jenren!!
17th Feb 2006, 10:50 PM
I've owned a beautiful TBXWarmblood mare since September now, and we're coming on pretty well. Our jumping is coming on brilliantly, and iv managed to achieve a beautiful outline after just 4 months.
However she's not a mare to just click a finger and she'll do it. It takes alot of insisting and work to get her to do what you want. Getting her in a nice outline takes a good half hour because she's so argumentative about it, and if u ask her to do something she doesnt want to do, or go where she doesn't want to go, she retaliates. She's never done anything major, only lifting up on the odd occasion. For example, when i walk past the arena gate i keep my leg on her in advance to make sure she doesnt nap, and you can feel her trying to retaliate but on most occasions she does nothing but show her teeth. However if accidently left to her own devices she stops, and wont walk any other way than to the gate, and once she's been allowed to do it, there's a fair lot of bossing to make her go the right way, and in my situation, being a moderately nervous rider sometimes, i find it quite unsettling. I have learnt her ways enough now though to prepare for her actions, and mostly this does not happen because i tell her not to while she's still thinking about it.
I think it's all me. Im not a confident rider, however i have enough confidence to know that she is just being plain rude, and usually sort her out, however i often lack patience and find it unsettling to think that she did it afterwards. I am only just getting my confidence out hacking - hacking with my friend and building up gradually. I can now canter and trot out on a hack without problems, and she's brilliant on the roads, however if i try hacking on my own it would be a napping nightmare, as once i went on my own and she napped badly half way round, and at that point i did not have the confidence to deal with it, just simply turned her back.
Do you think i just need to be more determined with her? She is very mareish in character, and very grouchy on the ground, a challenge really. She is not strong, flighty or even like a thoroughbred really, she's really just a cob with attitude and im lucky to have such a challenging horse really, as i know she'll teach me alot, as she already has. Anyone got any logical idea on how i should manage this silly napping when she's in this mood? Judging my situation?
Thank you,
Jenny
However she's not a mare to just click a finger and she'll do it. It takes alot of insisting and work to get her to do what you want. Getting her in a nice outline takes a good half hour because she's so argumentative about it, and if u ask her to do something she doesnt want to do, or go where she doesn't want to go, she retaliates. She's never done anything major, only lifting up on the odd occasion. For example, when i walk past the arena gate i keep my leg on her in advance to make sure she doesnt nap, and you can feel her trying to retaliate but on most occasions she does nothing but show her teeth. However if accidently left to her own devices she stops, and wont walk any other way than to the gate, and once she's been allowed to do it, there's a fair lot of bossing to make her go the right way, and in my situation, being a moderately nervous rider sometimes, i find it quite unsettling. I have learnt her ways enough now though to prepare for her actions, and mostly this does not happen because i tell her not to while she's still thinking about it.
I think it's all me. Im not a confident rider, however i have enough confidence to know that she is just being plain rude, and usually sort her out, however i often lack patience and find it unsettling to think that she did it afterwards. I am only just getting my confidence out hacking - hacking with my friend and building up gradually. I can now canter and trot out on a hack without problems, and she's brilliant on the roads, however if i try hacking on my own it would be a napping nightmare, as once i went on my own and she napped badly half way round, and at that point i did not have the confidence to deal with it, just simply turned her back.
Do you think i just need to be more determined with her? She is very mareish in character, and very grouchy on the ground, a challenge really. She is not strong, flighty or even like a thoroughbred really, she's really just a cob with attitude and im lucky to have such a challenging horse really, as i know she'll teach me alot, as she already has. Anyone got any logical idea on how i should manage this silly napping when she's in this mood? Judging my situation?
Thank you,
Jenny