I need to second the french link. Holly (ASB) would also invert in a regular snaffle and goes better in a French.
Another thing I’ve found handy is back-up practice in hand. Grab the lead right under the chin with your thumb on the bottom, like it would point it to the ground if you stuck it out. Then ask for the back up, moving your hand side to side if needed. Reward when you get correct movement of the head and neck, then feet.
My 2¢
I agree with whoever said it’s a bad idea to back off when she starts throwing a tanty. You don’t have to escalate when she escalates, but you do need to stick to your guns and calmly reiterate that she needs to let you ride. If a tanty gets her a walk break every time you will eventually find yourself doing standy twirlies every time life gets hard.
I would pay much more attention at this stage to whether her feet are on the path you want them to be left to right, than whether her head is low up and down. ie ride lateral, not longitudinal
When you are on a path down the quarterline, can you move the whole horse 6 inches to the outside? And then back over the other way? On curves, are her nose and hip in, and her shoulder out, around your inside leg? Can you “wrap her” around your inside leg? Does she “fill up” your outside aids like a full sail? Is this as easy to the left as it is to the right? These are the things that are more important, imo, than whether or not her head is up or down.
If stuff annoys her, do more of it. If she gets fussy about stepping away from your inside leg, dramatically step her AWAY from your inside leg for a few strides. When she softens, you soften. If she suddenly throws fits about turning left (been there!), do a whole ride where you do left circles the. entire. time. (also been there).
But she needs to let you ride. If she gets huffy about you moving her feet around, let her toss her head. Ignore it. Keep your focus on riding the feet underneath you, instead of the head in front of you.
Riding the head is front to back. Riding the feet is back to front.
I have reschooled a couple of Arabians, one successfully and one not, so there’s your caveat. :lol:
I did a version of “matchsticks” with them early on. Both of them seemed to have a disconnect between their head and feet at times. And neither of them was inclined to stretch or even look at the ground (a lot of under neck muscling and necks that seemed to sprout straight up from the withers on both of them). I scattered poles around the ring and walked in random patterns over them, then the same with trotting. One responded beautifully by stretching down to inspect the poles and step carefully over; the other skittered a round like a jack Russell on linoleum, spooking and farting every time he touched a pole with his toe.
Another useful exercise was thread the needle. Say you’re tracking left, riding down the long side, do a circle halfway down. Ride the short side of the arena and do a half turn instead of proceeding down the next long side. So now you’ve changed direction and halfway down the long side you do another circle this time to the right. Again ride the short side with a half turn back changing direction. Back down the long side with another circle to the left. Rinse and repeat. This way their feet are always moving and changing direction, you’re constantly changing bend, and they never get a full long side to build steam.
Also agree with meupatdoes. I think it was Charlotte Dujardin who said the hot ones need to be ridden with a lot of leg. They have to learn to accept it and that does take persistence. Having ridden saddleseat at an Arabian training barn I can tell you the ones I’ve ridden do not get ridden with a lot of leg. You hold your calf away from them and apply it only to signal so it can definitely take time for them to figure out the proper response to your leg. There may be a lot of bulging, surging ahead, hollowing out, balking, etc. It’s hard. I think that is why I failed with the one. He was very, very hot and I backed off when I should have been more insistent. But he could be pretty explosive and I was not brave enough so it was better we parted ways.
I had an Arab mare that sounds a lot like yours! I found a lot of ground poles and uneven, unmanicured terrain really helped her mind. She had to focus a lot on where she was putting her feet, instead of focusing on running around with her head in the air. I also rode a lot with reins on the snaffle as well as on a halter, so when she started getting tense I could go back to a less threatening signal. She still learned to stretch into the nose contact.
In the ring, I did a ton of changes of direction and pace, sometimes in BIG gaits when she was offering them. When she decided she wanted to run off, I would focus on a BIG balanced trot or canter, with lots on impulsion but on a small enough circle or intricate enough pattern that she had to think about carrying herself. That would wear her out to where she would go back to the reasonable gait I was actually asking for.
She got tense on a longe and started running around like a maniac, so I rarely did that. Instead, I taught her to to ground poles at liberty in an indoor arena. She seemed to like learning without the “sensory overload” of actually being ridden, and I could see it was really building muscle in her back. After a bit of that, I could hop on bareback and work on a bit.
My arab wasn’t a saddleseat horse, or even a show horse for that matter, but she is super sensitive and had no formal training when I got her…as a 17 year old that was just trained to ride at age 13, and no schooling in the arena occurred…ever. The person to trained her literally put a saddle on, and trail rode, and eventually she was doing distance events with her. So the horse knew forward and tense.
That being said - the absolute best thing was just to walk, walk, walk, on a loose rein. When she could do that without getting amped, I took contact and worked on soft contact, but still at the walk. When that was consistent and relaxed and she was responding how I wanted her, we moved up to working some at the trot. This may be a few weeks of just walking. Then we worked on just the walk/trot. I didn’t canter her in the arena for probably two years. But then when I did canter her…it was actually quite pleasant considering how green she truly was. Strengthening her at the walk and trot, and letting her adjust mentally, was a huge payoff when we started cantering.
I agree with the poster who said not to lunge her before riding. Arabs have stamina, and if she’s already forward and wants to rip, lunging only serves to amp them up more, in my experience.
Arabs can be quirky, but I have found them to give honest opinions. My mare will let you know if she’s offended by something, but she lets you know in a way that allows you time to try a different way that’s less offensive. She will not dump you off.
I’ve had QH and Arabs - my worst horse was an Arab … said I’d never own another…bought a QH…was given an Arab…turns out the Arab is the best horse I’ve ever had and the QH was NOT a good match. They can be challenging, but once you have earned their trust, you’ll have it for life.
The biggest thing to remember when riding an Arab is they need human contact! Arabs are bred to want to bond with humans. Give your horse a lot of love and take it easy with her. Take her for long trail rides and do lots of ground work and natural horsemanship. Get your bond going and try riding her bareback to steady your position.
While I am not retraining a horse, I am training my PRE gelding who has been under saddle for less than a year. He has strong basics, but he is super sensitive. He is not fussy or rude, but he feels every move you make and reacts.
The best things to do in my opinion is to be firm, fair, and consistent. You need all three of those things. Typically if he overacts I don’t make a big deal and carry on with asking him what I want him to do until he does it, reward, wash, rinse, repeat. Huge reward/fuss initially for this guy since his confidence can be low. Your horse may not be so confident if she is learning a completely new way of going, so remember that. I also talk to him. I think it keeps me even and calm too.
I also do lateral work from the ground, and long line.
I find with hot horses it’s not so much what you do but the impression that you give them of their emotional state. Many hot horses will take any cue as a cue to canter or gallop. An important thing to remember is that you never want to use cantering or galloping as a punishment. A forward horse is a gift abet a difficult to manage one at times. The best thing that I find to calm a horse that refuses to slow down is to just chill out on them. I find if they notice that you are relaxed they will also relax.
Lots of great suggestions! I found out an interesting tidbit from BO about this particular Arab. She is very well bred and sold as a 2 yr old for 6 figures. She was traded to BO for a well bred baby since Arab had a “slight” ear issue and it was affecting her placing in saddleseat competitions. BO treated for mites, but seems this mare has never stopped being thrashy with her head. Even pros find this mare difficult, so I need to cut myself slack with our slow progress. Poll pressure & things touching her ears seem like a bigger deal than bit pressure. I tried my English hackamore on her. At first she seems to like it, a few minutes later, not so cool.
Bit suggestions - several posters mentioned bit suggestions. Here is what I have at my disposal: reg D-ring snaffle, french link baucher, reg full cheek snaffle, rubber mullen mouth. The other bits I own are too wide for this petite mare.
We are making good progress at the walk. She will relax, stretch down and get looser in hips/back. Trot work is getting a bit worse as horse finds the holes in my riding. She is not throwing her head up at a ninety degree angle now. Instead she will get very low and throw her head around a bit like she is going to buck. Hasn’t happened yet but she’s testing. We haven’t cantered under saddle yet.
This horse really tests my abilities as a rider. I’ve come to realize my lower leg needs to be steadier to ride through her inconsistent changes in tempo at the trot. Between her rolly-polly build and my asymmetry due to a bad right knee, my legs tend to slide too far forward on her far too often. Sigh. Keeps me humble as a rider I guess…
To lunge or not to lunge - at first, the suggestions not to lunge before I ride made me say “Eek!”. BO only has me work this little hothead twice a week and she doesn’t get ridden otherwise, but calming down the flight response makes total sense. I’ve tried both ways. The best with this mare seems to be to lunge in the scary corners of the arena before I ride with a focus on her listening to my cues. It’s more about gaining her focus than burning calories. Will you walk? Yes. Will you trot? Yes. Will you whoa? Yes. We will do a few laps at canter to check attitude, but it’s mostly about getting her to listen. I probably spend 5-7 minutes lunging before I ride now. Once she has been in the scary corners, she doesn’t bat an eye under saddle. My fav thing about her is she is brave to external stimulus.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
