TSR Horse Owners' Society Thread!!

thank you, i have checked her tack, her teeth and her back and all are fine. I would love to lunge her over poles but sadly shes a little bit special and is spooked by them -.- last time i tried she reared...kinda put me off of it =') i could gallop her but she has a tendency to spook at stupid things and also if she sees another horse she throws a tantrum and canters off without stopping
the dressage movements work really well for her in trot, however in canter its so uncontrollable sometimes i cant get her to perform a movement. I have absolutely no idea how to calm her down, there are some days when she is really good and can do canter leg yield and shoulder in, however there are other days when im just bucked around the school for hours =/
i have been told its her breeding as she was originally bred for being a racehorse however a leg injury meant she cannot put too much strain on her leg and consequently i cant even try jumping her to calm her down. she is a polish arab btw
i have considered that it is my riding and although she behaves more for me than anybody else who sits on her, i find im becoming increasingly frustrated at myself as i feel like im letting both my horse and me down
i guess i will start trying to ask for canter pirouettes soon as that requires collection and concentration however she is a very fast learner and will be bored of that by the time she has learnt it =/
thank you for your advice though, if her leg was up to jumping and she wasnt so spooky i would definitely try some of your ideas =)

Typical Arab hehehe. All Arabian Horses have that certain special spirit about Them, though I have met quiet Arabs in general that's a rarity so They do tend to be pretty highly strung - I know my Arabs were
Spooky behaviour can be a real problem. I used to have a fantastic Pony, practically perfect in every way though He used to spook at everything because of bad treatment with previous owners (we rescued Him) - we never had chance to get Him out of it sadly because He was poorly when we rescued Him due to being mistreated/ not fed properly etc but I did manage to curb some of the spooking, and have done with Horses since Best way to do it is to face potentially 'scary' obstacles head on - so as long as you have a safe schooling area like an arena or enclosed field, might be a good idea just to let Her off and spend a few hours of a Summer's day just accostoming Her to things like tarpolin and plastic bags etc etc, just get Her used to trusting - will take a while and it can sometimes be frustating but stick with it As She progresses you could move on to encourage Her to face even scarier things like Tractors or (in my Pony's case ) Butterflies, puddles or leaves covering paths etc Though tbh it sounds as though it's more Her nervousness that's the problem as opposed to your Riding - I obviously haven't seen you riding so can't really comment on it So I suppose it's just a case of working with what you can and using a lot of perserverance to get to a point where Rides are totally enjoyable instead of stressful at times Anyways, all the best, hope She calms down and starts relaxing into Her work - if there's anything else I can help with I'll gladly try; I have quite a bit of experience with a variety of Horses so I'm not just coming out with a load of untried rubbish, honestly Good Luck!!

I have a channel on youtube if you wanted to see my riding? This is the last test I did http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U10pNCLd6M
Things were going really well for a while and we were cantering controllably but then its suddenly all gone downhill again and she almost landed on my riding instructor today =/
Thank you so much for your help! She spooks at really random things that normally she would never notice eg hats (i know i wear one when im working with her but she still sometimes spooks at it). I could try getting her used to poles I guess so her confidence builds up. I took for a walk in the woods yesterday and we were on our own for the first time, so I know its all getting better spooking wise, but schooling wise she seems to just stress herself out for no reason! I wish my cob hadn't retired as every now and again I would like a nice relaxing ride =(
I know I have been saying alot of bad things about my arab but just to reassure you she is the sweetest thing in the world on the ground and loves cuddling people, its just when someone is ontop of her she misbehaves haha =)

Libbi is beautiful!! She looks a little like my Mum's old Arab - who was a typical nutcase, so I'm sure you're glad Libbi is controllable, at least most of the time lol. I'd say your Riding is brilliant!! I like how - unlike most Riders - you don't tend to saw at Horse's mouth to get the Horse on the bit, and when She's doing as She's told you take the leg off immediately, like I do as a reward; which shows as She's obviously enjoying Her work It's a pet hate of mine when Riders are inconsiderate and focus so much on getting the Horse into 'an outline' that they forget about the Horse themselves.
Something you do do though - which I am *definitely* guilty of - is that you tend to watch Libbi a lot and as you came to the corner closest to the Camera/ Poles at this end of the arena you tended to lose direction ever so slightly; though I find myself unable to do a straight line at times when I'm concentrating on my Horse too much too so as I said, I can't really advise on how to stop it other than to try to look up and around you a little more

