Young Rider.com / Young Rider Forum / Horse Problems/Training Questions

Got a horse training/problem question for Clinton Anderson?

yrboss — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 08:06:51 GMT

Questions please!
If we choose your question, you'll win a Downunder Horsemanship package.

Hay question

GiveMeSpeed — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:06:05 GMT

How much is too much green alfalfa hay?

Bad or Normal Lunging?

Nitro Jump — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:08:31 GMT

So when I free lunge my horse, Star always bucks and kicks and rears. Is it suppposed be like this? Or should she be calm? Then she runs too fast (yesterday she slipped and fell by doing that, I checked her and she was fine though).

Dead to my leg?

xTinyDancerx — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:15:39 GMT

Ponypants is now completely dead to my leg. I ride her in spurs, and she's still unresponsive. I can't use a crop on her. Halp?

Just bought a 4 year old...

Horsegirl670 — Mon, 07 May 2012 17:00:40 GMT

Hey,

The opportunity to buy a well bred, great moving 4 year old for cheap came up in August for me. We had to move fast if we wanted to buy him, because other people wanted him but we were the first.

Don't really need to tell you the whole story... But we ended up buying him.

He is one of the most sweetest, and well behaved 4 year old you will ever meet. If he wasn't, we wouldn't of bought him(:

I board on a horse park with over 225 acres of XC and galloping fields. All of their rings are outside, and he had never been off a farm before because that was where he was bred.

So we were very surprised that he acted very calm, and didn't show the TB part in him very much.

But when winter came we had to move him to a new barn that had an indoor for the winter. As things went he rode around in a circle for 5 months before we brought him back to the horse park last month.

He was doing a-mazzing at the indoor. When we turned 5 y/o we started doing 2'6 courses no prob!

But when we went back to the horse park, everything fell apart. I can't even trot, much less canter, a 12in fence with out a stride before grabbing the bit and taking off...

He is bucking and rearing for no reason with me now. Will not do his flying changes... Jumping is out of the question... He wont even stand when I tack him up, or try to get on him... And much more...

Any advice?? Please need help! I have shows coming up this week!

Thanks!

Stiff to the Left..

He's A Keeper — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:06:50 GMT

Okay, so I've been training a green five year old OTTB. It's been going great, he's learning a lot, I'm learning a lot, and we've made so much progress since when I got him last year.

Anyway, about a month ago, I was really busy and he got three days off in a row after being in really consistent work (6 days a week almost every week). I remember the week before he got these days off he was amazing. Like, sometimes I was just shocked and amazed when I got off of him. Everything we'd been working on (transitions, lightness, power from behind, shoulder-in, leg yield) just clicked and he was so responsive and soft. But, when I got back on him on Tuesday, he was SO stiff to the left. Normally left was his better direction because he was stronger in that direction, and the right was his more difficult side. I really didn't know what to make of it...I could hardly bend him left. But I thought it might have just been from his three day rest. The next day he was a little better, but it was definitely still there. Since then, it has been there pretty consistently. Some days are better than others, but he is always stiff to the left now! Especially at the canter. I use so much inside leg, but he just won't bend. He tends to be slightly better when I stretch him in his stall, but I did today and he still was not better. I flex him sometimes when I am on him and he particularly stiff, but it doesn't usually help. I did a ton of left shoulder-ins today, and it helped a little, but now it is kind of hard for him to do it because he doesn't want to bend around my left leg.

So, does anybody know what's up? Anybody have anything like this happen? It was so sudden, I don't really know what happened. At some point in the middle, my sister rode him in a saddle that didn't fit or something, so he got a stiff back. He got acupuncture, but it really didn't make a difference. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Flying lead change

prwingate1 — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:12:39 GMT

How do you teach a horse to do a flying lead change?
i have been trying to teach my mare how to do a flying lead change, and she just go's faster and then freaks out and breaks down to a trot then changes, she breaks down no matter how hard i push on her.
any advice on how to teach her?

Slow down!

