# Pinning ears while riding



## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Just work her through that. My mare does it sometime (when she's in heat or just in bad mood), but I just ignore and put more leg on. Does she do it all ride long or just in the beginning? If just in beginning I wonder if she's cold-backed and need more time/different exercises to relax and warm up that back.


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## Equilove (Feb 21, 2011)

kitten_Val said:


> Just work her through that. My mare does it sometime (when she's in heat or just in bad mood), but I just ignore and put more leg on. Does she do it all ride long or just in the beginning? If just in beginning I wonder if she's cold-backed and need more time/different exercises to relax and warm up that back.


The whole time. It's only at faster gaits. You know, sometimes it's worse than other times. She may very well be in heat. I never thought of it because she doesn't show (in any other way) when she's in! No squirting or anything. So maybe she's just "sensitive" :lol: Thanks!


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Equilove said:


> The whole time.* It's only at faster gaits.* You know, sometimes it's worse than other times. She may very well be in heat. I never thought of it because she doesn't show (in any other way) when she's in! No squirting or anything. So maybe she's just "sensitive" :lol: Thanks!


I wonder if she's not very balanced (especially with the rider on) so somewhat "scared" to go to faster gates. Could you may be post some videos and/or pics?


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Equilove,

As for the backing, I don't lean way back and push harder into the back. Reason being if you want the horse to round up and step back correctly, you must give him a place to round into. I was taught to rock my pelvis a bit FORWARD ( to lift my seatbones off a bit ) and kind of think of sucking the horse up into the space under my seat, leaning the upper body back a little ,but visualizing MYSELF doint the backing. It's kind of like if you want a horse to go foward, you dont lean too far forward, you kind of sit back ans scoop the horse in front of your leg and push it to go forward. The oppostie for backing. YOu lean forward a wee bit and open your seat (buttocks area) and scoop the horse in behind you , and lift your own chest and think "backward" yourself.


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## Equilove (Feb 21, 2011)

kitten_Val said:


> I wonder if she's not very balanced (especially with the rider on) so somewhat "scared" to go to faster gates. Could you may be post some videos and/or pics?


That could be true, however it doesn't explain why she does it in the roundpen with no saddle OR rider, not even a lunge line, when I'm just asking her to trot? I don't canter her in a tiny round pen.

I don't really have anyone to take photos or videos, but I will try my best to get some asap! I think it would really help with explaining what I'm talking about.



tinyliny said:


> Equilove,
> 
> As for the backing, I don't lean way back and push harder into the back. Reason being if you want the horse to round up and step back correctly, you must give him a place to round into. I was taught to rock my pelvis a bit FORWARD ( to lift my seatbones off a bit ) and kind of think of sucking the horse up into the space under my seat, leaning the upper body back a little ,but visualizing MYSELF doint the backing. It's kind of like if you want a horse to go foward, you dont lean too far forward, you kind of sit back ans scoop the horse in front of your leg and push it to go forward. The oppostie for backing. YOu lean forward a wee bit and open your seat (buttocks area) and scoop the horse in behind you , and lift your own chest and think "backward" yourself.


I don't sit deep like that when I ask her to back - it's only when I'm stopping her (I want her to feel my seat change and anticipate the stop). BUT - what you mentioned could also apply to stopping, right? :think: I will try it tomorrow. Good advice! And it makes a lot of sense.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Another thought that came to me is that maybe if you work her in the round pen and you ask her to give you a canter, watch her and ask yourself if she is giving you an honest canter or just barely toeing the line? I mean, try asking for a real cuttin' loose canter. So much that she leaps out with real committment and there is no holding back. When she does , then don't chase her a second more. Let her coast. YOu want a real honest, holding nothing back cnater and you might have to push her past the pinned ears and attitude. But once she busts loose, that's all you asked for , so let her coast down to whatever speed she wants, and after a bit aks, again.


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## BoxT (Jul 17, 2011)

From the situations you described my opinion is the horse needs a more assertive rider. Not an angry one, just someone who says ... this is what I want and I want it now. 

Give the horse a que and then make sure the movement is done. If you ask more than once you are nagging the horse which annoys the animal.


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## munschk (Mar 11, 2008)

My mare is exactly the same. The pinned ears, attitude, swinging head, resistance to stopping and backing up, lunge work you name it. They could be twins!

She always does what I ask when I ask (perhaps slightly more resistance when asking to slow down/stop), but the attitude is there. I've watched her in the paddock and she gives the same attitude to the mares higher up than her (she moves away but she makes it clear that she's not happy to).

