horse problems

Question
QUESTION: I am 15 and I just got a new 11year old 17 hand thoroughbred gelding about 2 weeks ago. He is a awesome horse but when a get him into a canter in the arena he turns into his turns really sharp i try to push him over with my leg and the reins and he'll go over then when the turn comes up he does it again He reminds me of being on a barrel horse.IS there a way to get him out of that.Also I had my cousin ride him in a roundpen with me in there.She wanted to trot him and she did around twice and walked him then tried it again she got him trotting then she accidently get him again and he started to canter she then screamed and it spooked him a bit and he went faster.I finally got him to stop and she jumped of right away.I took him into the arena and trotted over some poles and cantered him a bit but all of a sudden he just kind of took of and i couldn't get him to stop but he finally did and I trotted him over a few poles and around the arena again.I was wondering if he was trying to see if I would get off of him if he bolted to.Oh yeah and my cousin can't stop him not even at a walk.I can be cantering ask him to halt with my voice and he will stop but not with her she will be pooling back telling him to halt and just keeps on walking I have to ketch him to stop him with her.This was after the cantering experience to.She is 14 and has ridden a lot but he just doesn't like her or something.I've known this horse for over a year and I rode him in jan and feb and last year i took 2 lesson's on him and i would take him for walks so were not new to eachother.

ANSWER: Hi Breea!

Congratulations on your new horse!

There is a lot more to riding a horse than just sitting in the saddle and not falling off!  Riding is a dance of communication and understanding between horse and rider.  It is a feel following a feel.  You "feel" down to your horse and your horse "feels" back to you.  Your horse is not like a car or a bike or a motorcycle.  A horse is a living, thinking, feeling individual that is the most HONEST creature (human or animal) on the planet.  The horse is also a herd animal with a "flight" response to danger.  It is what they are, it is how they have survived for millions of years.  You can't change what God created in them, you have to understand them and how they think and feel to really, truly ride well and form a trusting partnership.  If you do not choose to really think about the horse, think as a rider and become a thinking partner with your horse...be ready for bolting, bucking, getting bitten, kicked and a lot of eating dirt, I guarantee it.

What your horse is doing for you now, is filling in for you.  Your horse is having to become the leader to save himself AND you.  He does not feel good or trusting about what is being asked of him.  He is being scared by having to "save" a screaming rider, scared by having someone pull on him with no understanding of how HE is feeling and in short by having to babysit and not have his feelings or needs met!  Some horses will fill in for the human for quite some time before negative behaviors start to crop up.  Negative behaviors for the human are nothing more than survival behaviors for the horse!  

Breea, your horse making sharp corners is nothing more than insecurity on his part.  You really have no feel or timing, he does not trust you as a leader and therefore has no trust for you as a rider.  You kick and pull without any understanding of where the foot is in flight, what the shoulders and hocks are doing, where the life and energy in the body is...you are missing so many things the HORSE is having to come up with his OWN answers and you don't like the plan he has come up with!  

If you really want to ride with quality, if you really want to become a horsewoman and a student of the horse, here is how you start:  Stop cantering.  Don't allow your cousin to ride your horse.  Screaming and pulling scares your horse and it is not fair to do to him!  

Go back to working at the walk and the trot.  If and when you understand when each foot is leaving the ground and can call when each foot is in the air, when you can yield hind quarters, accomplish a one rein stop-this is your emergency brake and how you really stop a horse; and  when your horse is bending softly and following a feel, you can flag your horse with quality, ride with a flag-tarp-slicker, when you understand how to elevate the shoulders, how to influence the energy in the body (yours and the horses) to accomplish leg yield and full pass, understand and can use haunches in...THEN you will understand that the canter is nothing more than a correct, supple trot with just a bit more energy!   

Right now your canter is nothing more than just running around.  Your horse gets pulled on and he pulls back.  Your leg is just meaningless thumping on his sides because you are  pulling on his face.  This is what I like to call the "kick and pull" school of horsemanship!

