Quick/Hot 3 year old

My 3 year old NAW is adorable and I love him tons! However, everything he does is quick…he never seems “relaxed and quiet” unless I gallop him for 1/2 hour in the polo field first.

I think he may have “Attn. Def. Dis.” if he were a person.

Questions: Will he grow out of this? Is it bad to let him gallop and get tired b/f working/training on him? (I don’t have a lunge line – believe more in the “human lunge line!”) LOL!

Thanks!

[I]“If you can’t beat 'em with brains, beat 'em with bullshit!”

  • Tommy Serio, 2001[/I]

Well, Colin, it could be worse. Your 3 yr. old could be like ours and tend to the opposite end of the spectrum: NO work ethic!

Maybe your baby is just happy to go to work? Like, “Yippee!” That can eventually be channeled into a useful trait. He may become a fantastic, quick, careful jumper. Mine, on the other hand, is looking at a career as a plowhorse.

“Friends don’t let friends eat fish tacos.”

Jake is turned out from 6am to 6pm, and in the stall unless I’m riding him otherwise.

We get along great. I can sit on him bareback with no halter or anything in the paddock and he’s perfect. He’s a very happy horse to ride. Just frisky!

He only eats hay. 1/2 grass/ 1/2 alfalfa

He’s not as hot as I may be making him to look…he just doesn’t go around slow and lopey…he’s quick…which was fine when we were on the cattle drive over the summer!!!

I tried to give him a month off over the summer. I turned him out in my friends grass paddock with some friends. He was MISERABLE. Lost weight from running around. He gets mad at me if I don’t ride him all the time…even 1 day off and he’s pissed! I don’t work him all the time, just tack him up and get him “out” and “about”.

[I]“If you can’t beat 'em with brains, beat 'em with bullshit!”

  • Tommy Serio, 2001[/I]

One that is 4 years old, gets a lot of turnout (ATLEAST all night and/or all day), gets a handful of grain, timothy hay, ridden 5 days a week, and gets faster and tenser the more you ask them to do (to try to make them “think”)??

Do I have to resign myself to the fact that he is just a wack-o??

AND has had MAJOR (repeat MAJOR) vet exams to find something, anything wrong physically.

Yow, human lunge line! I like that one.

Isn’t the danger of letting him gallop for 1/2 hour that he will get even more fit? Then it becomes the battle of the fittest?? Of course it would be no battle for me, the horse would always win that one.

What if you gallop awhile, then do some trot forward, then gallop some more until you can get him focused on the trot work?

Good luck, I’m like Merry, though mine has a good work ethic, he just isn’t going to be too rambuncious.

“The older I get, the better I used to be, but who the heck cares!”

When my horse was younger, I always tried to set him up for a successful ride by getting on after he had been turned out all day (or all night) instead of waiting until he was rested up in his stall for a few hours. Plus the wonderful trainer, Lunge Line, always did a 20 minute session before I got on in the winter. Now that my horse is 11, he is much more level headed and willing to cooperate. Either that or his eyesight has failed to the point he can’t see what used to spook him. So hang on dear Colin, just 8 more years, and you’ll have a different horse!

Use the Force.

“Do I have to resign myself to the fact that he is just a wack-o??”

I think you answered that one by yourself, haha.

My old trainers jumper is INSANE… he always has been, he always will be. She was doing hunters with him but it got so frustrating that she finally decided to go ahead and do the jumpers. He has adjusted fine and listens better to her now because he seems to be interested in what he is doing

What does your trainer suggest you do with your 4 y/o?
Take Care,

Jen &*** Pie***
“It is easy to live in the world after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live in your own;but great is the one who in the midst of a crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” R.W.E.

Jake the snake is fit as a fiddle. Looks like he’s “race fit”, honest! He loves to go.go.go.go.go.go. The energizer bunny, so to speak! LOL!

Good news is that he’s smart as a whip! Already doing lead changes and jumping little jumps. Very brave! And his ears are ALWAYS PRICKED FORWARD!LOL!

[I]“If you can’t beat 'em with brains, beat 'em with bullshit!”

