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

Headset work

Horses4ever — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:40:05 GMT

How can I encourage Lovebug to hold her head lower in western pleasure lessons. I have a running martingale and don't want to try any other tack such as running reins. How can I encourage her to hold her head lower? Her headsets not terrible just a little higher at times then I want. It very well may be my fault.

Ughhhh... I have tried!!!!

CLAiRE — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:28:00 GMT

Ok, so when I went to ride on sun. the pony would not stand still for me to get on.
tried backing him up like it said to do in the magizine, but then when I tried to get on he walked back. so I walked him forward and tried to get on and he walked forward.
x2345678900987654234567898765! hhahahahaa

HELP!!!!!!

Possible New Lease Horse, Doesn't Jump! HELP!!

Brookegirl — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:27:24 GMT

My mom's friend who owns a Paint horse, asked me if I wanted to part lease his horse, Harley. Here is a discription:

Breed: Paint/Quarter horse

Gender: Gelding

Age: 8-10ish

Personality: Cute, lovable, likes to pin his ears for no reason, sometimes will break out of your hands to go chase the mares in the field, excellent uder saddle

Discipline: English Pleasure/Dressage/Trails

Restrictions for the Lease: no jumping, can do ground poles, WTC, trails

Now, I want to jump and I haven't talked to my instructor yet to see if she has a horse in mind or if she has a horse I can jump. What's your opinion though? Thanks so much!

Backing out of trailers

PhantomCricket — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:32:17 GMT

When Sage backs out of a trailer, he throws up his head and runs out backwards! Unsafe, crazy, baaaad! Tips, help, etc!!

To correct these habits....or not?

{defenestrated} — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:19:17 GMT

So, Dakota has these 'problems'. They're not really bad, but kind of annoying. xD

Ok, so firstly. He licks people ALL THE TIME! If you go to pet his head he'll lift his head really high until he's able to lick your hands. Or if you're standing by him he'll just randomly start licking you, your pants, your coat, your boots, anything. He's never ever bit anyone, but I'm afraid if he continues to lick all the time it'll eventually turn into biting. =/
It's not a bad diet thing or anything either (In case that's what you're thinking). He has 24/7 access to a salt block and water. He's perfectly healthy...he just...does it for fun I guess.
I don't know if there's anything I can really do. But it's annoying as heck.

His other 'problem'... is when he gets nervous or put in a semi stressful situation, he wants to hold something in his mouth.
Like for instance; when he's put in the cross ties he gets kind of nervous and starts fidgeting, but if I let him hold onto his lead rope, he's fine. He doesn't try to eat it or anything like that, he just holds it in between his teeth. And he only gets nervous in cross ties, regular tying he's fine. Which is why I normally just tie him that way instead of using the cross ties.
But it happens in other situations too. If we're walking and he gets kind of nervous he wants to hold something in his mouth. He doesn't try to run, flight, or anything he'll just reach for the lead-rope. And then there was a time where we trailered him to our friends house just to kind of get him used to traveling and going other places, and when we got there I tied him up to the trailer next to another horse to groom him, and the other horse was making him nervous so he grabbed one of my brushes out of my grooming tote and held it in his mouth. And again, relaxed completely.
He gets really nervous with the farrier too. He'll get really panicky and move around a lot unless he's holding something. So I normally just let him hold onto the rope to save the farrier trouble. 'Cause when I let him hold it; he stands perfectly fine.
I don't know if I should try breaking him of this or....? It doesn't exactly bother me that bad. I mean, I'd rather have him want to hold onto something then to try taking off or anything. But....idk.

So what do you guys think? Should I try to correct these? And if so, how the heck do I go about doing it?

Need An Opinion

♥Barrel Queen♥ — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:55:56 GMT

Ok so when I first got my horse he had a few fatty areas on him. I cut back on his feed and started excercising him. Now my dad thinks he is too skinny and has lost muscle (which he hasn't). But you don't want your barrel racing horse to be fat! So please look at this picture and give your opinion. By the way, my riding lesson teacher thinks he looks great.

