freaking out

[Jumping Genius]

hi im 13 and i own a horse but during lessons my sister rides our horse and i ride another horse at the barn. The horse, Zippy, is the sweetest horse you will ever meet but she has a little problem. She pushes me over the edge. Last lesson i started crying it got so bad but i love riding her and i work so hard at what my instructor tells me to! :( I know that she and i caould reach a better understanding but i do know that it is my fault that she is being this way or a t least i think so! does anyone have any ideas to keep me less frustrated and in more control and calm???? i might try putting my anger into determination to get better but im not sure that will work!

[virtuallyhorses]

The horse, Zippy, is the sweetest horse you will ever meet but she has a little problem. She pushes me over the edge.

Not sure what the horse is doing...so why is it her problem and not yours? Without hearing what the behaviour is that 'pushes you over the edge' it just sounds like you get frustrated at not being able to do what you want with this horse and then blame the horse for your emotions. Why should this sweet horse trust or work with a human that can't be relied on to keep their emotions under control or to blame the horse for the riders faults?
You sound like you already understand these things, maybe you need some timeout, away from riding, to think about why you react the way you do and think how you can chang this behaviour.

[Jumping Genius]

i would never quit riding in a million years and i dont blame her. i know it is my fault but i want to find some ways i can stay in control! i dont need to quit and i certainly DONT blame her for whats happening :) !

[notpoodle]

sounds scary!

what exactlty is it this pony does??

julia
x

[mustang fan]

well virtuallyhorses,

I have seen this horse before and she does tend to get hyper, not only that but this horse is pretty "young" (8) . even though you may not consider 8 young, Jumping Genius is used to calmer horses, her horse is 8 too but diffrant horses have different temperments. In addtion to that the first time she rode this horse she cantered! I dont think Jumping Genius was taking it out on the horse, she knows its her problem, and she was seeking advice on what she can do to help HERSELF not the HORSE :D . I am NOT trying to sound rude or offensive but I know jumping Genius has been upset for a while. I dont really think suggesting her to quit will make her feel any better.

I am sorry virtuallyhorses if I offended you in anyway! :o

Mustang Fan :)

[Keket]

When you feel that you're starting to get frustrated, take a few minutes to calm yourself down. Personally, when I get frustrated, I get even more determined, but that's just how I am. When you're worked up, the horse can sense it and it's going to act up even more because now it knows that it can dominate you. Take time to try to get the horse under control and re-establish who is in charge. Walk her for a few steps, then ask for a halt. If she doesn't halt, discipline her, then ask for the halt again. When she does halt, then bounce around in the saddle a bit, fiddle with your reins, take your feet out of the stirrups etc. If she walks off while you're doing this, halt her and discipline her. Eventually, she will learn that she's not in control.

(For the record, discipline doesn't have to involve pain for the horse. It may involved the horse being mildly uncomfortable for a few seconds, but no pain. I make a naughty horse back up very very fast to discipline them.)

[xXSundanceBayXx]

jumping genius i have this problem on noggin.hes doing sooo well and then he'll just stop and refuse to do it again. i used to get upset through frustration. i have just got back onto sully and these past weeks ive been gaining confidence steadily. as some of you may know i love sully and when i was afraid of getting back on him i felt as though i didnt deserve to ride a pony that needed schooling because i was so unsure of him.

why not take a break and ride a different horse for a while. is this horse fast and easily excitable. (if he is then like my sully, sometimes a break helps it helped me) :)

[mustang fan]

yes, from what I have seen zippy can be very excitable

[virtuallyhorses]

I didn't suggest anyone quit. I suggest a "timeout away from riding". That's not quitting. Taking a few days or a week out from lessons or riding is something that can be really useful to think about how you are currently dealing with a situation and to come up with a plan about what to do next. It lets you calm down and think more objectively about a situation.

With regards to the 'behaviour' mustang fan is still the only one on this thread to even partly describe what is actually happenning so this makes it extremely difficult to give any other practical advice.

It now sounds like a) this is not Jumping Genius' regular horse an b) it's a bit too much to handle at her current riding level ... but both of those are assumption so I still really don't know what the situation is.

Is this a riding school horse? A friends horse? Why is Jumping Genius riding it, if she finds it too much to handle? Is there an instructor involved?

[Jumping Genius]

I didn't suggest anyone quit. I suggest a "timeout away from riding". That's not quitting. Taking a few days or a week out from lessons or riding is something that can be really useful to think about how you are currently dealing with a situation and to come up with a plan about what to do next. It lets you calm down and think more objectively about a situation.

With regards to the 'behaviour' mustang fan is still the only one on this thread to even partly describe what is actually happenning so this makes it extremely difficult to give any other practical advice.

It now sounds like a) this is not Jumping Genius' regular horse an b) it's a bit too much to handle at her current riding level ... but both of those are assumption so I still really don't know what the situation is.

Is this a riding school horse? A friends horse? Why is Jumping Genius riding it, if she finds it too much to handle? Is there an instructor involved?



ok well her is the apparent behavior issue she is a hyper horse as she is young and she is sometimes a little too "excited" when im in the saddle. I am experienced enoough to ride this horse or my trainer would not let me.trust me. Zippy runs in to corners and i can get her out of them but it becomes tiring! she likes going fast all the time and never wants to stop. i calm her down but she just gets hyper again a few minutes later. I dont know what to do. She is a horse who craves attention and she can get pushy and some times aggressive if she doesn't recieve it. I love her but sometimes she is a little too much. My instructor who owns zippy says sometimes she can't even control her so i am not the only one.and i dont ride my own horse during lessons because my sister rides our horse and i dont. i dont think its zippys fault but i also knows she has issues and those she was born with most likely so it isnt our fault.btw i have lesson every other friday so i do ride my horse a lot in between and at 4-H! i dont ignore the aspect that im a rider who still needs growth but i also dont think that im a true begginner. Thanks keket and noggin i will try your advice.

[kedwards]

If I'm understanding correctly, you are really asking for help in dealing with frustration so that you don't let it get the better of you. I think it's great that you are identifying this as a problem and are looking for ways to get past it. Patience is essential when it comes to working with horses and, fortunately, patience is a skill that can be learned.

One thing that can lead to frustration is expecting too much. For example, if you expect the same results on this school horse as you would on your own pony, then you might be setting yourself up for frustration. Another source of frustration is to trying to improve too many things at once, so you aren't acknowledging the little steps that are made along the way. That's not to say that you shouldn't have big goals for yourself or the horse, but big goals are rarely effective if they aren't broken down into smaller and more realistic steps. Take the horse where she is and set one small but specific goal each lesson (with the help of your instructor). If you make even the smallest gains, be sure to reward the horse and take pride in your accomplishments.

[Jumping Genius]

so i went to this lesson and i did awesome! We were riding bareback and she had been ridden on a trail ride earlier i still did awesome!!!i did fall off when cantering but no biggie!!!! yeah when i got on my normal horse to canter bareback he was a brat! but he had a very long day and i know im craky after a long day 2!!!!!! :) im doing better and thanks for the thing on expectations kewards it was very helpful to me!!!! :)

[mustang fan]

Hey my Buddy ol' pal JG,

I was hopeing you wouldnt dump it like you did with cody and 4-h! Im glad your not upset about falling off! well any way Sounds like you did a good job! Was connie there? Oh and Cody got 1st at state!