Horse Consultation @horse-consult - Tumblr Blog

Dear anon - my ask box isn't working so I'll answer your question here :)

Hi, sorry for any grammar mistakes. I started to ride about two years ago, and I don't know how to ride very well. The only table around near me had only private horses and one lease horse. He is old and stubborn and I was 12 when I started to ride, so I couldn't control him very well. And recently my mom agreed that she would drive me to one other stable near my home, and it happened that at the same time my father decided to gift me a horse. I don't think she is very suitable for me. She is 5 years old Oldenburg mare, she is easy to spook and doesn't know almost anything but the most simple stuff. And as I don't know how to ride very well I can't teach her. All we end up doing on lessons is me trying to calm her down while she spooks at stuff. I don't feel like she is learning anything and I definitely don't feel like I am learning anything. But the problem is, she was quite pricey from what I've heard, and I don't want to complain much clearly the problem is in me, not knowing how to ride well enough. And she is my father gift, to me, and I don't want to bugger him much, I've had her for three months only. Maybe it will get better with time? Right now, I don't feel that it will, my want to ride is getting a bit smaller with each lesson, I'm mostly just scared that I'll fall off again when she takes off galloping from something surprising. So, should I give her up to someone better suited, or fight on?

It sounds to me like the best decision for both of you would be to find a trainer who can train your mare and you :) This means you can keep you dad's gift to you as well as have both of you progress in your riding. Ask one of the instructors at either yard to help you out, I doubt it'll be a problem. Young horses are a handful and trying to school them without help if you're not sure how to do it properly could end badly so a qualified instructor will be a great aid for you. However if this doesn't work perhaps selling your mare and buying an older school-master would be better for you both. That way she can progress with someone a little more knowledgeable and you can enjoy learning from a horse who knows everything already :) Hope this helps you a little!

---Niamh

I'm exercising a horse and been told that he needs worked hard. So thats what I do. I do everything the owner wants to ensure I can still ride. Today she sees him sweating(not much) and is all bothered about it, I later get a call saying that I should stop riding until the new year because she can't believe how sweaty I made him, even although she hasn't clipped him and he's pretty over weight. How should approach it situation ? Ridden for 9/10 years but never delt with anyone like this before..

Honestly, the lady sounds like a bit of a nut. I would try to explain the situation to her if at all possible and discuss exactly what she wants to do. I would be SUPER polite and explain that the horse hasn't been clipped and you were doing what you thought best. Try not to get defensive because that always just makes situations like this worse.

I would maybe ask if you could possibly clip the horse. Also, talk about a training plan that will work for all of you, the horse included. I would really try to explain your side as politely as possible and stress that you have the horse's best interest at heart.

Hope that helps!

-Emily

#equestrian-dream

My horse is herdbound and always calls out and freaks out when I bring her to the arena. How do I fix this?

You'll need to start out slow with her and remember that it's completely normal for a horse to be herd bound - they're a herd animal! Start with small steps like leading her out of the barn. If she's calm and doesn't start calling out to her buddies let her back into her stable. Keep this up for a while, gradually increasing the time/length that she's away from all her friends. Don't be tempted to push her too far, take baby steps. When she's pretty calm about all of this get some of your friends to ride in the arena around you while you lunge her. When she's close to the 'herd' make her work harder then take her to the opposite side of the arena and let her relax and take a break. If she starts to freak out at all, send her back to work again. Soon she'll start to realise that the herd means hard work but you mean a little work and then a break.

I hope this helps you a little bit. Having a herd bound horse can be hard and it just takes time and patience so don't give up!

---Niamh

My friend and I have been setting my horse loose in the arena before we ride and free jump him. It always warms him up, but what are some other ways besides lunging and turning him loose with jumps to get him ready for riding that I can do myself??

Do you turn him loose because you can't ride him to warm him up? If that's the case you could try putting him on a horse walker or giving him extra time in the field befor eyou ride to get rid of a little freshness :) If that's not the case, try walking for two laps on each rein with a loose contact. Then pick up your contact and ask a little more of his walk, circling in each end of the school. Pick up trot and trot a 20m circle at A, E, C and B on each rein (you can also vary the sizes of the circles making them bigger/smaller). Pick up canter and circle in the same places on each rein, transitioning down to trot when you change rein. Once you're finished your canter circles ask for a trot and when you're happy that he's in a settle rythm ask for walk and then halt. Let him relax while you think of what you want to do with him next! I always warm Cody up this way so he knows that even if it's in a strange place it's just the same old stuff that he can relax into before the real works starts :) If you wanted to, you could also try a few turn on the forehands in walk after cantering to really warm up and stretch out his back muscles! I hope this helps :)

---Niamh

hey, I just wanted to let you all know that Star, my mare, is now loading perfectly and we will be heading to our first show in August. Thank you so much guys<3

awesome!

