It has taken ALL my patience not to get cross and rough with Ace today. He has been bucking and bucking and bucking. Just for a change, when he decided he had done enough work, he threw in some rears as a diversion. Thank goodness, the rears are only front end hops and the bucks are only back end kick-ups, but they are still getting a bit annoying! I'm not sure if he is finding work difficult or if he is just well fed, young, and getting spring grass. If he carries on, I'll get his back checked out, but at the moment I think it is high jinks and nothing else.
I have given myself 10/10 for keeping my patience, my seat in the saddle, and my hands steady.We did eventually get walk and trot on both reins and canter on the left rein. Canter on the right rein he continued to kick out and kick out, twisting his hind end right inwards on the track, an exaggerated travers. I did get one long side without a buck, stopped him and jumped off.
At one point, he decided to leave the arena and climbed a bank. This bank is about four feet high, nearly verticle, and on top of it, very close to the edge, is a four foot high drystone wall, much higher than either of our heads. I have no idea where he thought he could go, but when his front feet were at the base of the wall and he seemed intent on getting over it, I decided enough was enough and pulled him away. A quick flick with the whip convinced him to go up the other end of the arena away from the stables and carry on working!
Jazz was super. I am practising two sets of movement for his medium test in two weeks.
Shoulder-in trot right 30m to 10m half circle with half pass back to the corner marker with immediate 10m circle left, medium up the long side and repeat on the other rein.
and
trot canter transition right to 10m circle at corner marker to half pass to centre line and turn right, change rein into counter canter, trot at corner marker and repeat on the other rein.
Both challenging combinations but he is trying very hard to get it right, and the more I practice them the better they are.
Advice please with Ace - would you now let him relax with a hack, or should I continue to school (without any fights, but calmly with insistance that he behaves) until he calms down a bit???? I really am not sure which to do.
C
I am suspicious....of his back. That kind of behavior is often caused by lower back pain. You can do a cursory test yourself with the dull end of a ball point pen or something similar. Run it along his spine and if you get a shiver or flinch it could be a sign of something brewing. You can test around his withers, neck, etc. the same way.
ReplyDeleteJust saying this because this is a pretty radical change from the willing boy you had a few weeks ago. He could easily have twisted something in his field games.
Meantime, some easy work would probably be OK. You'll have to use your judgement and feel to know just how far to push. Testing him with some simple lateral exercises at the walk might reveal something too.
I know you don't lunge as a rule, but now might be the time to watch him a bit on the lunge line. Cross cantering or bucking can show up there too if something is bothering him.
Tucker frustrated the heck out of me and still does on occasion. I am sure almost all of it is physical. I still have not eliminated metabolic syndrome which can also make horses sore in the back end, as you well know. Is he on ulcer meds like Jazz? Another possibility.
I know I am giving his antics an excuse, but I just wrote on my blog that I think the majority of behavior issues are physical. And, even if he is not hurting, could be his baby body just isn't ready for too much effort. Could be purely his losing his balance as you ask for more???
Just try to stay in that saddle. I know all too well how frustrating it can be.
I share your concerns Jean. The only reason I am not having him checked immediately is because it has been a gradual increase in this behaviour over several weeks as the weather warmed up and the grass came through. It is clear from his coat and particularly his tail that he has not been well looked after. I was told by the dealer I bought him off that they feed only haylage, no hard food. And clearly no balancers either, because his newer mane is coming through soft and silky where the old stuff is dry and coarse.
ReplyDeleteSo I know that he has never felt this well in his ridden life. Plus he is five this year, well known for producing temporary behavioural issues. And I have checked him all over and can find no tension anywhere when in the stable.
Next test is to take him to a bigger arena like he was doing all his early work in. He bucked there too but not as much. There is 50% more space there to send him forwards, which I think is the issue.
Meanwhile I have swapped Jazz onto Settlex, trying to get him off imported drugs in case the supply dries up in future. I have 30 omeprazole left and I may well try him on them as he is also slightly girthy and could have an acidic stomach. These lightweight imports do seem to be prone to them, I know of others. The tablets are pretty much side-effect free and will do him no harm, and if they change his behaviour then that would be an easy answer, wouldn't it?
C
And I'd check his gut - if I got you correctly and his canter was problematic to the right - this could be an indication of an upset hind gut. Try him on the charcoal too! It's doing marvels for Grace
ReplyDeleteGood going. I think the stomach thing is worth a try. There was an even more dramatic change with Tucker than even with Jazz.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I so seem to remember some "youthful" issues with Jazz....*LOL*
You are a better woman than I, riding them out, however. I have long lost my taste for challenging the bucks. I may never teach Tuck the flying change because of it, but we'll see.
Here's hoping some tummy treatment will settle Ace right down. I agree that it would be an easy solution.
By the by, for some reason, my PJ was prone to muscle soreness. Never did think of dietary causes as he did have some chronic physical issues, but sometimes I wonder. I've learned a lot since then and would have treated him differently knowing what I know now....including ulcer meds.......
They really aren't serious Jean, he never puts his head down and he usually only really kcks up with one leg. He only does one and he will stop happily when pulled up even if he has unbalanced himself badly. Sitting it out isn't as clever as it sounds :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lucy. He used to be worse on the left rein, so probably no correlation with one side or the other but I'll keep it in mind, because it was definitely right rein yesterday.
Today I am going to try a normal girth instead of the H girth. I think there is a possibility that he is catching a skin fold between the two straps. It sits very differently on him than Jazz. Fingers crossed. If it has no effect then I will feed him omeprazole today and see what that does tomorrow. And so on until we get to the bottom of what has turned a horse who was bought for his quiet nature quite so excitable!
ooh oooh oooooh might have got it!!! The girth - he was very different. Gotta ride Jazz, more later.
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Enjoying reading this it gave me great mental pictures of Ace running up a four foot hill then trying to scale a dry stone wall bless him he seems to be trying to get away from something, seriously though lets hope it is the girth
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I have no idea why he has decided that climbing the bank is a good idea, there is plenty of the arena with no bank where he could head for, and I don't have the entrance closed either! Scooby used to do exactly the same thing, I wonder why?
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