Developing brakes.

Carly!

Carly!

New Member
Apr 11, 2008
131
0
0
Herts
My pony has none!
We're currently trying to improve his confidence with hacking alone (even though he was bought as a bomb-proof, happy to hack alone, non-silly boy :rolleyes:) as he gets very nervous and nappy.
Took him into one of the empty fields yesterday to have lots of trot to walk transitions so he learns to listen more without the danger of the dual carriage way which we have to cross to hack. As he bolts for home when alone, the risk of flying round the corner onto that road is very high.
Anyway, he was playing silly buggers in the field yesterday. he jogged the whole way round, wouldn't listen and kept ramming my leg against the gate when he finally managed to get over there!
He's not nasty, just has no confidence in himself and I guess me as a leader.
I've been advised to just walk him round in the field for a while, let him get a feel for new places and to realise I'm not going to put him in danger.
I really want to improve his confidence and his breaks as I've had him 4 months now and would love to start having little adventures on him.

Any suggestions? And kudos for getting to the end of this! :D
 
Mary can be quite silly when shes on her own. Nothing dangerous, just spins for home every once in a while ( to which i just turn her full 360 and make her carry on) When she was spooky and silly when i first got her, she would shoot forward like someone had slapped her arse and off we would go into canter for a short while down the lane. Someone suggested riding her in a Pelham ( which i did ) and it worked. I had the brakes i needed for the silliness until she got used to me alittle bit more and gained trust in me. I also walked her out in hand quite a few times for the trust thing too. She is now in a happy mouth snaffle and i have breaks. She still has her nappy spells but i have the confidence to get her over it and she takes that confidence and listens to me......................geeeezzz, sorry that was abit long :eek::D
 
I'm defnitely going to walk him out inhand for a while and keep hacking him out with a really calm horse. Not sure about changing his bit, I worry about hurting his mouth! Worth a try though, might see if I can borrow one :D
Thanks for the advice!
 
The other thing is that is worked on getting Joy going and stopping off voice aids in the school on the ground (I don't do schooling cause I'm a wuss!).

If I find her a little skittish I stop things before they start and don't let the situation develop as much as that si posible.

Added to that I found that when Joy wasn't listen to seat, legs and reins then doing a calm but firm 'annnnddddd walk' works a treat :D
 
I think you've got the right idea about it - that you need to work on his confidence and trust of you too. It is possible he was 'bombproof' etc with his old owner because they were a good and trusted leader. Not that you aren't good too, just that he hasn't learned to trust you yet.

I would play lots of ground games with him, do lots of desensitising with the use of approach & retreat tactics, to get him calmer while proving to him that you're not going to push him over any emotional or dangerous cliffs. I would teach him to yield(respond softly with understanding) in all sorts of ways and teach him(not force him) the 'one rein stop'.

I would also do lots of 'passenger lessons' with him. That is, just sit on him, holding the reins at the buckle & allow him to go(or not go) where he likes. If this entails spending 10 minutes standing at the gate, so be it. Only pick up a rein for a one rein stop(previously taught) if he breaks into a higher gait than you've asked for. Obviously, start in a safe area like an arena and at a walk for safety. This will teach him to relax with you and learn to be responsible for staying in the gait requested. It will also help you not rely on the reins and develop a better independent seat. Once he's relaxed with you, you can start to ask for him to not stop at the gate, but keep walking(still wherever he likes). You will squeeze or tap his rump if he stops. As you progress, you can do it at a trot, then canter.

I would not use a harsher bit to attempt to force the issue. Aside from other reasons, you have identified his behaviour as lack of confidence and forcing him into things with pain will only make this worse. However, if you're using a single jointed snaffle with 2 hands, this can be very harsh and a straight bar pelham or double jointed snaffle might be milder & therefore better.
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back