story of my clydesdale thoroughbred gelding. he is 16.1 hh and very solid and 5 years old.when he was first bred the people who had him didnt geld him until he was 3 and he used to buck so they were going to have him dogged then someone else bought him and now he is heaps better.but ive had him for 10 months and ive come off him 4 times coz he has bucked but he doesnt kick at all anymore the thing is his bucks dont appear to be nasty ones i think its bcos he is hurting and hes had a lot of back problems ive had the chiropractor many times and tried everything some people say he has string halt not serious others say its coz hes serviced a mare and others say he just grew to quickly this is all good advice but what am i meant to do?he is a beautiful horse and means very well but something isnt right and i feel so terrible not being able to help him.any advice is welcome or if u want to know more email me at nina_goodger@hotmail.com thanks ive run out of space to please email me thanks!
Answers:
Have you actually had this horse vetted by a professional vet?
Its so hard to guesstimate without seeing the reactions as he is doing it.
I would first haul this horse to a vet, have him thoroughly evaluated for pain issues.
I would have a professional trainer evaluate you riding to see if theres anything they can pick up and help you with.
i think you should get him a massage done by a massege vet
its horrible trying to do things and work with a sore back
ask people if they know if they can check him out and give him a good check over
First - call your vet
second - have the vet out
third - listen to your vet
First of all I agree 100% with previous advice given on this topic. You need to check and double check your horses physical health by a professional veterinarian. Having a chiropractor or a horse massage therapist come out would be HUGE, however, this can be very expensive. An alternative (a very good one) would be to investigate the Linda Tellington- Jones’s T-Touch method. If your horse is not suitable for the type of work that you are wanting him to do then there are going to have to make a few choices of how to handle the situation. The first would to be to place him in a suitable home. There are lots of jobs out there that he would be eligible for such as doing equine- assisted physiotherapy, being a pasture pet for somebody who is capable and willing to work with him and isn’t necessarily interested in riding, etc. If you are wanting to keep him then you can change yourself to fit his needs.
Here is how to handle the situation if the horse is physically sound.
Horses buck for many reasons. In order to come up with a solution we must first identify the problem. The most common issue I find is the tack is either ill-fitting or the girth is too tight (if so just loosen it up a hair ant the problem should go away). If your saddle is too big or small it puts a lot of pressure on the back (especially the spinal cord and wither) and your horse is simply reacting to pain. Check with a professional trainer, knowledgeable horse person, video tape/ dvd, or book (I recommended the pony club manuals) to see if your tack fits properly. If your tack doesn’t fit correctly then buy some new (you can actually find inexpensive high quality tack on Ebay). Also your bit may be too severe and your hands too heavy. If this is so then you need to either purchase or borrow a new bit (preferably a snaffle). If your horse is still uncontrollable with a less severe bit then you need to back up and retrain your horse to respond to the less severe bit. This is best done by longing your horse and teaching him to respond to voice commands only and gradually work up to mounted transitions (starting at the walk and only progressing when the horse is ready.) Let me know if you need more information on this. If you conclude that discomfort is the cause of this “bad behavior” you need to give your horse a break (a week or so. it just depends on your horse) until his muscles are no longer sore and begin using tack that fits him the way it should.
The second most common reason for bucking is the rider. For this you need to ride under an experienced horse person to evaluate your riding. Possible issues might be driving your weight into your horses back. When this happens the horses natural response is to hollow out to try and escape from the pain. When the horse is hollow it actually puts all of your weight directly into the spine. As a result your horse’s back is going to be extremely sore and he will buck to try and get you off. If this is so you will need to retrain your seat and teach your horse to round throughout his back. This way his muscles will protect his spine and all of your weight is equally distributed through your seat, and legs.
Another scenario would be that you are doing too much sitting trot. Sitting trot is very hard and it takes an advanced horse with balance, coordination, and well developed back muscles. If you are spending too much time at the sitting trot before the horse is ready then he is going to be really sore (not to mention sour) and will buck (again) to relieve the pain. A solution to this would be to post the trot and slowly increase the time you spend at the sitting trot until both you and the horse are physically prepared for it. As I mention earlier you may be heavy with your hands or you might be accidentally catching the horse in the mouth and you will need to retrain yourself to be more forgiving with your hands.
You may also want to look around for something that might be spooky. Instinctually horses will either buck, run, balk, or rear when something (such as a whip, flag, dog, etc.) moves unexpectedly, touches them, or isn’t normally there.
Your horse might also be herd bound and be afraid to be alone or separated from his heard. Try exercising him with another horse and see if that helps. If it does then gradually work farther and father away from other horses until your horse has gained confidence and can be completely away from his heard with no problem.
You also might have asked your horse to do too much too soon without realizing it. If you are doing too much before your horse is physically or mentally capable then he is probably bucking out of frustration. If this is the case then you will need to back up and break the task down into smaller steps so that your horse is capable of succeeding and make a plan so that he can continuously progress until the task is complete. If your horse isn’t capable of completing the task then its time to come up with a new game plan and do something else that your horse will be able to succeed at.
Your horse might also be confused and might not know exactly what is expected of him and he resulted to bucking because he is frustrated with you or the task. The solution to this is the same as if the horse were not physically or mentally capable of the task at hand.
You could also be boring your horse or he is no longer enjoying his work. If this is the problem then you will need to either come up with a way to make the lessons more interesting to him or you need to consider purchasing a new horse and sell him to a home he is best suited for.
What not to do: For this situation it is vital that you do not get frustrated and punish the horse by hitting because he was trying to communicate with you or doing what came naturally. Doing so will create more problems than it will solve. By hitting you will either escalate the problem or you will create resentment between the two of you. This may also cause your horse to fear you and/or dread future lessons (and that’s something you don’t want) Instead you need to identify the problem and do your best to solve it accordingly.
Books that might help
1.) The Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Book by Linda Tellington- Jones
2.) The Power of Positive Horse Training (Saying Yes to Your Horse) by Sarah Blanchard
3.) What Your Horse Wants You to Know by Gincy Self Bucklin
4.) Don’t Shoot the Dog (it’s a book of training theory’s) by Karen Pryor
5.) Pony Club Manual of horsemanship levels D,C, and A levels by Susan E. Harris
6.) Practical Horse Massage by Renate Ettl
7.) The Complete Equine Veterinary Manual by Tony and Marcy Pavord
I hope this was any help. If you need further information on any of these subjects, training solutions, or any other problems you might be having just let me know!
Happy Trails!
:Kiersten
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment