i need ur advice !For my almost 5 yr old Arab! Yesterday i went for a trail ride with a friend. walk trot only ride. well the wild group came galloping up from a hill behind us not realizing we were there. spirit and the other horse just got rattled. so the group stopped and joined us. now spirit has been on some galloping rides and he behaves well as long as the group in a whole seems controlled. even then i can easily stop him. however yesterday we come to a hill they would sometimes run up so the other horses start popping up and prancing. the mistake of the owners is that sometimes when the horses act up they get what they want and run. owners say no we r walking. spirit is a monkey see monkey do horse. as soon as he sees them doing it he thinks OK we must be taking off and i dont wanna be left out. i give a half halt and say no walk. he put his ears slightly back and pops up too. as if to say let me go mom or else. i circle him twice and am firm. that usually does the trick. he was fine then but i dont like him popping and dont want him to make a habbit of it. he has done it in all 3 times but i want to nip it NOW. he has never got his way when doing it and circling works. i want any other ideas u may have. i try not to ride with the horses that act up. as spirit feeds on their energy and copies them. not nearly as bad though. he still one of the best behaved, but he is young and immpressionable. sniff sniff.... he hanging out with the bad crowd. he wants to be one of the cool kids. his temper fit last a few seconds and hes ok. i was thinking of trying to take him out byhimself more and get him thinking on me more. what else should i do? before the wild crowd joined us i was holding him back and stopped him... patted him and said good boy, he stood nice, then we casually trotted up to the end of the line. he could've cared less about the other horse. he wasn't in a hurry. we went in front of the line. he is fine with that . its only when the other people have a hard time with their horses trying to take off, he get dancy. am i doing the right thing by circling him till he behaves? PS hes not acting like those other monster horses yet and i wanna keep it that way. he also went thru a period where he tested me.we did get thru that. i think he might be testing me again. i can tell the popping is his way of trying to intimidate me. iam supposed to say ohh ur scary i better let u go. He is a smart little cookie and he learns quick. he is the kind if u give an inch he might just see if he can take a mile. that why i wanna nip this NOW. I know him, the quicker he realizes No means NO he will be fine. iam also doing some more ground work in the ring to establish that iam the boss. i dont know what else to do?

[ 05-09-2007, 08:30 AM: Message edited by: tarafreespirit ]

anyone with advice?

Your horse sounds like mine It took me a long time to break her of what I call crow hopping especially when she saw other horses running up hills and she couldn't do it. What I did was take her out by myself. In some areas where she knew I liked to run up would make her trot up or walk, it took a lot of time and patience-- which in some cases I don't have.
As far as riding with the "bad" crowd, while teaching him to behave find someone who has a calmer horse and ride with them for a while and then when you think he is doing better--test him. Because its sounds like he is testing you.
Just remember, horses don't like being left behind and it doesn't matter how old they are, they still act as if they were 2 years old and try to push our buttons like a 2 year old child.

i dont agree with circleing. if it works for you tho, then you should do it, because it is getting his attension on you. the only reason i do not like circleing is because they may anticapate you asking them and you can go one way and the horse can go the other. as for rideing with the wrong crowd...i am probbaly the one galloping up the hill just cause i can. lol! i agree with the one above me, go out with calmer horses and then test him with the "bad" ones.

thanks for ur help ! that day i was with a calmer horse. it just the galloping group caught up with us and joined us. he was fine with the calm horse... i love to gallop ! so does he but it needs to be controlled. he is fine galloping with a large group unless some of the horses get way out of control. if they are out of control and hot so is he( well tries to be). like the other horses could take off at a gallop at a moments notice and bang u better hang on or stop him. when the group is controlled and says ok we r gonna gallop now. and then stop and we all walk for a bit the ride goes fine. if its a wild comicazie ride all the horses are wild and just want to try to take off. they get fired up and then its kayos. people fall off. example of rides i dont want him on but he went on this perticular one. it was suposed to be a walk trot ride cause it was icy out and horses were feeling a little spiffy . it was winter. 2 of the lead riders had bitless bridles on thier horses ( they cant stop their horse in a tom thumb with a curb) so they had nnnnooooo control whatsoever. horses took off right away. they couldnt stop. galloping on ice. one horse fell and almost landed on rider. i stopped my horse in a full gallop right away and made him stand... i only use a snaffle... he did GOOD BOY! he got carrots for that. so its not the galloping its control. i dont want him getting those bad habbits. i love to gallop and will do out with him myself or with a controled group. but that group can become uncontrolable. if no other horses act up or runaway on the owners he is fine.

