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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
   
Location: Phoenix | I wouldnt hesitate to do 2-a-days with this type of horse, or even saddle up in the morning and ride at night. Routine is good as well, but I hate that about these horses. Whenever I ride mine in the field, he will instantly start walking And being good when I take a certain path with the trees and water because that's how I normally cool down. I just hate that if I have to deviate from that for some reason, I have a hot, jiggy mess. On this type if horse as well, I don't feed grain. If I must, I feed something with very low sugar content. I'd they have enough energy to jig, then they don't need any extra sugar!!!! I noticed a big difference when I switched my horse over to RG. Much more calm. But my horse isn't with me at the moment so he's off of that..... | |
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 pressure dripper
Posts: 8699
 
Location: the end of the rainbow | I double dog dare any of you that say "make em worker harder" to come ride my 24 yr old crippled mare. I'd bet money that either you or the horse is going to drop dead before you get the result you want. | |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330
| willrodeo4food - 2014-07-14 12:51 PM
I double dog dare any of you that say "make em worker harder" to come ride my 24 yr old crippled mare. I'd bet money that either you or the horse is going to drop dead before you get the result you want.
I don't think the answer is to work them harder, I think it's to work them smarter. Just sitting up there while the horse moves its feet isn't the answer. You have to be asking them to do something that's engaging not just their body, but their brains. For those horses who think they have to go go go, you need to break it back down to the basics. | |
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 Veteran
Posts: 173
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow | Three 4 Luck - 2014-07-13 12:10 PM
Some of them are just like that...like the mare I'm selling. It gets on my nerves, but speaking from experience, you're not going to change them. What you can do is come up with coping strategies to take their mind off forward so you're not constantly bumping them back. And ride a lot of miles, letting them wear themselves out. I had one that was a really nice horse if you did at least one 10-12 mile ride, trotting and loping the whole way, and rode him 3-4 a day the rest of the week. I sold him when I started a family because I couldn't keep him ridden enough. I haven't even tried riding this mare that much--don't have time. Of course, some people like horses like that...I'm just not one of them.
I actually do like horsees like that. Maybe we need to trade. Mine is too laid back and easy going and it drives me nuts. I wish I could appreciate him more. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 814
Location: California | My mare is a go, go, go type of horse, too. I have had her for almost 10 years and have learned to just keep her happy, which in return, keeps me happy. I tried for years to get her to slow lope and it just won't happen. It always turned into a fight. Now, I will take her out in the orchards and just long trot for miles. This keeps us from fighting each other while still giving her a work out.
She has always been on point on the pattern so I seldomly do arena work. The arena is where she gets herself worked up. IF we need to do any pattern work, I can accomplish everything I need to accomplish at a walk and trot.
I have learned to work with her quirks and not turn things into a battle. Like I said, I keep her happy, which keeps me happy. | |
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  Texas Lone Star
Posts: 5318
Location: where ever my L/Q trl is parked | If she's great on the pattern and doesn't really need any help there... why not just gip her in a large round pen like 70' or larger. That's what I did for my mare for her excercise... made my round pen larger and let her work herself in all the gaits, when she would, for 30 to 60 minutes. What ever gait she wanted to go I would just stand in the middle and make she she changed direction every 5 minutes. Work one direction you have to work the other.
Don't want to high jack this thread but how many of you work your horses both direction in all gaits?
Why is it when I go to a race in the warm up area everyone always wants to go to the right- but never wants to change directions?   | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 897
Location: East Tennessee | LRQHS - 2014-07-14 7:07 AM
900 mph you say??? I think I might want her :)
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 897
Location: East Tennessee | I can handle letting her do her thing at home I suppose but when at a race in the warm up pen people pull over and get out of the way because she sounds like a freight train running up behind them lol. | |
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I Need a Xanax!
Posts: 2774
| willrodeo4food - 2014-07-14 11:51 AM
I double dog dare any of you that say "make em worker harder" to come ride my 24 yr old crippled mare. I'd bet money that either you or the horse is going to drop dead before you get the result you want.