  • Tommy Serio, 2001[/I]

My horse that I keep in town (the real bad is like an hour away) used to get real quick. I rode him everyday for like hours. I rode him in the ring, jumped, did trail rides everday (like all 3 in one day). Now I really only get on him and canter a few times around the ring and maybe jump a few courses. He is SO SO SO easy. He was very green when I got him; he was just a pasture horse. Now he just kinda goes around and lopes over big jumps and is like the easiest horse in the world.

Of course, he was 15 so he never was a baby, just green.


http://www.catchride.com

Showpony busy does not mean rushed into stuff. Tons of circles and serpentines at the trot with alot of down transitions for example.
If your horse is always tense and you have ruled out vet problems there are two more areas to focus on. One is your own riding or your trainer’s, not everybody can ride or understand every horse so think about a change there.
Second maybe the horse is not suited to the work you are expecting of him.
Just some thoughts. Please do not take offense.

From Allergy Valley USA

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Colin:

I think he may have “Attn. Def. Dis.” if he were a person.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Is anyone else thinking “Like owner, like horse”?!?!

I have no advice, since as you have witnessed, I do not have that problem

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Colin:
He’s not as hot as I may be making him to look…he just doesn’t go around slow and lopey…he’s quick…which was fine when we were on the cattle drive over the summer!!!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh, thats just how mine was. He would just kinda canter at one speed and not really give in. It was very hard to adjust to jumps, Lol. He just kinda grew out of it one day. Like I was cantering around and was like wow nifty, your broke.


http://www.catchride.com

thank you for your in put. I guess i should clearify things…

It is not really as bad as I made it sound(I was half kidding) she is just green and inconsistant.

Also I am the “trainer” and am a very soft quiet rider (comes from years, and years, and years, of riding HOT tb’s and greenies and trying to make horses look effortless in front of customers looking to buy!)

I would be worried about having to gallop him for half an hour, but I event, and my warmup before I do any work (especially dressage!) has always been to walk around the area once or twice, trot, in 2 point once or twice, and when the horse is ready, canter a bunch in 2 point, playing with lengthening and extending strides. Before I would even think about asking the horse to come on the bit, this works especially well at shows.

Laura

We do alot of walking with the quick and hot ones, it helps them relax…

Also their diet can be a big factor. My trainer has a horse that he only feeds hay, because he is so hot that when he was on grain you could walk up to him and touch and he would just quiver beneath your hand…

Member of the Invisible Clique!

I agree that you should rule out any physical discomfort. I had a TB I got as a 4 y.o. who hadn’t done much. He had spent most of his life in a field then had about 1 year of riding/training before I bought him. He was very hot, particularly in the winter, and if something was very challenging, he would buck and occasionally rear. Here is what worked for him:

  1. had the vet look him over again, turned out he had a sore back. He had a course of robaxin and started getting regular massages. About twice a year, the vet would do acupuncture.
  2. once we resolved the physical issues, I started doing a lot of work to get him tuned to me, i.e. transitions, circles, serpentines, poles.
  3. moved to a farm that offered longer turnout, i.e. all day as opposed to half day
  4. at shows, lunged about 20 minutes to let him stretch his back out since he didn’t have the freedom of turnout to stretch out on his own. mostly just trotting, then some trot-canter-trot transitions toward the end.

After about two years of the routine above, he was a horse who would be relatively quiet as long as the rider had a quiet upper body and didn’t hurt his back. He was always a little forward, but he was small and needed to gallop a little to get the numbers in lines. With a little veterinary care and some work, he lost that hot and quick look he had when we first got him.

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by VTrider:

I have no advice, since as you have witnessed, I do not have that problem <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, you do not, VT!!! LOL! Precious PK is so amazingly perfectly slow! Not only slow, but athletic and covers the ground at the same time. Truly amazing.

OK – imagine RIDING PK when someone is jogging him…that is what I’m dealing with!!!LOL! I had visions of PK escaping from me in the jog, running over me and heading to route 17! Should have made the owner jog him in!!!LOL!

