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Post by fleabitten on Nov 22, 2011 20:56:58 GMT
Slightly different situation this time. Tb gelding, ex racehorse at one point, now mid to late teens, capable of going in beautiful light contact in trot (as i managed to achieve this one time. i have NO IDEA how i did it lol!) so has been re schooled to some extent. has been used in riding school for past 2/3 yrs.
anyway, he gets very strong and fast when cantering and very tense - head in air, stiff body. fine in walk and trot, seems better (more relaxed) when schooling alone. when he came to the RS he had to be pushed on to get the transition to canter but i think he was just unsure (?) and now he just canters very fast and stiff and will canter now with a slight squeeze of your leg.
there is a difference between him and the young pony in that she isnt strong as such - she just goes fast but the contact on the reins is more normal. whereas the TB would just feel strong. its hard to describe. ?
thoughts? why is he doing this? how would you go about fixing it? i think doing trot-canter transitions would just wind him up. is it just a TB/ex racehorse typical problem?
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Post by zara on Nov 22, 2011 22:03:20 GMT
sadly the same problem; lack of balance and topline. He's also probably got a lot of miles on the clock and as such probably has DJD in his hocks and therefore cannot engage his quarters to allow him to take his weight behind and therefore speeds up. AJ does exactly the same to some extent as he just cannot canter in an outline and in balance. The way of dealing with it, in my opinion, is similar to the youngster; develop balance and muscle in his quaters and topline. Work on balanced transitions in walk and trot, circles and improve suppleness and flexibility. If however he does have DJD he will only be able to go so far. Same problems, similar solution but your older TB probably has some underlying issues. Add into the mix his racing history and you get the problems you're experiencing Zx
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Post by fleabitten on Nov 22, 2011 22:23:07 GMT
Thanks for the reply zara, interesting read! Its interesting finding out opinions on the different problems i find in different horses. I'm not sure about the DJD - he doesnt seem stiff or clicky or anything (sorry if this isnt the right symptoms but im thinking its kind of similar to arthritis?) although of course it doesnt have to be obvious for it to be there. Im not sure what his past history was but he hasnt really done a great deal of work in the RS tbh - maybe about 4 or 5 hours of lessons per week max - compared to what he might do in another RS. But its one theory  Thanks for your thoughts zara ....I think in both situations that i wouldnt feel capable of dealing with it by myself, i wouldnt have enough experience/knowledge and so if i was doing something about it i would get a lot of help from a riding instructor. |
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Post by zara on Nov 23, 2011 6:01:29 GMT
No worries flea, rushing in canter is often due to lack of balance etc it can of course also be due to evasion; also need to ensure that his teeth, back and tack are all ok. When i mentioned the miles on the clock I was really referring to his racing career as this is when much of the joint damage can occur Zx
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Post by brigadier on Nov 23, 2011 11:10:21 GMT
Also Flea youve got to consider how this horse has been trained initially.If a flat racer he will have been told that when cantering you take a full contact and go like hell! If not re-trained correctly how is he to know how to canter for RS purposes. It took me close on a year to start proper canter work with Basil, pretty much like Zara says, working on balance issues and musculature well before he was asked the question. Sadly some ex racers dont get that consideration.
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Post by fleabitten on Nov 23, 2011 15:01:09 GMT
zara - of course, i never thought of his racing career - that makes sense. i dont know his racing or re-schooling history really. but when he came it appeared to me that he had been schooled to some extent as he seemed to know how to ride 'normally' and jump coloured poles without fuss etc. but maybe he had just been out of work for a while? cos they only got him early/mid teens. the impression i got was that he was kind of rusty - cos then when he got into the swing of working regularly then the cantering started to get fast! but thanks for your replies, its good to get some insight into these things in order to learn more. he is a lovely ride apart from that your comments make complete sense, much appreciated |
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Thanks for your thoughts zara 
for so much hard work we thank ye!!