Absolutely Amazing

[EQD]

Yesterday i rode my horse on a trail with 6 other horses. It was her third trail and she had never been in that large a group. It was also the longest trail we've been on.

Getting tacked up i was somewhat nervous and my heart started beating really hard. i'll admit it! Sometimes i get anxious before a ride.

As soon as we started down the trail i knew it was going to be fun, starlight was feeling really good (the weather is in a cold snap) and the rest of the bunch was restless.

Diane was showing no mercy for hopes of a slow ride. We trotted through the woods, horses flying in every direction on different trails, joining back up and seperating again. We jumped two things YAY!

I kept remarkably in balance considering the zany ride we were having.

I had such a blast on her, sure she wasnt perfect and spooked at little puddles, found a p.rickly bush and decided to jump it sideways, and ran into another baby horse one too many times, resulting in a swift kick to her leg and me at last being 'dismounted'

We cantered up a hill and she has an awesome canter!!!!!!

 

She also jumped a creek situation with a good 10 ft leap of faith to the other side. It was so weird because usually when those things happen and i'm on other horses it makes for a pretty lousey ride. But when starlight does it i am laughing like mad and having a big time. Smiling from ear to ear..

I'm just so comfortable on her its amazing, i love how she rides, i love her gaits, i love how she acts. She's not perfect, but i love her!

 

I am looking forward to our next ride.

[doyathink]

Is she still green?

I love hitting the trails. Man, I miss it. I sold all of my horses last summer when I moved.

[redhearts]

Ahh lucky!!! I want to go horseback riding sooo bad!!! Congrats!

[girl friend]

wow thats great!

Didn't know you'd already broken her in. How many times have u been on her?

 

g/f

[EQD]

Is she still green?

I love hitting the trails. Man, I miss it. I sold all of my horses last summer when I moved.

 

super green.

the first time i got on her was in june i think. work caught up with me and i didnt get to ride her much at all until this past month. I've been doing little bits at a time. I've probably ridden her as in walking around the arenas or trails no more than 10-15 times total. if i had to guess.

so yes, superbly green. I'm surprised she busted out the canter, it was a really strong, big strided canter. very very fun to ride.

[girl friend]

super green.

the first time i got on her was in june i think. work caught up with me and i didnt get to ride her much at all until this past month. I've been doing little bits at a time. I've probably ridden her as in walking around the arenas or trails no more than 10-15 times total. if i had to guess.

so yes, superbly green. I'm surprised she busted out the canter, it was a really strong, big strided canter. very very fun to ride.

 

Nice job!!!

 

did she ever rear-up or give u a hard time to get on??

 

sounds like you've done a great job X

[EQD]

Nice job!!!

 

did she ever rear-up or give u a hard time to get on??

 

sounds like you've done a great job X

 

no. a horse rears because it is either afraid and/or it doesnt know how to move its feet forward or backward. If a horse can't go forward or backward then it goes up. My horse knows how to move, and she wasnt shocked into under saddle training so she had no reason to rear.

what she did do was less dangerous. In the beginning she would get a little scared and start walking off quickly and then trot. She only did this once and tried to do it a second time. So i got on my stomach and laid over her back (like mounting bareback) and when she started to get frightened and jig forward i would simply pull on the left rein, turning her in a circle towards my feet until she stopped and settled. As soon as she stopped i would dismount and pet her. Take her back the the block and mount her from the other side. I only had to do this twice and then she was good as gold afterward.

It looks something like this only both feet should be free instead of one being in the stirrup:

 

(that was taken during our next lesson while i was mounting. she stood perfectly still)

 

gf, if your horse is rearing with you its a strong sign that more trust needs to be established and alot more groudwork needs to be done.

checking tack is never a bad idea either.

[JourneyRoade]

God that sounds like fun! I wish you were at my barn! I have an Arabian mare, and when she was younger, we always rode fast and hard!

[ghost69]

i don't even know what it means when a horse rears, shows how city i am.

 

is it when a horse bucks a bit?

[EQD]

i don't even know what it means when a horse rears, shows how city i am.

 

is it when a horse bucks a bit?

 

No.

its when they stand on their hind legs.

a buck is when they do the opposite and their butt goes in the air.

they do that when they are happy/energetic/playful, spooked, or upset.

a leap and a bob are a little harder to explain.