[I]“If you can’t beat 'em with brains, beat 'em with bullshit!”

  • Tommy Serio, 2001[/I]

This may sound kind of stupid but maybe he needs more to do. When you do get on don’t schlep around on the rail do trot poles and serpentines and transitions and halts and rein backs and leg yields. Like a kid who can’t sit still give him something to do.
Trouble with all that brainless lunging or riding warm up is he’ll just get fitter and fitter and need more and more. I’ve never met you Colin but something tells me that 4 a.m. is not a good get up time for you when you show at noon. This one may not be cut out for a hunter for sure. He may also not be as tough as you think if you can just keep the pea brain working. His brain that is.

From Allergy Valley USA

I was definitely overexaggerating about the 1/2 hr gallop. I did the usual “let him run” – which was 5 laps around the ring. Probably 2 minutes??? (yeah, I know…)

Then he was tired…but I knew he would get back to his “quick” state soon…so I practiced making him think. Lots of turns, serpentines, leg yields, etc. He was dead dog quiet! I needed spurs to get the lead changes!

I think I usually only ride him 20-30 minutes at a time…and tonight the 20 mins was well spent! No arguing or fighting with him…he was a doll! (AND…it was COLD out!!!)

Thank you!

[I]“If you can’t beat 'em with brains, beat 'em with bullshit!”

  • Tommy Serio, 2001[/I]

Colin,

I have a bit of personal experience in this matter - my A/A TB was hotter than a pistol, hot/explosive/dangerous on a daily basis. What follows is a compilation of things I learned while (honest!) trying to save this horse from a dogfood can.

First thing to look at is lifestyle. Horses are designed to graze 18 hours a day, perhaps covering 30 miles in a day looking for food and water. When we put them in stalls, we stress them to some extent (some horses more than others). In my experience, less than 8 hours of turnout a day leads to energy issues, vices, colics, ulcers, and a general lack of practical muscle tone and fitness. My TB lives out 24/7 because having a roof over his head makes him just WILD (even today). Out in the pasture, he kicks back and plays with his mule friend and eats. He keeps himself really quiet and happy.

Secondly, what are you feeding? If you’re feeding this young horse quite a bit of food, that can easily cause A.D.D.-like behavior. We’ve gone to higher fat, lower carbohydrate diets for all our horses, and they look great and are quiet. Each horse’s body chemistry is different. My horse eats lots of Purina Strategy and is still quiet as a mouse. I’ve seen other horses go wacky on Strategy. You need to find what works for this horse. As a general rule, it’s best to feed the least you can of concentrates and focus on pasture and hay as the main source of sustanance.

Thirdly, and this may or may not apply to you, but I’m going to throw it out because it was a huge part of my horse’s problem. How do you guys get along? My horse spent all his time trying to run away from me, whether I was trying to catch him or if I was riding him. He was always running out from underneath me, and felt “bound up” like a spring waiting to blow. He hated me, he hated being ridden by me, and for a long time I treated it like a training problem. It was a problem between the two of us. I needed to be his friend FIRST, his “owner” or “trainer” second. Once we got this going, things really started to turn around, and today, he’d do anything for me, just because I asked.

Additionally, remember that 3 is still very young. The bones in a horse’s back and hips don’t fully solidify until he’s 5 or so (long after the knees have closed), so I’d avoid fast/strenuous work if he were mine, for the sake of longevity. There’s lots of training you can (and should) do that doesn’t involve going fast, that can also work to keep a youngster’s mind engaged - turning, stopping, backing, lateral work, opening gates, trail riding, softening the jaw/poll, etc. This stuff, established well and early, can serve a horse for the rest of his life.

I think sometimes, we give our horses plenty of physical work, but neglect to give them enough mental work to keep them engaged. After all, do they REALLY care about this riding stuff? When a hot horse’s mind is put to a very specific task ("I’d like you to walk at this speed, in this direction, with your head here and your hips here), I’ve found that it really engages them. As time goes on, instead of adding faster work, you can get more and more specific - there are so many layers there to peel off!

Just my experience…