Training ideas???

[jmm]

Hi everyone!

I have a mare that I am bringing along that came from a situation that was a little less then perfect(she thought was HORRIBLE I’m sure), her previous owner lacked a lot of knowledge and riding ability( she does not realize this, she rides… for lack of better way to explain like a VERY very very very large sack of potatoes :/) She bought this mare and stuck her in one of those cheap curb bits that you get free from the farm store with the cheaper bridles, she has a very soft mouth and was use to being rode in a d ring snaffle. Along with putting her in a cheap curb bit she had VERY VERY heavy hand and jerked in smacked this horse around (which I don’t understand because she is VERY willing if you ask her to do something properly). I tracked down this mares history and found out she was sold as a started reining horse then went to work on a ranch when she ended up at yet another sale and this last lady bought her. I even talked with the owner that had her and did the reining training with her and she said she was a wonderful horse with lots of potential and the only reason she sold her was because she got hurt in a car accident and was unable to ride. Anyway, the reason her last owner decided to sell her was because she was being violent, I was told she would fly backwards when they went to get on(which they were planning to cure by letting her fly backwards into an electric fence!!!), she bucked her and her daughter off multiple times, wouldn’t stop, threw her head all the time constantly (which they tried to cure by putting a tie down on her) and she was scared of everything. I decided to buy her anyway, and I am glade I did!!! Since I have owned her she has never flown backwards when I’ve gotten on, she actually stands like a statue for mounting, I put her back into the D-ring snaffle and ride her with very soft quite hands(thats how I ride all my horses) and she quite tossing her head, and I have never had her buck she acted like she might this spring on our first ride of the season so I got off lunged her a bit more did some more ground work got back on and she rode off perfect, I have been working on the spookyness, by desensitizing and getting her to trust me and she has improved greatly on that. (I believe and heard from several people the girl that I bought her from beat the crap out of this horse also) This mare I can tell was VERY well broke at one time now that I have been working with her a while I’ve come to find out, she side passes, picks up all 3 gaits exactly when asked, will do a reining horse spin, will slide to a stop, and even does flying lead changes. Now that we have gotten this far our next thing I want to work on with her is keeping her steady in the gaits. At all three gaits she wants to speed up slow down speed up over and over again it is really hard to keep her steady. What kind of exercises or training ideas work well for working on this? Also what are good training ideas and exercises to improve a horses trust in people? She also gets really worried on trails she wants to run up all the hills (I also found out this girl use to run her through the trails on trail rides ALL the time) I believe if I can get her to trust me completely and be able to keep her at a steady pace in each gait this will help on the trail riding. What ideas does everyone have?

[CHT]

The speed inconsistency could be a fitness thing. She might be trying to do the right thing/stay collected, but then gets tired and so falls on her forehand and rushes. I would work on this by asking for lots of transitions within the gaits (working jog - collected jog - working jog - extended jog) and transitions between gaits. Give her lots of breaks. Lateral work such as shoulder in, and even leg yielding can also help.

Do you have someone with a quiet/steady horse to trail ride with? She might just think that running is expected of her rather than being a trust issue. Having a quiet leader in front of her may help. Could also be she isn’t fit enough to go up the hill quietly too. That would fit with your first issue.

I would also consider she may have a sore back and/or hock issues if she is used to poor riding.

[jmm]

I was leaning that direction. She just is sooo inconsistent that wasn’t sure where to go with that. We have tried taking her out on the trails with seasoned trail horses and it hasn’t seemed to help she will actually try and ram into the rear ends of the horse/mule in front of us to make it up the hills as fast as possible. She gets super nervous out on the trails, I’ve decided to put the trail riding on the back burner till she is farther along. We have had her checked and doesn’t seem to be a soreness issue, never had any lameness or soreness problems. I’m thinking of having a chiropractor work on her just in case she is out some where but she doesn’t seem to show any signs of pain. Thank you very much for your help!

[beau159]

I took the liberty of adding some paragraohs to your original post. I had a very difficult time reading it!

[QUOTE=jmm;8144022]
Hi everyone!