CowgirlTuff47 — Wed, 02 May 2012 06:24:06 GMT

Okay, so I have been working on flying lead changes with my horse, and he picks them up just fine. But the problem is that he picks them up at least 4 strides after I ask for it, and then he goes as fast as he can into the circle. How can I slow him down and make him pick up the correct lead when I ask for it, and not after?

WHOAH!!! Darnit

CaitlinnPasser — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:52:49 GMT

So at my barn there is this 8 year old quarter horse gelding who is nice, he's just green and naughty because his owner is a 10 year old gir who doesn't discipline him properly. Yes he in training with our trainer. He's basically perfect at home if someone is riding him correctly, but I took him to a schooling show recently to school him the day before the girl rode him. His issue is he doesn't like to stand still when you ask him to stop. He stops fine and listens to whoah, but then he gets agitated and wiggles around even when I haven't touched him, and when I tell him whoah again and put my spurs in him (he is spur trained and his cue to stop moving/slow down is both spurs on and hold. You release when he stops moving/slows down) he doesn't stop.

In the warm up arena I would let him finally settle down and then just practiced standing there and saying whoah every time I shifted my weight or used my leg to make his head go down, and he was good after a little bit, but in the arena for patterns he's terrible. If you have to stop in a pattern he'll stop, then get really agitated and wiggle and I can't even get him to stand still (at this point I'm just schooling, not trying to place). It's not his tack or teeth because he's up to date on teeth and his tack is the same at home and shows, and he doesn't do this at home. He's fine on the rail so he's not ring sour, I think he's just naughty. I want to know what I should do to make him stand still.

Transitions

JukeboxHero — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:13:40 GMT

Just a couple questions, since Max has been having issues with them:

1) How do you keep a horse from falling on the forehand during a downward? I ride Max into the transition on the bit (not in a frame, truly on the bit), try to keep him there, but he always topples on the forehand. I've tried working transitions on circles, too.

2) He's also been doing this really wierd thing during his downward transitions from the canter (in addition to the above). For canter to trot, he won't respond, and when he finally does, he tosses his head up, gets on the forehand, and does this super slow, choppy trot. For canter to halt, if he doesn't do the above, he'll go to a walk, and will not halt, even from the walk, until I've spent at least a quarter of the ring asking. How do I fix these things?

3. How do you teach half-halts to a greenie? Max sort of has the basic idea, but he almost always pushes through them.

And yes, on each of these, I stay as consistent and persistent with my aids as possible, and I'm trying my best to keep them as clear and simple as I can.

Thanks in advance!

Correct lead

SpiritedGallop — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:04:10 GMT

diamond hasnt been getting her left lead. i really want to enter her into the walk-trot-canter but i cant until she learns to get it. any suggestions?

Help With a Forehandy Pony?

BarebackIsBest — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:54:24 GMT

I've started half-leasing the pony I show at my hunter barn, and as I've been riding her more it's become really apparently how off-balance and on the forehand she is.

I'll give you some background information - she's some sort of pony cross, 14.2hh, chubby. She's not built downhill, I looked at her because I thought that might contribute to the problem. Anyways, she has a huge stride for a pony - she can do the horse distances if you try hard enough.

My biggest problems with her are that her canter is basically four-beating when I feel like I'm going the appropriate speed and when I finally get her going fast enough that she's doing a normal canter, she's really hard to turn. She bulges out when I'm trying to make the turn and always drops her shoulder.

And she WILL NOT collect. I've tried so hard with the best of my ability to get her to collect and she won't. Last summer I asked my trainer how to get her to collect for shows and she said don't even try because she never collects. :| It's that bad. When I'm trying to halt/slow her down, she's very evasive to the bit and puts her head up all awkwardly and takes a while to come to a stop.

Are there any good exercises or things I can do to help make her more balanced? It's getting really annoying and I've ridden a forehandy horse before, but that was when I had no idea what I was doing so I never did anything to fix it. Anyways, I want to be able to get her on the bit and use her hind end more because she feels so disconnected all the time.

Thanks for reading that novel, haha.

