i need help with a very fiesty 4yr thoroughbred?

Question

hey there i have just got a 4yr old unraced T/B and he is a great horse but when i ride him he is very hot headed. he is fine to lunge, but when it comes to riding he wants to take off, he throws his head around, he bucks, and generally mis behaves. in the paddock he is great, but soon as he even sees the bridle he starts. i am currently feeding him 2 dippers lucerne chaff, 2 of the oaten chaff, 1 of the bran, 1 of the barley and 1 of the calf perform. plus hay as there is no feed in the paddocks. could the feed be sending him nuts? any answers will be greatley appreciated, thankyou

Answer 1

Hi there. When i first got my thoroughbred she was 4yrs old and an ex race horse. She had some bad habits and performance problems due to the food she had been fed. Although your horse has not been raced, thoroughbreds generally are quite highly-strung horses and will react very significantly to the food they are fed. I have personally had problems with barley in the past as it is very high in protein. Chaff on the other hand is generally only a bulk feed, for example it does pretty much the same job as hay or grass. It does not generate much energy. I would say that you maybe take the horse off the bran and barley and stick with the calm perform?. What i feed my horse at the moment, should it be of any help, is a food called Weight Lifter Calm. Despite the name it can be fed to horses who are already in peak condition. I also feed lucerne and oaten chaff and I have no problems with her as a fresh 5 yr old. Age could definitely be a factor but you cant really put it down to that. As with the misbehaving, it is probably just a discipline thing. It could be that the tack is not correctly fitting. You say that as soon as he sees the bridle he starts, well horses learn to associate things with outcomes. for example when he sees the bridle; he associates that with riding. Which then triggers the misbehaving. My advice would be to pursue basic training with him and make sure you make it a good experience, not a boring or unpleasant one. Ways to help in regards of control; horse throwing head and trying to take off i would definitely suggest a running martingale- they are a great temporary solution until you can eliminate the problem. Another thing to do is to reward your horse, not with treats but just general things such as a scratch, etc. When your horse does what you ask literally tell him he has been good and do something such as release pressure on the reins when he slows down. And when he doesnt do what you want, tell him firmly but not aggresively what you want and sooner or later he will get the picture, thats when you reward. Things such as this is what i have done with my horse for the past 6 months and she has come from rearing when tied up, taking off, biting, not being able to mount up on her and general misbehaviour to a kind quiet horse who i can take anywhere and do anything with. She has completely changed. I'm happy to offer this advice from experience but whether or not you choose to take it and use it is your choice. Eveyone has their own opinion towards horses' training and this is just one of them.
I must say it has been a long answer! But it is unfortunately quite hard to write these things exactly how they should be!
Good luck with your pony. Or should i say horse. :D

Answer 2

I would definitely cut back on the oats and ration his feed a bit more. If you're worried about him dropping in weight, you can always add a small amount of oil with his grain, and that will help keep his coat healthy and shiny, too.

I've got some experience working with TBs, both off the track and unraced. Firstly, lunging is not going to burn off his energy unless you lunge him for at least an hour. And even then you'll still have a horse that has plenty of spunk left in him. There are some people who would recommend draw reins, martingales, or a harsher bit, but I don't think any of that is really necessary. Truth be told, what your horse needs more than anything is consistent work. When he tosses his head, just keep a steady hand. Let him fight himself, don't bother turning it into a knock-down, drag-out battle. He'll figure out eventually that the head tossing is not going to win him anything. If you have enough experience, you should be able to tell when your horse is about to buck. He'll try to throw his head down. Once again, just try to keep a firm and steady contact. If he tries to buck, ride through it and make him keep working in the gait you're in. If you're trotting and he tries to bolt, ride through his shenanigans and keep him trotting. The number one mistake I see a lot of people making is pulling their horse up when he misbehaves. This only frustrates the animal and accomplishes nothing. As long as you have the time and patience to ride through your horse's antics, eventually he will settle down and learn that fighting won't accomplish anything.

Answer 3

TBs can be high strung horses and it sounlds like yours is getting ALOT of feed and not enough exercise to burn off the energy.
I would back down on the feed and give free choice grass hay if possible.
I have TBs and they are feed free choice grass hay all the time and get only enough concentrated feed to hold their weight.
We feed a pelleted feed.
Thoroughbreds can get very fresh from the feed. They also need time to run. I turn mine out on pasture in the early am and let them have several hours to themselves before I start working any of them. They are taken off pasture groomed tacked up and worked then put back out on pasture for the rest of the day and brought in to a dry lot at night. None are kepts in a stall unless the weather is really bad. It seems to help them not be so fresh and they are not so wound up when I go to ride or train with them.

Answer 4

i'd say maybe stop feeding him oat and chaff and just get plain chaff.
do you ride him out of the paddock?
i'd say maybe lunge him for a while before you ride him. maybe change the bit? is the bridle to tight?
if you wear him out before you ride him he shouldnt be as bad. if he enjoys himself then he will get used to being "good" going out on the roads ect.
i spose his age could have somehitng to do with it.

Answer 5

Spend more time running him before you ride him. Have him wear the bridle until he gets use to it. Spend time with him talking petting/brushing and when he does respond give treats. Such as a sugar cube, (just one) or a carrot

Answer 6

The only thing i can think of is sometimes anything 'oat' releted can work like red cordial does on children. Or at least this is what i have found with arabs some years ago. good luck !