Horse Training Problems./Riding Issues?
i have a 9 year old Morab who hasn’t been worked very much over the past year and a half because of bad habits and disrespect.
this has put an halt to our riding. i asked her to canter while lunging and she bucked and bolted right at the cue. (is this normal?)
a problem i often have while lunging her is she gets very close to me while i’m standing in the middle. and she used to only do this at a walk but now at a trot she is making small circles around me. i want her to fill the round pen and ride on the fence. she never does.
how can i get her to get out of my space and onto the rail?
she also is very disrespectful when it comes to hoof picking. she won’t pick up her foot and always puts up a fight. when i get to her hind she usually kicks….
and in the saddle:
she is distracted and always is paying attention to the other horses who are grazing or in their paddocks. she always wants to ride the side closest to them. how can i get her to be more focused?
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side note: i also would love to take her on some trail rides but how she’s acting in the ring, on the ground, and in the round pen i’m afraid that that would be a mistake. whats a good way to introduce a horse to trails who has problems such as my mare’s?
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thank you for your two cents and advice. i will take everything into consideration to how to fix her problems.
Tags: Bad Habits, Canter, Cue, Disrespect, Horse Riding, Horse Training, Morab, Paying Attention, Small Circles, Trail Rides
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 am
All of the problems you are having is saying your horse has absolutely no respect for you or your space…especially the making small circles around you when you are lunging her. When she starts bucking and bolting at the canter cue she is probably just frisky
that’s why you lunge some horses before you ride them…it is a small possibility that it is pain of some sort. If she is bad under saddle it is either her training hasn’t been done prooperly or she is in pain also.
Your best bet is to first get her a vet exam to rule out pain of any sort, and second get a professional horse trainer to assist you. Everything you are naming are common problems that, with help from a professional, should be easily taught out of her. Just do some research in yor area and find someone with a good reputation to help you out…after a year and a half of minimal riding she probably needs a good refresher too
Good Luck
December 6th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
The bucking/bolting is probably because she has a lot of energy. My cousin’s horse did that when my uncle lunged her before I rode her. Get a lunge whip, and use it to keep her away from you. You are the alpha in this situation, and she is disrespecting you. Teach her that she can’t. With the hoof picking, what you can do is take the HANDLE of your pick, and tap the back of her leg with it. Don’t do it hard, but not soft either. This gets them to pick up their feet. For the kicking, lean on her tail while you pick out her feet. This makes them balance themselves so they can’t kick. For the distraction while under saddle, is there are way you can get her away from the other horses so she can’t see them? My horse has issues with that too. We just worked by ourselves until he could focus.
December 7th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I have come to realize that a large number of people think of longeing a horse as ground training. I am actually not a fan of longeing. although I do train it, but only as a skill to be combined with riding, and maybe a minor part of the preparation for it. Ground training, as I see it, teaches every move a horse will be asked to do for the rest of his life. It desensitizes, teaches the horse to give to pressure in every possible place pressure will be placed, and establishes trust. Before a horse is ever asked to perform under saddle, he/she should know movement on cue in all directions, pivots, and when to remain stationary until cued to move. My horses know never to come within 3 feet of me without being invited long before a saddle is introduced. You need to get a trainer, or at least a video, that will guide you through the ground training that prepares horses for everything they will do for the rest of their lives. Longeing is not the definition of ground training. Your horse needs to start over and learn to stand ground tied, stand to be mounted, give to every request, respect your space and never think he has any option but to do anything other than that. Look for natural horsemanship videos. They are founded in the ground training that has been done for centuries before horses were put under saddle and asked to perform. You can take a horse back to basics and retrain what was not trained to begin with. For now, throw away the longe line, postpone the saddling, and spend the next months on basic ground work and you will change this horse for the rest of his life.