and iam not tying to be mean about saying the other horses are bad. i like them when they r in the barn. its just riding with them. they have no manners and the riders seem to be unable to control them. also the one horse i love him but hes really nasty on rides... u can be 2 feet away from him at a gallop and he can gallop sideways and kick out at ur horse and nail u. a girl got nailed in the leg by him cause he galloped sideways and nailed her in the leg on her horse. the owner cant stop him. also if he want to run and she wont let him he reears bucks and spins and takes off like a bat out of hell. i just want my guy to remain calm when thoses things happen. heck ill gallop but with control.

Now that you have added more to your question, I understand now. Its not your horse,its theirs. I really hate that. it furirates me when people don't control their horses--its called discipline. People don't want to becuase they don't want to hurt them, Oh please, we're talking about a 1000 pound animal and you think giving them a kick or smack is going to hurt them...PLEASE....
On another note its their fault for running on ice in the first place. Obviously they aren't too bright to think ahead because it puts you and your horses safety at risk for their stupidity and ignorance

thanks for understanding skyfire. iam frustrated. i would like to be able to have my horse be calm and more attentive when iam around them and they are misbehaving. so their horses can prance and act up and spirit can be calmer and not do what they do.

If you teach your horse to give you its head (commony known today as a 'one rein stop', you can ALWAYS diffuse a situatin like that without pulling on both reins.

When you pull on both reins at once on an aggitated horse, you are inviting all but the best broke horse to start rearing (and he wouldn't be aggitated). You are also giving that horse the leverage to argue, fight and win.

When you take his head away from him with one rein, (this only works after a horse has been thoroughly taught to do it when there is NO 'situation' at hand), you immobilize him with the most effective restraint and trainig tool that is available to a rider.

Teaching a horse o give you its head.

If you do some 'leapfrog' riding, you will go a long way to schooling this horse to accept horses approaching and passing and going out of sight.

Just have one or two friends that also want to school their horse(s). Take turns riding ahead and out of sight while one at a time stays behind to school their horse to accept that (by taking his head away if needed). When the horse is quiet and walking on a loose rein, he can be put into a jog or lope until he passes the first horse and is riden out of sight. This is repeted until both of the horses are OK with being left and are OK with going on ahead without a friend. We do this with every horse we train before we call it a trained trail horse.

First what I would do is for a while only ride with others that will respect each other's abilities. Unless you ask first to trot or canter, you shouldn't do it on a trail ride...it's just rude. Find someone who has a seasoned horse that will help teach yours. Then play my favorite trail game...leap frog! Your horse trots off about 20' ahead of the other horse, then you bring him back to a walk, the horse from behind picks up a trot and passes your horse (your horse keeps walking). Now the key here is for the horse being trained is to never get upset about the horse leaving him, so whether the lead horse can go only 5' to begin with or 20' it depends on the horse behind. Try to increase the amount of space in between the horses until they don't care about the horse passing them. This will help tremendously while out riding trails. I also don't agree with circling, if my horse is acting up, I will school him-I get a strong contact on the bit and either do haunches in, shoulder in, figure 8's (if enough room), but make the horse think about you! Do trot walk transitions, every 2-3 steps if you're on the straight. But push him into the bit to get control over him. Arabs are smart! and wonderful, and loyal animals...my mare was great! Have fun with him.

thanks for all your wonderful help ! i will try your sugestions. i will try the one rein stop. i will also practice leap frog more! thanks guys
im sure he will catch on. I really do love my guy to peices and he does mostly take care of me on the rides. iam excited to try these things now!

