# I need ways to stop him getting bored!



## HollyBubbles (Jun 22, 2009)

I will add more to this later(past my bedtime right now:lol, but I will start while I remember.

I have Mitchell, a 7yo thoroughbred gelding who is 16.1hh and has been off the track for not quite a year yet.. His last start was April 2010.
He has the brains of einstein but the attention span of a 2 year old anamour(very little), he also like to think he is cooler than he is... And by this I mean he thinks he can stand on two legs while having his hooves picked out, among other things which will be added later.

Anyway.... I have had him since december 8th and he has since, bucked me off once. But I know why, and have had a go at fixing it (dairy pasture, I shifted him off it)
I have been lunging him lately as he thinks that "lunge" means run me over on one side of your... Oval... and pull me across the paddock on the other side... But tonight he established that lunging means circle, without pulling me or running me over.

I just need idea's to stop him getting bored while being ridden, as I have noticed that when he gets bored he starts to act up, sometimes worse than others.

As said before, I will ad more info + maybe pictures tomorrow possibly, bed time now.


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## dudey (Dec 16, 2010)

HollyBubbles said:


> I will add more to this later(past my bedtime right now:lol, but I will start while I remember.
> 
> I have Mitchell, a 7yo thoroughbred gelding who is 16.1hh and has been off the track for not quite a year yet.. His last start was April 2010.
> He has the brains of einstein but the attention span of a 2 year old anamour(very little), he also like to think he is cooler than he is... And by this I mean he thinks he can stand on two legs while having his hooves picked out, among other things which will be added later.
> ...


 
lots of circles and bending in and out of cones ect, work on lateral work and keep him going stopping and starting keep varying what you are doing to keep him interested,


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

If you do any dressage, that's your best bet. With a horse like yours, you really need to keep his mind engaged. Dressage, more than any other discipline, seems to keep the horse focused on the rider. When he starts to show signs of short attention span, play the 8 strides game. Every 8 strides, do something different. Leg yield 8, straighten 8, shoulder-fore 8, straighten 8, change gait 8, etc. 

Also if you can very things more by jumping a few days a week, go out for a trail ride a few times a week. Anything so he's not doing the same thing on subsequent days.


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## NoHorse (Feb 18, 2011)

Also try and do the opposite of what he expects. If you mount on one side, try varying it. If you usually get on and immediately start walking forward, stay still for a second, then turn around and walk. Etc.


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## HollyBubbles (Jun 22, 2009)

Right, now I'm home from school I will add more.. 

I live on a big dairy farm which varies from completely flat land to massive hills and ponds, a few foresty areas and a river. I also live in a very quiet area so the roads are usually pretty quiet, although I haven't gotten to the stage of trusting him enough to ride him down the road yet, as our neighbours.... How do I put it..... Drive very wrecklesy(sp?), to put it nicely.

I'm in the process of trying to desensitise him to random things while i'm not on him (because when he spooks he does so very quickly, and with very big movements) so far he doesn't give a flying whoop about hula hoops etc, but god help me if I wave a butterfly net around him just yet... I figured I would get him used to the net first before I introduce the plastic bags that make scary noises haha.



> lots of circles and bending in and out of cones ect, work on lateral work and keep him going stopping and starting keep varying what you are doing to keep him interested,


I have been doing lots of circles, but I'm working on desentistising him to cones as I have the big "scary" bright orange road cones and every time he see's them we both fly across the paddock with not so much as a second thought... Atleast I know he can leg yield :L.
That's what I was doing the day he threw me off, I think he got fed up with not being able to anticipate me, so he threw in something (a few of them) that I wasn't anticipating at the time... He's now learning you just do not do that.