Piper ;p

Piper101 — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:05:19 GMT

So Piper is normally like pretty fantabulous if I do say so myself most of the time. Lately though at the canter when I have her in frame she's just been like grabbing at the bit and just barreling around the arena like a mad horse. I feel like a toddler who is getting tugged around if you know what I mean? So like what I do is try to sit her back but then I feel like I'm using all my weight to get her where she needs to be and its just like a big disaster. My trainer though can get this really nice canter and she kept telling me what to do but for some reason Piper wouldnt do it for me? So I was wondering do you think that Piper and I are just having like a bit of a fall out like when mares like to test you or is it I'm just being a tard and not figuring this sh!t out lmao. Because my trainers like I dont understand why you cant get her like I had her shes like its weird and I'm like your telling me lol.
So any advice on my novel right thur^ aha :P

Stubborn Mare

Heartbreaquer — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 08:00:45 GMT

OKAY Soooooo, Angel gets tired in our rides and then she decides to stop by the barn and back up. She wont go forward or anything she kicks out when I hit her with the crop and she doesnt respond to my leg and im all but dropping the reins so i dont pull on her.

My trainer just told me that clucking doest get the horse to move its your body lanuage that does. So yeah how can I stop this habbit?

Thanks and sorry for spelling im at school on one of the computers :P

Question About A Horse Being Hard-Mouthed

JukeboxHero — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:08:29 GMT

Max is set up conformationally to be hard-mouthed, and wasn't trained in a way that helped that. So is there anything I can do to retrain him, in a way?

Getting the horse you are lunging to stop.

Bri_anna — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:03:58 GMT

alrighty, so, when i lunge jack he doesnt exactly stop that well. Last year he used to stop really good, but this year itsafight/takesforever to get him to stop. i free lunged him in my roundpen yesterday and found then i really had no stop at all. soo my question is how do i get him to stop?

Excersice Question

<3 WerewolfGirl <3 — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 09:00:16 GMT

OK, so yesterday my horse spooked and ended up throwing me. I now have 3 fracktured ribs and a pulled thigh muscle. So that means no riding, running, excersing, etc. for 2-3 weeks, but I have to keep my horse in shape. What are some good grounde excersises that I could do that won't require me to do a lot of moving and stuff?

Ground Manners/respect?

{LimitedEdition} — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:34:13 GMT

Hey guys! Well, Logan (spelling it with an 'a' now xD) got here safely! She's settling in well, but I've made an unfortunate discovery- her ground manners suck. She has no respect for your space whatsoever, when she wants to get loose she rears at you, etc. I feel like it's all playful (she's 4.5), but she's 17+ hands, and there's no way she's going to keep acting like that and not hurt someone. Plus, if she's not got any respect for me on the ground, she's obviously not going to listen while I'm riding her, so what can I do to gain some respect? Is there anything besides lunging? I hate lunging, I get so dizzy I feel like I'm going to puke :| I don't feel like I have a lot of control over her because of my size (barely 5'2 and 85 pounds), so she can basically drag me wherever.
I've tried backing her up and all when she gets in my space, but she just, again, tries to rear. She'll also do the spin-and-kick at you thing if you back off, so if you stay close to her you've got hooves whizzing by your head, and if you back off she tries to kick. She really is good natured, but when she gets excited it all goes through the window. I know I should expect some of this from her age, but I feel that if I don't get it knocked out soon, she's going to be dangerous. Help?

Bringing A Horse Home

Liz224 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:26:55 GMT

So, I'm bringing this horse home on a trail basis for a week.
What are some things I can do to get to know him?
I will be able to ride him, is there anything i should look for
while riding him to decide if he's a good match?

Thanks!

Sheltland Pony Training?

Pasture Pal's — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:37:58 GMT

I am training my sheltland pony, Freddie (a.k.a. Two Cents{Yeah, hes not registered but what the heck, lol}), but he is a VERY STUBURN little pony! I have gotten this far: Walking & Trotting on command, jumping up to 1'8 (estimate), and walking with me on his back. (Before you comment on that, I am about the size of a 5th grader, and I am 12.)

Do you guys have any tips on cantering on cue? I have to sell him this summer before I can get my new horse. His buddy is already trained, but I need Fred to be. Plus, I am going to learn to jump on him. (DON'T WORRY, I AM NOT THAT BIG ON HIM!) Besides, he would go all Kung-Fu if I was hurting him. He is a amazing jumper, and I just want him to be little kid safe. I have a huge bond with all my horses, and just want some little girl to be able to start her equestrain carrer on him. Western Pleasure, English, Jumping, Bareback, etc. He is super close to being done with his training, I just need his Canter and Lunging down.

THANKS!!!!!

Bits? What bit should I use?

MountainHorse — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:32:25 GMT

I'm so lost on bits, types on bits and which ones to use. I have a Arabian/quarter horse cross mare. I just trail ride right now. When I ride her she like to go right, but never left. She fights the bit. I make her do it, but I'm afraid her bit might be hurting her mouth. Right now she wears a simple western curb bit (reigning). The bit is supposed to be used for reigning (I think..) but I do not ride her that way. I use both reigns when I ride. Could you please suggest a bit? And any other advice? Thanks!!

Please help

LostInADream — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:32:37 GMT

So, Dewey is being the biggest asshole everrrrr. All of a sudden he thinks it's okay for him to move around in the cross ties while I'm trying to groom him. I literally was about to break down into tears today because I was so frustrated. What am I supposed to doooooooooooooooooooooooooo? And don't tell me to just relax because he's sensing my frustration because he does it anyways. I was completely calm and relaxed when I started grooming him but by the end I was just asdfghjkl. Pretty sure he's doing it on purpose to piss me off and it's working .___.

Trouble Finding My Thing

Nitro Jump — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 19:48:18 GMT

I'm having trouble finding the perfect discipline for me. I know my username is Jumping Freak...but I just don't find that very exciting anymore. Should I switch disciplines? If so...what should I be looking for? I have a Quarter Horse.

Can someone help me????

LUCKYLOVER 4 eva — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:51:45 GMT

ok so ive been using this bit with my horse(i had to google this pic just so u know) so anywayz tha bit im using right now isnt really helping me as much as i want it to :( i think i need to change bits but i dont really know wat one to change to i want a stronger one than im using but not one so strong that it hurt my horse can someone PLLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEEE HELP ME ??????????????????

Do I actually ride right?

Liz224 — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:16:37 GMT

Hi,

I've been horsey shopping lately, (exciting!) and I've tried out 7 horses so far. Maybe it's just me, but all of them seem to have HUGE trots. I usually ride dressage on a draft cross at my lessons. He's really really slow, and his trot and canter aren't very energetic. I also have strong legs which sometimes confuse the horses, because I'm squeezing them to go faster, but then I get nervous and tug on his mouth to stop.
You can see how this is very frustrating for both of us. So my question is, do all horses have that really fast walk/trot/canter or can i find a horse that's slow? Also is it just me? After riding a draft cross for so long, did i just become so used to him that i can't ride other horses?

OK, more than one question ;)

Thanks!!

Why Does My Arabian-Quater Horse Mix Keeps Her Head High When I Ride?

katey1999 — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:01:32 GMT

My Arabian-Quater Horse Mix keeps her head raised (Up) when I ride. I tried everything! She only keeps her head down when I use draw riens! How can I get her head down?!

Tangle,Try,Tangle!

Nitro Jump — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:08:43 GMT

I have this problem that when I mount and prepare my reins I always have trouble because they get tangled and woo-wee, I have to do it again! Can anybody show me a technique? Pictures would help. Thanks!

