So, Red's gotten into this bad habit (to no fault of his own, honestly...) of wanting to go somewhere and just
going. He's barn sour, but it's not his fault, it's my own. First off, last Summer I let him lope home a lot because there's a fun path that you can actually safely run on but it leads to the barn. He's used to loping home, so he does it. I allowed him to learn that. Bad me! Secondly, he's NOT been in solid work since last winter. Yup. I'm a
bad horse owner I do not own a car. This isn't our faults but it shall change when he's home. Which will be soon. Thank God, I'll be able to ride more than once a week! So yes, Red has developed a couple of bad habits. :/ They aren't dangerous in the least and I can control it, but it's very hard to stop him with just the hack. I don't want to just gear him up with tons of tack because I know how he feels about other types of hacks and bits, and he honestly just doesn't even need to be geared up. He just needs to learn some more respect in the saddle because when it boils down to it, that's what he's lacking. So my mom came up with the brilliant idea of using a halter and a lead under my bridle, similar to how Clinton Anderson uses his mecate reins (Which I'll be buying...soon. When I have money again...)
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As you can see, he has the two normal reins and then one extra rein attached to the side, tied to the horn. I'm not going to attach my make-shift rein to his hack though because I don't want extra pressure from the shanks. I'm going to leave on a halter, clip the lead rope to the halter on the bottom and tie it. That way, he'll feel the extra nudge to stop but it won't hurt.
Plus, I found a green rein missing a clip on the other side that I never got around to fixing, it's long, it's soft, it matches my tack...I think yes.
Hopefully it'll work, mom is excited to try it out and see how he does with it!
On another note, Red is officially being bugged again and his tail is going bald. :/ Right in time for the barn party, when I was excited to show off my horse, because of course. I ordered a tail wrap for him and then bought that sleazy the other day for his mane, just in case. The tail wrap took up all of my money that
was for a new bridle, but oh well.
Horses are expensive, y'all. Turns out they
aren't like big dogs. ;)
Hope it works! Another thing I'm doing with River (who abhors stopping in any fashion) is asking two or three times "nicely" and then making him go in a little circle if he won't. Not a one-rein stop thing or hauling on his mouth, just a small enough circle to be annoying. ;) He's catching on super fast so just something to think about!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Circles are currently my best friend, haha! It definitely helped us a ton, but it's hard to circle on the trails because of how narrow they get. :(
DeleteNot a fun problem to have at all! :( That sounds like a good plan though, and yes, circles are the best... also try stopping him and backing up every time he decides to get out of control. :)
ReplyDeleteOh no not good! You said you didn't think it was dangerous but think about it, your horse won't stop when you tell him to. Be careful! That would freak me out. Not because I'd be scared of a wild ride but because you could very easily hurt someone else or yourself. What are you going to do if he decides to take off while your riding through the woods? I know what you mean though, I like to let my horses run too. But you have to balance it. Only let him run that same stretch once every couple rides.
ReplyDeleteHim not stopping isn't the problem. Its that he has learned to think on his own and do what he wants sometimes. (that's what it sounds like) Do you have an arena or roundpen? Ride him in there and work on his stopping before heading out. Always use the three steps: sit back say "Whoa" then ease back on the reins. After that's going good THEN take him out. You need to be guiding him though. Horses are herd animals. There is always a dominate one. He needs you to be the leader and call the shots. If there is no leader that's some pretty shaky ground. Ok sorry, didn't mean to give you a lesson or tell ya what to do, but PLEASE think about it.
Hope it goes better next time!
First off, my horse isn't dangerous. The worst he will do is trot off, and I can easily stop him if I needed to, I just don't want to have to jerk on his face to get him to do so. Yes, we need to work on respect when it comes to that, but don't blame him for it. I know how to work with him, and that's what I'm doing. I think we have very different ways of training, haha. I'm doing what works for us and he's improved a lot. We have a partnership and that's what works for us. If I have to force him into doing something, I'm doing something wrong. I still discipline him if need be, but this isn't his fault at all, it's mine. Please don't blame my horse for something he didn't cause. I think you read it as he goes crazy and gallops off, the worst he does is try to trot and then I pull back and he's like "Ugh fine." Haha!
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