Equestrian Life April 2018 Issue

LEFT FROM TOP: REFUSING FENCE; LUNGING
We have had several arena sour horses in over
the years - who have been over schooled and
turn nasty or totally switched off. They hack as
the majority of their work. You can do lots of
transitions and lateral work out hacking and it’s
the best place to teach medium trot when they
are feeling jolly! With these, ground permitting,
we will school them in the fields rather than the
school.
Behind the aids is the most common problem
we get in. This can manifest itself in feeling like
you would be better off, getting off and pushing
to explosive spins, rears or bronking. If the horse
is not ‘in front of the aids’ (ie .listening and
responding quickly with a desire to go forward)
then you are in trouble on some of them! With
these horses it’s sometimes a confidence issue as
well so it’s really important to praise when they
go well or even just try a bit for you- they almost
have to learn how to learn! If you are too hard on
their mistakes they just give up trying for you.
Some riders are such perfectionists it must break
horses’ hearts. The best cure for a lot of these
sour horses is to get out hunting - but you have
to be confident you can deal with any behaviour!
Bring pole work and jumping in with all types
of horses. It can get them thinking forward and
improve the canter instantly. We get a lot of
young dressage horses in to get a good all-round
education before they specialize. Research in
human athletes has found that a broad sporting
grounding when young is beneficial - apply this
to our horses too.
Problems with specific areas such as jumping
ditches / water / banks are often best dealt with
from the ground. I now start all my young horses
on a lunge line for these challenges. I find that
if you turn it into a game they learn to problem
solve rather than block you. There is nothing
worse than a horse shutting down on you! Be
sure to have two people to do this - one with
the lunge line and horse to ‘give a lead’ and the
other to encourage from behind if needed. The
lead person needs to be nimble and have eyes in
the back of their head and move quick!! Be in a
bridle and even have some treats to encourage
them. They need to learn to associate these
challenges with reward rather than punishment.
Above all you should be getting on your horse
everyday with the intention that it should be
fun! If it isn’t seek help from someone you
respect and admire (not from Facebook!!). Be
prepared to either send your horse for some
assessment / schooling or to think that it may
not be the right horse for you.
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