At 04:16:28 on 08.10.10, SirLeonandy wrote:
I love my horse, he's a huge grey warmblood gelding. The 2nd time I rode him after buying him, he bolted and I fell off. I've never ridden him without someone else being there with me, which really does decrease my confidence, because it feels like nobody believes I can control him, so that's what I'm starting to believe. Also, I have to lunge him every time before I ride him for at least an hour, because he has so much energy that he uses in a negative way. I love riding him, but how can I build up enough confidence to ride him on my own, and convince my instructors and parents that I can do it? I ride all my other horses on my own.

At 22:14:20 on 10.10.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Lunging for a hour is really bad you should never lunge for more that 20 mins because 20mins on a tight circle is like a hour of intensive schooling! I Had the same problem grenville is a nut and i got him straight from racing after riding at a riding school and no-one thought i could handle him - which i couldn't he bolted with me on my first ride and he trampled me a week later. First i realised i needed to do something about his energy so i found the lowest energy feed i could find and suplemented with a calmer, he turned into a dope in the stable haha. Then my friends said try a strong bit and lent me a waterford dutch gag (he used to get the bit between his teeth) this didn't work so went back to a snaffle with flash and martingale, this worked so stuck with this and then i got lots and lots of lessons. It took me ages to go on grass with him but now we tear up the tracks! I think it has alot to do with trusting your horse and the fact you can ride your other horses on your own is because you trust them. I think you should get lessons and have a lesson on hacking (i went for a ride with my instructor and she helped me alot) also build your confidence together doing simple things instead of the complex stuff and enjoy each other for a bit instead of worrying and relax. Hope this helps lol

At 10:29:38 on 27.10.10, Kay2 wrote:
Hi I know exactly where you are coming from perhaps you could look at my forum 'My horse becomes uncontrollable as soon as he hits grass' although I can now hack out more confidently with CJ at this time of the year being stabled and being feed more hard feed I do have to choose where I decide to canter ie enclosed tracks to help me have control should he decide to do something naughty. I think a lot of my problems with CJ were due to his insecurity and because he made me nervous when hacking the problems escalted I tried him on several different forms of calming supplements and found that Equine Answers Calmer was the best I nolonger use this on CJ but I do use on my 18yr old 13HH NF pony that thinks hes a 5 year old race horse and the difference is outstanding George is now a completely different pony that children can ride. Good Luck. PS you can order from Equine Answers through the internet.

At 11:58:09 on 28.10.10, gallante wrote:
Gosh ,I know how you feel , I am in a similar position with my lusitano /warmblood .It is a fine line with some horses & confidence is the key.I have found that in the summer My boy is a lot quieter but he is incrediably sensitive to moods of his rider , he came from Portugal where the traffic is almost non existant & he is unpredictable with some vehicles , just last night he spooked at a lorry going past on our busy A14 dual carriageway ( we were on a paralell back road behind the high perimeter fence so you just get the traffic noise )I take him there as much as possible on quiet days & busier ones. Also to get to our tracks we have to cross a low sided flyover bridge over another 4 laned dual carriageway & drivers still try to pass us when we are in the middle of it & he has got jumpier lately.We only now go over on Sundays . This limits where we can go as now we cant ride in our fields to school as its too muddy & I am now going to try to box him to an arena which he has never seen before . Its much like owning a stallion you cant take them for granted , you need to be much more aware with these powerful & beautiful horses.But the ride you get & the feel of their paces is worth all the extra effort . Gallante is a dream to ride in the school but has a prodigeous buck out hacking. I knew this when I rode him in Portugal & I also know he does settle but I do have windy days where I feel less than confident & take precautions for safetys sake. BTW my boy has carrots & a bit of chop , is out on grass 24/7 with a bit of hay, he was on low protein cubes & has been on suger beet when I 1st had him as he was very poor, but he is looking fab now so gets as little as poss!

At 23:53:31 on 28.10.10, SirLeonandy wrote:
Thank you guys! I'll take that into consideration, as well as reducing his oats. That could help :) Thank you again!

At 11:04:30 on 01.11.10, RaeBerrie wrote:
i have a thoroughbred gelding that used to be an absolute NUTCASE and i could not ride him at all, let alone by myself and would always come up with some excuse not to ride him. i have since then changed his feed (yer i know he's a gelding but still) changed his feed to mitavite breeda, gives him plenty of vitamins and minerals, and doesnt heat him up, and put him with a smaller herd of horses, he is therefore more dependent on me for companionship and reassurance and when he wants to seriously go, he respects me enough to not just go, he thinks about it first, and asks if it is ok. since changing his feed i have had to use spurs on him and a whip, he is just THAT lazy :) hope this helps

At 04:40:41 on 07.11.10, equestra310 wrote:
Back to the tack in question - I think it's good to have a snaffle set up for arena work, and then (as someone else mentioned) using a more significang bit outdoors, perhaps with a shank like a Pelham, will give you more control. I did that with my guy as he'd run over the snaffle if the mood moved him. Another thing (which I tried to do with my ex ex-showhorse who I promptly rehomed after showing he was NOT meant for trail) - try walking them in hand on trail. If they're a handful, use a stud chain the first few ventures. Getting an arena horse used to the great outdoors can be daunting - I feel that when they trust you on the ground, they're more comfortable when you're on their back & they can't see you. Just my intermediate level .02 cents. =)

At 01:01:57 on 28.02.11, nutie1 wrote:
Don't worry. I used to be terrified to ride on my own and would hide until someone else came along. I think of riding alone as sort of a hack. Work on things you know you need to improve on a little. And when you ride a hyper horse, monitoring your grain count would help, but maybe you could also do a lot of transitions.... Walk to trot, trot to walk. And when you canter (if you do) make circles at each end of the arena, and anytime you feel like he/she goes faster, circle him. Or cross the diagonal and do simple changes across the middle. Like canter, trot, walk, canter. Sorry if this is late and doesn't really help :P

At 03:25:44 on 07.03.11, yogirl10198 wrote:
Just try some simple warm-ups in the beginning, but do them for a long time. This will get him and you ready to do more (cantering, jumping, etc) while reducing his energy a little. Do these warm-ups first with someone in the ring with you and then without. I agree with the others, reduce his oats as they are like caffeine for horses. Maybe lengthen his hours out in pasture? He might get more running around out there and will have less energy in the ring.