aargh!!! napping ... back to square one?!

notpoodle

notpoodle

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Jul 16, 2003
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argh!1 i dont believe this!1 angel was absolutely fine going out on her own again, then, today this happened.

i had ridden her in the school, she was a little sweaty so i thought we'd just leisurely walk down the bridlepath to cool her off and stuff.

WELL! it went wrong from the word 'go' :rolleyes:

where the driveway joins on to the road (quite big road and busy), there is a building site type setup on the corner (the corned you need to ride round to get onto the little road that goes onto said bridlepath), all it is is some of those blue plastic fences (not even waist high), some little orange lights (which werent even switched on!) and a blue roadsign with a white arrow in it. nothing to worry about, i really did not expect any trouble with this one as angel usually ignores things like that completey.

not today :rolleyes: she saw the stuff, froze, head in the air and would not move. and there was a car behind in the driveway. argh!i decided it would not be safe to try and ride her past it (road, cars everywhere, car behind us ...), hopped off and led her past it, round the corner and up the little road. when it was safe to get on board again i did so and rode into the bridlepath.

angel decided she didnt feel like it today (or so it seemed), kept stopping, spinning, going backwards and generally being a pain :rolleyes:

so i got off *again* (thank god shes only little and getting on and off isnt much of a problem), led her up the path for a bit, got on again ... same thing happened again ... got off again, led for a bit, got on again ...

after we'd done half the path like this i had enough and we headed home. she spooked a little at the building works stuff and almost crushed/slices (had sharp edges that thing!) on a low hanging roadsign :eek:

i am baffled!!! what brought this on?? did she decide she did enough work in the school and wasnt going to do anything else?? is this likely to turn into a habit again??

julia
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I had the same sort of thing with an unexpected problem with my instructors driving pony yesterday. We were going down the road and passing inflatable snowmen, christmas lights, and all manner of horse eating christmas decorations and everything was passed without taking any notice. A bit further down the road was a delivery van unloading a sofa. Willow almost had a nervous breakdown! My instructor had to get out (v. unusual) and lead Willow past and he was jittery for the rest of the drive.

I think that Angel was probably just having an off day. How it sets the plan for the future on that route will probably be with how you deal with the next trip down it. It might be worth just walking her inhand down the same route and not riding it. Just to get her down the same way and not making a fuss even if she has done it lots of times before ok.
 
im also a bit worried about this building site stuff though because if she really spooks at it we'll be in the middle of a big-ish road with all sorts of cars, buses etc. going through it. hence i might wait till that is gone until i take her out again.

i know there isnt a reason for her not to want to go past it but seeing its on this road id rather not take my chances there.

i agree, it probably was an off day. i think she didnt like the idea of working in the school first and then being dragged away from the yard :rolleyes:

julia
x
 
How frustrating for you. you did the right thing to lead her past, from a safety point of view ( busy road ) & showing her that there is nothing to worry about. Perhaps she was just having an off day.
If its any consolation my boy spooked at a large rock ( we ride on a rocky welsh mountain all the time ) and completely ignored a chap with an enormous camera standing on a ladder!
Could you ride with someone else the next couple of times? i know that always gives me & rocky a bit more confidence .

good luck with it. rrx
 
yeah, thats what im trying to do until this roadside building work stuff is done and gone :) it just isnt safe to take any chances on this road, especially seeing its right on a corner and people dont always see you from a distance.

julia
x
 
Hi Julia,

I'm so sorry you had a bad day :( It can be really disheartening. I have found with my Welshie that, if something upsets him early on in a ride, he will be on his toes for the rest of the duration and look at ALL sorts of silly things that he usually doesn't bat an eyelid at. If he goes into spook mode I know I tense up a bit and my pulse rate goes up which certainly makes things worse as he needs reassurance from me that there is really nothing to worry about. The thing is it is H-A-R-D to relax your body when you are anticipating a spook, shy or bolt forward for a few strides! Especially when out on a hack as the prospect of falling off and losing your pony in the open countryside (or worse, roads!!!) is horrific. I'm sure your pony will be fine next time you go out for a hack, especially once the building works comes down. Equines absolutely DEFINITELY have off days, I find the exact same to be true with dogs with which I've had a great deal of experience!

I went for a hack with my instructor today with the intention of finding off-road scary objects. My pony is a bit of a wus when it comes to new objects and stimuli but he's great once he gets used to them. He came from an extremely quiet environment into our very busy, bustling yard next to a busy road/tractor yard so has had eyes on stalks on a few occasions! He is the most hard working, obedient little pony I have ever known (especially for a Welshie, of all breeds!) and I trust him never to bolt for more than a couple of strides or buck/rear but he does have little frights now and then so he needs some desensitisation through repeated exposure!

There is a massive field next to the yard which we went for a ride in. I concentrated on my breathing and really relaxed and felt my boy relax too. My instructor was riding a horse that needed some desensitising too and he started acting up at a log (horses eh!! LOL! :p) Of course my Welshie immediately thought "uh oh!" at the sight of his spooking friend and tried to follow suit. I maintained my relaxed state and did something I have always avoided doing: really legged him on and got him past the log in a sensible manner despite the fact my instructor's horse was still skipping around! Yay! My instructor told me to come back and ride round the log a couple more times, staying relaxed, and my little fella was fine. I was extremely pleased as I felt my pony was giving me the benefit of the doubt in my relaxed state and believed he was safe despite the fact that the horse we were with was worried and acting up like a dafty. The other horse soon calmed at the sight of my little guy walking round the log calmly and I was ecstatic and very proud of both myself and my little pony!

I think the point is that tomorrow, next week or next month I could be feeling overjoyed with the progress we've been making and suddenly my pony could have a massive spook or act completely daft at something minor and make me feel like we've gone the old 'two steps forward, four steps back'! There is no such thing as a totally bombproof equine, one just hasn't been born yet! I definitely think our little guys have good days and bad days and we mustn't analyze it to deeply when they it all goes wrong as a few days down the line we'll probably be more pleased with them than can be imagined! :D
 
aww your pony sounds like such a cutie :)

we had to have one of our 'no more mrs nice julia' rides today, because yesterday's jumping lesson was just too embarrassing :rolleyes: so we have practiced steering and t4ransitions when *i* ask for them ie. not at madame's leisure. she was great by the end of the session and didnt even think about diving for the gate anymore :D

julia
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