Question.

[American]

Today I was riding my horse. I haven't ridden her in like a month and half, maybe even more due to the weather and lack of proper riding areas. I started riding her outside of the arena[the 'arena' as actually the pasture] before I went in and started working her. She was absolutely perfect for me outside the ring, obeying every cue. But when I get in their, she wants to take off galloping with me.

I'm coming to a few conclusions of why she's doing this:
1. She knows it's the pasture. [In the old barn I used to ride at they had separate arenas to ride in from the pasture, but here it isn't actually a barn, just a friends house.] And by it being the pasture, she thinks its time to run around and play. But I've been riding in their since day one, and she always does this to me. She's not stupid either, she knows when it's time to work and when it's time to play.

2. There's a front pasture and a back pasture. I ride her in the back pasture, but both of them are connected, but separated by some fencing. The other horses there[which are my friend's horses] have a pasture that is connected to hers[there is one wall that is both their pasture and hers]. It goes all along the side, and they hang out up by the barn and shelter. She always acts up in the back pasture, and never in the front pasture, and I'm thinking this might be because she wants to be closer to the other horses. As I mentioned earlier that I was working her outside the arena first, she was practically right next to them. Only the fence was separating them, so this is part of why I of this.

3. She's just being stubborn after not being worked for so long. This might not even be the problem becuase she always did this to me even before the long break. But I guess it still might be a possibility since its worse this time.

Well, any suggestions on correcting this behavior? Sorry if this is confusing, sorta hard to explain the set-up.

[Queso]

What breed is she and how old? What style do you ride? How long have you been riding and how long have you owned her? Is it the hot and hyper type of running, the 'eek the fence post wants to eat me' type or just running for the sake of being naughty type of running? How did you act when it happened? How long did it take you to get her back?

Wow, that was a lot of questions lol!
For what you've told us so far, I would reccomend putting her to work on balanced 10-15 meter circles when she tries to take off. I would only do this if the footing is good though, you don't want any slips. You can let her go as fast as she wants, she just has to do it on the little circle. Assuming you ride english, make her hold herself in a nice working frame as well. Make sue you don't let her fall in or out, make her ballance. Then she will realise that when she runs like an idiot its going to be hard work. The important thing is that you don't try and slow her down, just very gradually decrease the circle so othat the longer she decides to run the more difficult it gets to keep that speed. It usually doesn't take them long to figure it out and slow down to the pace you want.

Once she comes back, just continue on like nothing ever happened. You don't want her to learn that she gets rest/pats when she's naughty. My mare used to spook and buck when I got her because her old owner would just stop when ever she acted up. She had learned the buck/spook= stop working. I just ignored it and made her keep working and within a few months it virtually stopped. I don't know if this is why your mare is doing it, but as long as you dont give her a break or pats to try and calm her down, you'll be sure not to start the cycle.

3-5 seconds after she's come back and listening again, then she can get a little pat and a 'good girl' but I would wait at least 10 second before you decide to give her a break.

I've found this little drill works really well with a lot of the off the track TBs who flip when you try and slow them with your hands. The horse feels like its choosing to pick your speed so its a win win for both of you. Does that all make sence? I'm not sure if it will work on a western trained horse, but my guess is that it would.

[American]

She's a TB cross, but the majority of her is TB. She's 11 years old. I've been riding for 2 years and have owned her for 1 year. Her running is basically her being naughty. I made her circle until she would calm down, pretty much your advice. Well after she did it, I made her calm down in the circle and then took her back around the ring once more, and she was good so I ended there. I couldn't ride her for to long either because I haven't ridden her in awhile so she tires quickly at the moment.

Well, the footing is okay, but its snowy. I only walk and trot her in it for the sake of safety, no cantering. She seems to handle it well, not really making any slips or stumbles. She has pretty good surefootedness. In the beginning, my trainer had me let her loose sorta to let her energy out. Like I would be trotting her but give her her head and let her just move a little bit. Now I can't really do that. I can give her her head and give her some freedom but I can't let her move out to much because of the snow. This attitude of hers feels different though. My main problem is that I need to find an actual like barn to board her at. She wouldn't be this bad if I was at barn and she was able to be with other horses and in an actual ring. Oh, and I do ride English, as you've probably figured out by now xD

She's not an off the track... she never used to race. Her last owners never said anything about it. The only thing they mentioned was Cross-Country and Jumper. Her lip isn't tattood[sp?] either. She doesn't flip when I try to slow her, it's more like resisting what I'm asking her to do and just going forward anyways. Most of the time I make her ride in a circle until she calms down. If I do a sitting trot she usually listens better to that. I'm sure if I just continue doing as you said, she'll finally calm down. What she really needs is an actual ring, as I said. She bahaves much better in a ring.