i need ur advice !For my almost 5 yr old Arab! Yesterday i went for a trail ride with a friend. walk trot only ride. well the wild group came galloping up from a hill behind us not realizing we were there. spirit and the other horse just got rattled. so the group stopped and joined us. now spirit has been on some galloping rides and he behaves well as long as the group in a whole seems controlled. even then i can easily stop him. however yesterday we come to a hill they would sometimes run up so the other horses start popping up and prancing. the mistake of the owners is that sometimes when the horses act up they get what they want and run. owners say no we r walking. spirit is a monkey see monkey do horse. as soon as he sees them doing it he thinks OK we must be taking off and i dont wanna be left out. i give a half halt and say no walk. he put his ears slightly back and pops up too. as if to say let me go mom or else. i circle him twice and am firm. that usually does the trick. he was fine then but i dont like him popping and dont want him to make a habbit of it. he has done it in all 3 times but i want to nip it NOW. he has never got his way when doing it and circling works. i want any other ideas u may have. i try not to ride with the horses that act up. as spirit feeds on their energy and copies them. not nearly as bad though. he still one of the best behaved, but he is young and immpressionable. sniff sniff.... he hanging out with the bad crowd. he wants to be one of the cool kids. his temper fit last a few seconds and hes ok. i was thinking of trying to take him out byhimself more and get him thinking on me more. what else should i do? before the wild crowd joined us i was holding him back and stopped him... patted him and said good boy, he stood nice, then we casually trotted up to the end of the line. he could've cared less about the other horse. he wasn't in a hurry. we went in front of the line. he is fine with that . its only when the other people have a hard time with their horses trying to take off, he get dancy. am i doing the right thing by circling him till he behaves? PS hes not acting like those other monster horses yet and i wanna keep it that way. he also went thru a period where he tested me.we did get thru that. i think he might be testing me again. i can tell the popping is his way of trying to intimidate me. iam supposed to say ohh ur scary i better let u go. He is a smart little cookie and he learns quick. he is the kind if u give an inch he might just see if he can take a mile. that why i wanna nip this NOW. I know him, the quicker he realizes No means NO he will be fine. iam also doing some more ground work in the ring to establish that iam the boss. i dont know what else to do?

[ 05-09-2007, 08:30 AM: Message edited by: tarafreespirit ]

anyone with advice?

Your horse sounds like mine It took me a long time to break her of what I call crow hopping especially when she saw other horses running up hills and she couldn't do it. What I did was take her out by myself. In some areas where she knew I liked to run up would make her trot up or walk, it took a lot of time and patience-- which in some cases I don't have.
As far as riding with the "bad" crowd, while teaching him to behave find someone who has a calmer horse and ride with them for a while and then when you think he is doing better--test him. Because its sounds like he is testing you.
Just remember, horses don't like being left behind and it doesn't matter how old they are, they still act as if they were 2 years old and try to push our buttons like a 2 year old child.

i dont agree with circleing. if it works for you tho, then you should do it, because it is getting his attension on you. the only reason i do not like circleing is because they may anticapate you asking them and you can go one way and the horse can go the other. as for rideing with the wrong crowd...i am probbaly the one galloping up the hill just cause i can. lol! i agree with the one above me, go out with calmer horses and then test him with the "bad" ones.

thanks for ur help ! that day i was with a calmer horse. it just the galloping group caught up with us and joined us. he was fine with the calm horse... i love to gallop ! so does he but it needs to be controlled. he is fine galloping with a large group unless some of the horses get way out of control. if they are out of control and hot so is he( well tries to be). like the other horses could take off at a gallop at a moments notice and bang u better hang on or stop him. when the group is controlled and says ok we r gonna gallop now. and then stop and we all walk for a bit the ride goes fine. if its a wild comicazie ride all the horses are wild and just want to try to take off. they get fired up and then its kayos. people fall off. example of rides i dont want him on but he went on this perticular one. it was suposed to be a walk trot ride cause it was icy out and horses were feeling a little spiffy . it was winter. 2 of the lead riders had bitless bridles on thier horses ( they cant stop their horse in a tom thumb with a curb) so they had nnnnooooo control whatsoever. horses took off right away. they couldnt stop. galloping on ice. one horse fell and almost landed on rider. i stopped my horse in a full gallop right away and made him stand... i only use a snaffle... he did GOOD BOY! he got carrots for that. so its not the galloping its control. i dont want him getting those bad habbits. i love to gallop and will do out with him myself or with a controled group. but that group can become uncontrolable. if no other horses act up or runaway on the owners he is fine.

