Hi all...
Well I watched the video...Where's her helmut first off?
.... and I don't feel that the rider is too heavy, though I think she may be/feel too tall.
A rule of thumb for me is if I can draw a line from the childs head and it goes Over the horses head, then it's time to swap Up. The rider looks comfy and balanced, and the ovbious leg fault was already brought up and I agree with the other comments about the over all riding, and thoughts on a instructor. I am one that thinks that horses were never designed for us to sit on them (Natural horsemandship! Pahhha! What a marketing scam!) and therefore the bigger riders on smaller horses freak me out. I will go for the occasional walking trail on my school ponies, but never ask them to Really work with Me up there... It's not fair IMO.
I also agree that throwing your legs foward will do you Nothing in a bucking horse (or anthing on a horse for that matter
). Keeping their head up and addressing other issues will....
I would like to see the rider on a bigger boned horse though. She rides nicely, but will quickly outgrow what this mare can give her if she is looking into preformance of any kind, including cosistant trail riding at anything faster then a walk.
However, I really have a problem with the mares movement. In the first video you can see it the best..., her stifel is Out, big time. Go look at it, watch how her back leg toward the camera kinda slips toward the camera,versus comming though. Nothing about her movement suggest "coming though, frame, or correct " in my head, though the mare is trying her heart out, as well as the rider.
Many people never see this (and it drives me nuts), but it's there. Hence her creeping trot, hallow back, and bucking at the canter. I really agree with Rabbit on what she said, but wanted to add...I bet she bucks espically at corners, or turns, then stops it suddenly. The stifel "sticks" and thats the only thing she can do to get it unstuck. The saddle fit should be questioned as well. She may be reacting to the bad ground, but IMO, she's off. Nothing about the video suggests the mare is comfy to me, though it speaks volumes for how willing and sweet she is!
Her ears go back and her tail starts wringing when she hits the canter, and she looks "mincy" to me in the trot, like she is trying to balance keeping her back frozen (which is bad) to keep from using her stifel, (even worse) to please the rider, (What a good girl!) I bet her trot is Way bigger in the paddock, her shoulder suggests it, but she can't use them with the way she feels...
I would check for heat in her stifels after you ride her, just give that area a light squeeze, but be careful, if she Really hurts, she may kick out. I would only trot her for a while, on packed but not hard ground, and do lots of hills, and do No cantering for a while.
Also posting may be a good thing to learn for your daughter, and yes I and many others post just fine in a western saddle. It will give your mare a chance to use her back better, as she will not have to worry about keeping your daughter safe, as she ovbiously does, and balencing herself.
I realize that this will not be a popular opinion, but it's what I do for a living, and nine times out of ten, the vets back me up. A good part of my income is riding and fixing problem horses, who often have this very easy to correct problem driving them nuts. It amazes me how many people miss it... I would call your vet out and have his opinion on the mare's soundness, just me though.
Kudos to you and your daughter to looking out for the well being of your mare! She's a very nice mare, one I would value in any program with kids, and your daughter has all the promise of becoming a very good rider!
Edited to add a pic of one of my students who is way too tall on the pony she is sitting on, but due to the pony's long back and the childs slight build, there is no probelm in riding, and the pony can pack her around a jump course easily as long as she is balenced. However, this would not be an appropiate combo for any type of showing.
