PDA

View Full Version : pony argumentative lately ...


notpoodle
14th Mar 2005, 08:40 AM
angel is being rather, erm,argumentative when i ride her lately :rolleyes:

i blame the fact she isnt out as much as usual (i wish those bloody fields would dry out!!!! she's in tuesday to sunday and out sunday afternoon till tuesday at the moment. which is NOT ENOUGH!) but im getting worried i am beginning to really annoy her :rolleyes:

for example

she tries to dive into the middle of the school again. i won't let her (pony wedged in between my aids until she looks the right way again ...)

i ask for canter, the transition is very messy, she trots like a loonie until she can't trot any faster and switches into canter. when she tries it, i bring her back into a civilised trot again and start the whole thing again until she realised its easier to just go along with me and what i say

once she gets into canter mode, she lurches and hurtles at breakneck speed. so i circle until we are at a decent speed.

she was being a poo yesterday and we ended up cantering an array of shaped and circles because i was trying to get my point (you may be cantering but i can still tell you exactly where to go next) across.

on the one hand, i guess it's good that i am getting the hang of being able to control her better when she is being stubborn, but on the other hand i worry she'll hate me for it and that she's only doing it because she is miffed about being cooped up for most of the week at the moment :rolleyes:

(btw. i cant let her run free in any of the schools because none of them are safe to do so and the yard won't allow it).

help!!

julia
x

Mehitabel
14th Mar 2005, 09:00 AM
well, she is an exmoor, and with limited turnout when they are used to being out 24/7, a lot of horses will be argumentative. it's likely she cant' really help herself.

i'd be inclined to grin and bear it a bit, obviously try not to let her take the mickey too much, but do recognise that she is probably miffed ,and it's not your fault, and she won't hate you for it.
on the plus side, it sounds like you are really coming to grips with her and doing well in that dpeartment!

notpoodle
14th Mar 2005, 09:24 AM
yeah that's pretty much what my gut feeling tells me to do :)

i would love to take her out for a nice long hack but am reluctant to do so at the moment because of the limited turnout ie. there is a chance she'd fly off the handle on a hack (she has been a tad spooky in the school lately ...) and i'd have to hack on my own so don't really want to risk it :rolleyes:

mind you, i am very relieved she's not going as crazy as i thought she would, she's still a darling to handle and doesn't do anything really daft when i ride (other than being very uncooperative ...).

but yes, looks like we have the napping (ie not wanting to go in the school, trying to spin the way we came from when i ride down to the school etc.) issue solved (i now don't freak when she tries it but can get her to go where i want to go without a major fuss) pretty much and the vet said she seems a lot more calm and better behaved since i first got her (proud mum moment there!!) :)

julia
x

Miriam
14th Mar 2005, 12:29 PM
I can so sympathise with you. It must be spring in the air cuase Rhi is exactly the same :rolleyes:

notpoodle
14th Mar 2005, 12:36 PM
glad im not the only one with that problem at the moment :) i really hope angel will be allowed out again full time soon!

julia
x

NoviceNic
14th Mar 2005, 08:47 PM
I think it is the weather x lack of riding thing. Captain was a pain a fortnight ago. But this last week he has been an angel.

hackedoff
15th Mar 2005, 09:04 AM
When I was off riding with one of my various injuries, I used to take horse out in-hand (great for de-flighting work) and then find a clear spot and lunge or long-line, would that be a way to get her out and about without having to ride out the spooks? Have i missed something babe, what happened to your turnout?

notpoodle
15th Mar 2005, 12:42 PM
temporarily only turnout from sunday to tuesday due to a broken fence and boggy fields. they SHOULD go back out 24/7 next week though (at the end of the day, for london, 3 weeks out of the whole year isnt that bad going!)

she's not superspooky or anything in the school, but a bit more on her toes than usual.

im hopeless at lunging and don't really want to longrein her down the road (i think i'd have better control when im actually sat on her :rolleyes:)

julia
xx