Breea, your horse does not bolt just to see if you will get off.  Your horse is honest.  He is not feeling the leadership that he needs and you do not have a trusting partnership in which he understands you and you understand him.  Sitting on a horse, "a lot" is not riding.  I'm not being mean.  I am being blunt and trying to share with you some of the things I have learned.  If you are humble, and understand some of the things I am writing to  you, if you understand that it takes work to become a real horsewoman, if you read these words with an open heart and mind...I can help you and you can help your horse and maybe even your cousin.   I think that would be great.  The choice is yours.  I'm going to suggest some DVD's for you to watch and some reading to do.  If you have the chance to see some of the things I'm talking about, I will have a better chance to explain things to you and the exercises I give you will make more sense.  

"Ground Work" DVD by Buck Brannaman
"Ground Work" book by Buck Brannaman

These two are the most important for you and where you are.  Buck rides in a western saddle.  It is NOT "western" riding.  It is a classical Dressage seat and these are classical Dressage maneuvers.  After all "Dressage" means "training"!!! The type and style of saddle you ride in has NOTHING to do with good horsemanship.  It is just a different sort of dead cow we strap onto our horses back.  The HORSE knows no difference between a western saddle, a hand made french dressage saddle, a cut back saddle or an $89 dollar e-bay special!  Do you see what I'm saying!!!

SOOOooooo...IF you read this and IF you watch at least the DVD, and IF you write me back...I'll start helping you establish the kind of relationship you are looking for, with your horse, so that you will be able to do the things you want to do TOGETHER, with quality!

Enjoy the journey.  Your horse is a gift!  :)

Smiles!  Denise

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for all that.I'm not letting my cousin ride him anymore.She's to scary for him.I've never really understood how people get scared like that when they are on horses.I don't think I have every really been scared on or of a horse just cosiuos.He hasn't bolted with me since then.Today I only did ground work with him.I did some bomb proofing to.He didnt spook at loud noises or the umbrella he is really calm.I took him for a walk on a trail and he would walk and then he stopped and wanted to go back but I urged him to go ffoward and after that he was just fine.He is a ex-racehorse and the old owners which are the people who own the stables said that that is why he bolted on me like that but Im not to sure.And they said that is why he turns so sharp to.

Answer
Hi Breea!

Good for you!  I own two ex-racehorses.  My daughters intermediate level 3-Day Event horse is a multiple Stakes winning horse.  His name is "Cup-O-Huddle" and was bred by Harris Farms in California.  Huddle raced at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita race tracks until he was 7 years old.  Huddle raced a lot because he was a money maker.  Sad for him.  Son of Jupiter was our other ex-race horse.  Jupiter came from and was raced in the State of Washington.  He was shown through Training level 3-Day Eventing and was my daughters first horse.  The way your horse turns has NOTHING to do with his being an ex-race horse.

I have quite a bit of experience with horses off the track.  Most of them are quite troubled due to the complete lack of good horsemanship found at race tracks.  The only thing that is important to people in this industry is that the horses run.  Nothing else matters.  Most horses that end up at slaughter are thoroughbreds.  These wonderful horses are by-products of a racing industry that is out of control.  Most of the horses that are rescue horses are again cast off from the racing industry.  Shame on them.  So, not only do these people NOT understand horses, they are responsible for so much pain and suffering of horses that have given their lives in service to the human only to be thrown away.  

Be very careful Breea in who you choose to listen to.  Educate yourself and keep searching for answers.  Don't take things at face value, question, research, and think.  Horses and life it is all the same!  When you offer your horse a better deal, he will take it.  Watch the DVD I suggested and start reading the book.  I can give you more resources to look at and read.  When you understand how to supple your horse, get him soft and bending, moving off the leg and being responsive to the aids a whole new world will open up to you.  Keep asking questions and searching for answers!  I'm here to help!

Smiles! Denise