This is him when I first got him. And he still had his VERY fluffy winter coat.

This is him now and he has shed off his winter coat and lost some fat.

I think he looks great. My dad thinks he is too skinny and doesn't have enough energy because of that. I wouldn't say my horse is high strung, but he does have a lot of energy! Please tell me what you think. I honestly don't think he has changed much.

Tips for flightly (fast/nervous/spooky/bolting) horses!

PonyRider4ever — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 14:16:15 GMT

[font=Times New Roman][size=3]The pony I lease and train, Gizmo, is an EXTREME case of a flighty horse. After 6 months in the indoor 4 days a week, he still will not go near the poles at the end. He requires about 15-25 minutes of work before he calms down, and he panics and bolts when he sees a jump. With him I have found a lot of advice and know a lot of tricks. I was thinking it would be a great idea to share ideas here. If anyone needs advice, or has advice, post it here. Anything about spooky/nervous/bolty/fast horses! Keep in mind I have some new-ish training methods at hand, so please, post anything! (however also bear in mind I am 12, and not a professional. [/size][/font]

Two things.

jordiephil — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:03:01 GMT

First thing- This hasn't ever happened with me before today, but he did it once with my other friend and tried to with Erica when we went off-property. He HATES getting his bridle put on, and usually raises his head to the point where I cant reach it. He gives up on that pretty easily, and it's ok. But the problem behaviour is when he decides that he REALLY doesn't want to work...and turns and runs. I always have his reins over his head so I keep control when Im putting on his bridle, but today he didn't give a crap and kept running. The doors were shut so he didn't actually get anywhere, but if anyone has a suggestion for fixing this it would be helpful.

Second thing- Mounting. Now, I've dealt with enough school horses to know how to prevent them from walking away when you're mounting. But Axel, he...well...he lets you get up on the mounting block. He lets you put your foot in the stirrup. And then...he backs up -.- Since I, for the life of me, can't figure out how to stop that, anyone else has ideas? The reins aren't too tight, so he isn't thinking I'm asking him to back up, so I realllly don't know how to fix that but it's annoying. He only does it once and then lets you get on...

My horse is too dirty!

wannabehorsey — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:11:25 GMT

My horse Agento gets muck caked onto his bottom area where he lays down at night. Because it is muddy around here he gets dried and frozen muck all over his lower half how do I clean this I can't wash him its too cold what do I do? I don't want to cut any hair off. I have tried using a curry comb to take it off but it takes 15 minutes for a little bit to come off. I most of the time I have to wait till summer to give him a bath. Help?

My horse is herdbound

spencersowner — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:26:42 GMT

Help! My horse doesn't like to leave his buddy behind!

Halter training

Theorem — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:34:05 GMT

Recently got two new mini rescues, a 9 year old skittish mare, previously trained but still reluctant, and a demon of a year old stallion who's being gelded come spring. Need ideas on how to do some basic halter training.

Western to English

cowgirl22222 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:49:44 GMT

I was wondering how hard it is to change/train a horse from western to english also I would like to do both and tips for like jumping and teaching a horse how to jump.

Leading...

~Horsefeathers15~ — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:40:37 GMT

Ok so I have been working on some halter stuff and Prancer refuses to Trot beside me.
I dont know what to do and I need help fast because I am going to be halter showing her latter on this year. Can anyone give me tips?

Resisting canter, then "panicking"

horcluvr99 — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:25:02 GMT

My 8 y.o. mare suddenly (for the past two rides) has resisted my canter/lope cue. When she does pick up the canter, her inside shoulder dumps, and she "panics" (throws her head up, acts scared) I can tell that she is not really spooking, just putting on a show. She has never done this until now. Both of these rides were bareback (no pad) in a ribbed snaffle split rein bridle, no spurs (I usually ride with spurs, but I use them correctly). I usually ride bareback 1-3 times a week, so it is not new to her. Also, the weather has been a little strange (cold and windy). When she does this, I either one-rein stop her, or let her run it out. I don't want to keep one-rein stopping her though. Any suggestions appreciated! Thank you so much

casper 's FAT!!

