At 20:28:29 on 12.10.10, lady_rach wrote:
my friend recently bought an 8yo welsh sec. D he's a lovely boy when leading him, grooming him etc but as soon as you back him he's a monster. he cribs in and out of the field and is spooky at everything when on his back. his back has been checked with no problems and he'll rush in trot and buck and rear in canter. im at my wits end with him and wonder if anyone can help. i feel we've tried everything. hacking out is not an option til he relaxes as we must cross a busy road to get anywhere else. please please help!

At 21:02:16 on 12.10.10, ToriSilverson wrote:
i would say this is just nerves and lack of confidence. to him this is a strange place hes been sent to and hes not quite sure. just keep goin with him and dont push him to do too much. do lots of bonding take him on walks on the headcollar and do a bit of lunging. gain his trust and build it up slowly with him. do u know his history?

At 19:29:39 on 13.10.10, chrissie wrote:
my welsh D was the same although he was bad to lead & handle as well.! magics problem was that at 6 years old I was his 5th owner, hed hated being moved on so many times & got worse & worse untill he cauldnt be ridden as he bucked everyone off.! I have know had him 4 years & hes a differant horse, I would agree that this sounds like yours also lacks confidence, because magic was so nervous I started to lose my confidence as well.! I tried him on a few calmers but the one that helped was horsewise chinese bisuits, it might take you a long time to sort this out but dont rush it as if hes like magic it will be 2 steps forward, 3 back.! good luck & let us know how you get on. x

At 00:55:26 on 17.10.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
For the cribbing coat everything in that awful tasting stuff can't remember the name of it but make sure its not toxic! IT sounds as though a hack would do him good because he is probably bored stiff schooling adding to your problems plus energy build up. I would put him on magic calmer until you get rid of the energy and even instant magic paste before a ride. Lunge 10-15 mins trot and canter before mounting. Join up, assert your authority. Not much you can do with buck but push through them but as for rearing if he starts to go up act quick and spin a circle to throw him off balance. He will soon get bored of trying. Also quit cantering for a while it will just stress you both out if a walk is all you can manage to create a positive experience then thats great. Don't push him to be naughty take it back to basics. But what i would do is as soon as i could i would take him for a long gallop to completely wear him out then i would school him when he is too tired to really play up. You will get there eventually let us know how you get on :) good luck

At 16:40:57 on 17.10.10, plodalong wrote:
have a look at what he is being fed, hi sugar and grain diets can make some horses fizzy.

At 20:23:19 on 17.10.10, farasi wrote:
Not feeding sugars and cereals should help with the cribbing. Tie a bit of an old plastic feed bag over the top of fence posts in the field, that stops them!

At 22:30:41 on 26.10.10, Em28 wrote:
Do you know what sort of work he has done in the past? If he rushes in trot he may be unbalanced, not used to working in a school. Going round in circles is hard work, especially to ask a green unbalanced horse who is on the forehand to canter in the school, he may simply be protesting as he finds it really difficult to balance and is confused and frustrated. Sounds like he has a lot of nervous energy too, again this could be as he isnt used to being ridden much? Hacking him out would probably be really good for him, helping to strengthen him and build up a trust. Would you be able to hack out with another horse to lead, just taking it slowly.

At 09:12:05 on 27.10.10, NMH wrote:
I would seriously think of getting a Parelli or some equivalent trained person to help. It sounds like an underlying trust/confidence/leadership issue about what happens when someone is on his back. I agree with what Em28 says& suspect with time & patience & the right management it will be got over, like Chrissie's section D, but to persevere & have him get away with such behaviour is both potentially making the problem worse, & dangerous!

At 09:51:10 on 27.10.10, sophieandcallum wrote:
It's a difficult one as my pony was very similar and we didn't actually manage to improve him just gave him time, a solid routine and some understanding but also teaching him that we don't take his nonsense (he was also a terror when leading etc) It does sound like yours is very nervous, it took at least 6 months before my lad settled and now 2 1/2 years on he is one fabulous pony. It's worth persevering, I did alot of groundwork with him playing games and gaining his trust and didn't ride very much at all and really did learn the hard way. As others have said hacking out will probably do him the world of good aswel!

At 22:31:34 on 22.11.10, RaeBerrie wrote:
my friend has a horse that was like this, little stock horse geldng, lovely to lead and basic things like that but once you got him he just went weird and spooky. 1- try getting someone with more experience with this sort of horse ride him and see what they say, ask the right questions like 'how can i clm him down when i ride him' and things like that. also something my friend did with her horse was have 2- a riding routine (or as much as possible) try and ride that same time everyday and have a routine for while you are on him eg: walk for 10paces trot for 5, walk for 7 trot for 10 canter for 2 (always, while trying to train the buck out, keep the canter short, that way because your anticipating the downward trasition with your body your horse will hopefully feel this and because it's only going to be a few strides he wont have time to buck, also as he becomes better, you will be able to extend the canter sessions), just before you get off leg yeild 1 step to the left, 1 to the right, turn on the forhand turn on the hind quarters, forward 2 steps back 3 and then dismount. loosen the girth even just 1 hole straght away so he knows work is over. your horse may take a little while to get the hang of some of the movements but he will get them if you stick to a routine, when he get used to one rouine and is calm and relaxed with it you can change it a little so that he can figure out that everything isnt going to be the sme every time but if you dont change it too drastically thenhe will see that change isn't necessarily scary. 3- try some groundwork, if you horse can trust and connect with you on the ground he will be more likely to trust you on his back. something that will help you onnect the groundwork and riding together is do the grundwork while he has a saddle on this way there will be two familiar things for him. ask someone with experience in groundwork such as join up, follow up etc... to help you. goodluck with training x