horse people i need advice please

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karlooben

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horse people i need advice please
« on: October 11, 2009, 18:35 »
i have a cob x whos around 9 years old now . he has a lovely nature if not sometimes a bit on the slow side but when it comes to getting on his back he can turn funny . years ago when he was at the age to get properly backed it never happened as i was on field turnout only with no one to help me an i could not at the time afford someone . now i am in a yard and have ppl there to help if need be but  i am still unsure if backing him is the right thing to do . i am at the mo working with a very good trainer who  even my vets highly recommend but i feel like shes treating my horse like hes some kind of international dressage tpye animal , all i want to do is try and get a saddle to fit him an get on with the job but this trainer is saying that it could be another 3 - 5 months yet before she feels that hes ready as he needs to still lose more weight { he wont lose much more being cob } an get a whole lot more fitter which to me lunging him every day wont do as much as riding him every day would do . shes now saying its not worth getting a saddle fitter out as she feels hes not ready { fair enough } but i cant be affording £400 for a new saddle for him to possiably damage it as hes done this before with a western saddle , about 3 years ago i did have one instuctor come out an as we was doing up the western saddle something made him go mental an he reared an bolted around the field at least 5 times with the saddle under his stomach well of course that scared him senseless i now am able to saddle him an work him with one of my saddles which is appartently no good but i am scared that he will do this again with an expensive saddle which is why i really dont want to be buying one and this trainer is totally against me getting one of ebay or somewhere which i can understand but she doesnt seem to understand that i dont have £400 or mmore to get a really good saddle so now i am have seruios doubts as to wether its worth carrying on . my vet has given him the all clear on any spinal or muscle damage in his back but he has told me that hes got a tighten inner shoulder muslce but with gentle work that can be fixed but now i am wandering if that was the reason why he flipped when i put the western saddle on him an tried doing it up ... i know this mite seem confusing but if you know horses then u will understand  :lol: :lol: i dont always explain things easily but this is really starting to stress me out now and i really just want someone to talk to .

i am even considering saying hell to ben an just save up tell next spring an just buy another horse which means i will then have 4 but that dont bother me .

"Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened."

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karlooben

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Re: horse people i need advice please
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2009, 18:38 »
i forgot to add that a old friend of mine did ride him about 3 1/2 years ago an he was perfect for her but when i got on him a few months later i went right over his butt as soon as i sat in the saddle that may all be down to confidence though as she was riding every day an i havent ridden for nearly 6 years ,

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Thrift

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Re: horse people i need advice please
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2009, 18:55 »
It sounds as though your cob is fully broken if your friend rode him but has been laid off for quite sometime. A Western saddle would be very cumbersome and he obviously had a bad experience with it sliding under his belly.

If he is sensitive to the girth try a roller or surcingle on him and gradually adjust it until it is fully tightened. Do this in the stable and leave it on for a few hours at a time then when he fully accepts it begin lungeing him whilst wearing it. The next step is an old saddle which should sit firmly (probably best to remove stirrups).

After that he needs backing by a competent rider with an experienced handler on the ground. This is important as if he dislodges the rider you're back to square one! Once he has been mastered you should be fine.

Good luck.

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karlooben

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Re: horse people i need advice please
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2009, 19:11 »
hi ,he has already excepted the roller etc while lunging an longriening . this weekend i went against my trianers advice an got an old saddle of one of the ppl at the yard so i can now work him with that on of course it wont have any weight on it but it will help to totally re gain his confidence . the reason i didnt carry on with my old friend is about 3 weeks after she came to me she was knocked of her motorbike an broke her leg in 2 places so she was out of action for 2 years an now shes moved away and i cant get hold of her .

