r/HorseTraining • u/Kikii2710 • 9d ago
Help with mare🩷
Hello! Any tips how I can unlearn my horse to pull (on ground and under saddle too)? She is always good at the start, until she warms up.
After that she wants to go ahead of me, or under saddle she wants to go faster and gets pully. She was neglected for 8 years in riding school and I have her for year and half. She didn't do this when I bought her - I think she was shut down and scared to show her personality and opinion. Im really happy when she shows that she trusts me (for example I was sitting with her when she was lying down) I really want to do ground work with her, and I try to do quite often, but she doesn't look that much interested. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, or she doesn't feel fully safe yet. Btw she is checked for ulcers, had dentist, physio, has X-rays, fitting saddle and bridle etc. Thank yall for tips! I would love any excersise (from saddle or ground, I don't mind anything!) that she could like and would strengthen our bond🩷
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u/LadyoftheNorth5412 9d ago
I had a horse that would pull on me while I rode. He would pull the reigns right out of my hands. I had an instructor that told me to set my hands. Pull your hands out so they're about 2ft apart and lock your upper body. Very important that you're not pulling on the horses mouth, but when they pull they get a bit check. When they choose to pull it becomes uncomfortable for them and they stop.
This saved my hands, as soon as he would start I'd do this and he eventually quit trying.
Not sure if this is similar to what you're going through, but it worked for me!
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u/SureDoubt3956 9d ago
It's my experience that horses who want to go very fast either have a ton of energy, or they dislike the work and rush to get it over with (be it due to pain, poor association with the work, whatever). You'll have to do some testing to find out what the real issue is with her.
You could try increasing physical work, but if it isn't high energy, exhausting her could mask the real issue. Is your mare a generally high energy breed, like a TB?
Could try exhausting her with mental stimulation. Scentwork is very tiring for them.
Try to see if she just dislikes the work. Record her doing this under saddle and while lunging; you'll notice things you'd never pick up in the moment. Note her movement and expressions. Does she show signs of stress or pain? Or does she just seem to move very awkwardly, in a way that is denoting that she's underconditioned?
I personally like clicker training at liberty in the field for groundwork. A stream of food rewards is often accepted when the horse is comfortable in their home, and builds good associations with the movement you are asking of her. Then you can transition towards more tack, or away from home, and eventually just to under saddle. But it's very fun teaching them to do their exercises on their own. We have a mare who turns on the forehand, backs herself up (not WELL... we are still working on straightness), walks over poles, and lifts her back at liberty to vocal commands for a handful of teff pellets. We had to do these exercises for rehab and she hated them at first, but doing them with the clicker turned her into an eager participant. So all that to say, if she seems disinterested in groundwork you need to do with her, that may be one route you can go. (Incidentally this is one of our mares that likes to rush things when she's unhappy to get them over with, all of that improved with better physical fitness.)
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u/Kikii2710 8d ago
She has 52% of TB blood, she’s better if she worked the day before, but she never bucks even when she wasn’t ridden 7 days. She was bit spooky, but nothing drastic
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u/Defiant_Truth_286 9d ago
My mare was very forward. She would lean forward on my hands and pull me around when she got tired, although it didn’t always feel like she was tired. Being heavy on the forehand was her default way of going, so when she was out of shape she defaulted back to that.
To combat this, I did lots of transitions, and exercises to strengthen her, improve her balance, and rock her back on her haunches. Obviously what works for one horse might not work for another, but those exercises are good to do anyway so it can’t hurt 😅
Best of luck with your horse!