SmootheyDream — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:43:51 GMT

ok so if you look at casper @ the side he doesn't look bad but when he is in front of you he's HUGE!! we've tried cutting his feed but nothing.. he get exercise all the time do you think you can help??thank you!!:)he looks pegnant.. people have actually asked when he is due to foal!!thats embarassing!:)

Help!!!! please....

Carabosse_and_Smokey — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:56:42 GMT

At my barn there is a pony named Brandy. She is an adorable little haflinger, but she has developed some issues. Lately, she has started rearing. At first it was like a few inches off the ground and it didn't really bother her main rider. But now she has started to go higher and higher and is doing to little kids when they just ask her to trot. She has been checked over by vets and there is nothing physically wrong with her. Last Friday, she went completly perpendicular to the ground with a little girl on her when she asked her to trot. This was the highest she had ever gone. It isn't a very fast or violent rear, she goes up really slow, holds it for a few seconds then comes down. Any help would be truly appreciated or she is going to be sold and her main rider is going to be devastated because she has worked so hard training her over the past year. And yesterday Brandy reared straight up with her main rider and it sorta scared her. Any tips on how to help her get over it would also be truly appreciated. Sorry this is so long, but I wanted you guys to get any background information that might help if you have any ideas why she is doing it.

Docky Boy always has his tounge sticking out!

HorseLover99 — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 05:43:30 GMT

Ok well this horse thatI ride well we a really good relationship with eachother always has his tounge sticking out even when we are riding. Is this normal???

Please respond when you look at this topic!

help!!please!!

Arab Girl — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:02:58 GMT

moms horse is trying to pee but he can't and mom says that a horse had to be put down cause the bladder was cloged up!! HELP!!!!!!!!

Need help fast before Feb. 20

CLAiRE — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:23:00 GMT

ok. the pony i ride (11hh) has a few problems.

1- When I mount he walks forward

2- when there are other horses in the ring he goes really fast. Like th fastest he can for everything

3- when we transition from a trot to a canter he trots as fast as he can for like 2 laps and then canters!

PLEASE POST ANY C OR D RATED SHOWS IN VA TOO!!!!

Lunging problems and more

Just.Ride — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:57:19 GMT

So when I firsst started lunging him he was fine and did what I asked then he would come to me (when free lunging). I did this many times and he was perfectly fine. Then one time I started to lunge him and he went around me in a tiny tiny circle so when I asked him to go out futher he turned his head and tried to bite me so I stopped and he followed me around the ring. Then I tried to send him again and he just stood there so i hit the whip on the ground and he tried to bite me again but he started to do his tiny circle again. I asked him to turn around and he just ignored me and slmost ran me over. He never did this before but now I can barely walk up to him with out him getting all p!ssed off. He constantly tries to bite me when I groom and tack him though he has never threatened to kick me but I am afraid he might. When I ride him he is fine he doesn't do anything out of the ordinary. I have had him since november and have ridden him a while before that. I only noticed this behavior change within the last monthe or so. I live in north alabama and it has been soooo wet and cold here. raining almost constantly. So there is mud everywhere. Does that have anything to do with his jerkish behavior? Nothing but the weather has changed about his enviroment. I don't know what to do he just doesn't seem like the same horse...

