony
softens , i do feel this poor pony has been screaming
but noone could hear , listen and he will tell you all
is not well . best regaurds jed

[floppy]

if the pony doesnt bend correctly there is a simly thing you can do to help him. While sitting on the pony take a treat in your hand and encourage the pony to turn its head to your foot to accept the treat. then repat it on the other side. Dotn use a treat all the time. Encouraging the pony to do this will help loosen and stretch the muscles that are stiff and remmeber to do it equally on both sides maybe a bit more otn eh stiffer side. You can also use this method to trainn the pony to walk and stop on voice command. Hodl a treat in your hand and walk ont hen giving the gentle aids to stop hold out your hand so your pony can see the treat and he should stop, give him a praise and a goo pat (aswell as the treat) and try again repeating it all the time everytime you ide and again not giving treats everytime you do it. (this method worked for me with the horse i am riding) its easier to try allt his first when riding alone without another horse and then once he is obiendent alone with the command to walk and halt and then trot and halt and then eventually canter and halt (well at leats to encourage her back to walk and then halt) then start trying it again whilst riding with other horses. Everything i hae mention has worked for me so far. And i knwo how i can attract her attention quickly.
but definately do soemthign about the horses tack! becuase it sounds as negelct from both your friend and the owner!
(i knwo how you feel i knwo someone who has bought a horse 9mths ago and hasnt ridden it since because she is scare dnad isnt an able rider and mistreated her horse to begin with ETC and now i have managed to ge ther to move the hrose to the yard with an experienced triner to fi the hrose again)

[Heather]

HI Fran,

This sounds like a very difficult situation for you, especially as the pony is not yours. The one thing that can help in my experience with a really strong pony, is a Masta schooling aid- I think that they are still for sale. It is a sort of pulley system attached to a reinforced numnah, going to the bit. It only comes into play if the horse pulls or yanks downwards, and it is not usually very long before the penny drops and the pony realises that it is actually fighting against itself. I borrowed one from a friend, when presented with a large and extremely strong Connemara- about 15 hands but very strongly built with neck like a bull. This was the only thing that stopped him trying to pull, and it wasn't long before he gave up and realised that it was futile, and that he was pulling against himself. Might be worth a try, as the rider is not tempted to enter into a tug of war.


Heather


Heather

[Fran_C]

That sounds interesting, where can you get these masta schooling aids from? does anyone have one?

[jed lewis]

hi fran could i just say scooling aids come
in many forms and have many types of uses
if you are to use one ,think about what you
are trying to achieve and the action of the schooling aid you are about to use ,because
adjusted incorrectly can cause harm and do
more harm than good .one needs a balanced seat
and yeiding hands to work through .plus i hope
you,ll agree some in sight in to the way the
pony moves and and carries himself .it does
sound like this pony has a few problems that
with all sorted tack e,c,t, could be ridden
long and low to ask him to carry himself to
start and progress from there ,if your rider
grips to stay inbalance plus then has stiff
upper body and hands it may be the root of the
problem so to put the pony into schooling aids
could worry the pony more .
jed lewis

[Heather]

HI Fran,

I seem to have missed your post regarding the fact that the tack/rugs etc don't fit. If this is the case, then nothing is going to improve the situation, except a new set of correctly fitting tack.

Imagine going for a walk/run for an hour or more in a pair of shoes that are too small or just as bad too big. The poor pony as jed says, is probably screaming out that everything hurts. If only horse could yelp like dog, they woudl be able to communicate their pain. As it is resistance and evasion are their only recourse for whih they are usually punished still further.

Unless the tack is fitting comfortably., this poor pony will continue to protest his pain.

What a shame.


Heather

[Fran_C]

Well if anyone is interested this saga has come to an end......

When I got my new tack I gave the owner my old tack which fitted perfectly and convinced her to turn her out without a rug. Her teeth were rasped, Her back was checked and there were no problems. However there was absolutely no improvement. It was better when I rode it but still no profound improvement. I talked to some of my PC friends who told me all about it and this has been its way of going all its life was probably taught it by a stupid bratty little kid rider..... After a while of instruction she improved a little the trot gained more rhythm and balance, but out on a hack she was trotting too fast stuck her leg down a hole and did her tendon. At 22 years old her recovery will be slow and she might not be able to be ridden again. Meanwhile my friend will look for a more suitable horse having lerant *a lot* from this one.

[fionahogg]

Hi Fran, well that's good to hear that the pony has got new tack and has been checked out. That’s strange that nothing wrong was found. If the horse has been ridden with poorly fitting tack for a length of time, the chances are it will cause some sort of pain. I suspect the reason why there has been little improvement is because the horse still anticipates pain. If he has been ridden for a long time with poorly fitting tack and a sore back then even if the pain has gone it will still be there in his mind until he has learned to trust himself and his rider again. The time this will take will depend on how much pain he was in and for how long; also the experience and ability of the rider. Gaining the horse's trust on the ground and then re-introducing him to the well-fitting tack and helping him to realise that it doesn't hurt anymore with no-one in the saddle may be a good start? Does he get aggressive when you tack him up? If yes, then he's still thinking it's going to hurt. What you are left with is basically a psychological problem. Whereas a physical problem may be relatively easy to sort out, a psychological one tends to take much longer especially if the horse has been ridden like this for all it's life, poor thing.
Well, maybe it is better for the horse if he is retired. Perhaps he will be able to enjoy the rest of his life at least.

Well done you for caring and trying to get something done.

Fiona.

[Fran_C]

In fact the tendons turned out to be worse than anticipated. the horse is being put down next week. The vet said it was only fair. I just can't help feeling sorry for it though- what kind of life has it had, at least it has enjoyed the last few days in its paddock. AND it won't be uncomfortable any longer.

[fionahogg]

What a shame, the poor horse. But like you said, hopefully his last few days will be kind to him.

Fiona