MISSING:confidence

Zenyattalover16 — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:24:26 GMT

Well 3 weeks ago I was riding the horse I rode every lesson. A well trained OTTB who some times has nut moments. We were riding in the outdoor arena for first time this year. He was fine @walk/trot/start of canter. But then Winston kept getting faster and faster. He took a sharp turn and through me off balance. My instructor is telling me to circle, but I can't turn his head. he runs into the butt of another horse and stops. I go flying over his shoulder, landing on my lowerback/butt in an area with deep sand. No injuries. Except the destruction of my confidence. For the rest of lesson I walked Winston around the arena (after a much more experienced rider taught him a lesson) I've ridden 2 times since then. And I'm terrified. My instructor put me on the safest horse in the barn. Steve is a great school horse but will have his youngling moments. I know in my head he won't pull anything stupid, but I'm still scared. I'm shaking with fear when I get to the barn. I know fear is normal when something happens. Also, this was my first official fall. I have lost balance/half on-half off kinda things but never truly FELL. Ive just done flat work and easier stuff since the fall, but I still lack most of my confidence. It makes me angry. Spring is finally here and I could be outside trying out the xcountry course but I'm still afraid. NEED to regain confidence!! Thanks!! :))

Horse Problems in the Pasture

PeterJumper96 — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:54:10 GMT

I was riding my boy Big out in the pasture yesterday. It was a really nice day, a slight breeze but sunny and warm. I was walking him out there (there's a long dirt trail to the open area) and he started having a flip out moment. He literally wouldn't walk forward but backwards. I kicked him, smacked him, and finally decided to get off and lead him. I have never seen him put up such a fight. So we got to the open area and I mounted him again and he wouldn't want to walk straight. He would move sideways and would buck and spin on me if I didn't do what he wanted. So he threw me into the nearby ditch and tried to bolt off but luckily my dad put his big boy pants on and got him just in time. So my question is, how can you get a horse to behave in an open space? He's been out there 3 times before and did the same thing. I use a running on him if that makes a difference... But should I lunge him out there? How can I make him comfortable with being in a big space? He never does this in either the indoor or outdoor arena.

Cantering help?

TheEquineNerd — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:26:24 GMT

Okay so I'm starting to ride Pony more and my sister is going to take over riding Okie. Anyway I'm going to start showing the pony in some hunter flat classes and lower level jumpers. But my question is how to slow down his canter. He likes to race around and I sit back to try and collect him but I don't pull on him. I've tried ground poles to help him find his feet but that doesn't work eitheir. So uh help please?

Riding Levels?

{LimitedEdition} — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 18:44:23 GMT

I think this is where it should go...

Anyways, I'm horse shopping, and I figured that it would be good to determine my riding level. I'm not taking lessons at the moment, and don't really have anyone to ask. So I guess, here are my abilities:
W/T/C comfortably on any horse
Has ridden greenies (less than 30 days training)
Comfortable jumping up to 3'
Can handle horses with bad ground manners
Always tacks up my own horse/other people's horses
Has cared for horses with Scratches,Uvitis(sp?), Cornial Abrasions, and other health issues
Has been riding since I was... 4?
Rids misbehaving horses for people at 4-H
Has ridden Saddle Seat, Hunters, Jumpers, Western, done gaming, done drill team
Junior leader at 4-H
We keep our horses at our house, so I ride (or rode) almost every day in summer

So, there it is. Would I be considered Intermediate? I haven't ridden in about 6 months, except for a green Percheron that I tried out, so would that lower it? Thanks, everyone! :)

Training Question

cowgirlup — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:26:37 GMT

Hey,

My gelding died last summer, so since we had room in the pasture, I took on a rescue pony this spring. She can be really really sweet, when she wants to. xD Other times she's absolutely evil. I've been working with her and EVERY time I lunge her(she's decent on the ground) she bucks the first 2 circles and then does anything I ask her to.

I DON'T have a trainer because the one I used to go to moved from the area. And as far as I know, there isn't any affordable ones in my area, so right now I'm mainly limited to reading :/

Anyway, back on topic, does anyone have a suggestion of what to do with her? My younger sister is seriously wanting to work with her, but she isn't very experienced with horses as she has just in the past year or so taken interest in them, so I don't want her getting hurt and I don't personally think it would be wise to let her work Roses, but that's just my honest opinion.

Any thoughts on the bucking would be well appreciated :)

Just questions.