[ghost69]

No.

its when they stand on their hind legs.

a buck is when they do the opposite and their butt goes in the air.

they do that when they are happy/energetic/playful, spooked, or upset.

a leap and a bob are a little harder to explain.

 

learn something new everyday. ty

[JourneyRoade]

Ghost, here's another for you..Did you know that horses have frogs in their feet?

 

When I was carriage driving about 12 years ago, I had a little boy walk up to me and ask me if that was true. He looked up at me with the biggest, sincerest eyes! I about fell out of my seat I was giggling so hard!

[girl friend]

I'm not so sure i agree... horses do rear for reasons other than fear. perhaps unknown things to us, such as pain that they can't tell us about, or perhaps because they're trying to say 'no' to being ridden.

 

I don't have a horse!

 

beautiful picture, you've really made a lovely horse out of her.

you sound practically an expert! go girl!

[EQD]

I'm not so sure i agree... horses do rear for reasons other than fear. perhaps unknown things to us, such as pain that they can't tell us about, or perhaps because they're trying to say 'no' to being ridden.

 

 

 

that may be the case with already broke horses that are ill handled. not with babies. Rearing to tell the rider to take a hike is a learned behavior that people instill in horses. A horse spooks and rears or doesnt want to cross a bridge, if you keep getting off when these things happen the horse is going to eventually learn that the rider goes away when they do that. Greenies wouldnt know those things yet. And horses who are handled correctly (not dismounted when they start to cause trouble) will never learn to rear in order to avoid being ridden. (they figure out it doesnt work)

when they can't go back or forwards they go up.

usually horses who are in pain will try to lay down before they attempt to rear. and that goes back to what i said about checking tack for issues, also having a med examination if rearing becomes habitual.

[girl friend]

I must disagree to an extent again!

 

I have nothing against dismounting if the horse is behaving dangerously. for instance i was riding past a cement mixer that was in operation and spraying dust clouds into our eyes. the horse was freaking out. That is not a usual situation by any means, and so will not generalise but sometimes it is more reassuring for both of you to just calmly get past the danger rather than riding the horse and winding him up and his fear intensifying. Of course its best to stay on top, usually. But if a horse is genuinely afraid, he is not learning lessons about behaving when being ridden, when feeling afraid and trying to bolt backwards, but if you get off and calm him, he learns that the cement mixer didn't eat him after all and then next time might be less chicken.

[EQD]

thats a question of a riders discretion.

there are no hard fast rules to a persons judgement on when they should dismount for safety sake. it depends on the rider.

but know that there are horses out there who learn with the riders help how to trick their humans. the call between 'is my horse being afraid for a legitamate reason or is he making up an excuse not to go down this trail' is a good one.

its a fuzzy line there.

and also 'is it better to get off now' is at the riders discretion. i personally would be hard pressed to actually get off my horse and lead it past trouble. two reasons being its just as dangerous to be on the ground around a scared horse as it is on one. and the second reason being its just as effective to stay on top and guide a horse through dangers.

[girl friend]

i personally would be hard pressed to actually get off my horse and lead it past trouble. two reasons being its just as dangerous to be on the ground around a scared horse as it is on one. and the second reason being its just as effective to stay on top and guide a horse through dangers.

 

Its not with a youngster though -- a 2year old has been handled around the head and led all their lives and are only just starting to trust you on top - i think it is obvious you can calm them just by being at their neck to reassure them. i agree fundamentally with what you are saying about being in same danger on the ground near a scared horse, but my point was that you getting off calms them - it may have added to the panic. Like the horse is only just learning about this 'riding business' and has to go past a big giant monster spraying out clay.

[EQD]

Its not with a youngster though -- a 2year old has been handled around the head and led all their lives and are only just starting to trust you on top - i think it is obvious you can calm them just by being at their neck to reassure them. i agree fundamentally with what you are saying about being in same danger on the ground near a scared horse, but my point was that you getting off calms them - it may have added to the panic. Like the horse is only just learning about this 'riding business' and has to go past a big giant monster spraying out clay.