I did find that teaching her cruise control helped a lot. We spent quite a while on it to make sure she got it but once she had, she's been a bit happier with her ears forward more than pinned. I think it helped because I didn't have to keep asking her to slow down and maintain a calm steady beat. (Perhaps eliminating the nagging?)

But she still does it sometimes, especially when I make her work in the lunge arena. I'm beginning to think its just her personality. So I just keep the same ask-tell-demand strategy and ignore her when she pulls her face (but make sure she does what I ask).
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DustyDiamond (Mar 18, 2010)

This might sound weird but I do it and it works!

When I ride my moms horse anytime you ask him for more speed and he doesn't want to and trys to hump up to buck or pins his ears back, I just talk to him and my mom does the same thing and we just talk him out of it in a stern voice and it works! Don't know if somebody trained him to respond to that or if he just does but it's worth a shot.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

This can be a "mare" thing but I have more questions. Does she do this in the round pen with no tack on? If the answer is no then you have an equipment issue (or her accepting the cinch or girth issue).

If she is doing it w/o tack and no rider, you might want to check her back AND have her checked rectally for cystic ovaries. 

If all checks out physically and it is the same with or without tack, then you know it is a 'tude issue (or could be). In the round pen or lunging, get out the whip. When you want her to pick up the pace, don't ASK nicely, DEMAND it and back it up with the lunge whip. IOW's get her mind off of resisting and on MOVING FORWARD. A horse cannot snake and all the rest of this nonsencse if she is committed to moving forward. If she snakes her head and pins her ears, use the whip a second time and do not hesitate to make her think about it (do not beat the horse, but a crack with it really near her flank can be VERY effective!). If she throws her head up and looks worried and hollows her back but jumps forward, GREAT! Back off a bit and let her go. She needs to understand a request to go forward measn go forward and there is no fooling around. Be consistant until yu can ask her to change gaits and she jumps forward without the drama of snaking heads and pinning ears. You can get her back to working collected as she advances. 

Same thing on her back. Use what ever means necessary to get her thinking about forward and not about resisting and be prepared for some bad behavior. 

As to backing.. this is really an advanced maneuver. What you need is to first be able to get the horse between your lags and seat and your hands. You need to actually feel you have the ability to drive the horse into your hands tand then beable to LIFT her front end with a half halt. When you can get this, teach her to move away from your leg behind the girth (turn on the forehand). I actually do this at a hitching rail.. where the horse's chest is against the rail and the horse cannot go forward. Use a left rein lightly so you can see her left eye a bit (squeeze and release) and left leg behind the girth to move her butt over to the right.. right leg on the girth to steady her front. Get her responding and doing the TOF in both directions. Next get her off the hitching rail and do this. 

When you have these two things going for you, your start to teach the rein back. 

I push the horse forward into my hands and resist.. not allowing the horse to go forward. You will feel the horse between your hands and your legs.. and the horse is being pushed forward into your hands and cannot go forward because you are resisting.. so the horse has one place to go.. BACK. If the horse starts to rear (some do), get off and teach it using long lines.

That being said, all the horses I started were driven all over creation on long lines for weeks before I ever rode them. In that process I did train a rein back so they knew they COULD back up. Some horses do not think they can back up so they will try to rear a little.. even on long lines.. just go back to a halter and lead and show them they CAN back up. Some horses.. the first time they find they can back up.. it is like an epiphany.. they start to blink and you can see the old light buld came on. It is pretty amusing.

I forgot to say.. you can keep her straight when she backs using your legs because she has learned the turn on the forehand maneuver. Her job is to back up and yours is to steer.. just like a car. LOL


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## Equilove (Feb 21, 2011)

BoxT said:


> From the situations you described my opinion is the horse needs a more assertive rider. Not an angry one, just someone who says ... this is what I want and I want it now.
> 
> Give the horse a que and then make sure the movement is done. If you ask more than once you are nagging the horse which annoys the animal.


I am assertive, as assertive as someone can be in a situation like this. I never let her fall out of a cue - in other words, I always follow through with what I ask of her. I want her to go into the canter and she KNOWS it, but she will just trot faster with her ears back. I keep my heels on, dig in deeper, and as soon as she picks up the canter my heels come off and I leave her alone, AND her ears go back up. She just hates being asked to do anything.



tinyliny said:


> Another thought that came to me is that maybe if you work her in the round pen and you ask her to give you a canter, watch her and ask yourself if she is giving you an honest canter or just barely toeing the line? I mean, try asking for a real cuttin' loose canter. So much that she leaps out with real committment and there is no holding back. When she does , then don't chase her a second more. Let her coast. YOu want a real honest, holding nothing back cnater and you might have to push her past the pinned ears and attitude. But once she busts loose, that's all you asked for , so let her coast down to whatever speed she wants, and after a bit aks, again.