But something that I did notice is that as you make the transition into canter you immediately tense up - as if you're expecting Her to shoot off or something. I'm fortunate in that I don't tend to go stiff and tense when Riding - though that's probably because I do a lot of bareback work and any bad behaviour doesn't tend to bother me after working with sooo many problem Horses since I was little You can see you tense from watching how Libbi goes - notice Her tail lifts (which is an Arabian thing I know, tends to signify She's excitable - even my baby Boy who's only 1/4 Arab does that too ), as well as Her ears coming back, followed by Her bringing Her head up and back at you which is a sign of resistance. Your position totally changes and though you tend to relax the longer you're cantering, you do tend to tip forward (only because you're tense) which causes your stirrups to slide back, consequently allowing you less control of your lower leg movement. Perhaps get your Instructor, or even your Mum or a Friend, to lunge you on Libbi so that it isn't your concern how fast She's going since She won't be able to evade control, but maybe it'd help you relax into your seat more by practicing some non-stirrup work and maybe practice stretching yourself more so that as you're cantering you're sitting deeper into the Saddle. This naturally encourages a more relaxed position - and because Libbi is so responsive it'd help to prevent that rush rush rush mentality that tends to overcome Horses as the Rider tips even ever so slightly forward
Sometimes I've got to really gee my Horse up to get Him into an active trot let alone keep His canter going - but I have trained Him to be extra responsive to voice commands meaning I don't have to move a lot whilst Riding Him - has pretty much made me unfit to Ride a lot of Horses atm though, which I'm going to have to remedy before my stage 2 Exam, oops - but it's meant I tend to have more control over Him without having to change my position a lot I do find a lot of ground work helps achieve this, and as you say Libbi is fab to handle on the ground then perhaps it'd be beneficial to work on controlling the canter in hand before trying to attempt improving Her canter whilst Ridden??
The Spanish Riding School start all their Horses off with groundwork ya know

Of course I don't actually know you or Libbi so what I've said may actually be waay off the mark, but hopefully you'll be able to find a method of training that works for both of you Anyways, all the best - you should be sooo proud to own such a gorgeous Horse, and for Her to be so well behaved for an Arab, you've found a real gem there!! I'm sure She'll calm down eventually anyway, Good Luck!!

Hi there

When I was little, I remember going to a fair and going on a Horse Ride in the fields, that was fine but afterwards, I saw this woman gallop the Horse down the field and I felt happy, I knew that I wanted to ride a Horse one day but I have never really had a chance to

might sound weird for a boy to want to but I just think Horses are amazing...I've never really found out why I feel like that.

I rode a Horse once when I was 14 with my Girlfriend at the time but I fell off and broke my shoulder, haven't been on 1 since.

Im now 21 and my now Girlfriend used to ride and when I told her, she said I should give it a go and she would go with me....but I don't know...is it too late to suddenly get a new hobby when I'm at Uni??? even though it's what I've always wanted to give a go.

Just the feeling of galloping a Horse and not stopping is something I want to experience.

Any Advice...if you aint laughing at me haha

You should definitely try again - its such a shame you had a bad experience last time. Lots of people at uni (especially guys) tried riding with our riding club for the first time and got hooked! I don't think its ever too late to pick up a hobby - just take it slowly and have lessons with a reputable riding school before you try riding out around woods etc so you can establish some form of control. Riding school horses are very safe and will increase your confidence so riding will be a fun thing to do as opposed to making you nervous

I just need some help from you guys.
As some of you know I will move to the UK mith my lovley horse. I hopefully start to study in September. I just firmed my offer from Dundee and insuranced Uni of Greenwich. I found a lovley livery Yard near Dundee but couldn`t fine one near to the Uni of Greenwich. The campus is in Medway/Kent. Could anyone of you give me some links where I could look for livery Yards near to Medway/Rochester/Chatham?

thanks

you could try
http://www.pegasus-magazine.co.uk/livery_&_training_7_25.asp

hey guys! I've had horses in my life since I was 3 years old, but don't own any at the minute due to uni and whatnot..My mum has horses though so I still ride and spend A LOT of time with them
I have loved all my horses but I guess I got that really special bond with my old gelding Charlie, he was a TBx and just the most amazing horse with such a character. Unfortunately some idiots fed our horses grass cuttings over the fence last summer and my boy got colic, which I guess was too strong and the best thing to do was put him down
Anyway here is a pic of my little soldier, I miss you Charles!

Hey guys!
After a month of battling it out with my arabs behavior getting worse and worse I finally convinced my mum to get her back checked and she is very sore! Other than that, which we are going to be treating with a visit from the saddler and some physiotherapy sessions, she may have degenerate hock joints.

Does anyone have a horse with this problem, or know anybody who's horse has had this problem? I'm a really keen dressage rider and would like to know how this will affect her when she is finally back in work. How is it treated/controlled? I don't want to bring her back into work only to find out that in a few months time the strain on her joints from dressage has made her too sore to ride again.

Any info would be appreciated =)

(And I have googled but I would also like some information from somebody who has actually had first hand experience of this problem, rather than reading about it on wikipedia =') )

Heyy My poor Pony ended up exceedingly poorly with Laminitis due to ppl feeding Him over the fence. We'd rescued Him so He was not totally 100% Laminitis free anyway, but when ppl used to walk passed the field and feed Him treats like sugar lumps and bread every day for a while before we found out, that ultimately built up and contributed to Him being exceedingly ill with it He sadly had to be put down due to Cushings Disease effecting most of His organs despite our best efforts and ridiculous amount of Vet Bills, but watching Him suffer with Laminitis was horrible. Colic has killed so many Horses this year it's horrendous!! Very sorry to hear about your Charlie He looks and sounds like He was a really lovely Horse xx

Hey, thanks for the message...
So sorry to hear about your pony. It is incredibly frustrating that these illnesses can be easily prevented. People think they are doing no harm when they feed our horses over the fence, but sadly the case is often the opposite.

On a slightly lighter note, I did an hour and 1/2s work with no stirrups this morning..looks like i'm not getting out of bed tomorrow!