Heeeelp D:

pretty-ponies — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:53:55 GMT

HOKAY, so, lately, Flicka's been ~~a bit of~~ a huuuggge arsehat -.- there's been a few problems, but if anyone could help me out, I'd really appreciate it.

first off, lately, she's been really rushy :| when we warm up she's fine, but once she gets into the canter, she just runs right through my hands and leans on the bit. I cantered her for damn near 10 minutes straight, and she still would not listen. when we were going across the diagonal and did a flying lead change, it was pretty much a galloping lead change :| I was on her mouth, half halting, doing everything I could to slow her down, but she just wouldn't listen. and if I threw away my contact, I swear, she'd go so fast and end up hurting herself :\ so, my trainer thinks we should try her in a different bit. if I'm soft on her mouth, she'll just keep getting faster and faster until she's freaking galloping. It's just as bad when we jump. I don't jump her often, but once you point her towards a jump, there's no turning back. She just gets faster and faster and totally launches herself over it, takes a long spot, or jumps flat. But when I do half halts and try to slow her down with my hands and seat, on the flat and when we jump, it never helps and we just get in a fight. I ride in her a d-ring snaffle with copper rollers. the girl that used to lease her rode her in it too, and she'd never really had this problem. I did ride her in a single jointed eggbutt, but sometimes, she was just as bad with that.
so, we're going to be trying out a bunch of different bits, to see how she reacts to them. she doesn't seem to listen with both snaffles I've tried on her, so my trainer suggested something with a bit of leverage. don't be all 'OMG those bits are soooo harsh' because I have a trainer who knows what she's doing, and we're just trying them out. we want to stay away from ported bits [wether it's a snaffle or pelham, no ports]. She suggested a gag, elevator, pelham, kimberwicke, and a few others.... I mean, I'm definately not a fan of some of those bits, but it's worth a shot. any other suggestions? do you think a waterford or a slow twist would help at all?

oh, and the head tossing -.- she's gotten really bad about it lately. she always gives me attitude and tosses her head whenever I ask her to slow down, ask for a bit of flexion at the poll, even in upwards transitions. and honestly, I'm getting sick of it. so for that, my trainer suggested a running martingale. I don't want to use draw reins or a standing martingale, but thoughts on the running martingale? I mean, I don't neeed a martingale to stop the head tossing, but do you think it would help at all?

thaaaanks :\

Horse Shoes

Horselover101 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:51:35 GMT

Can you ride your horse right away after they get shoes on for the first time or do you have to wait 24 hours? By the way this is his first time getting shoes on.

Ear Shyness

~RiderForever~ — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:00:52 GMT

My shetland has some major ear shyness. I think its due to his previous owner, who would use his ears to make him hold still, or she would do something to them for punishment. I've tried just putting my hand on his ear (not squeezing, just setting it there) and waiting till he relexes to remove it. Please help. I really want to help him move on with his ear issues. It would make his life easier. Thanks for any advice. Remeber this is a shetland pony.....

Please help my first time canter is next week and I need advice!

HCgirl101 — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:15:54 GMT

Next week is my first time cantering ( I hope ) and I tried most of my horse books and I am not sure how! I have an idea ... but I need some advice.

Anyway the horse I ride is named Buford and is literally a couch potato. When I bring him back in the barn after cool out, there is hay against the wall as soon as you come in and uses his "chubby powers" and grabs a mouth full and then knocks the rest of it down! It's really hard to get mad at him cuz he's SOOOOOOOOO cute (and "fluffy")

Nipping

~StompingHooves~ — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:52:27 GMT

So when ever i get on my pony bareback he bites me in the foot,my leg,and my butt!!!!
I have tried hitting in the mouth with a whip(not to hard)and he bites that and the battle will go on forever............I tried today and he stared a buckin spree(I held on though,and did NOT fall off)So yeah will i have to buy him like a muzzle thing?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!!??!?! PLZ HELP

Lungeing

playfulprankster3247 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:52:10 GMT

I just got back from the barn, and I attempted to lunge the pony, seeing as I can't ride for two weeks... So I Put his saddle and bridle on, led him to the arena and hooked him up to the lungeline. He wouldnt move. I tried using the whip and following him with it, and I got my friend to help, but he wouldnt go anywhere! I need help on teaching him how to do this..