and iam not tying to be mean about saying the other horses are bad. i like them when they r in the barn. its just riding with them. they have no manners and the riders seem to be unable to control them. also the one horse i love him but hes really nasty on rides... u can be 2 feet away from him at a gallop and he can gallop sideways and kick out at ur horse and nail u. a girl got nailed in the leg by him cause he galloped sideways and nailed her in the leg on her horse. the owner cant stop him. also if he want to run and she wont let him he reears bucks and spins and takes off like a bat out of hell. i just want my guy to remain calm when thoses things happen. heck ill gallop but with control.

Now that you have added more to your question, I understand now. Its not your horse,its theirs. I really hate that. it furirates me when people don't control their horses--its called discipline. People don't want to becuase they don't want to hurt them, Oh please, we're talking about a 1000 pound animal and you think giving them a kick or smack is going to hurt them...PLEASE....
On another note its their fault for running on ice in the first place. Obviously they aren't too bright to think ahead because it puts you and your horses safety at risk for their stupidity and ignorance

thanks for understanding skyfire. iam frustrated. i would like to be able to have my horse be calm and more attentive when iam around them and they are misbehaving. so their horses can prance and act up and spirit can be calmer and not do what they do.

If you teach your horse to give you its head (commony known today as a 'one rein stop', you can ALWAYS diffuse a situatin like that without pulling on both reins.

When you pull on both reins at once on an aggitated horse, you are inviting all but the best broke horse to start rearing (and he wouldn't be aggitated). You are also giving that horse the leverage to argue, fight and win.

When you take his head away from him with one rein, (this only works after a horse has been thoroughly taught to do it when there is NO 'situation' at hand), you immobilize him with the most effective restraint and trainig tool that is available to a rider.

Teaching a horse o give you its head.

If you do some 'leapfrog' riding, you will go a long way to schooling this horse to accept horses approaching and passing and going out of sight.

Just have one or two friends that also want to school their horse(s). Take turns riding ahead and out of sight while one at a time stays behind to school their horse to accept that (by taking his head away if needed). When the horse is quiet and walking on a loose rein, he can be put into a jog or lope until he passes the first horse and is riden out of sight. This is repeted until both of the horses are OK with being left and are OK with going on ahead without a friend. We do this with every horse we train before we call it a trained trail horse.

First what I would do is for a while only ride with others that will respect each other's abilities. Unless you ask first to trot or canter, you shouldn't do it on a trail ride...it's just rude. Find someone who has a seasoned horse that will help teach yours. Then play my favorite trail game...leap frog! Your horse trots off about 20' ahead of the other horse, then you bring him back to a walk, the horse from behind picks up a trot and passes your horse (your horse keeps walking). Now the key here is for the horse being trained is to never get upset about the horse leaving him, so whether the lead horse can go only 5' to begin with or 20' it depends on the horse behind. Try to increase the amount of space in between the horses until they don't care about the horse passing them. This will help tremendously while out riding trails. I also don't agree with circling, if my horse is acting up, I will school him-I get a strong contact on the bit and either do haunches in, shoulder in, figure 8's (if enough room), but make the horse think about you! Do trot walk transitions, every 2-3 steps if you're on the straight. But push him into the bit to get control over him. Arabs are smart! and wonderful, and loyal animals...my mare was great! Have fun with him.

thanks for all your wonderful help ! i will try your sugestions. i will try the one rein stop. i will also practice leap frog more! thanks guys
im sure he will catch on. I really do love my guy to peices and he does mostly take care of me on the rides. iam excited to try these things now!