HELP FOR HORSE RIDERS. OUR PROBLEM HORSES

Help for Horse-riders - Cures for Problem Horses!

UNDERSTANDING HORSES

I should have known, watching Shannon being free-schooled by her trainer. It was brutal. And when tried for riding, she bucked and threw Jessie off, I really should have known better. But I liked the way she carried herself and Jessie wanted a jumper. Shannon had the bum for it, so we bought her.

We'll put her straight, I thought. She's only 6 years old. This is only a glitch in her training. Do the job properly and she will respond favourably. I wasn't exactly wrong, but her rehabilitation was a long time coming.

We called her "The Monster". Anything would set her off. A hand on her rump she wasn't expecting, or even just stepping over a pole and she would explode into a fit of violent buck-jumping. She was a little better at schooling. At least she didn't have to lift herself off the ground. And hacking out wasn't too bad, except that she was entirely unpredictable, exploding occasionally for no apparent reason. She was just angry, I guess about being ridden and every now and then, would let you know about it.

It took at least 2 hours to get a set of shoes onto her feet. Fortunately, our farrier was a kind and patient man. He persevered. We persevered too, and eventually, she accepted it like a normal horse should. Grooming and tacking up wasn't much better. If you didn't follow exactly the right order, she threw a furious fit.

Otherwise, she was a very nice horse. Quiet and easy to handle - as long as you did everything right for her. She just had to learn how not to kick up a fuss about what was right for us. Like it didn't matter from which side the girth was done up, as long as the job was done kindly. And that a hand on her rump or picking her feet in any order was actually quite normal!

It was these little things that made Shannon so hard to handle, combined with the way she exploded. We'd never seen anything like it!

Eventually, she did come round as a quiet, obedient riding horse, calm, quiet and easy to handle in every respect. But she never did take to jumping. She would prefer to stand there all day, than lift herself over a pole. Her brutal free-schooling experience saw to that!