Burning off excess energy

[Mary Poppins]

Sometimes when i go and ride Bailey he is a donkey, sometimes he is perfect and sometimes he is full of the joys of spring. When he is in an energetic mood he is never dangerous, but sometimes when I get on him he has so much energy he won't settle until he has trotted and cantered round for about 15 minutes. He is almost impossible to halt and is just raring to go. If I insist that he walks and halts, he will do as I ask but it is a battle.

When he is like this (which is only about 25% of the time), am I best to insist that he listens to me from the start, or should I allow him to get rid of his excess energy before I ask him to do any real work? I find him much easier to ride once he has had a good trot and canter round and while he can sometimes be strong at first, I have never felt that I couldn't hold him. I'm just not sure that this is the right thing to do?

[Wally]

Is he like this out of a stable or from grass?

If it's from grass and he's been out in a field for hours he'll be a bit looser than if he's coem from a stable.

Warm up is vital for his well being. Too much too soon from a stable is the worst thing you can do. They need a good 20 minutes warm up from a stable before you go on to do any long periods of trot or canter. That's my only concern.

[Mary Poppins]

Originally Posted by Wally

Is he like this out of a stable or from grass?

If it's from grass and he's been out in a field for hours he'll be a bit looser than if he's coem from a stable.

Warm up is vital for his well being. Too much too soon from a stable is the worst thing you can do. They need a good 20 minutes warm up from a stable before you go on to do any long periods of trot or canter. That's my only concern.

It's always when he has been stabled. He is in during the day and sometimes if I don't get there until 6pm in the evening, he has been standing in for about 6 hours. I do normally like to work him in slowly, and can usually do this, but when he is in his 'go faster' mode, its a real battle to keep him in walk for even 5 minutes. He feels like an unexploded bomb and while I am 99.9% sure that he wouldn't tank off with me, he is so much nicer to ride after a good trot. I have tried to lead him around in hand before I get on, but he is much harder to hold from the ground compared to on top. He is just bursting with energy I think.

[Lot1983]

If Hens is in the mood to go we’ll have a canter, I let him have a blast round the school to get his feet and brain moving and then start to work on some exercises. I’d tailor our schooling session to suit, for instance if he is raring to go I’d work on our canter transitions as they’re not good and if he’s in a wizzy mood he’ll be more inclined to go! If he was really being a PITA I’d work on something such as leg yield or shoulder in to get him thinking and moving where I ask.

[Wally]

I would try to keep him slow and sensible until he's had time to warm up, but it can be a double edged sword, they can do themselves a damage getting wound up.

[Skib]

Mary P , I have spent a long time worrying about this question. Drafting replies and then deleting them lest it sound as if I am bossing you about or imposing a contrary view.
But it is not just that the horse might injure himself, he might injure you, so I will give my position.
Yes, it was I who after a whole summer of hacking suggested that when we rode the RS ponies fresh from their day of rest, it would be more rewarding to go on a long fast hack than calming them down with a slow granny ride, which had been my tactic for the previous weeks.
That was the context. My riding forward was only on a pony that is listening to me and I am confident will listen too in canter.
Your posts suggest that Bailey is dictating to you, in the saddle or on the ground. This doesn't sound good.
My summer and the change in my riding began when I watched Richard Maxwell at a clinic and adopted his routine preparation of a horse, ensuring it is safe to ride and to hack. Maxwell compares this to MOT for a car - He says that you wouldn't take a car out on the road without good brakes and steering and the same goes for a horse.
Maxwell's approach involves asking for basic turns, turning the head and quarters in both directions with decisive aids (using rein and leg on the same side), followed by backing up. It isn't pulling on both reins or using a fierce bit - but it is giving visible cues and expecting a prompt reaction from the horse. The sort of cues to which a subordinate horse would have to respond in the herd. Any insubordination or spooky inattention from my fav. mare this summer, I applied this drill. With some rigour, and it worked. It worked for me too because psychologically it put me in charge of her, and she relaxed because I had imposed my leadership.
Any horse that rushed out of the yard, regarding me as passenger - Turn, turn, back up.

If you decide Bailey isn't manageable to ride and you want to do ground work, Maxwell uses a similar routine from the ground, backing up and moving the quarters over. Bailey should respect you on the ground and not haul you along.

