Help with Horses

I haven’t personally had a mare in foal, so I’m going to put this one out to the followers to see what they know about it. Any advice, anyone?

I personally don’t do hunters, but when I did it for equestrian team and you look at pictures there’s this little velcro collar that’s not a stock tie, it’s literally just a band around your neck and you can put that around your neck and wear your jacket. 

Read over the judge's comments (if you have any) and go over what you did right and wrong in your test. Don't look at shows as wins and losses, but rather as learning opportunities. Find your mistakes, then work those over and over until you have them down.

I once placed dead last because the pattern I was riding had a left trot circle to a straight right lead canter then halt. I could not even get the correct lead before the halt (I tried like 3 times) because I had never worked on just leads on a straight enough. After that, I went home and schooled my leads non stop so that now I get them 95% of the time. 

You didn't fail, and it's not because you didn't work hard enough. It just means that you have more to learn, and that's not a bad thing.

To me, the only true failures are the people who continually place low and never learn their lessons and instead blow off the judges and keep trying to climb the ranks. 

Hi hun,

You sound really frustrated, understandably so! Honestly to me, it sounds like it might be time for a different barn. You're not moving forward, and you're not even wanting to do this anymore, and if this barn/this horse is making you feel this way, it may be time for a change.

You could always try talking to your instructor first, if you'd prefer to try to ride where you are. Let them know how you're feeling about this and ask if there's any other horse you can ride, or if you can work on fixing these things so that the horse is more enjoyable to ride. If that doesn't work, I would visit some nearby barns and ask to take a trial lesson at any barn you think you might be interested in.

It's also possible that the horse could be feeling just as burnt out on things as you are. If you're allowed to/able to do so, it might help to just take some hacks/fun-rides with your lesson horse. Taking a step back from training to just focus on relaxing and having a little fun can sometimes make a world of difference in a horse's attitude or your approach to them. 

If all else fails, there's nothing wrong with taking a break. Sometimes you really need to step back from things, and that's okay. Some people might look down on a decision to take a break (or, if you go that route, even to quit), but honestly it's all your choice -- and you should make the choice that's best for you. You're the one living your life, not them.

I wish you to best of luck, and I hope you find a solution that helps you!

Hi!

First off, releasing is only necessary depending on how much the horse uses its neck. You don’t need to throw your arms forward or anything, just think of following the mouth. Don’t worry about how it looks, it’s just more about not imposing on your horse trying to use himself. Watch videos of different riders and see how they release and soften their arms in the air. If you’re jumping low and the horse isn’t putting in a ton of effort you don’t need a ton of release! I never look like I’m releasing on Finn over smaller jumps, but on Maddie I look like I release a lot; they have different jumps and styles and then I give my arms different amounts.

For a naughty pony, if it’s not a confidence problem or any soundness issues, you need to ride hide for the fence. Hold him straight, put your leg on, and be strong about it. Don’t yahoo and yank and kick, but mean business in your aids. It’s best to get him to stop in front of the fence. So even if you trot up and halt directly in front of it a few times to make a point that he has to be at the fence and not running around it, do that. Keep the fences low, and you can also put up guide rails on the sides so your pony kind of has a funnel and is forced to stop in front of the fence if he stops at all once he’s straight. Also after each run out, make sure you turn him back around in the opposite direction he ran to, and that you make him halt and walk up in front of the fence. If he runs out and you just turn in the same direction and don’t force him to go up to the fence, he learns he’s in the right! 

For the right lead, work on a lot of lateral stuff, make sure he’s off your inside leg, flexing in and coming around from your outside leg. If he’s popping his shoulder, odds are he’s never going to pick up his lead. Ask for it on a small circle and ask consistently until he gets it. When he does get it, lots and lots of praise and try to hold it for a circle or two before you ask him to stop. 

Good luck! 

Hi! 