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nzdunn

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Re: horse people i need advice please
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2009, 23:26 »
hiya hun,  i think wot you need to do is try and sit down take a deep breath and try and come to somekind of decision wot you want to do with your horse, hes 9yrs old now, do you want him for yourself to beable to ride or are you happy enough for him to just be a companion.    I guess you know your gonna have to go back to basics and really be determind to get on with it, i would agree that he does sound fully broke as hes been ridden.   As regards to lungeing its a brillant way of getting your horse fit, you can make it interesting for the horse, doesnt always have to be in a circle going round and round, you can lunge down the straights and then come of on the circle, make the circles smaller and then bigger, place down some poles, prehaps a little cross pole.   I reckon the saddle you have sounds fine, aslong as it fits properly it doesnt matter wot it looks like.   Hun i think you just need to be positive and get on with it, be confident, i dont think you should save up for another horse when you have a perfectly good one there, he just need some consistancy in his training with you being alot more invovled, remember he is your horse and your the one wanting to ride him, i would be less inclined to have other people riding him as different riders have different ways of riding, he needs to get used to you, i would just work with your trainer and let it just be you and him.   Good luck hun.   nickyx

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karlooben

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Re: horse people i need advice please
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2009, 06:10 »
thanks nicky . i do different things while lunging him as i hate it when he gets bored but somehow i have got to try an make my trianer understand that hes only a cob not some top class horse which is proving hard  :lol:and at the end of the day i only want him for hacking not anything else .

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nzdunn

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Re: horse people i need advice please
« Reply #6 on: October 12, 2009, 09:12 »
maybe shes sees something in him and has visions of him doing half passes beautifully across the school :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:  If hes just for hacking and the odd bit of school work i would make that very clear to her.   Nickyx

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Casey76

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Re: horse people i need advice please
« Reply #7 on: October 12, 2009, 09:25 »
Poor wee man, he has obviously had a bad scare or two down the road.

I actually agree with your trainer.  Just because he is a cob doesn't mean to say that he can't be trained well.  OK, so his conformation may limit him, but I know several cobs which are competeing medium and higher at affiliated dressage.  If you only want to hack, well fair enough, but schooling will help to make him a better and safer hack.

I would probably take him right back to basics, getting him to accept a saddle being lunged and long reined, before leaning over and putting weight on his back.  You must do this with a confident, competant person on the ground.  If you don't feel you have the confidence to do this, then get a confident person to do it, and once he is OK with someone being up you should be Ok just to mount and sit there - and don't let anyone tell you it's wrong to get up, sit there a couple of minutes and get off again.

There are plenty of things to do on the ground while you build your confidence in the saddle again (believe me, I am the queen of nervous nellies!)

Lunging endlessly in circles is boring, and it puts strain on the joints.  Vary it by increasing and decreasing the size of the circle.  Walk some straight lines.  Use poles on the ground, use them in a fan shape  to lengthen and shorten the stride.  Practice changing speed within the gait.  Get his voice commands down, and you can transfer them to riding.

My boy is a bit of a speed demon, but instead of using a lot of rein I always ask with my voice (as well as seat) and it is much better than pulling on his mouth all the time.  You try telling my boy that he is "only a cob" he does a bit of everything: dressage, jumping, cross country, horseball, pony games, is a fantastic hack and can out-walk every horse at the yard.  But until he was 11 all he had ever done was hack, everything else he started after I bought him.  He is now coming up 16 and is showing no signs of slowing down (both literally and figuratively!)

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karlooben

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Re: horse people i need advice please
« Reply #8 on: October 12, 2009, 18:20 »
i am doing everything u guys are saying{ have been for 4 yrs or so } and my boy listens to the voice with pure perfection which stuns some ppl  :lol: . i was going to work him today with the saddle on but he kinda got himself stuck in another field which ajoins ours { it only has silly wire strands around it other ppl moved out so our horses broke in } i went to call him but some stranger whos house backs onto this field figured he was stuck so before i could reach the other end ben had got so spooked by this guy that  :ohmy: :ohmy: i have never ever seen ben gallop the speed he did both me an another girl were laughing out butts of at him bolting across the feild but poorrrrrrrrrrrr old ben he almost gave himself a heartattack at the speed he moved at  so todays lunging an long reining was out the question as he was still puffing 30 mins later but i did try him with the saddle and he was totally fine .



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