Friday 13 July 2012

Oh the Head Tossing... so it begins...

I havnt been able to ride, my trainer and i have decided to give G a week off. When i went out last week he had visably grown his bum was much higher than usual. So because of that i gave him a few days off, well that and hes gone crazy!

I tried to ride on saturday but his head tossing good god the head tossing and not just little head tossing the full out arabian reverse headbutt. Let me explain... i went out and figured i would ride he was easy to catch so no issues there as usual lately he is not a big fan of leaving the pasture but he doesnt fight me on it he just walks a little slower than usual hoping i will lose interest and leave him in the feild im sure. I got him in and tacked him up and he was awesome no issues lifted his feet great i was starting to get really excited for our ride. It has been about +32 Celcius here the past little while so i didnt want to work him to hard.

I got on and it was our usual nonsense at the mounting block but he calmed much quicker than usual, i got on and he didnt run off as he usuallly does he started our warm up walking around the arena he felt fine no issues no head tossing. After our warm up i asked for some contact at the walk getting him to engage his hind end no issues he was even holding the contact for a decent amount of time... so after both directions i asked for a trot... and then... CRAZY HORSE.

He started with the head tossing the going from trot to canter. Tossing his head straight back at me any time i touched the reins and even when i didnt, a few times i felt him hit the brim of my hat and i got slobber all over my glasses... lovely. Then he started with tossing his head while he had his head sideways throwing a little hop in as well. At this point all i wanted was OFF, off this horse that i love, that has never ever pulled this crap and to this extent. I couldnt get him to stop he was ignoring my cues to stop he was ignoring the bit he was just trotting and cantering around tossing his head with me thinking to myself... "i wonder how much it will hurt if i just jump off" but the good news is i didnt jump off i FINALLY got the crazy horse to stop and got off tieing his reins and taking him into the round pen. Might i add that i sat that canter beautifuly and it was on the right lead?!

I figured he just had a little steam to blow off so i took him into the round pen were he took off into a beautiful big canter again on the right lead, he didnt start walking or trotting just straight into the canter both directions and he ran until he was extremely sweaty. I stood in the middle of the round pen and i just ignored him waiting for him to stop when HE was ready so i could gage his reaction when he was done. As usual he came up behind me his big sucky self breathing on me as he stand as close as he can without getting in trouble.

So i took him back into the arena to make the point to get back on him, i was not going to let him win or wreck my good mood. So i got back on and we went back to a walk me asking for contact again in both directions. I asked for a tiny bit of trot and i could feel his body tense so we went back to a walk and finished with contact on the bit at a walk.... so now i am going shopping.... for Side reins.

G is not generally like this so i really do think that he has hit a bit of a wall combined with growing. We have been working on so much hard stuff and asking him for so much in such a short time i think he just needs some time to process it so he is getting the week off and hopefully with a week off and side reins we can tackle this issue.

He is also growing my little baby is sitting at like 16.2-16.3 and he is STILL growing *sigh*

2 comments:

  1. I can't remember if you've already checked this, but make sure to have his teeth checked thoroughly. When I bought Tessa, the vet that did the PPE checked her and said she was fine. Six months later, my vet checked her and she had ulcers in her mouth because her teeth were so bad! She still tosses her head when she's being a pill but not in reaction to contact. Good luck!!

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    1. He had his teeth done in May and there has been no issues since then. I think it is more a mental issue than anything since he is fine at a walk even with contact at the bit. His little tantrums dont start until we get up into a trot because im asking him to focus on so much more than just contact. We will see how he is this weekend but i will definitley be putting side reins on him for my next couple rides. I am also looking at getting a chiro/massage therapist out to see if thats the issue.
      We are definatly checking all aspects, i will check his mouth next time i ride to see if i can see anything to be concerned about :)

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