Soo, my mare has not been ridden for the past two months, except once bareback. And from the last experience I made sure I worked with her in the round pen (free lunging and groundwork) and worked her a bit more because a 12 year old unexperienced girl was going to be riding her. By the time I was done she was ffairly calm and well, but once she was going to get on my mare started throwing her head and pawing harshly, and kicking out her back legs! I made her do circles every time and she eventually stopped (with a few slaps from trying to hit/squish me with her head). But the girl was having trouble getting on because Linkin was still moving around a bit and stomping her back leg. This girl was a bit short to reach the stirrups and finally got a leg up. Anywho, once she was on Linkin was fine and just walked around while I lead her .. what did I do wrong (yes, I'm quite aware it was likely my fault since everybody blames the rider now.) or was Linkin just acting up from not being ridden? Or ..?
Also, I might add that I decided ro ride Linkin around the pen to see if she'd be okay for the girl, and she was fine and calm .. and normally she gets her grain before I groom her but she didn't and we worked instead because her grain makes her a bit hyper sometimes.
Some horses just have "issues" ;-)
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com You have not said if this is something that is consistent or if it was really out of character for her to do it?
My daughter has a pony that can be a real handful on the ground at times. Some days she is perfect, other days she will pore the ground, shift around constantly and even do a small rear while girthing her.
If she rears, I send her immediately on a small circle around me for about 4 or 5 laps, stop her and then continue what I'm doing. She only reared multiple times the very first time we saddled her (I bought her with a foal at foot, so she had time off after having some foals).
So I was not sure if this was something she did regularly to her old owners. I sent her around me each time and since then she only does it once randomly on different days. Once my daughter gets on her she is a very safe and lovely pony for a 7yo girl.
So I think you handled the situation correctly, as long as you were calm, made your commands clear and to the point with her. Ignore other bad behaviour and yelling does not work as a general rule of thumb.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Like a small child, any attention is good attention, even if it is being yelled at. So poring is usually ignored by me or I use a loud "AHT, AHT" noise. Like training a dog with a sharp noise to discourage bad behaviour.
You were right to get on the mare first as you should never put an inexperienced rider on a fresh horse to begin with. Although perhaps you could have given her some more "work" to have he a bit more respectful before the other girl arrived .
The mounting, I have come across many horses that use bad behaviour during mounting, because if you cant get on, you cant ride and they don't have to get worked. Simple! LOL
Patience is the key in most situations. I had a new horse a year ago that I sent to my instructor for a week, when I arrived to ride him for the first time and take him home, they all sat on the fence and laughed. Once they had all settled in for the show, she said "good luck getting on him".
I'm 5'2 and although he was only 15hh he was a very solid and naughty 10yo, QH. I have 2 spinal fractures and always use a drum or block to mount. They knew he was difficult to mount from the ground and thought it would be funny to watch me try and get on from a drum.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Immediately he shifted away from the drum on me and continued to do this for nearly 5 minutes. I never spoke, I just continued to take him back to the drum every single time he moved away. I remained very calm and tried not to let my breathing or heart rate shift. Right on the 5 minute mark he just stood still and let me get on. They were all very disappointed ;-)
When I got him home he tried the same trick every day for a good 2 weeks. The first day I had hubby stand on the opposite side of him to prevent him shifting over, after that I just continued the other method every time. Then one day he just stopped fighting me and stood there and I did not have another hassle with him. He did pull the stunt when a girl came to test ride him because she was nervous.
So your friend may have been unwittingly letting her nerves and fear show. Which would be "very" understandable for a new rider to be nervous after seeing a horse playing up. They can be very intimidating creatures.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Horses know routine and she could certainly be cranky if she was expecting to be fed and was ridden instead. But it is not an acceptable excuse for bad behaviour.
Next time I would stand her near a fence so she has less room to walk around or move. A block or a upside down drum would be the best thing if she was trying to mount from the ground. All she would have to do is slip her foot in the stirrup and then step on. It makes my life much easier, even when I'm riding the girls ponies.
