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New Project Horse :)

2K views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  Sunny06 
#1 ·
Her name is Cricket. She is a 5 year old QH mare. She is quite cute besides her downhill build, and quite docile when she wants to be.

Lately she's been a bit head-strong on the ground and a little stiff undersaddle. I'm not sure how to help her get her head lowered and supple. When I go to stop, I give and take with the reins 'asking', but she braces and lugs to a stop.

Nothing out to hurt you, but irritating and.. Well, wrong. She rides in a snaffle (I'm so happy! Definetely won't be changing!) pretty well (except for the stopping), turns ok although sometimes she will brace, she slows down and speeds up like a DREAM, but the stopping incorrectly issue and head just hanging there doing nothing while she trots is kind of irritating.

She won't canter, instead she puts her head down and shakes it, so we've got a little work to do. I've gotten her in to it, but for now I'm going to start over and work our way up. She has NO experience with anything but traffic and walking/trotting. She was ridden by a little give for a few years and that was it. Just in the paddock or down the road. Nothing fases her boogey-man-wise, which is SO a plus for me :)

She is good on weight, may be a bit over.

So. Any good ideas to get her supple and 'on' the bit correctly? Here are some pics of her:

Here is her head:
Horse Bridle Halter Mammal Rein


My riding was absolutely HORRIBLE so I covered me up :)
Horse Bridle Halter Dressage Saddle

I was barefoot too :P

More bad riding but you can see the horse:
Horse Mammal Vertebrate Bridle Horse tack


I went on a trail ride once before I bought her and she was stellar. It was her FIRST real trail ride even!

Thanks and help. I'm trying to get her suitable to be a nice lesson horse someday.
 
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#2 ·
She looks like she has a pretty short neck which, along with her downhill-ness, (at least from what I've heard) will really impede her ability to collect herself and get "on the bit". I've heard others say that horses like that can get there with work, it just takes more than it would with a level or up hill horse.
To get her started in that direction, I'd just do tons of circles, serpentines and other totally random figures you can think up. My favorite one is serpentines, I like how they make me think as well. My trainer has every other post marked in the arena so it's super easy to tell which post you should be heading for, you might want to try that, it's really helpful. =)

For the stopping thing (Lacey was like that too at first) I would have Lacey stop then immediately back her up 2-3 steps. She soon figured it out that just stopping when i asked was way easier than stopping and having to back up. Haha Now she has great brakes. =P

She's adorable by the way! Congratulations!
 
#3 ·
What if she WON'T stop? o_O

Thanks, I hope she proves herself as good as she was when I bought her.
 
#4 ·
What if she WON'T stop? o_O
With Lacey, I started on the ground. I'd be leading her then say "hoooo" and turn around and back her up a few steps until she stayed still when I stopped backing her up. Once she got that down it translated pretty well to riding, I still have to remind her every once in a while when I'm riding but most of the time she's golden.

If she won't stop when you're riding, I think I'd first check the saddle fit (maybe she's "running" from the pain of an ill fitting saddle) and if that checks out, I'd get her stopping well on the ground when you tell her to, without riding, then progress to riding once she can do it on the ground.

Does she stop and she's just antsy, trying to keep walking and stuff, or does she walk right through your request to stop? I personally wouldn't ride her until you have some form of brakes on the ground but if you end up in a situation where you're on her and she won't stop, circles are your friend! Do super tiny little circles (spiral into them if you're going faster than a walk) and she'll figure out that stopping is easier than trying not to trip over her own legs.
 
#5 ·
She's cute! Definitely downhill and short necked. When you ride a downhill horse you are "downhill" also as your saddle doesn't sit right. Have you tried putting towels in the front of the saddle to raise the saddle up a bit? THat will also make it easier for her to use her hind end as not all your weight will be on her forehand.

She is very cute though!
 
#6 ·
I'm 90% the saddlefits, and I don't seem downhill sitting in it.

She isn't out of control, she just kinda slowly stops. She'll sit there calmly and then will say 'OK, time to walk'. But not particularily 'antsy'.

I have been working on ho-ing on the ground and she's doing good. She's a very fast learner! She did so well today!

Is a straightbar snaffle any more or less or equal to a reg. snaffle?
 
#7 ·
I'll post pics of the saddle fit later.
 
#8 ·
I'm glad she's picking it up quickly! Yay!
I'm not sure whether a starightbar snaffle is harsher than a regular snaffle. I'd assume it is however because since it's not jointed there's no tongue relief. But I really don't know for sure.
 
#9 ·
Yeah, I'm kind of confused. But I'm very happy! :D
 
#10 ·
Wow. Why'd I even bother posting a thread of her? She's perfect! I rode her on the trail and she was 100% well behaved, did everything I said, etc.

I might just have to sell Sunny, lol!
 
#12 ·
Legs, give and take with the reins, kissing to her, seat, etc.
 
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