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 Georgia Peach
Posts: 8338
    
Location: Georgia | BFN - 2017-06-21 5:08 PM I do lots of one rein stops (each direction) with all of my horses that have too much forward motion and "forget", ha ha, to wait on my cues. I also do lots of walking before I ever ask my horse to trot or anything else...Whether I am in the arena or out in the pasture. I do this because I don't want them thinking "go go go'. I expect all of my horses to walk on a loose rein. They all know that if they start to trot, etc. they will be doing one rein stops as long as it takes until they are totally chill and waiting on me. I save several text messages, etc. to reply to once I get on a horse. If I get on and just sit there for awhile, the horses do not associate someone getting on as a cue that they are going to go somewhere and do something. I like to start with a lot of walking and end with a lot of walking. It really seems to mellow the horses out and it helps with their over all conditioning. I want to get on and have my horses listening to me immediately, waiting on my cues, and using their brain...with some of the most energetic horses, your patience and consistency will pay off...but sometimes, it takes a day or two to get there, especially on the really hot and/or nervous type of horses. Be consistent....don't rush....be calm....and ___breathe___ and your horse will take their cues from you. I agree with all this. My hot horses get walked for about 10 minutes before we do anything else. One of my mares got injured early in the year and I have been legging her back up. I've been taking things real slow. Mostly walking and trotting. It's amazing how this has brought her down a peg or two. I'm sure not running a patern in 4 months also helps. The biggest piece of advice I have is just to stay level headed. I used to get super frustrated with my horses when they wanted to get jiggy. But now I just stay calm and let them do whatever, respectfully. Occasionally I feel myself getting flustered and I just stop the horse, take a couple big breaths and continue on. Fighting with a hot horse gets you nowhere and it puts you a step backward honestly. As far as exercises go, I suggest lots of bending drills. It keeps their feet moving but without the need for forward motion. I rarely do these at a trot. I make my horse walk so she understand we dont always have to go fast. They need to be listening to your cues, not thinking about speed.
Edited by Runninbay 2017-06-22 8:41 AM
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Veteran
Posts: 217
| I'll have the oddball here. My super sensitive hothead prefers the arena, but I don't think she is as hot as some other horses. When she gets amped up, her bottom lip flaps, she prances a bit, and does this oddball gait when she's asking if she can run. She likes a constant when we ride. Going down the road she will relax after ten minutes of a minor panic attack while walking around. Going through the woods is her anxiety trigger. Stuff randomly touching her legs, or if it gets stuck. Just not her scene, and she's been through enough I'm not going to make her.
Took us two hours on a cool day to learn how to work on a semi loose rein to relax in a trot and not run off. To bring her head back to earth, I'll ask her to give her head to both sides, move her hips each way, and then her shoulders each way. This is what I do every time I get on her. If she's too worked up to focus, I'll have her side pass and counter bend figure eights to slow down her feet and then ask for the movements.
Getting frustrated with a hot horse doesn't work. Learned the hard way. Just have to think out the box sometimes. | |
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