I agree 100%. When I read the "ride them harder" response on here it immediately lets me know the poster hasn't truly had one of these types of horses. The harder you work them the hotter and faster they get. No amount of "riding them down" does anything but make them worse. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1131
| My mare does this at the trot, and I haul her butt in the ground and back triple the amount of steps she took at the wrong speed. Then immediately pick up the trot again, and keep doing it until she listens. I refuse to have a stupid horse that won't follow my lead, if I don't want you loping, you are not loping. She is a super push style horse in the arena though, with a awesome stop on her. haha | |
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 Peecans
| Used2B - 2014-07-15 8:15 AM
willrodeo4food - 2014-07-14 11:51 AM
I double dog dare any of you that say "make em worker harder" to come ride my 24 yr old crippled mare. I'd bet money that either you or the horse is going to drop dead before you get the result you want.
I agree 100%. When I read the "ride them harder" response on here it immediately lets me know the poster hasn't truly had one of these types of horses. The harder you work them the hotter and faster they get. No amount of "riding them down" does anything but make them worse.
I do agree with you.
Its not so much ride them harder and WORK them better. But 99% of people are not in a spot to give a horse a JOB and make them work daily. We have a couple hot horses and hat days on the farm is what has made them great managible horses. Cattle work goes along way, and I dont mean team pening gehawing around. Work thats back and forth, processing, dragging sleds of mineral and salt to the range cows. But most people dont have access to that.
Thinking back to one horse inperticular, he was acatualy my favroite gathering horse but he'd get so hot, hed jig alive the place espicaly if the cattle got a little westren. With him as soon as his feet would move like that his brain shut off. To get his brain back you had to get his feet quite, I would do alot of flexing and calm circles and his feet slows his brain would come back. It was A LOT of back and forth with him.
The hardest thing with these horses is to not let the shannagins get to you, just let it out and stay calm and relaxed. I tend to have a quiter energy though and get along quite well with hotter horses. But i do see some at races and have tryed some out that you couldent pay me to have.
I might get shot for this but there is a difference between a horse thats just hot and a horse thats been fame on and made hot. Dont much care for the latter of the two, a lot less can be done with them. | |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Aqhaczy - 2014-07-14 4:00 PM
If she's great on the pattern and doesn't really need any help there... why not just gip her in a large round pen like 70' or larger. That's what I did for my mare for her excercise... made my round pen larger and let her work herself in all the gaits, when she would, for 30 to 60 minutes. What ever gait she wanted to go I would just stand in the middle and make she she changed direction every 5 minutes. Work one direction you have to work the other.
Don't want to high jack this thread but how many of you work your horses both direction in all gaits?
Why is it when I go to a race in the warm up area everyone always wants to go to the right- but never wants to change directions?
I do work my horses equally on both sides, even when I am doing straight work, I always choose the lead they start out in and make sure equal amount is spent on the opposite.
As for the op, I don't have much advice as my hot horse who likes to run, will probably be the death of me.
Mine is starting to settle down but is not running barrels yet, the first 1/4 mile I do make her walk, if she doesn't walk we do a 360 with emphasis on her hind leg sticking in the ground, as soon as she starts trotting, we do another circle the opposite way and so on till the 1/4 mile is done. I do this as I don't want her to immediately go any faster before her tendons have had a change to warm up.
After the 1/4 mile I will let her trot if she breaks into a lope I will do larger circles and break her down, I do this both ways and will reverse arc both ways, again I don't like her going any faster as I want to make sure the tendons ligaments and muscles are warm.
After the trotting I will lope her, if she starts going too fast I will slow her down to the speed I want and lope a few smaller circles, reverse arc some circles then I will allow her to lope off again in the opposite lead, when she gets going faster I repeat the same, by this time I have travelled 1 mile not counting all the circles. At this time I will allow her to sprint 1/2 mile. After that I will break her down to a trot if she keeps wanting to increase her speed, I work on circles both directions reverse arcing, I do this 1/4 mile, then make her walk a 1/4 mile. The last 1/4 mile I will stop back up 360 if she breaks faster and repeat till we get home.
It took me about 3 rides before she came around, i do anticipate more hot problems when she starts working barrels faster, but repetition and patience is key.
