ground work only?

Okay I think I might give chance a ..... chance. Lol! Im going to keep working with her but just on ground work I think! Just getting her to trust me and WANT to be with me and she needs to get some ground manners as well


What do you guys think about this??

I got up on her today and just walked and my friend walk trotted and cantered her for me. But seeing as she's 5 maybe working her really hard is just to much and her little brain can't handle it possible bad on her back?

If I should do just ground work and do you think I should cancel my lesson I have on tuesday??

Or maybe just do light riding every once in a while??

That's a really hard question to answer, not knowing either of you irl. If it were me, I'd ask an outside, horse-savy person to observe and advise.

Id probably get a trainer to work with her

Hmm...maybe more groundwork, but I really would suggest getting a trainer if possible. ;) That could help both of you.

Definately just do groundwork. Don't do anything BUT groundwork until she learns to respect you as the herd leader. Be nice but firm. If she does something wrong (like your problem in a post...putting her head down to eat while leading), ask nicely first by just continueing to walk...if she still won't move THEN give the leadrope a sharp yank and continue walking like nothing happened. A herd leader won't keep reminding and reminding the horse of their bad deeds, don't you do the same.

I suggest doing some parelli work with her. You don't have to go out and buy all the expensive equiptment, most can be boughten cheaper (there are off brand products lol) that work just as well. Do the 7 Games.

The only way for Chance to get better is for you to be able to understand her, and she understand you. She must look to you as the herd leader but not "the scary person that will hurt me if I do something wrong". And you must look to her as a child...for that's what she is. Technically she doesn't know better....whatever she is doing, she always has a reason for doing it. It's not "because she felt like it" or "she was just being herself". She has a reason, and maybe it is because you let her get away with something and it's a habit now, but all habits aren't the horses fault...they are the human's fault and a horse should not be punished severely for that.

Chance can definitely be the horse of your dreams, you just need to learn to understand her. She is young, don't expect so much that she can't meet those expectatons.

Also, don't keep working on something over and over and over again....it's booooooooring not only for yourself but for the horse. If she doesn't get it right after 3-5 tries, go on to something else then come back to it. If you repeat things over and over, she'll not want to do things with you. Just like if a sibling (if you have any) made you watch "Sleeping Beauty) over and over and over and over and over again. If she asks you if you want to watch it, your not going to want to....same with Chance

I think there are a few things going on here. One is that the horse is still on the "youngish" side (as I am learning with my 5yrold). And, I missed just how much training she has had in the past. Two is that you seem to be still learning about how to handle / discipline. I might be way off there, but I got the impression that dealing with this type of stuff is new to you. Without going back and reading the thread again about your latest work with Chance, I think it would help you to have someone else work with Chance for you to see how they handle the same issues that you are recognizing. And, you don't need to think you are not big enough to handle her unless she really towers over you. This is not about strength. It's about repetition, reward and, when needed, leverage. If it's about your size vs. her size, you have already lost. Your advantages are your brain, your memory, your perserverance, your consistency.

I remember that you said have spent several months with Chance. How has her behavior changed in that time? Better? Worse? And don't forget there are always those hiccoughs in time where even though last month was great, this week the horse might be a nightmare!

I don't think that riding her is too hard on her unless there is some pain that you are not aware of. However, that said, if you are more comfortable doing ground work with her, I would encourage lots of it. If you focus on some of the main issues first, the smaller things will fall into place more quickly. If I remember correctly, a big thing was basically respect for YOU (your space, your presence). Spend lots of time reinforcing respect and moving away from pressure. That means when you ask her to walk forward by forward pressure on the lead, as soon as she moves in the right direction, release the pressure. Use the pressure and release method LOTS and LOTS. Also, it might help to teach her to lower her head on command -- again pressure and release. That's a tough one, but a good one. For the grazing, develop a command that tells her when it's OK for her to munch while on the lead or with a bridle on. For my horses, it's usually, "OK, go ahead" (stupid, but they know it now). Until I say that, they are expected to stand beside me quietly. If the head goes down too low, they feel pressure on the lead. I don't exactly pull on it, but there is resistance that only goes away when the head comes back to an acceptable level. I will pull if necessary, but the reward is in the release.

Sorry... I think I'm rambling. Basically, I think you need some guidance and no matter how much we talk on the forum, there is nothing quite as good as learning from someone else that you trust working with your horse and showing you what will work for her and what you can do.

Keep your goals simple initially. You may indeed trying to be doing to much if you are doing lessons on her for yourself and for her at the same time. You weren't clear on who the lessons were for. I would get her respect first and don't ask for anything where you think there might be trouble. Take it slow. If riding, ya, keep it at a walk until BOTH of you are ready for more.

Good luck.

I am working with someone that deals with problem horses for free at my barn. But there are going to be some days she's just to busy.

Today she did a lot of round penning with chance and then rode her for a while.. she respected her I took over with leading and got nothing different so I think it needs to be ME doing this work with her with her telling me what to do.

I mean chance was really good with 'V' riding her today but that was in the indoor. Even after she was done round penning chance didnt think much of it. Even 'V' said she's very pig headed on ground pretty good in saddle which I agree unless in the out door. So I think ground work may be good with some light riding.

But I know for a fact if I do ride her out side its going to be in a western saddle.. what the possibilities of me getting thrown if she \goes bucking one side to the other in a western saddle...?

Im going to keep working with V and hope for the best and still going to do some stuff on my own.

I'd definitely just say stick with groundwork for a while. Have someone else keep her "current" with her saddle training, but I think most of the problems that you have with Chance can be fixed by groundwork.

A person can be thrown in a western saddle just as easy as an english. It all depends on how you are sitting when the horse starts bucking, and so on. It does have the horn which is great to hold on to in situations like that. But you still can fall off in a western.
If she does have a tendency to take off or you not being able to balance very well, I'd say try some Fluidity riding. It is not the regular equitation riding, and you will be marked off if she rode like that in a equitation class....but it helps with balance. My one friend had a huge time with getting her horse to relax, but when she started doing Fluidity riding you could tell that the horse was relaxed and not uncomfortable when she rode.

Have you read "Naked Liberty"? Check out Carolyn Resnick's blog site, Have fun with your horse to create a relationship. My friend Margaret is on this site as she works with her 1.5 year Belgian. Wonderful tips, true stories. Willy and I have come a long way with these techniques (and he's 16). Get some of her DVDs too!!!

http://www.carolynresnickblog.com/