I have a mare that I am bringing along that came from a situation that was a little less then perfect(she thought was HORRIBLE I’m sure), her previous owner lacked a lot of knowledge and riding ability( she does not realize this, she rides… for lack of better way to explain like a VERY very very very large sack of potatoes :/)

She bought this mare and stuck her in one of those cheap curb bits that you get free from the farm store with the cheaper bridles, she has a very soft mouth and was use to being rode in a d ring snaffle. Along with putting her in a cheap curb bit she had VERY VERY heavy hand and jerked in smacked this horse around (which I don’t understand because she is VERY willing if you ask her to do something properly).

I tracked down this mares history and found out she was sold as a started reining horse then went to work on a ranch when she ended up at yet another sale and this last lady bought her. I even talked with the owner that had her and did the reining training with her and she said she was a wonderful horse with lots of potential and the only reason she sold her was because she got hurt in a car accident and was unable to ride.

Anyway, the reason her last owner decided to sell her was because she was being violent, I was told she would fly backwards when they went to get on(which they were planning to cure by letting her fly backwards into an electric fence!!!), she bucked her and her daughter off multiple times, wouldn’t stop, threw her head all the time constantly (which they tried to cure by putting a tie down on her) and she was scared of everything. I decided to buy her anyway, and I am glade I did!!!

Since I have owned her she has never flown backwards when I’ve gotten on, she actually stands like a statue for mounting, I put her back into the D-ring snaffle and ride her with very soft quite hands(thats how I ride all my horses) and she quit tossing her head, and I have never had her buck she acted like she might this spring on our first ride of the season so I got off lunged her a bit more did some more ground work got back on and she rode off perfect, I have been working on the spookyness, by desensitizing and getting her to trust me and she has improved greatly on that. (I believe and heard from several people the girl that I bought her from beat the crap out of this horse also)

This mare I can tell was VERY well broke at one time now that I have been working with her a while I’ve come to find out, she side passes, picks up all 3 gaits exactly when asked, will do a reining horse spin, will slide to a stop, and even does flying lead changes.

Now that we have gotten this far our next thing I want to work on with her is keeping her steady in the gaits. At all three gaits she wants to speed up slow down speed up over and over again it is really hard to keep her steady.

What kind of exercises or training ideas work well for working on this?

Also what are good training ideas and exercises to improve a horses trust in people?

She also gets really worried on trails she wants to run up all the hills (I also found out this girl use to run her through the trails on trail rides ALL the time) I believe if I can get her to trust me completely and be able to keep her at a steady pace in each gait this will help on the trail riding. What ideas does everyone have? [/QUOTE]

I agree with CHT in that she is probably not yet fit enough to maintain a steady gait, especially if she’s had many years of “poor riding”. It takes time to build that muscle back up so that she can carry a steady gait. So I would give that more time. Of course, just do the best you can right now to ask her to travel collected and use her body properly.

Serpentines are a great way to help control their speed, without being on their mouth too much.

She may also just need some more miles to “settle down” and not be as nervous about things. Was she trail rode before? You said she had reining training but she might have had more arena work than trail work. Again, it’s just going to take some time for her learn that trail riding can be fun.

[QUOTE=jmm;8144022]
I was leaning that direction. She just is sooo inconsistent that wasn’t sure where to go with that. We have tried taking her out on the trails with seasoned trail horses and it hasn’t seemed to help she will actually try and ram into the rear ends of the horse/mule in front of us to make it up the hills as fast as possible.

She gets super nervous out on the trails, I’ve decided to put the trail riding on the back burner till she is farther along. We have had her checked and doesn’t seem to be a soreness issue, never had any lameness or soreness problems. I’m thinking of having a chiropractor work on her just in case she is out some where but she doesn’t seem to show any signs of pain. Thank you very much for your help! [/QUOTE]

Yes, I would most absolutely have a chiro look at her. Especially if her previous rider did not ride well and that sack of potatoes was bouncing on her back.

And again, she may be nervous on the trails if she’s not done much of it before. I’d keep riding on the trails, with experienced buddies along, but just keep the trail riding short for now as she becomes more familiar. Just keep building her confidence.

If you know she is going to rush up a hill, make sure you stay one step ahead of her. Do a serpentine up the hill to control her speed and teach her that she an climb the hill without running up it.

I spend lots of time WALKING up and down ditches when my horses to teach them to WALK up and down it nicely. If they start to rush it, I’ll stop them half way up it and then back them down or turn around, and make them do it again.