Not closing your fingers is NOT having a light contact. With open fingers it’s impossible to establish a light consist contact.
Close your fingers softly, as though you are holding a bird. You don’t want to quash it, nor do you want to lose it.
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OP
is this a lesson horse, or are you leasing him?
Are you his only rider?
I agree the horse is not going correctly for either jumping or dressage. It sounds like he’s sucked back and evading contact. I am sure that tentative riding is a big part of this, but from the other information given I now tend to think the horse is chronically unsound as well
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You are a very caring and lovely person for starting this thread.
This is going to sound harsh and heartbreaking, but I see heartbreak in your future anyway if you continue with what you are doing.
WALK AWAY.
Thank your lucky stars that you are not the owner of this horse. Kiss him in the nose. Shed a tear. Walk away and DO NOT GO BACK.
Find a sound horse to lease. Find a good trainer that can teach you correct contact. What you have described is not light contact or correct contact.
It costs just as much to keep a lame horse and a sound horse.
Do not throw good money after bad.
It will not be easy. It will hurt. Do it.
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This is appaling.
What else can you do? No put this horse through more training ride??!!??
This horse shouldn’t be ridden, not even lunged or whatever until a full vet exam is done and a clear rehab plan is written down.
You are currently making this horse suffering by continuing his training.
You (owner, trainer, you) know the horse is lame and sore… this, to me, is cruelty.
Stop pretenting to be that ignorant.
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He just got them fitted in August so yes. I tend to get them rechecked every 3-4 months. I spend more money than I desire to for saddle fittings because I know I’m paying for the level or expertise the fitter has with her qualifications. She is involved with many research projects in the UK and brings over new technologies and products.
Let me stop you right there. DO NOT accuse me of cruelty while en your eyes do not see the actual horse and it’s situation. Clearly you also don’t see that I’m here to ask others that have been in similar situations, their advice on how to handle this, not to be told I’m a blind and ignorant human being. Clearly I care about this horse, not sure how much I have to say this!!! This horse is literally all I have in my life and I would NEVER try to abuse him in any way. I have never experienced any of this before with any horse. I understand that time doesn’t control a rehab, the horse does. I’m sorry that you aren’t in control of the situation. Don’t judge me because you don’t agree with me or others that are IN the situation. His owner/ trainer and me are not abusers. The end.
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But you also tell us that you feel the need to complain about the condition of the horse every time you visit the barn, and that your complaints are not bring listened to.
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It is great that you care about this horse. But I’m worried for you about the comment “this horse is all I have in my life right now.” That comment would worry me even if the person owned the horse and could afford the best of care.
If it’s a borrowed or leased horse, if you cannot afford to take on extra medical costs, if the owners and trainer are not willing or able to manage the horse in a fashion you approve of, if your concerns about his soundness are falling on deaf ears, this is a recipe for disaster. Both for you and the horse.
The unsound horse has to carry the burden of being everything to you, but you are not able to take any concrete steps towards fulfilling his medical needs. And his owner’s don’t seem to share your concerns.
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Too bad you refuse to see what’s going on… This is the ignorance talking.
Your horse was on stall rest and up to 15-20 minutes trot rehab on July 21st and you had a lesson on the 30th… yet you also had a vet appointment stating a lateral splint was developing.
And now, a month or so later, you’re starting this thread where you are describing a decline in this horse condition…
As per you, the back problem has been going on for a long time, the 4 beat canter as well.
Yet, you are looking for training advice…
Go on, keep riding.
Also, I would be very careful bringing Todd Bryan as your trainer … Is he really aware of this horse’s health background?
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You’re in a tough spot here because you don’t control the situation. I understand. I have ridden other people’s horses for most of my life.
Unfortunately, you’re describing a horse that is in pain when ridden. The four-beat canter, the canting in of the haunches, the saddle sores, the chronic back pain… He’s telling you he hurts too much to do what you’re asking. It is unethical to continue riding a horse when you know that riding it is causing more pain. The suggestion of groundwork is a good one. There’s much to learn there, it can be helpful for rehab, and there should be plenty you can do that won’t cause pain until such time as the owner or you are in a position to pay for the lameness exam he needs. When we know better, we do better.
