Real life story - HHH Brain or Pain January 2013

Real life story - HHH Brain or Pain January 2013

Hi Sue

I always enjoy reading your newsletters and thought I would let you know that I have recently decided to try my quirky pony without the flash noseband he has worn for years after a very reputable instructor recommended it. One of the reasons for this change was that he often did things to make it hard for me to do up the drop part (putting his head down, barging me, shaking his head etc). I also decided to give it a try as I am always looking at everything to try to improve things with him. Well, I have found removal of the drop part has helped him relax his jaw and he goes better and more consistently. He is now in a Neueschule Verbindend snaffle and cavesson noseband and this seems to suit him really well. I think the original reason for needing the flash noseband was because he was trying to evade a bit that didn’t suit him. I tried many snaffle variations and gradually ended up at the Verbindend after finding that a lozenge snaffle was better for him than a French link!

I have been riding this pony 10 years and have had the most amazing journey of discovery along the way as to how I can improve him. He was virtually unrideable when I started. He fractured a stifle as a 6 year  old and never really got back into work after that, until I met him! He’d had no physio of any sort either, bless him. He is also very croup-high and I suspect had been passed along from home to home due to his quirky nature (definitely not a kids pony!). We have been through badly fitting saddles (3 bad saddlers in a row who let us down) and many instructors who said he wasn’t worth bothering with, but now I have the most wonderful pony to ride and I feel I have learned far more from him than I could ever learn from an “undamaged” pony! It’s been an amazing journey and one day I may write it all down for others to gain from too.

There have been so many discoveries along the way that it would take a book to capture them all. I have mixed a bit of everything in to solve the puzzle and build the relationship (natural horsemanship, advice from instructors, things from magazines and lately working on my own body balance and core strength with pilates (the normal sort of class, not specifically equestrian focused)) and it just keeps getting better and better! I came so close to giving up so many times and am so glad I didn’t. He actually belongs to friends but they have said that he is really mine, which is so kind. They loved him as a character, but were at a loss as to what to do with him and were trying to sell him when I came along.

It is interesting to know that he used to trip so badly, even on a good surface, that that was the main thing about him that knocked my confidence. He’d go right down on his knees. He rarely trips at all now. He’s coup-high so naturally on the forehand and that was a big part of the problem. A good instructor helped me build up his back muscles, which were very weak. The better fitting saddle has helped to put my weight in a better place, and allowed his shoulder muscles to develop better too. I used to look down (subconsciously) because I was looking to see what he may trip over, and this was putting more weight on the forehand, so when the tripping reduced I felt more confident to sit back and look ahead and out (the pilates helped with that too). I never fell off him, but I went down with him over the years 3 times when he basically fell on the forehand at speed and kind of cart-wheeled (hence loss of confidence)! Due to this I used to avoid any rough or heavy ground – this in turn meant he couldn’t work on any such ground because of lack of practice! Now I embrace any challenging underfoot conditions to help build our partnership and his co-ordination! Of course, I do so with knee boots on him if the ground is hard or surfaced.

Nice to share this with someone who understands.