Peeing in grain bucket :/

Four.On.The.Floor — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:57:44 GMT

So george's half sister netta who is owned by these other two girls always pees in her grain bucket. My instructor is trying to figure out how to stop it so I thought I would ask people on here. Any suggestions.

Curbed Bits

LoveMyMare — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:59:41 GMT

ok. so for 10 years, sierra was with her breeders and was trained in a curb bit. just a plain curb bit. then she was sold to the second owner who only rode her in a hack for a year, and no bit. so when i got her, my trainer wanted to "re-train" her in the snaffle. so for the past 2 years ive ridden english and western in a snaffle. she does alright but not as good as i would expect. she hasnt come so far over the 2 years. i really want to put her back into the curb bit because i feel as if she knows more cues in it (sidepass, neck reign, halt sooner). so how would i start her back in the curb bit?

Nerves/ Headset problem

Horses4ever — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:36:55 GMT

The mare I ride has pretty good western pleasure headset at home, but when we get to the show it get really high. I get nervous and she feeds off me and gets excited and holds her head really high. Then I get marked down in pleasure classes and I don't place. How do I get her to hold her head lower? How do I control my nerves?

blanket rub!

Arab Girl — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:19:09 GMT

Sadie has a blanket rub. i saw how to treat in the mag it but mom might not get the stuff. how else can i treat it?

My pony doesn't stand when I want to mount.

HCDKid — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:02:05 GMT

Okay, so, my pony doesn't want to stand still when I mount. I ride him bareback a lot and he squirms all over the place when I try to get on! Can anyone help me??

Mouthy.

gallopingheart24 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:45:06 GMT

Yeah. Well the OTTB I lease, Grady, has a new habit. And now hes really mouthy. He chews and bites EVERYTHING he can get his mouth on. He was biting the halter and lead when i tried to get him out of his stall. Then he was biting my jacket and pulling it. THEN, he, which he has never ever done before in the whole 2 years I have leased him, bit me! Hes never done that ever. Then I tried to get the bridle on, and he was biting that too. That made it a real challenge. Lately he bites everything even the reins when i am mounting. Its really weird. Should I be concerned? Hes never been like this until recently and Im not sure if its just because hes young, but hes not really that young anymore. Hes 7, as of January 1st. He bites the cross ties too. Like I said, he pretty much bites anything. So if you guys could help on what is wrong, or how to stop it, that would be fantastic. Thanks! ~Jessica & Grady (:

Attention Mini Owners!

BlackBeauty — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:18:39 GMT

Hi ya'll! I recently found out that I LOVE mini's! But I have a few questions...

1) How much weight can they pull?
2) Can they pull a cart up a pretty steep and uneven hill?
3) How much does a farm cart usually cost? (Like the kind for moving stuff around)
4) How far can they usually travel?
5) How much does a regular cart cost?
6) What about going down relatively steep hills? Couldn't they trip?
7) How much do minis usually cost?
a. Untrained adult
b. Trained pulling adult
c. Trained showing adult
d. Foal
8) Are they easy to train?
9) I heard they are sometimes nasty. True or False?
10) Would they work better if there's two of them?
11) Would I be able to use them to help move stuff around a farm?

Told ya there's a lot of questions! I'll probably think of more too!

Loping help

daretoride — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:21:07 GMT

OK my brother rides a cremello QH name Balu that we just bot 6 month ago.Balu came from a lady that use him for Pony Club.He has been jumped,showed and all kinds of things when we bot him we got him going in western but now my brother has started loping him he has started to jump/hop when he gets him into a lope. I have ask several people why he does this is it a behaveral problem but we dont think thats what it is any ideas why Balu is doing this

SP00KY!

Smokeythepony — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:57:33 GMT

ya. i understand its a riduculous question, so i dont need to hear it.

but i totally dont know what to do! Smoke spooks at everything!! whatddo i do?

~J & Smo

I'm going to train my horse and need some help!

horsejmpr13 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:38:21 GMT

Ok so I got a horse for christmas but I havn't seen him yet because I'm on vacation.