Frog — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:38:36 GMT

Questions.
okay so in a recent topic I read about joining up. I've only read about this in the heartland series lol so I'd really like to know how to do it and what effect it has on the horses, because i may ask the lady who lets me volunteer at her stable if i can try it out. (she let me lunge once before, which is pretty big for me) XD
alright so... what was I saying? oh yeah . okay so there are some horses at that barn I mentioned that don't really show me much respect because i'm only around for about 4 weeks every 2 years (if i'm lucky. heck yes it sucks) mostly it's just when I'm grooming them and i try to sponge or brush their faces and they raise their heads up really high and act all obnoxious. it's getting really annoying. so..
1) how do i keep them from getting their heads up? and how do i get them to bring their heads down?
2) how can I show them that i'm the bigger one (not literally)?
3) how do you join up and what effect does it have on the horse?
oh and one more thing. there was this one old lesson horse and he'd been obnoxious and bossy during the lesson and he obviously thought he was the bigger one and when I was trying to put him on cross ties he used his head to shove me against the "manger", I guess? lol so i'm just wondering if that was just play or what. he'd been really kind to me the day before so i'm thinking it's just play but yeah. i just don't want the horse's attitude this coming summer again. Thanks in advance!!

Help me Please!!

ScarletWoods — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:41:44 GMT

the horse i ride favors his right leg and leans on it which makes me look lopsided. My instuructor tells me to lean the other way i do but it doesn't help he still leans. I tell her it's him not me. i tried doing some strecthes to make his leg flexible. Cause im leaning my instructor won't let my jump barrels and high jumps i always do plz help!!

Another Barn?

Nitro Jump — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 08:23:30 GMT

So you guys know that I moved from my ranch right? I'm at a barn now but...it is not in good shape...like loose gates, 1 pasture, 1 round pen, no barn room (just little rooms for boarders, and no trails for riding...just traffic. It only costs $100 per month but I do not like that stable much. Should I switch to another stable? Besides, I'm so lonely being the only 12 year-old girl there while the rest of the boarders are like 20-45 years old...

Re-Training?

Nitro Jump — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:29:13 GMT

I've been thinking about re-training Star (English{Jumping and Flatwork] and Western[IDK yet]).Is that possible?

Loading Fail

Panhead — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:22:29 GMT

Magic has never trailered well. Over the summer, my mom and I have to load him once a day and then let him off, so he won't flip out when we take him to a show/lesson. I took Magic and Sofia to a Dressage clinic to qualify for State. My mom has to take a lunge line, clip it to his halter, walk through the trailer and out the door. If he sees someone loading him, he freaks out. So he can't see my mom, but he feels the tug on the lead. (This has always been how we've loaded him, it's the best thing that works, and it doesn't scare him, he can just be a butt) So he walks on like he normally does. I put the butt bar up, my mom's about to clip him when he sits his fat as.s down and legit crawls underneath the freaking butt bar, pushing himself out with his front legs, sitting down. He only seems to freak out when there is another horse at the show with him. The problem I have is, I'm training a little girl at my church how to ride. She's riding Boo. And over the summer, I want to take her to the Western show circuit I do. The problem is, Magic AND Boo would be going together. Do you guys have any ideas of getting a horse to load with his buddy?

At the Vertical.

perfectlybaylee — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:23:12 GMT

I've been trying to get Baylee's face at or a little in front of the vertical to help him engage at the canter. Although, when I try to ask him with steady pressure, he tosses his head or chews the bit. What are some alternative ways to get his nose tucked in more?

Can She Be Trained?

KatyaXKaliber — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:39:08 GMT

My barn has the sweetest horse I have ever met. Her name is Sassy, and she's a 20 year old Arabian broodmare. She's never been ridden, but she is so sweet. She's the lowest horse in the pack, and I really think she'd be a good horse. Do you think she can be trained?

New Horse?

Nitro Jump — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:55:17 GMT

So I currently own a 5-6 year old mare named Star. I've had her for about 3-4 years and she still can't gallop without bucking me off (not that I DO fall off). I've tried and tried to train her but she still won't act mature or calm! I would LOVE to go to a show but she can't even gallop and canter without like 5,000 squeezes! Should I get a new horse?