 

all i can tell you is what i myself wouldnt do. a horse learns in terms of cause and effect. And undesirable behavior is more likely to repeat itself and be remembered if it is reacted to instead of being completely ignored.

the horse knows you are up there, i know what you are talking about with new babies, Starlight was like that the first few times we were out on trails, they feel different because you arent on the frontline anymore, but they do feel you up there, and that is the role that we now have to play in their lives. Guiding from on top. A horse has to learn to look to their rider for direction, and you arent riding if you are on the ground. How are they supposed to learn then?

In this case i would not have gotten off my horse. Any change in my behavior would have told the horse 'somethings up' and i dont want that.

I want the horse to think 'hey that is scary!' and to hear me say 'yeah it is scary, but go ahead, we need to keep going forward' instead of saying to the horse 'yeah that is scary, and what you are doing is scaring me too, so i'm going to hop off and coddle you until we get to a safer area'

it just sends the wrong message imo. and thats the only message i can see being conveyed by doing that.

a horse takes it cue from the rider, they can feel you telling them things, they can see you and hear you. As long as they arent bolting then chances are they are listening and paying at least a little attention to your aids.

I talk to my horse when scary things grab her attention, and i ask her to do something like give her head. That way she is hopefully going to pay more attention to what i am doing than what is going on around her.

Or i just ask her to keep going with my legs.

 

Thankfully the riding experience that i gained before i started riding my horse has allowed me to stay calm most of the time when things start to go bad, and hence i dont inflame the situation.

[girl friend]

Well i disagree! I got of a 2year old horse (ridden for the 4th time in its life) to go past the 'clay monster' on the way there, due to him snorting fear, bolting backwards, rearing, spinning on his heels and me not being able to calm him on top. On the way back he looked warily at it, but rode past it with me staying on top. Hes was fine with it since. but me buggin him to go past it with me on top when we was still a babe i think would have done more damage!

[EQD]

you can disagree with how i will ride my horse all you want. that doesnt mean i am going to get off of her the next time she gets a little worried.

If you didnt fall off then your horse wasnt freaking out too bad

the point of it is that the rider not freak out, and yes, you can calm a horse even if your feet arent on the ground.

and even if you can't, thats just riding. the oldest most experienced horses can and will 'freak' out like that. its not just babies.

[girl friend]

you can disagree with how i will ride my horse all you want. that doesnt mean i am going to get off of her the next time she gets a little worried.

If you didnt fall off then your horse wasnt freaking out too bad

the point of it is that the rider not freak out, and yes, you can calm a horse even if your feet arent on the ground.

and even if you can't, thats just riding. the oldest most experienced horses can and will 'freak' out like that. its not just babies.

 

I'm not disagreeing with how you ride your horse EQ, i'm disagreeing with the scenario i brought as an example - riding a freshly broken 2 year old past a cement monster.

 

Of course you can calm a horse from on top. and of course i tend to avoid getting off at all costs.

 

but i do think a rider has to keep that option open in dangerous situations - better to be alive and to have 'lost battle of wills with your horse' than to be thrown under a bus...

 

And yes i agree that older horses will freak out too. But you gotta remember too that when a horse is hyped up with fear, its communication understanding goes rapidly downhill from thereforeth after.

[EQD]

i think you are taking this to heart too much. possibly because the scenario you gave me was how you handle your horse and i disagreed saying that thats not what i would do. and now you are debating me.

i'm not going to say its right or wrong to decide to get off a horse and lead it if you feel the horse is going to murder you or at the worst get a little dirt on your butt, because there are several ways to skin a cat and it turn out perfectly fine. But i only said that by repeating 'this' action over and over the horse can learn a bad behavior.

and then i also said when a horse can't go forward or backward it goes up.

take it for what it is.

[girl friend]

and then i also said when a horse can't go forward or backward it goes up.

take it for what it is.

 

Im not getting touchy EQ, i just enjoy listening to your expertise - you are clearly very passionate and knowledgeable.

 

I agree with the above statement- if a horse can't go forward because it is afraid of clay monster, and it can't go backwards because rider says no, it will go up. that is what i could feel would happen in the scenario i told you.

 

Its a judgement call i suppose, but i do agree that by repeating these patterns the horse can get into some pretty bad habits - its called classical conditioning.