I have 2 more questions to answer, the other answers are below this post so for sure check them out :):):):):) All of your answers are there :)
Smurfette: Nice job with your horse! When teaching the flying lead change put a ground pole out in the middle of the arena and make canter figure eights over it. 90% of the time the horse will see the pole and switch it's leads over it. If you have to, make going over the pole over exaggerated at first. Meaning, make your turn sharper when going over it so your horse anticipates the change in direction. If that doesn't work make a small cross rail out of 2 poles and jump standards, something maybe 6 inches off the ground. Then use the same ideas. Watch how you ride too, A lot of riders will try to throw their weight to the side they want the horse to switch to, which makes it almost impossible for the horse to do the change. Ride light and balanced in your saddle so your horse has the freedom to pick up his shoulders.
WolfandTerriers: When practicing over the jumps stay light in your seat and don't lean forward. Don't try to "help" your horse by over jumping for her, meaning when a rider throws them self out of the saddle to "help." Stay balanced and drive her forward with your legs. IF you feel her start to balk, sit in the saddle and squeeze with your seat and legs, grab mane and sail over that jump! A lot of jumping mishaps occur when a horse or rider are too green to really know what they're doing LOL. Also riders who get to "brave" and push their horse over fences they're not ready for. When you get to the course walk her around the jumps and let her see them and when you warm up make sure she is focused on you, attentive to your aids and riding forward and balanced. Sounds like you're going to have a blast! Good luck let me know how it goes!!
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Living the Dark Truth through the eyes of a horse trainer. Uncensored, uninhibited and far from sugar-coated. Exposing the insanity that is the world of horses, their owners, the breeders, and of course the wacked out wannabes...Welcome to my life...This is what I get the joy of dealing with.
7 comments:
Great work, TX:)
First, AND second:)
Is it too late to ask one more question? :P, If not here goes:
I have 18 and a half hands of terrified, abused, beaten and neglected and resentful Percheron on my hands. We rescued her 3 years ago and she is doing a lot better, but she still has one issue left. She gets violent, randomly and with no warning. She's gone over top of me several times (I've never been hurt, I usually just roll out of the way and by dumb luck her feet miss me), through our electric fence (doesn't even flinch, it's like it's not even there), and through our barn doors (12 foot high double doors made of 2 by 4s with 2 by 6 runners), through the stall doors (also made from 2 by 4's) like they don't exist, she has attacked other horses in her fits, but mostly her anger is focused on people. She has gotten A LOT better, and this is not my first rescue project, but I'm kind of stuck with this one. I'm not sure how to approach it because she had been abused, so anything where she feels trapped and she explodes (read: no dice with a round pen). I have noticed some triggers though: It always happens when my father is handling her (he doesn't beat her, and he's retrained rescues as well), and it usually happens at the end of a ride or training session. We've tried making the sessions shorter (we start with what she knows, if she's going very well with that we try one thing that she hasn't done yet and once she gets it, or semi-gets it, we end the session with tonnes of pats and praise), and if we notice her having an "off day" mood wise we usually just take her in and groom her. She is a very sweet mare every other time, we are kind of stumped with this one. Also we've had the vet out and a saddle fitter, no hormonal issues, teeth, or other medical issues and the saddle fits like a glove. We've also had the farrier out and there are no problems with her feet.
I'm not sure if I'm describing the episodes properly, but she seems to "leave the building" so to speak, the sweet Jenny that we know is gone and we're left with this...thing...her eyes go completely blank, not wild looking, but blank and she just destroys everything in her path. We're scared that she's going to hurt herself, but we also don't want to let her sit in a pasture getting fat and jiggly either. We're used to taking OTTBs and a few other light breeds, we had no experience with draft breeds before this, I don't know if that matters or not...Also, her heat cycle doesn't seem to affect her behavior at all.
Any thoughts?
That almost sounds like epilepsy...
It does sound like epilepsy, or some other neurological problem... I would have your vet look at her to rule any medical problems out first....
I already had the vet out, nothing medically is wrong, she checked her teeth, muscles, tendons, took blood, the works, nothing physically or medically wrong with her at all. It's not like she's down thrashing either, she's galloping around like a fool...I had an Arab with epilepsy, and her seizures didn't look anything like what Jen goes through, I understand that there are different types, but still...
Boy, randomly violent and her self preservation instinct leaves her...after 3 years. The fact that her eyes go blank worry me.
I worked with an Impressive bred QH mare that was like that. One day she just was standing in the pasture and took off through a fence and had to be put down. Poor thing was necropsied, had abnormal blood veins in her brain, and was apparently having some kind of electical problems. There's a lot we can't see in their brain structure...
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