My horse is a rescue from an abusive situation and has had about 3 years of work put on him (he's only 5). He's always been really good on the lunge line but very recently he's started freaking out when we try to go right. He backs up goes sideways, and won't let me get near him. I've tried everything I can think of. If I have another person with me we can chase him around with a lunge whip but I don't always have help and I don't want to make it something scary. He rides/leads right just fine.

I would suggest being very gentle with him. If you do have help, get someone to walk next to his head and someone to stand in the middle and hold the lunge. Start off right next to him and stop every time he freaks out and try to reassure him. Once he starts getting better walk a few feet away.

Another thing you could try would be to ride him on the lunge and see if that calms him down. The other thing that could be going wrong could be wrong is he may have hurt something that s making it painful for him to go right so you may want to look into lameness tests.

Sorry it took so long! I was out of town with no internet for a bit. Hope that helps!

-Emily

#deathbyraptor

Hi, I have a 20y/o mare who I want to show this summer, my only problem is she wont get on the trailer. She used to trailer like a dream until i gt her on the trailer, realized the vet was at the barn, and had to get shots done. I got her off, got the vet stuff done, and then she wouldn't get back on the trailer. its been a year now and she still wont go on. help, please! (I also cant get her new shots done until she can trailer to my new vet, so its really important)

So I would suggest starting off easy and slow. Try to just get her to walk up to the trailer. Give her a treat with each step she takes towards the trailer. If she's being really bad you can try with a chain shank and a dressage whip to encourage her to move. I'm a big fan of using food as motivation when teaching horses to load. When she has her head in the trailer, get on the other side and try to urge her on. This is where it could be helpful to have a helper. Get them to stand in the front by the headstall (if possible) and have a bucket of grain or something of the sort. Reward each step forward and be persistent.

If she's being really, really bad, you can try the lunge line behind the butt method but I would only use that as an absolute last resort. To do that, you tie a lunge line to the trailer, have someone hold the other side and someone at her head and then loop the lunge behind her butt and pull her towards the trailer.

My main piece of advice would be to be firm and consistent. Trailering is not something that comes easily and often takes a fair amount of time. Be patient! Hope that helps!

-Emily

#confideindreams

horseback-problems

My dear, wonderful followers-

For one of my many summer projects, I will be writing an online piece that I am not quite sure how it’s going to go! I have thought of my main ideas, but we’ll see how it goes on later. For one thing, the title is Exapatisei which is the kingdom of where a bunch of creatures rome. The creatures will be based on Greek mythology, since I love Greek mythology. I’ve got the basic plot in my head, but changes will be made and more configurations will be done! A better (but short) description of some more stuff will be on the description of the first link below. I’ve set up 2 URLs (via tumblr) -

exapatisei — the actual story

exapatiseism — updates and news

Please follow both if interested for more news on the story!

Feel free to let us know if any of the tips/advice we give helped and how everything turned out for you and your horse!

My uncle didn't consult me when he bought me a horse. I went to meet him today, and he has a lot of bad habits. He tried rearing up on me, biting everyone, and even kicked his previous owner just because she didn't have a treat. I'm usually okay with horses, even with really difficult horses. He's 13. Is that to old to get them out of all of these bad habits?

Personally, I don't think that it's too late to rid him of those habits if you have enough experience to deal with them. My horse decided to start rearing in hand when he was about 12. It just took me using a chain shank on him for about a month to kick that habit. I think with consistent work you should be able to get him to have good ground manners. Be safe!

-Emily

#Anonymous

how do i build a horses topline really good

If your horse can already properly go into a frame, trot for 5 minutes in a frame, then walk for 5 and repeat that 4 times. Do that 2 to 3 times per week. Once your horse builds up more muscle, trot for longer and walk less and then work into the canter. Along with building up the topline, this will also help to condition your horse well.

