Advice appreciated about a nappy horse!

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Heartbar

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I have recently started sharing a 15.2hh 6 year old cob mare 3 days a week and the first few times I rode her, she was lovely but since then in the school, she has been extremely nappy. She slows down when going past the gate and drifts towards corners in the school. There is a particular corner she favours which is next to the gate and when coming down the long side towards this corner in trot, she will often become strong and nap to this corner. Sometimes, when I have prevented her from reaching the corner and sent her forward, she will then bolt to this corner in canter from the other end of the school and becomes very strong.
She does nap for corners/the gate when lunging too, on both reins.

What do you think her reason for this could be? Does anyone have any experience of this behaviour and any solutions/exercises (ridden or on the ground) I could try to improve it? I have been having lessons on her which is helpful but wondered what everyone here thought.

She is great out hacking in company, pretty much bombproof but does get insecure when leaving the other horse(s). I took her out with two other horses recently and we stopped in a field to do some cantering and she was great when the other horses were in sight, but did nap a bit when I asked her to go forward without them (they had stopped for a rest behind her) and then bolted when I asked her to canter. She also does get a bit strong and reluctant to halt when asked when other horses have got a bit far ahead or when she is nearly home.
Could all this behaviour just be insecurity/a lack of trust for me as I am new to her? I know she could be a fab horse but am getting a little frustrated with all this and so I’d really like to work to get past it!
Thanks in advance for any suggestions :)
 
Have you had a chat with the owner about all this? They may be able to help most as they know the horse best. It does sound like the horse has a lack of trust/respect for you. It would be most beneficial to you if you could afford to have a weekly lesson with a good instructor on this horse to help you get used to it.

Your story reminds me of a teenager up the road from us who was loaning a horse. We saw her crying in the lane outside her house because the horse was napping and trying to turn round. I walked with her up the lane for about half a mile to calm her down and get her going. She has come past a few times lately and is doing much better. I was quite annoyed at the owner ( never said anything as I don't know them) who had sent the teen out with a girth that was too big and a bit rapping the horse's teeth on a bridle that was so dry it was really hard to undo. I can't believe someone would send a young girl out on a horse they barely know in unsafe tack. They're just waiting to get sued.
 
I think it's probably a mixture or her testing you out and her being young and lacking in schooling.

When was she backed and how much schooling has she had?
Also the good behaviour when with others then bolting, sounds just like she is insecure and inexperienced.

She needs positive consistent riding, keep up with the lessons and hacking in company.
 
Thank you both!
She was backed at 4 years old and has recently turned 6 so she is still young and probably does need a lot more schooling but it's difficult to make progress when she's so nappy! She did get worse with it but now I think she is getting a bit better since I've started with the lessons and the owner has been giving me tips :)
I am having a lesson next weekend and that will be the first time we will have been in the school for a couple of weeks as I've stuck to hacking so hopefully there will be an improvement after having a bit of time off schooling.
Just thought it might be useful to get some suggestions from people with similar experiences!
 
Heartbar said:
that will be the first time we will have been in the school for a couple of weeks as I've stuck to hacking so hopefully there will be an improvement after having a bit of time off schooling.
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That rings alarm bells with me, don't avoid the hard bits. Even if it's just a 10 minute warm up before you hack expose her to the school and the gate as much as you can. The lesson is a fab idea and will give you lots of ideas to work on in your own time, but consistency is key. Don't expect it to be perfect straight away, every time she goes past the gate without stopping it's a win for now!
 
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Thanks for the advice! I have walked and trotted her in hand in the school as it was suggested to me that this could help build up trust. I agree though that taking her in there for a small period of time before hacking could be a good idea, maybe then she wouldn't always associate it with having to work hard (not that I've actually asked very much of her yet anyway which is why the napping is frustrating!)
 
Our new horse is doing these type of things with my OH who is a novice rider. Also a mare, eight years old and bought as safe horse for a novice but proving to be greener than we thought! She's started napping to the gates at each end of the field and basically cantering off with him when she seems to feel like it! Yet when I get on her she's fine with not even a sign of her napping to the gates or trying to pee off, however I've been riding for a bit longer than OH so even when I'm just pootling around the field she still knows I'm in charge. Basically this young horse is testing you out, you need to find out how her owner is riding her and if they are having any issues similar to yours. My OH is having weekly lessons with our instructor, which is helping with the problem but he has to sort it for himself because she's not doing it with people who are more experienced. What we consider hard work is maybe not the same as what she considers hard work and as she's a mare she probably has her own opinions as well. Our mare always takes the pee at the beginning of the session and then once corrected goes on to do some lovely work, but we always have another horse in the session with her if OH riding whether it be me or my instructor on my other horse or my friend riding hers, so she feels more confident. As before I can ride her on her own because hopefully she gets her confidence from how I'm riding so she's less bothered. One tip my instructor has given is to make her work by the gate so if you can do diamond shapes, circles and squares in that area she will soon learn it's not that special and hopefully get better. We ride in the field so its a bigger space and her friends are in the other field so when she does decide to go she has quite a turn of speed. Good luck, I'm sure she'll improve with consistent work, but as your sharing make sure your not doing something completely different to her owner as this may add to her confusion.
 
Thanks a lot - that's really helpful! I will definitely try your suggestion of trying shapes near the gate.
She has only had her owner ride her since she was broken so may just be a bit anxious about the change of rider. I will speak to her owner more about how she rides her and try and arrange to watch her ride her as well so I can see for myself. She does try it a bit with the owner apparently but gives up a lot more easily than with me!
I think having another horse in the school would help but at the same time I don't want to have her rely on that happening as it won't always be possible!
 
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