When I ask her to move off in the roundpen (or even on a line), I always use my voice, then the whip (shake it at her), then a LOT of whip (popping, getting closer to her). The more pressure I put on, the "angrier" she gets. Head shaking/ear pinning angry. As soon as she's "coasting", she gets in a "better mood".

I asked my boyfriend to take photos and videos today, but of course he hates horses and being outside (especially if there's a chance he might sweat) so he half-assed and I didn't get any decent footage. Sure it's there, but it's way too blurry to see what she's doing.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

What I am thinking is that you want to give one CLEAR and NON NEGOTIAABLAE cue (like the whip cracking at her flank) that puts her IMMEDIATELY into the canter. No running the trot into it. No time to pin ears etc. 

IOW's no request with a follow thru... but a DO IT NOW cue. 

At this point.. running the trot into the canter or making a easy request she has time to say, "I don't want to." Eliminate that time. 

Right now you are actually training her to resist. You ask, she says NO, you ask some more, she says NO and then you REALLY ask and she does it. 

Eliminate the steps and give her no room for discussion. It is not a discussion. It is "Canter *NOW*."

And when on her back, the next time, pop her right next to yor outside leg with the crop at the same time you make your first cue to canter. It is not a request. It will probably surprise her but it also helps her to understand what you want is not up for a vote.


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## morabhobbyhorse (Apr 17, 2011)

Hi Equilove, my mare does the same thing. My trainer taught me that when she snakes her head, even if she's doing what I wanted, make her go faster. Of course she snakes more, and I make her go faster, then do a quick stop on the lunge and make her change directions. Of course for the first 15 minutes or so, she keeps it up. When I first start with her, I do hips over, back, cross front legs, and then flex her head around in the direction I am, and then do it all over on the other side. Then I send her out on the line. As far as I'm concerned she can walk if she wants to UNTIL she snakes her head and then we're off. You know my trainer blamed it on her being a mare too, but I recently read an article at myhorse.com where the guy writing it said that was bull. This country was built by horses, and mares and gelding, etc. worked side by side and they didn't have these 'marish' days. He said if a mare spooked in a trail it was because she was a mare, but if a gelding spooked it was because something really spooky happened and he couldn't understand where this thinking had started or come from. I thought about that article a lot, and I think it's because we don't give our horses 'jobs.' Now I haven't been able to ride in about 6 months. I get a ride to the barn twice a week, and VT had a horrible spring, it rained forever like other places before moving right into unbearable heat. I had a new saddle (for us) that I bought for $50.00 from the BO that was way too nice to sell for that but she insisted she had planned to put it on craigslist for that. I brought it home to clean and oil in between visits to the barn, and I made three visits after that before I could even try it on my mare. I hadn't put the stirrups back on and on the third visit I did that and had planned to try it on, but just getting them back on had me sweating in the shaded barn. The next visit was cooler and I put it on her and took her in her rope halter, and my old bridle because I want to work on her reining before I use the bosal I have, and when we got down there the herd came racing down to the outside of the arena, and she took off at a dead run, but at the end of the lunge turned it into a circle and continued to canter, was on the right lead, and not a snaking head in sight. I don't know if the herd distracted her or if being at a new barn with me being her only constant made her lose the attitude for then. But she did everything I asked. 
I can honestly say that in the 3 years I've had her, it was the only time  Where she was before the same BO was there working with us both and saw her more often than I did. I didn't mean to run on I'm just wishing you a lot of luck with the speeding your mare up because doing it with mine didn't do a thing. 
The reason I'm wanting to work on her reining is because I'm close to a gymkhana and want to start taking her and give her some WORK to do. Cheryl


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## ilovemyhorsey (Mar 19, 2012)

hi 
i have just read this and wondering if your horse still does it?
my horse used to do this when i asked her to canter she would stick her head down and shake it and sometimes put her ears back but would never buck. she did this because she was in pain. it was her way of telling me it hurts without pushing the line. maybe your horse is in pain? i hope it is already better if not i hope it does improve soon


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## cowboy bowhunter (Mar 15, 2012)

My main horse use to ride with her ears back when i bought her that was just her. I worked with her on it just not spuring hard going into the trot and lope and she got better she will pin her ears going into trot and then be normal now. So im just trying to say be nice to her ask her to do into trot by squeezing her side not spuring right away.


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