Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
Yes. It is a behavior. Hunter gets "hot" any time he is with a larger group of horses, so I am working on having him stand quietly when we go out with the group on Saturdays. ... For him I think part of the problem is that at rides he eventually gets rewarded for his dancing around because the race starts and he gets to go. I suppose I should get off and just let the others take off and stand there with him.I suspect I'd have my hands full. Nancy, I can't tell you often enough how much I appreciate your directness. I know you have many years of horse experience, and you still talk about your horses' "issues" - although I expect BECAUSE of your experience that you know that none of us ever get 100% past having them. Thanks for reminding us that Rome wasn't built in a day...and when you get a new horse with issues, they aren't going to be cured overnight. Karen Thomas, NC
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
I guess it's all in your perspective but I see this horse as a very sweet and willing horse that has a problem that's not being addressed. The first thing I would do is take off that dropped noseband and loosen the rein - don't make the horse feel trapped. Secondly, I'd check saddle fit. Third I'd go to my ring at home or wherever you train and back to basics on a calm slow halt - there have been some missed steps in basic training. There is no good reason that the habits that horse has gotten into can't be fixed. I've seen numerous copies of that horse with kids aboard at lots of dressage shows I've been to - it almost always boils down to nerves of the rider and one or more of the issues above. ... I don't see that horse being similar to Stonewall I'm 100% with Laree on this one. If you want to compare this horse to one of yours Janice, I see more of the "before" version of Teev than Walls...although hopefully that side of Tivar is (at least mostly) retired now. (Gotta love that Gastrogard ... and a trainer with patience and empathy.) Karen Thomas, NC
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
> > Many of the endurance Arabians I know of (including some ridden by top > international competitors) start out in CTR, where the pace is slower > and manners are part of the deal. I wish that were an option. I checked both CTR and NATRAC. There are no events anywhere near us. Nancy
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
On Mar 14, 2008, at 8:06 AM, Nancy Sturm wrote: > > I think if I ever take one of the Icelandics to an endurance ride, my > primary goal will be manners manners manners. I didn't create Hunter. > He > arrived here this way. Many of the endurance Arabians I know of (including some ridden by top international competitors) start out in CTR, where the pace is slower and manners are part of the deal. Once the horse learns to take care of himself and gets comfortable with the work, *then* ask him to go faster. Lynn Kinsky, Santa Ynez, CA http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky/
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
> > > it helped stonewall when I started nudging him to go every time he > slowed down. Where we're having the prancing & dancing is in the holding area before the horses are released to start. There's no problem once he is allowed to go. And he is certainly not the only horse that is not standing quietly waiting to be allowed to go. I think the general craziness is part of what sets his feet going. I think if I ever take one of the Icelandics to an endurance ride, my primary goal will be manners manners manners. I didn't create Hunter. He arrived here this way. Nancy
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
On Fri, Mar 14, 2008 at 9:03 AM, Nancy Sturm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I would > > like some ideas on how to correct this. I see it as a behavior > > problem cause otherwise why is he so nice? > > Yes. It is a behavior. Hunter gets "hot" any time he is with a larger > group of horses, so I am working on having him stand quietly when we go out > with the group on Saturdays. > > > For him I think part of the problem is that at rides he eventually gets > rewarded for his dancing around because the race starts and he gets to go. > I suppose I should get off and just let the others take off and stand there > with him.I suspect I'd have my hands full. > > > Nancy > it helped stonewall when I started nudging him to go every time he slowed down. then he started no no, i want to walk now and I would be no no, you wanted to fly lets keep flying, loose rein, and then when he would be begging to slow I would let him. Took less and less each time. But early on I got mad and tired of it and thought well, I will just give him total free rein instead of holding him back every second til my arms ache and he flew til he was about two miles ahead of the pack, then like a big doofus baby started getting spooky and nervous all alone so I let him go back to the others, then same thing, pulling on my arms the whole time. SO then I hit on it by accident one time that if he started wanting to slow and wait on the others and I wouldnt let him, that was a reverse psychology that worked for him, also an accidental discovery and light bulb for me that what people on here were saying was true, that holding a horse in every second only makes them fly faster for some reason!! Now I give him about two inches rein slack each side just in case of one of his lethal ze spins and he will go and behave. IF he isnt excited. But I have actually given up for a while on trying to get him over that. I am taking him on slow calm easy safe rides with people he knows til he gets some more age on him... then we will see I guess. I love the big doofys butt too much to ever just make any extreme decisions about him janice -- even good horses have bad days sometimes.
