Please Help! 3yr old backing

Hello there, my name is Laura and I own a 3 year old warmblood cross pony with cloverhill bloodlines.
I have owned Jess for 2 years now and over the past year we have been backing her. In the winter I used to sit on her int he stable (I know it's dangerous, I didn't know what the time), was led around the yard bareback.
In the summer we lunged her around her paddock and she did very well and showed signs of moving on, so I got on her (with a saddle) and was led up and down the paddock, with no problem.
She is mouthed in a happy mouth bit, but what i'm scared about is what she did with me in the summer, she was being lunged in the saddle and had side reins on. I was lifted on to her and I was led in a couple of circles before she completely exploded. Of course I bounced which made her worse (the sitrrups were tied underneath her belly so I gripped on to the saddle) Bucking, rearing, jumping , spinning, you name it.
She will be four years old next spring but her problem is she shows signs of moving on but then she explodes.. Please, can anyone help? I'm only 16 and I don't want to be injured abnd don't want to sell her.

Hey there, its me :) If you pop the pictures on it may help! Then is you go to 'User CP' at the top you'll be able to browse the forums, and check their for when you get a reply.

Sophie

Ahhh! DO NOT EVER ride a horse in side reins or with the stirrups tied up (under her belly?!?!!?!) :/ that sounds like a bad idea!

She has already gotten away with blowing up and getting a person off, so this behavior needs to be stopped before she decides to continue on with it and hurt herself.

We don't want you hurt either.. so I would definitely find a trainer! They can help you figure things out with your 3 year old.

Good luck :)

Sky wait till you see the picture!
Told the lass to get herself on here, she mentioned a trainer to me but said she would have to wait until Spring.

I was thinking basics, ground work, MANNERS etc, but you guys would be able to help more x

Just to show you what Kinlara is dealing with...

Hmm, well if she can't get a trainer till spring.. then she needs to work on RESPECT (manners :P) TRUST through groundwork, and sacking the horse out WITHOUT SIDE REINS. Your 3 year old should not be in side reins if she has the tendency to blow up! That's going to get her in trouble :/

For basics.. I think once she can effectively lead her horse and "send it" places (almost like lunging but at a walk) then she can work on lunging. And once her horse lunges well, then you can work with the trainer on side reins and the actual riding!

I wouldn't use side reins until the spring when you have a trainer to help you though!!! <--- notice how I'm repeating it :P


GOOD LORD that's a huge buck!

Have you checked to make sure her tack fits??? That it's clean.. have you checked her teeth and checked if she's sound?
I wouldn't be on her without that trainer!! Put the lunge line away and work on the lead line. You yourself need to learn to use the lungeline properly or you could get your horse or you seriously hurt :(


EDIT: In the picture you have stirrups and reaaally short reins...... was this another time or was this the time you wrote about? Also is that a purple whip jammed between her bridle and kind of flying around?!!?!?

Said all this, in less detail. There are some great threads about ground work too, and lunging for that matter... but side reins, and checks are the biggies now I'd say!

Im very surprised that you are not only lunging a youngster, but also in side reins. I guess things are done different over here, but in the UK warmbloods are considered slow growers and starting them too early can cause problems.

Lunging is not great for young horses as it's put unnecessary stress on their joints and long lining is so much more beneficial to a horses training and learning experience. Side reins are a useful tool, but I wouldn't recommend them with a young horse who hasn't got the basics right yet and in fact I don't like using them much at all. I think like any aid they should be used to reinforce the rider aids and it sounds to me like you want her head in a contact so it mimics contact from the rider to the bit. Unless you have a trained horse that can engage properly, you shouldn't be forcing in into an outline.

I think by exploding on the lunge she herself is letting you know that she feels over faced and isn't sure of what is going on. I would go back to basics and concentrate on long lining her to get her confidence up and also get her working and listening correctly.

Long Lining | Intelligent Horsemanship at Moor Wood Stables with Adam Goodfellow and Nicole Golding

What is going on in the picture though.... I see the horse is upset but there are a lot of things that the poster said that aren't happening or things that they didn't mention that are happening..

This is the time that I wrote about , scary :/