If your horse is having trouble maintaining a frame, work on getting your horse properly moving up into the bit. Then once you have that, work on the conditioning. Building up a solid topline takes a lot of time and work. Riding your horse multiple times a week and making them use themselves properly is the only way to do it.

-Emily

#Anonymous

I really need to build up my trust with horses, im just so timid, whenever im even leading a horse and it pulls away from me i ask someone else to lead, and i know thats bad because it shows them that they can keep doing that and get away with it, but i cant help it, PLEASE help me get more aggressive with them & show them i'm in charge, any tips ?

You yourself need to be confident in your abilities. Start working with a calm horse with good ground manners and work your way up to a more difficult horse. To get more confidence, it may just require you to take a deep breath and swallow that fear. When a horse starts pulling away, give a quick, sharp pull to regain their attention. The more horses you work with, the more confident you will become around them. Good luck!

-Emily

#Anonymous

whenever i canter doing the sliding motion causes my tail bone to hurt, the last time i rode was tuesday and i want to ride again tomorrow and sunday, but i really dont want my tailbone to be hurting, anything you know of that i can do to help with that problem ? also, i ride western so could that be the problem ?

I will preface this with I am not terribly familiar with western but I'll give it my best shot! If your saddle is uncomfortable/hard/too small it could be causing you to hurt your tailbone. When cantering, you shouldn't be moving your entire seat, just mainly your hips along with the motion. It could be that you're moving too much. You could also try sitting forward a bit more. (This could be wrong for western so I would advise asking a trainer)

If this persists, you could buy a gel pad to ride on or something or the sort. Hope you feel better!!

-Emily

#Anonymous

I rode for 6 years before money caused me to give it up. I will have been off horseback regularly for 2 years, only riding now and again. I found a horse that seems just about perfect for me, his conformation is wonderful, his gaits are lovely, I just feel like something about him is special. The problem is that he's green broke. Would it be safe for me to 'train' him by working with a trainer, or should I send him off for training on his own before I ride him?

It really depends on the temperament of the horse. If he's reasonably calm, then it may work out well if you're working closely with an experienced trainer. However, if he's a little crazy and doesn't listen well, then maybe sending him to professional training would be best. In the end, you don't want to end up hurt so don't try and push yourself to work with him if it is out of your riding capabilities.

-Emily

#Anonymous

is there anything you know to do to help relax yourself while riding ? i just started riding about 2 weeks ago and when i canter or trot everyone says i look really tense and my horse gets uneasy and acts up. any help ?

I tend to hold my breath a lot when I'm nervous, which makes my body very stiff. I'd suggest that you take deep breathes and loosen up. Keep your back straight, but loosen up your shoulders a bit. Make yourself feel the beat and rhythm of the horse you're riding!

-Cara

okay, when my instructor gets on the horse while trotting and kicks, he canters, but when i do it, he wont, we tried pulling him behind another one, and hitting his but with a whip and that didnt even work, any idea why he wont canter for me and a solution for it ?

Make sure that your horse is in front of your leg when you ask to canter. By that I mean, make sure that he is responsive when you put leg on. Work on changing speed within the trot in order to insure that he is listening. Transitions between the walk and trot and halt to trot may help him to listen to your leg.

Ask your trainer specifically how she asks (take on outside rein? outside leg back? inside bend? etc.) When you go to ask, be sure that the quality of trot is good and that he is balanced. Then ask inside leg on the girth, outside leg behind with a slight inside bend. Spurs may also help if he doesn't listen. If you go to hit him/use spurs, use them right after you ask with your leg.

As for why he doesn't canter with you is hard to say. I know that with my horses, they are always on their best behavior when my trainer rides them. He may also be testing you, so you need to be able to show him that you can make him do what you want. Hope that helps!

-Emily

#Anonymous

i want to try and improve my position when riding to eventually try bareback, do you have any exercises or tips that would help, especially with my legs :)

First, make sure that you are fairly balanced when riding with stirrups and are using your muscles to ride (not posting off your stirrups, leg not swinging, etc.). Then, maybe on a lunge line at first, practice riding without stirrups. This will really help to improve your position with stirrups and will help you build muscle. Once you feel comfortable like that, on a horse you trust, try riding bareback. Just walk and trot at first then move on as you feel ready.

For specific exercises, try riding in two point for as long as possible or posting without stirrups. Both of those will really help to improve leg muscle. Hope that helps!

-Emily

#countingeverystride

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