> If you do any dressage, that's your best bet. With a horse like yours, you really need to keep his mind engaged. Dressage, more than any other discipline, seems to keep the horse focused on the rider. When he starts to show signs of short attention span, play the 8 strides game. Every 8 strides, do something different. Leg yield 8, straighten 8, shoulder-fore 8, straighten 8, change gait 8, etc.
> 
> Also if you can very things more by jumping a few days a week, go out for a trail ride a few times a week. Anything so he's not doing the same thing on subsequent days.


Yep, I do mostly dressage with him because i'm trying to establish that while I weight less than he does, i'm still in control . That and the pain in the bum fact that he works more on the forehand than properly, I'm finding that part hard to get him out of though... Hillwork possibly?

I have jumped him once since I've gotten him, for two reasons... One being he is far bigger than bubbles, and has a huge (and I'm talking MASSIVE) canter stride so I'm trying to adjust myself to that after having a short backed, speedy and choppy horse.
The second reason is I have this massive paranoia that because I know he has bowed a tendon before that he could do it again.. If I plan to do heaps with him I put boots on him, but I'm guessing that I should probably work on this whole, 'use your hind end properly!' thing before jumping him to much seeing as the tendon was a front leg, even though it was little.



> Also try and do the opposite of what he expects. If you mount on one side, try varying it. If you usually get on and immediately start walking forward, stay still for a second, then turn around and walk. Etc.


I tend to mount on one side because i'm retarded and just can't manage to do it from the other side haha, but I might try that eventually. I tend to make him wait a bit before he goes anywhere because I "adjust my girth and stirrups" while i'm on him.... Actually I just sit there playing with them for a bit because I had the staying put problem with bubbles and I don't want him to get into the habit.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

HollyBubbles said:


> Yep, I do mostly dressage with him because i'm trying to establish that while I weight less than he does, i'm still in control . That and the pain in the bum fact that he works more on the forehand than properly, I'm finding that part hard to get him out of though... Hillwork possibly?


Yes, hill work definitely. Not even big hills, just find uneven areas with slight slope to it and trot his butt off. My TB muscled up in two short weeks (why can't humans do that?) and it definitely helped his dressage work. Use a downhill area as a guage. First time out, walk him downhill and pay attention to how much effort he makes to go downhill. If he rushes or walks side to side instead of straight down, he needs more muscle back there. You'll probably find after a few weeks, that he practically sits on his hind legs and comes straight down. Once the proper muscles are there, his movement will be night and day. Good luck!


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## HollyBubbles (Jun 22, 2009)

MyBoyPuck said:


> Yes, hill work definitely. Not even big hills, just find uneven areas with slight slope to it and trot his butt off. My TB muscled up in two short weeks (why can't humans do that?) and it definitely helped his dressage work. Use a downhill area as a guage. First time out, walk him downhill and pay attention to how much effort he makes to go downhill. If he rushes or walks side to side instead of straight down, he needs more muscle back there. You'll probably find after a few weeks, that he practically sits on his hind legs and comes straight down. Once the proper muscles are there, his movement will be night and day. Good luck!


Yay, I have a lot of different sized hills around here :lol:. The paddock he is in is a hill/slope... But smarty has gone and jumped the tape I put up to stop him getting fat, now he has the grass.. Must fix that before it gets dark today.
Ahh yes I agree, why can't humans do that too, it would make life so much easier :lol:


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## Skutterbotch (Dec 1, 2009)

That is the best horse to have! Means they have tons of potential when you know what to do with all that energy!! Dressage is very intense, requires the horse's attention %100! I second that suggestion


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## HollyBubbles (Jun 22, 2009)

Skutterbotch said:


> That is the best horse to have! Means they have tons of potential when you know what to do with all that energy!! Dressage is very intense, requires the horse's attention %100! I second that suggestion


That's a good point I never thought about it like that.
I have a few friends that can come out and teach me more dressage than I already know, I only really know the basics.... Watch out Mitchell:lol:
And I know he can leg yield, he did so right across the paddock when a rabbit jumped out beside him... Now to figure out how to get him doing stuff on purpose haha


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