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I’m confused. OP posted on 8/30 re understanding how her test score converted from “dressage” to “eventing”. In any event she got a 64% via the dressage method. Presuming the test was sometime that weekend, how bad could this horse be if a judge didn’t ring her out or reflect unsoundness etc in the score?
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If the pain is coming from the back or SI, or is equal and bilateral in a pair of limbs…? Quite bad. My mare, now retired due to multiple spinal issues, could have gotten a 64% at TL (her level of education) on her good days, pre-diagnosis. The bad days were quite bad – might not have made it to the ring.
This horse has been ridden in tack that caused open saddle sores without killing anyone, so I’m going to guess he’s a good bit more stoic than my chestnut TB mare. :winkgrin:
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One thing you can do is stop riding with these complete yahoos.
You don’t even own this horse.
This whole situation is a waste of time, money, and bandwidth.
But, it’s true I’ve never been in a similar situation, probably because whenever an even remotely similar situation presents itself I walk away.
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@MDKCongo - If you are continuing to ride this horse while he is in clear discomfort and is not fully recovered from a splint injury that IS cruel and I don’t know how you can argue otherwise. It’s one thing if you refuse and the owner continues to keep the horse in work, but if you know this and are still riding or putting this horse to work in any manner regardless if you express your concerns to the owner or not…you personally are making it harder on this horse.
Before jumping back into horse ownership, I was leasing a horse at a nearby barn to get back into more of the day to day reality again as it had been a while. The horse was a great fit for me, but the overall care at this barn was subpar at best which came to light after a few months in…stalls would get nasty on a regular basis, no vaccinations, no fecal exams/worming, I think a handful of the horses got a hoof trim once in the 6 months I was there and they were all visibly underweight. At one point I offered to pay for a trim on my lease horse because her hooves were just a mess and the BO got a bit reactive at that. I knew that this was not a place I would want to keep a future horse so started barn shopping and had a place lined up before I started horse shopping. In this case, the BO had too many of her own horses and not enough money to do it right, which still doesn’t make it right in my mind.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the horses owner doesn’t care much about their horses health and well being either and are simply agreeing to the vet care to get you off their backs. Unfortunately, with this horse and his issues, it’s not been that easy. If you won’t walk away from this situation, at least stop riding this horse until he is sound.
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In other posts, the OP has said she’s been riding this horse for 6 years and that she’s in college. So, she has a lot emotionally invested in this horse and this barn/trainer. This could be the only barn she’s ever ridden at so she may not have much to judge it against. While I agree that she should walk away if the owners don’t agree to improved vet care for the horse, it may not be easy for her.
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Hmm. Then the OP has been riding this horse at this barn since she was a young mid teen. That can complicate being assertive because the owners and trainer will still think of her as being 13 years old. Also the horse will feel like it’s her childhood horse.
It’s still however true that if the situation has stopped working or the rider has matured enough to have questions about the horse care, it may be time to move on. Personally, I’m a big fan of letting go of most childhood attachments when you go to college, including your childhood barn.
Ok, I went back and looked at some of the OP’s other started topics on this horse. The horse has had a splint problem for a few years. In February 2020 they were dealing with a splint reactivating, in July they were getting vet advice to rest.
The general picture seems to be that they flow some treatment for a few weeks, horse “feels fantastic” when they ride or compete again, and then his problems come back again.
So my advice would be that this horse needs a good long time off work, say 6 months. A year. He needs to recover. Right now he is being reinjured every time he gets partly better
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And the OP is clearly complicit in rushing this horse back to work. I don’t care how much someone says “I love this horse so much.” You don’t do this to someone or something you really love.
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Ok open sores from saddle fit. Aside from the rest which I also agree with, open saddle sores can take MONTHS to heal entirely. Think about scar tissue too. I wouldn’t ride this horse until you have the saddle issues figured out 100% and also the horse has more time to heal.
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