So first question, I don’t know what bits you are switching between but some horses just have their favorites. If she is hanging or bracing on the soft bit, the mouthpiece or the type may not be one for her. But I might be able to help a bit more if I knew what you previously rode in and what you switched to! I tend to ride mine in just a french link egg butt snaffle. Very soft, but they don’t brace on it too much! What you’re going through on the flat is pretty standard, I’ve been coming out of the “at the bit but not connected” thing myself! You need to do a lot of breaking her up and asking her to sit back, instead of letting her go low and hang, you need to be able to take a bit of a feel, and give half halts when she goes to brace. She’s allowed to take a feel and give you contact, but make sure you’re consistently half halting and asking her to rebalance herself. 

I would start out with loose contact, but not a super long rein, and push her forward and let her loosen up. Then I would start to add circles, bending, leg yields, direction changes, things that keep her body laterally soft. She’ll start to connect and then she’ll start to give you contact. Don’t necessarily wait for contact first! The connection will come naturally as you teach her to use her haunches and balance herself. 

For your second question I think you need to take a step back from the 3’ jumps. There is no doubt you guys can do it, but part of why you may be feeling less confident is because you don’t have it all the way together on the flat. Once you get her more connected and steady on the flat, you will have a higher quality canter, more uphill and balanced, and you will be amazed at what that does for your confidence coming up to a fence! The refusals might not all be your nerves, but the holes you feel in your training on the flat. The fact that you feel it and know that it’s there is excellent, so as you fix it you will feel better over fences. In the meantime, keep the jumps lower, and do a lot of grid work. Give yourself challenging exercises over lower fences to help your mare build up her hind end, and to give you confidence. The more hard questions you complete the more you see it’s about the quality of the canter and how you ride the fence rather than the height! Once you get that stuff conquered and get your flat connection, the 3’ fences will seem like nothing! You can also work them into a grid, so that the end of the grid has built up to a higher fence, but the gymnastics work will have your mare in the balance you need to jump it. Sometimes my biggest fence is in the grid for the day! 

Hopefully this helps, I know what you’re feeling with the connection thing and it just takes a lot of lateral work and getting the horse really straight and through from behind! My last warning is to make sure you don’t accidentally get your horse running trying to make up for hind end power, it’s better to stay slow and ask for push and reach than run around. You obviously have a decent feel, so just keep at it and be patient! Good luck :) 

Sounds to me like you're pulling to bring her nose in rather than pushing and engaging the hind end to step up into a light hand. What was she trained to do/what are your goals with her (if you want to keep messages private, just say PM in the next ask and maybe come off anon? I'd be happy to keep things between us)

First off, since you don't own her, when was the last time her teeth were floated? She may be bracing against the bit because of pain in her mouth from hooks on her teeth or abscessed cheeks, or something similar. If her teeth are in good condition, I would then look at saddle fit and proper fitting before moving on to a different bit. Additionally, chiropractic may also be an option, because if her atlas/poll is out, then of course she's not going to want to round her neck and push through her topline.

From there, I would also consider doing lots of work from the ground. Does she go on the bit when you lounge in side reins? Will she bend her body when you do small circles and relax her neck?  Can she do leg yields or shoulder in without bracing? It may be she's resisting your hand because she feels unbalanced or there is pain somewhere else in her body. Have some professionals work with her and see what sort of results they might indicate. A vet check wouldn't necessarily be out of the question either, as they can take care of her teeth at the same time. Barring all physical causes, she might be a candidate for more training or just very patient riding and working on little things at a time. If she'll bend and drop her head on a 10m circle, even for a few steps, that's huge!

Maybe my fellow admins have more tips?

Just as you would tell us! Tell her you would like to talk to her and that you were hoping to start jumping higher. Tell her you feel really bored at the level you are at and feel more than ready to take on the challenge of larger fences. If she has a specific reason why she thinks you aren't ready or why she is keeping you low, then you will have something to work on, but a lot of time they just don't realize that you're bored! If her concern is your horse see if you can move up on a different horse for a first time. Be flexible about your request but just be straight forward with her and tell her you want to jump higher. 

A lot of times with our trainers we're backed off unnecessarily when all we have to do is ask! They want to see us move up to a challenge and take initiative, they can't be responsible for reading every single student's feelings so sometimes you just have to call their attention to what you're thinking! I know I have that trouble with my trainer a lot and I've really had to learn to communicate what's in my head because she just doesn't know. It makes things easier across the board and avoids issues like this in the future. 

Good luck!