It takes a lot longer to break a bad habit then it does to create a habit. Mine luckily is young, so the habits have not formed. | |
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | Please excuse the language.... but if horses could talk... I would expect to hear something like this...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=741791099186092&fref=nf | |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| We bought one exactly like this, he was horrible riding at home. We sent him to Jan, our trainer for a month and he came back a different horse. She said if he would not listen she would work him then tie him up with the saddle on. If he was listening, he was unsaddled and put up. She said he spent a couple of nights tied up with the saddle on before he started to catch on. When we got him back she gave my daughter instructions that if would not stand still, or stay in a trot to lightly spin him both directions then offer him again what you were asking him to do. She emphasized to not pull or jerk on him, just make him work harder than what you were asking. My daughter had to do that twice than he was great. | |
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 The Purple Princess
Posts: 2226
Location: Charlestown, IN | DLV - 2014-07-14 9:40 AM Lisantwist - 2014-07-13 12:29 PM Make her busy. Don't let her go down the rail all the way without doing a gait change, a small perfect circle, two tracking, stopping, half halting, Stop, pivot on the hind end and depart at a slower gait. Serpentines. Keep her mind busy. It really settled my TB down doing this. She likes to run and is going to be real fun to barrel race on since my other mare is SO push style. When we were at our worst, I would go down the rail and count one front leg taking 10 strides. Then we would switch gaits. It got her softened up in the bridle AND got her to where she would listen and I wouldn't have to hold her back all the time. I would go between walk and jog, then jog and trot, then lope and walk (although that one can amp them up a little). I put her on Magnesium Oxide as well, helped to focus her better. Agreed! switch it up a lot! Stop, lope, trot, back, bend...etc etc... my mare is exactly like this... people are right in saying she wont' change but you can "cope" with her. If you don't like this kinda horse or think you can deal with her... might want to get another. : ( some people like them, some can't stand em.
I agree with the above. I have a prancy gelding. My dad always told me that if he didn't walk, then make him work. I turn him around, make him side pass, back him, etc. It usually helps him chill out. I rode a mare similar last year, that was not a barrel horse, but what I did with her was LOTS of trail riding. It seemed to help her relax more. And I did lots of walking in the arena instead of asking for more. I think it made her like to walk. I have a 3 year old now that thinks he needs to go and have been doing lots of walking on him as well. When he tries to trot when not asked, I stop, back, stand, then walk, walk, and walk some more before I ask him to do anything else. Will also make him side pass etc. All slow slow slow work. It seems to be helping him. | |
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| I have found that consistent riding, daily, helped my nervous horses better than trying to ride them down every few days. Also, doing circles at different places, maybe set up obstacles, vary the routine that makes them think helps. I had a horse that would get nervous in the warm up pen and I just warmed him up elsewhere. You can usually, not always, find somewhere off the beaten path to warm them up if the pen makes them nervous. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 220
Location: Conroe, TX 77304 | I double dog dare any of you that say "make em worker harder" to come ride my 24 yr old crippled mare. I'd bet money that either you or the horse is going to drop dead before you get the result you want.
I have one exactly like this - I tried everything when she was younger, but finally realized as long as she does her job, then let her be. I just pony her and sometimes can ride her (if it is at a barrel race arena she is accustomed to) to warm her up. She is now 24 and has won a lot of money for me and my daughter. Just learned how to cope with her, becuase she is never going to change.
When I first got her I sent her to a cutting horse trainer who got her to work, but he told me unless I rode her twice a day everyday she was going to revert back and she did.
If they are good enough then accept them and cope. | |
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Veteran
Posts: 227
Location: Heart of Texas | Sometimes hot horses don't need to be worked harder but need to learn to relax. They're hot b/c they're likely nervous and full of anxious energy. I have a TB that is like a fine tuned corvette and doesn't need much coaxing for anything. He's also a stall walker and walks himself ALL DAY LONG. (talk about energy). Some days we condition hard and other days we just walk. I'll pick a spot and make him stand there till he's relaxed, walk to another spot and stand there. He stays tied while I work my other horse. Relaxation is key with hot horses. And make them pay attention while you are in the saddle. If I feel he's starting to get away from me we'll work on whoa and back up. If he's too busy listening to me, he doesn't have a chance to think GO. We barrel racers are chastized for having hot/nervous horses, and too be honest I think there's a lot of evidence to back that up. You shouldn't dread riding inbetween races cuz your horse can't act properly. What good does that do you?? | |
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