New Horse, Falling off, Won't trot etc etc

Trundlecat

Trundlecat

New Member
Jun 14, 2007
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Deepest darkest South Yorkshire.
Moan moan, wine, wine lol

Sorry for being AWOL folks, new horse arrived last Sunday & it's been one heck of a week.

He's calming down really well & I can actually walk him from the field to the yard now calmly & without a problem. It was like flying a kite on Monday & Tuesday. Poor lad was stressed beyond belief but he's getting used to his new home now.

Anyway, farrier came out yesterday (he'd lost a shoe) so it was our 1st ride today. I decided to take him up the bridle way & intended just to walk & trot up that. He, however, had other rideas. To cut a long story short I ended up flat on my back & he ended up half a mile away in the middle of the village. He just wouldn't listen to me, couldn't bring him into a walk & he was off (& so was I). Thank heavens for the body protector or I think I'd be nursing a few bruised ribs now.

Anyhow, caught him & got him back to the yard then took him round the menage. He was lovely, listened to everything I asked him to do but he will not trot. Straight from walk to a collected canter & then we end up going sideways because I won't let him go faster.

I know it'll take time & can already laugh about the fall but I am tired, dirty, sore & smelly at the mo. Gonna have a big bacon butty & a bath then formulate a plan. Probably lunge 1 day the ride in the menage the next till I'm certain he's listening to me & we don't have a repeat of today. Will be starting lessons on him soon too so that'll be a massive help.

Despite everything though I am completely & uetterly in love with the big soft beast & so looking forward to the next few months getting to know him properly. He's a jet propelled sweetie-pie :D
 
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What a cutie, I'm sure he's worth all the trouble he's causing this week and failing that the bacon buttie will certainly make up for it. Can't stop dribbling now, thanks!!:)
 
He looks lovely, and well done for just dusting your self off, could he be on too high energy feed which is making him 'springy' to say the least? Also how about free schooling him letting him get all the nonsense out and then starting the real work.

Good luck, we want lots of updates!!
 
I would definately lunge him a few times as you may be able to get him trotting on the lunge using your voice. Also it may be a good idea to lunge him before you hack him out just to get the edge off him?
This is what I would do anyway as well as checking his feed as mikh said

Good luck
 
Orb hun - I ended up with bacon, sausage & egg on thick white bread :cool: Oooooo it was naughty but soooo nice!

Thanks Mikh & Kristina - Definitely going to be doing lots of lunge work. I'm a complete novice at it so it's gonna be fun all round. I have a friend who's offered to come & help but she's the kind of person who could complicate opening a window (sure you know the type of person I mean). So I don't know weather to accept her help or not. I also don't think she has my best interests at heart either & if she can pick fault & erode away at my confidence (which although abundant isn't bullet proof) she will. Re his feed, he's very carefully fed cos too much energy has historically been a "problem" with him. I'm going to be working him every day though from now on so surely he has to calm down & settle into work at some point (famous last words lol).

We'll get there though, I wasn't expecting an easy time with him & TBH I knew I was gonna come a cropper at some point so at least that's over & done with now. He seems to be settling down so very well though (in hand, relationships with the other horses, bonding with me etc), I'm certain it'll all come together pretty soon. I just know that we're going to be one heck of a partnership once we get the schooling right, can't explain it, it's such a strong feeling I get with him. Not a doubt in my mind that I've got my horsey soul mate here.
 
If your horsey friend isn't suitable to help what about a trusted/recommended RI? Often someone who is slightly back from the situation can help more than a friend or someone directly involved. Lunging is great and really works on the bond between you, and will help you both in your ridden work. Sounds like week1 has been a mixture so it can only get better!
 
Just thinking about the situation actually and when I first got sam (old share horse) he was 5 and the first time I properly rode him he bucked me off in trot :O
It was a mix of him being new, over fed, and excited and having too much energy.
We lunged him before riding for a few weeks and changed his feed and he was fine.
 
Hi I am new to the forum but I recognise some of what you said. My mare Annie was unsettled in her new livery yard. I changed her feed from a conditioning mix to one high in fibre, put her on Naf Magic and I try to remember to NEVER lean forward. That sets her off! Even girth tightening or stirrup getting has to be done very carefully. She is 99% calmer, more like the Annie I know, she is a real sweetie. Much less anxious, but keeping me calm is tougher. I lean forward when I am worried myself! I am an adult returner, ex-riding school and owned horses for two years. Annie is a part-bred Arab 37.5% and as far away from my last bombproof cob as I could imagine! Too worried about riding her in a show setting yet, I am likely to be run off with but we do very well in-hand and I am hoping with the assistance of my RI to be doing dressage by next year.

Good luck,

Andrea :)
 

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Thanks Andrea & welcome! Your Annie sounds very much like Linky & I'm now off to Google "Naf Magic" cos never heard of that & willing to give anything a go :)

We had a better day yesterday. managed to get some trotting out of him but had to literally rise to the canter & more or less force him into it. I was chuffed with that though cos some trotting is better than no trotting & we can build on that now.

Have lots more to say but my baby has learned how to climb up on the sofa & I can't leave him for even a few seconds without him climbing & getting into mischief. Roll on escaping to the yard this afternoon!
 
Crikey, trundlecat - are you dealing with a new horse and a young baby all at the same time? I'm impressed.

Your horse looks lovely. Can't really offer you any advice; my experience with new horses is that you struggle with them for a few months, and everything's scarey, and then suddenly one day you realise that you have a calm, obedient, willing horse who works happily with you.

I don't seem to be able to get hold of the idea of progress step by step.:eek:

But you sound as if you're making good progress already. Looking forward to an update, and more pics ....
 
Maybe try some groundwork like Join up etc, I found it worked wonders with my new horse as when i first got him everything was 100mph and i to fell off and he galloped of and left me standing there:eek: but now he is brillent will canter infront and behind on a hack and is a real gent to ride and i have only had him 3 months or so:)
It just helps you to get a bond which then makes riding more fun as your horse will listen and respect what you ask him to do;)
Could be worth a try;)
Good Luck, he looks lovely!!!!
 
Linda it's a nightmare here. Baby, 2 pre-schoolers, new horse.... could scream some days but the horse is the one thing that keeps me sane lol. Your post made a lot of sense to me & got me remembering when I 1st got Ted (my last horse). For a few months it was pretty awful. Catching him, mounting, getting him away from the yard etc were all a huge effort but without really noticing it DID all just naturally click. I'm going to stop worrying about this so much & remember to enjoy it cos we'll get there :)

Hi Soph, the 100mph sounds very familiar lol!!! I don't think I'll ever get him to stay behind in a hack, he's always got to be in front & treats everything as a race. If there's another horse in front (even if it's half a mile away & not with us) you can see him tense up, eyeball it & start picking his pace up (never know a horse who can walk so fast). We do really well with join up cos he's a complete & utter darling from the ground, like a big pet dog, so affectionate, sweet & eager to please. Hope with time I get the same results with him as you've had with yours :)
 
He is such a pretty boy! Is he an ex-racer by any chance? It may be possible that he doesn't really know how to trot, having never had to do it before?
 
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