He is a 5-year old quarter horse named General. My mom got him and she said he can jump a little bit but i'm going to train him to jump higher. PLEASE help me: Please give me tips on jumping and other options on how to train him other things, thanks so much.

Rein bracing/slowing

yeehaw22 — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:26:58 GMT

Well let me start from the beginning. And this is going to be a long explanation so be warned. I have many theories/questions so bear with me.

When I first began riding Rudy a year ago, he had a bracing on the reins problem, which has improved a lot over time. He was also really inconsistant, which he still remains, but we are getting there. I had first started riding him using rein pressure like any other horse would respond to. I would steer him and slow him down by pulling him on the reins, but his head set remained inconsistant and he would brace. So we worked on the bracing part. I would hold him, and add leg and the same time, and when he gave into contact, I would release. But he still was inconsistant, and we worked on it. I would correct him when needed, but his headset was always really bad or he would give his face but not his body.

Now here is where the questions and events begin. Not too recently, the BO was telling me about a different way to ride him, well she basically said "stop using so much rein pressure" and said that the reson why he his speeding up/keeping his head uo is because the rein pressure and the short reins make him spookeir and more alert. Instead of using constant rein pressure, I decided to ride on loose rein, and bump his head when he needed to be corrected. It showed major improvement,he was a completely different horse, hence his Western pleasure backround and how he was trained. So it was sort of like a breakthrough. So when we begin to ride, I ride him on WP loose reins, but a little bit shorter for more contact, but not by that much. To get his head, I bump the reins, and release when he gives in. I do this when he speeds up as well.

But the longer we ride it gets progressively worse. He will start speeding up, and I will bump the reins and he will give his head, but not his body. He has a beautiful headset that I want, but wont slow down his stride. Its not like he is on the forehand too much. He is pretty collectd, but not at the speed that I want him. So he basically rides with a nice headset but a faster stride. I then usually try to pull back harder if he wont listen, and he will give his face, like arch his neck quite far, which I really don't want to happen, and will slow down for about five stries. During that time I have released the pressure, but he will then speed up again, and I will have to correct him again.

When I correct him, he will either give his face and slow down for a very short period of time, or will get a really nice headset but his body will remain the same. Now do remember that he is usually fine in the beginning when I ride him, but it gets progressively worse as more time pases by. I also use all my aids when correcting him, so don't worry that I am only using the bit.

So here are a few of my theories.

He may think I'm only rewarding him for giving in with his face, so that's why he may not be slowing down. So i will have to firgure out some way to realize that he will get the reward when he slows down and gives his face.

He may be anticipating the way I used to ride him, with more rein pressure and shorter reins. Bear in mind that he is also ridden by two other people. One completely holds his face, the other rides on loose rein like I do, but both of them ride him only once a week. I lease him, so I ride him about 4-5 times a week.

So I do hope you understood that. If you have trouble comprehending it, please feel free to ask any questions. If you have a method that will work, I please ask that it not have to do with a hard amout of contact within the mouth, because he dosen't really respond to that well at all.

So erm yeah, there's my complicated problem........

Edit: My first sentence was "when I first began riding a year ago" But I really meant "when I first bagan riding rudy a year ago" Sorry. I didn't want to make it sound like I was inexperienced.

how do you make jump standards???

-Event~Rider- — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:20:06 GMT

how do you make jump standards???

I need to know fast!!!

Wont let you touch her nose

daretoride — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:13:48 GMT

My Dad has a 3 year old mare that won't let you touch her muzzle.Why? you can touch all the way down her face but when you get just past her nostrels she stars throwing her head and stuff like that.She is fine when you put the bit in her mouth or when you put a halter on but just your hand freaks her out. Any ideas please.

Prancers walk...

~Horsefeathers15~ — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:04:37 GMT

Ok so Prancer walks with a very short stride when I ride her and it is shorter than her usual walk. I have been working on lengthening her stride but I was wondering If you had any tips or exercises. Thanks!