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
> > I guess it's all in your perspective but I see this horse as a very > sweet and willing horse that has a problem that's not being addressed. > The first thing I would do is take off that dropped noseband and > loosen the rein - don't make the horse feel trapped. i thought he was just acting out from boredom and antsyness all but the bucking. That was sort of a "I aint takin it no more!" move and woulda seriously got my attention and demanded I get to the bottom of things. I have never had a bucking horse. I wonder if they figure I am too heavy to buck off!! Janice -- even good horses have bad days sometimes.
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
I would > like some ideas on how to correct this. I see it as a behavior > problem cause otherwise why is he so nice? Yes. It is a behavior. Hunter gets "hot" any time he is with a larger group of horses, so I am working on having him stand quietly when we go out with the group on Saturdays. For him I think part of the problem is that at rides he eventually gets rewarded for his dancing around because the race starts and he gets to go. I suppose I should get off and just let the others take off and stand there with him.I suspect I'd have my hands full. Nancy
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 5:49 PM, Janice McDonald <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > and this one, it acts like a lot of the horses I trail ride with, but > then I started thinking about this poor kid actually being in a horse > show I guess it's all in your perspective but I see this horse as a very sweet and willing horse that has a problem that's not being addressed. The first thing I would do is take off that dropped noseband and loosen the rein - don't make the horse feel trapped. Secondly, I'd check saddle fit. Third I'd go to my ring at home or wherever you train and back to basics on a calm slow halt - there have been some missed steps in basic training. There is no good reason that the habits that horse has gotten into can't be fixed. I've seen numerous copies of that horse with kids aboard at lots of dressage shows I've been to - it lamost always biols down to nerves of the rider and one or more of the issues above. I don't see that horse being similar to Stonewall. -- Laree in NC Doppa & Mura Simon, Sadie and Sam (the "S" gang) "Yet when all the books have been read and reread, it boils down to the horse, his human companion, and what goes on between them." - William Farley
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 8:35 PM, Nancy Sturm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Only thing walls doesnt do tho > > is buck. thank the good lord for small favors for that at least!! > > > Okay Janice, I'll have Bruce film Hunter at the start of the next endurance > ride (not RACE) we do. the grey horse that is acting out in the show ring is like my stonewall i think, perfectly behaved except when doing something that BORES him and then the other end of the spectrum EXCITES him. I would like some ideas on how to correct this. I see it as a behavior problem cause otherwise why is he so nice? And Tivar did this when he came, but I found with him if I have to stand a long time (waiting for the ride to officially begin, waiting for instruction from the posse leader) if I start practing his sidepassing and backing up on command, he stops it. STonewall never gets angry and bucky and actually he is more patient than Tivar in situations where you have to stand, but when he is asked to do something he just doesnt want to do he starts acting like the grey horse, acting like a turtlehead with dancey feet. If I ask HIM to back up, he is so high energy he will just back up happily all day, unlike Teev who will go ok ok, I get it, I will stand quietly, but Teev is almost twice Stonewalls age so maybe that has some effect? Janice -- even good horses have bad days sometimes.
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
Only thing walls doesnt do tho > is buck. thank the good lord for small favors for that at least!! Okay Janice, I'll have Bruce film Hunter at the start of the next endurance ride (not RACE) we do. And I don't really consider him high strung, just sort of highly reactive. This is not something I am proud of, but we usually start each ride sideways - embarrassing... hmmm mmaybe if you can't remember how to spell it, you're not. His previous owner described him as having "happy feet". At first I had no intention of even getting on him. Nancy
Re: [IceHorses] Re: bad trail gaits
>>> Why oh WHY would a horse DO this i guess this is what I mean by high >>> strung?? Or is it he is just a bad kid? or is it he needs horsey >>> downers? Or is it he needs whopped upside the head?? I am not at all convinced that's a "high strung" horse. Maybe he needs a new saddle, or a new bit, or a chiropractor, or Ulcergard, or accupuncture? Or just some down-time from a stupid rider who thinks it's cute that the horse is so upset? When Tivar came here, he showed some signs of doing that sort of thing. I am proud to say that I honestly don't know if he would have kept it up that long though. Shirley had enough brains to get off him, and I had enough concern to get him checked by the vet. We didn't get back to riding him until he had treatment. When she started back riding, he was a mellow horse - worried and expecting the worst at first, but MUCH better behaved. Karen Thomas, NC