Maxwell uses compliance in turns and backing up, he says, because turns and backing up are not natural movements for the horse. So you are demanding compliance in the most difficult moves. It is natural for the horse to run straight and you as rider will have more difficulty stopping a horse on the straight - either out hacking or going large round the school.
So letting Bailey cue you into fast riding, with his body straight, gives HIM all the advantages.

Only after you have his compliance can you decide whether to work him fast or slow, and that surely depends not only on how he feels but on how you feel too?
On the other hand, if Bailey is over fresh because he has been cooped up all day and is being fed so much it produces too much energy - then you are facing a problem created by the owner.
And may be he isn't a safe share for you?
Maxwell's bottom line is that a horse must be safe and responsive before you entrust yourself to going fast and straight on its back.
And I have been more authoritative with the horses and much happier since I applied this tuition / test.

[Mary Poppins]

Skib - thanks for your response, you do raise some interesting points.

Bailey is not at all dangerous and he will do as I ask. If I make him stay in walk and do some exercises etc. he will do this, but he feels heavy in my hands and I have to really use my weight aids to get him to listen to me. I'm not saying that I can't or don't make him listen, it's just that he has pent up energy and is a much easier and nicer ride once he has had a good leg stretch.

You do make a good point about the backing up. When I first got him I found him very bargy and rude, but by doing some very basic groundwork exercises he improved 100%. Recently he has been a little bolshy in his stable and keeps doing little but annoying things (e.g. not picking his feet up, moving around the stable etc.) so I might have to go back and do some more work on this.

However having thought about it I think that he may be getting upset with other horses being fed around him whilst he is inside. There is someone who keeps their food opposite to his stable and he watches them get it out and sometimes it sits there for half an hour or so before the owner gives it to the horse. Bailey loves his food, but isn't fed anything at all (apart from hay) so perhaps this is making him upset? Also, he has been clipped now and was very quiet and easy to ride today so maybe he was getting too hot in his thick winter coat? Who knows? - he is so random in his behaviour sometimes he always keeps me guessing.

[popularfurball]

Originally Posted by Mary Poppins

Skib - thanks for your response, you do raise some interesting points.

Bailey is not at all dangerous and he will do as I ask. If I make him stay in walk and do some exercises etc. he will do this, but he feels heavy in my hands and I have to really use my weight aids to get him to listen to me. I'm not saying that I can't or don't make him listen, it's just that he has pent up energy and is a much easier and nicer ride once he has had a good leg stretch.

You do make a good point about the backing up. When I first got him I found him very bargy and rude, but by doing some very basic groundwork exercises he improved 100%. Recently he has been a little bolshy in his stable and keeps doing little but annoying things (e.g. not picking his feet up, moving around the stable etc.) so I might have to go back and do some more work on this.

However having thought about it I think that he may be getting upset with other horses being fed around him whilst he is inside. There is someone who keeps their food opposite to his stable and he watches them get it out and sometimes it sits there for half an hour or so before the owner gives it to the horse. Bailey loves his food, but isn't fed anything at all (apart from hay) so perhaps this is making him upset? Also, he has been clipped now and was very quiet and easy to ride today so maybe he was getting too hot in his thick winter coat? Who knows? - he is so random in his behaviour sometimes he always keeps me guessing.

Aren't we all? Sometimes we just get out of bed the wrong way

I would get piles out or do yielding to get him thinking

[Lot1983]

Originally Posted by Wally

I would try to keep him slow and sensible until he's had time to warm up, but it can be a double edged sword, they can do themselves a damage getting wound up.

This! ^^
You have to take a horse as you find them, some horses you can work though with leg yield and shoulder in etc, other horses if you try that you'll end up sat on half a tonne of unexploded dynamite!

With my horse we just get moving, a good long trot soon settles his brain and I swear to you that he has only ever spooked once in canter! If he's jig jogging the best thing I can do is to pop my left hand down towards his head, he thinks he's getting a treat so stops and swings his quarters slightly, disengages the back end and just seems to chill him out, so far a 100% success rate in stopping jogging! (It didn't take that long to train and now it does confuse me when I try it on other horses and they don't stop!)