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I have been riding this horse for 10 years. We don't have many groups  
to ride with, but she always wants to be in the front. I broke her  
and she can be ridden in a halter when not at a ride.
Tiffany
On Apr 8, 2009, at 4:52 PM, Rae Callaway wrote:

> Best thing I've found for teaching a "hot" horse to ride nicely in  
> a group
> is to ride in groups.  My girl, Scarlet, used to be totally crazy.   
> Walk
> wasn't even in her vocabulary and we would spend entire trail rides  
> jigging
> and cantering at a walk speed.  It was exhausting.  I started  
> riding her
> with trail groups from the stables down the road.  We would go with  
> slow
> groups, fast groups, in front, in back, in the middle, with the  
> greenie when
> the hot shoes took off, etc.  Basically, I rode her in every  
> position and
> every situation I could get her in.  It took about 2 years before she
> started to calm down and I wanted to give up many times.  Now,  
> she's the
> most dependable horse I have.  Even when she's excited, she will stay
> completely in control.
>   My philosophy - there are no short cuts for training.  Be patient  
> and work
> with your horse.  You'll get there.
>
> Rae
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp- 
> owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
> Behalf Of Tiffany D'Virgilio
> Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 4:06 PM
> To: Michelle Aquilino
> Cc: ridecamp
> Subject: Re: [RC] since we're on the subject... - following / leading
>
> Can;t help you there, but if anyone can give me a pointer on my mare,
> I'd love it. She is a doll on trail alone or with stable mate.
> Bombproof, my 9 year  old has been riding her for years with the two
> of us. When in a gruop, she has to be in front, NO MATTER WHAT or she
> will throw the biggest tizzy ever. I usually start as late as
> possible. Should I start her in the front and let her go? She even
> wants to race dogs, bikers, cars...Other than that, she is a
> dreamhorse, she'd babysit for you for free.
> Tiffany, yes I am talking about MOSH
> On Apr 8, 2009, at 1:38 PM, Michelle Aquilino wrote:
>
> > I will bring up a problem I've been having, and see what people's
> > thoughts are =)
> >
> > My horse is amazing to ride alone.  We have always ridden alone in
> > the past, and even though some days are spookier than others, she's
> > a solid ride, and I don't worry about making it back to the
> > trailer.  Recently, I have become more involved in local trail
> > groups, and have even found some people to ride with occasionally
> > who ALMOST go fast enough for me, ha ha.  Some days I would ride
> > partially with these people, and then go off on my own.  I have
> > noticed that when I do this, she becomes a true royal pain (well,
> > not as bad as some, but bad enough for me to get frustrated, ha ha)
> > once we're alone.  She is a lot spookier than normal, which I can
> > mostly deal with, but she has become incredibly stubborn about not
> > passing other horses when she's in this mode of thinking (last
> > weekend, she even refused to pass a couple and their dog, would
> > follow willingly when they started walking down the trail, but I
> > had to get off and lead her in order to physically pass them).  It
> > wasn't fear, just stubborness.  When we're alone, she moves out
> > just fine (in these modes), but she sticks like glue when we
> > finally reach (and I want to pass) other horses (or apparently even
> > people/dogs).  I am hoping that she will be fine at an endurance
> > ride, since she will know that other horses are in front of her
> > (whereas in the conditioning ride situations, she's passing
> > everyone, and doesn't know if others are ahead), but I am slightly
> > concerned about getting "stuck" behind a horse/group, because she
> > gets into this mode in the middle of an endurance ride =P
> >
> > The other side of this problem, is that when she gets in this mode,
> > she tries to manipulate her way into following, and out of the
> > leading position.  She is a dominant horse, generally relatively
> > independent of other horses on the trail, will hold back if I ask
> > her to, and willingly drinks from a stream even if horses are
> > leaving and disappearing from the trail (if she's thirsty, she
> > drinks), so the behavior has me somewhat stumped.  The only thing I
> > can figure is that, yeah, it's easier for her to follow (and be
> > with other horses), and her being an incredibly intelligent mare, I
> > have accidentally shown her that she can do these things to get out
> > of the lead, and she's simply doing what she "knows" works.  I know
> > that I probably need to do some exercises with someone to teach her
> > that this is NOT ok, but am not sure how to go about it, since she
> > won't move, unless I get off and lead her past the other horses
> > (and knowing that this won't work at an endurance ride, ha ha,
> > since no one will be stopped as I WALK past them, ha ha).  I just
> > really want to nip this in the bud before it gets REALLY bad
> > (worse?  ha ha).
> >
> > Also to note, she passes FINE before she gets into this
> > "group"/"following" mentality (I'm baffled by all of it, ha ha,
> > truly).
> >
> > --
> > "Don't breed or buy while shelter animals die"
>
>
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