ex-racehorse

Question
Hello Nicole,

Thank you very much for your response.  In answer to your questions, my daughter rides English. She has been riding for 3 years (but rides every day.)  She is an intermediate rider. She is using a Myler level 1 snaffle bit and she rides both in an enclosed ring and out in the field (but mostly in the ring).  Some days the horse is a complete angel, and some days she just wants to take off and run! I must admit though that the good days are outnumbering the bad days now.  The other problem she has is getting the horse to stop immediately when she asks her to. This is a problem because they show in Hunters shows and you have to be able to stop right away.  Any input you can give us would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

Darlene


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Followup To
Question -
My daughter has an 11-year-old thoroughbred mare who raced until she was 6.  She was not ridden between the time that she retired and when we got her about a year and a half ago. She really has come a long way since we got her but we are still having a problem with her speed.  Sometimes she canters at a nice easy relaxed pace, but sometimes she just wants to take off and run as fast as she can.  Do you have any advice on how we can get her to slow down?
Answer -
Hi,

 This is a common problem with OTTB's who become riding horses.  There are also a lot of factors that could be contributing to this and I do have a few questions that might help me answer you a little bit better.  How much experience does your daughter have with riding?  What type of bit is being used?  Is she being ridden in a ring or in a field?  Does your daughter ride english or western?  With those answers I would be able to help you somewhat better but in the mean time I will make a few suggestions.  

 If you daughter is somewhat familiar with riding or has been doing it for a while she could start by asking the horse to do some half halts if the mare starts to get a little fast.  Cantering in some smaller to medium sized circles might help as well.  Also maybe lunging the horse for about 15 minutes before your daughter rides would take the edge of a little bit.  

Hope this helps somewhat and like I said as soon as I find out the answers to some of my questions I'll be able to help you out a little bit better.

*Nicole @ Dark Horse Farms

Answer
Hi,

 Sorry it has taken me so long to reply...very busy on this end = )

 Everything that you're using as far as equipment etc seems like it should be working well...maybe trying a little bit of a stronger bit would help some.  Another problem that could be occuring is that if your daughter is tensing up or starts holding a little tighter to the reins anticipating the horse going faster that in itself could actually be causing the problem.  Horses at the track are very used to grabbing onto the bit and pulling and running and they're used to having that pressure on their mouth.  See if your daughter maybe softening her hands a little might help out some.  It's really hard to know for sure what is causing the problem without really being there to see it.

Another thing that can help with stops etc is a lot of work on trasitions between all of the gaits (walk to canter, canter to walk, trot to walk etc) and as I mentioned earlier...half halts.

Hopefully this will help a little bit.  If not maybe finding an instructor in your area who can see the problem in person would be somewhat beneficial.

*Nicole @ Dark Horse Farm