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I'm not sure what to do...

1K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  SonnyWimps 
#1 ·
I ride a 14 year old, 17.2 hand black thoroughbred gelding. The owner wants to sell him to me because I (unlike almost anyone else at my barn) can, and like to ride him. He does have some training issues that interfere a bit with my wanting to buy him. One is that he has a very hard mouth and no respect for the bit. He rides in a cheltenham gag bit quite nicely up until we canter. After cantering, he no longer wants to do anything but go fast and frequently breaks back into the canter. I make him come back to the trot and trot nicely until I want to canter again too. If I sit back and play with his mouth enough, he slows down on good days. Once we get jumping he's almost impossible to stop. We usually have to steer him right at the walls to make him. He still will NOT walk though. I've tried deep-breathing and talking to him and all kinds of things. He continues to take off into the trot a few steps after I ask him to walk and throw out my reins. People at the barn think he has horse ADD. He will not stand still either. He's great on the ground and longes great though. I really love this horse. He has so much talent as a jumper and is a great mover. I only wish he would have more respect for the rider and be able to focus and calm down :?
I'm considering the use of a kineton (or puller) noseband and another kind of bit.
I'm also looking at Daily Calm to help him focus.



Any ideas? Anyone take the time to read all that? :wink:
 
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#2 ·
my advise would not be reach for a stronger bit it sounds like he needs to learn to Sllllooooowwww it down. Walk is important hehe, My OTTB can be a bit forward sometimes and he knows that if jogs he will end up doing figure of 8s right there till he walks.
Walk around the arena and if he breaks into a trot or a jog circle or figure of 8 him. Turn him in the direction he wants to go least. Once he is walking allow him to go forward. He will figure out that if he wants to get anywhere he needs to walk, trust me he will get sick of circling/figure of 8ing. If this means you have to walk for weeks so be it.
Same thing applies when you move onto the trot if he breaks into a canter. A horse like this just needs it drummed into his head.
 
#3 ·
I'd say stop riding and work on groundwork...that does not mean just lunging in a circle over and over again.....
A horse should not need a harsh bit to respond....to me it sounds like someone rode him in a harsh bit that fooled around with his mouth too much, making him hard mouthed.

Make sure you aren't asking him to speed up when he breaks back into a canter. Sometimes you are giving them a cue that they learned a long time ago to canter without knowing it. I know I did that with Sonny for a while until I figured out the cue and was able to correct it.

I'd definately try some Natural Horsemanship with him...Parelli, Clinton Andersons, etc.....and do alot of ground work.
If you can't get him to stop while doing groundwork with him, you won't be able to in the saddle.

I do Parelli with my horse, Sonny, and it's done wonders with him. He listens much better, he respects me much more, and he's sooooooooooooo much calmer. He used to spook at literally everything, but now he hardly ever spooks.

I'd stay off of him for a while and just do groundwork with him. If you have to increase the bit harshness to get his attention it is bad.....and means you should start back from scratch to regain respect and control.
 
#5 ·
AshleyPortraits said:
Thanks for the suggestions :)
The main problem is that he has a sharboarder. If I start trying to do all this groundwork and walking with him, won't his shareboarder just confuse him by doing all the things he's used to?
Can you work with the shareboarder on his training?! Cause I agree if you take him back to square one with ground work etc he needs it to be consistent
 
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