Do you have any helpful tips for me please? (Napping Horse)

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myrtle1982

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Hi All,
I'd really appreciate some advise and ideas with regards to my 4 year old Welsh Section D.
He is a lovely chap, loving, affectionate but he can be cheeky and a bit grumpy at times.
He is fantastic in so many areas, catching, handling on ground, jumping, in the school, hacking in company, traffic...however, hacking alone is a struggle, thankfully one that isn't getting worse but doesn't seem to be massively improving dispite my best efforts although perhaps slightly.
When hacking along, he used to nap when leaving my gate, after some long reining he now doesn't, then he started napping at the end of the road, after lots of leading a few weeks ago he recently seems to have stopped this, now he naps at the end of the next road! When I say napped, for me that is....he stops, he stops and absolutely refuses to move, if I kick, use voice or make any sort of fuss he'll walk backwards, he will occasionally put in little bucks but more ofter he'll put in little rears. Sometimes I can get him past these points by getting him into trot before hand but thats only a momentary fix. We have this fuss about 3 times on an average hourly hack. I never ever let him win and go back, however we can often be stuck for 30 minutes until either I get off and lead him whilst waving the schooling whip furiously behind him or by being rescued by a passing walker who is happy to stand behind and clap like a nutter!
I'm 100% that when he is doing this it is not because he is scared, he is being stubbon and lazy because its often quite hilly. There are occasions, although less frequently where he does it due to being scared but as soon as I get off and lead he is okay. If he does it due to fear then I'm happy to work with him on that because he's young and wants reasurrance of me in front but 99% of time he's just being damn naughty.
Aside from waiting, getting off and leading (literally almost dragging him and turning him to get him to put one foot in front of other) or someone rescuing me, its very difficult. I have had him 3 months and only once (apart from the first week) have we managed a ride from start to finish with no issues! He rides like a dream when we're half around around the ride (eg: homeward bound).
Anyway, if anyone has any advise then I'd love to hear it.
He's had his teeth, back, saddle all done recently so no issues there.
He rides in company at least 1-2 times a week and alone the other 1-2 times a week.
I took him to cross country a few weeks ago and he refused to go first or away from horses but otherwise was a dream.
He has lived with other horses and doesn't especailly have a strong pair bond. He's been riding alone and in company since he started hacking, about 4-5 months ago.
He was broken young but put out for a year until June this year so really he only really started everything this June...
Anyway, sorry for length of this, just wanted to give all the information!
Thank you so much.
Olivia x
 
Ps. For the first time ever, this Sunday he napped 3 times on a hack whilst in company and I had to get off, lead for a few strides and get back on. GRURRRRRR!!
 
He sounds exactly like my mare! shes 4 to, and if you read my previous post you will see what problems i have had today - i know like you do when she is naughty and when she is scared. The rearing, backing up etc is all familiar-.
Normally when my mare naps (she stops at the *imaginary* barrier and rears (little ones) i turn her head - i was taught this last year whilst doing parelli that if a horse has its head turned they cannot bolt/rear) then use leg and voice aids and shes normally okay. When shes scared its totally different, she snorts, her head goes up and she flits about and sometimes she shakes
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thats when i know its fear then i normally give lots of reassurance and if its really scary then i get off and lead her past
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Could you take her cubbing - my 4 yo was very similar, but 5 mornings cubbing really sweetened him up, and I have now turned him away.
 
Sounds an awful lot like my mare!
Had her 17yrs now and she goes through napping phases it seems, I have pretty much done all the same things as yourself over the years so I have no more suggestions other than just carrying on with what your doing I am afraid.
Sorry, that is of no real use to you, but sounds like you are handling it very well to me so far, hope your persistence pays off
 
i think he has you weighed up! i would give him a good smack and ride him forward!! he needs to go off hand and leg. leading him past his nappy areas doesnt really solve them, as you have found out. as for napping in company at the same spots i would have to ask if he is taking the P? you will need to be really firm and confident with him as he will pick up on your thoughts and anxieties. have you anticipated the nap, thus putting the thought in his head? if good on the long reins i would go back to this (for the whole hack) and really drive him forward, next day do same hack ridden , if naughty thump him!! good luck
 
you're right that perhaps he is taking the P, however no matter how hard i have hit him, he does not budge and he rears, he's incredibly stubbon and i just can't over power him...believe me I have tried but nothing makes him go fowrad apart from someone on foot waving a whip behind him!
 
I had a mare who napped every time i hacked her out, and like you i managed to get her moving again but then she just started it further on in the hack. the only thing which worked with her was lots of schooling at home to improve confidence and obedience, but the main thing was taking her away from the yard in a trailer and hacking her in new places. she eventually started to enjoy her hacks, accept me as the leader and then she never did it again when hacking from home. although it can appear as stubborness, i think it really comes down to confidence and respect for the rider. keep going though because you will get there with him
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So just sit there, had a mare many years ago that I bred she was the biggest cow I've ever known. she would plant her feet and not move no matter what you did. So one day I just sat there on her, she wouldn't go forward or back and after 1/2 hour she gave up, walked her on ten yards, patted her took her home and she only did it once after that, did the same thing as we were 2 miles from home. the first time just out side my field gate.
 
Hi John, I have tried but he just starts walking backwards and gets very irritated at waiting around... I've sat it out for about 30 minutes before. It's so disheartening!
 
This sounds EXACTLY like my man a year ago. He'd never, ever been hacked alone and was a right prat when I tried to get him away from the yard. Favourite tricks included bucking, rearing, and he had a very special line in a power buck plus a sort of corkscrew twisting thing whilst airborne, as well as backing up into anything, it didn't matter what, such as walls, hedges, even deep ditches.

I had given up on him; he was a lovely boy but just wouldn't hack alone. One of the problems was that he had never had any basic schooling; it was like driving a car with no steering wheel, no brakes and no control. So the first thing I did was to send him to a local Further Ed/Agricultural college which does BHS exams, degrees etc. So he was kept busy plus given the basic schooling which was lacking, BUT this didn't solve my problem as the blighter still wouldn't go away from the yard!!

Then I ran into an old school chum at a horsey event; she specialised in difficult horses but she said that 99% of the time it was the rider that needed working on rather than the horse. She came out to see what she could do, and watched me handle him, ride him etc.

She felt I needed to be far more assertive on the ground: lots and lots of groundwork was what we had to do, i.e. gaining his confidence and respect, as well as long-reining to get him going forward on his own. She emphasised that if the horse won't respect you on the ground, then you've got no chance in the saddle.

She also said that napping was his way of saying "I don't feel safe" and that my role was to learn to be the "mare" in the relationship. I had to take the lead, be firm but kind, and not be afraid to be assertive; if he needed a tap with the whip to do it but not to overdo it (previously if I'd whacked him he'd just either rear or buck).

She worked with us, encouraging me to "ride forward" and think forward, not looking at the spook but just ride on through.

She said I might have to start off by just leading him out for say half an hour, then hop on and ride him back to the yard. Forget food as reward - letting out his girth when dismounted was a good reward, or rubbing him on his neck if he spooked at something and got stressed.

Also, for the rider, a good stress-reliever is to yawn; it makes you breathe in a very relaxed way and relaxes the body, just like laughing does. Or sing a song, or recite some poetry, or recite to yourself the latest filthy joke and laugh at it if he naps coz this takes all the stress out and the horse will feel it.

You will have to work at this one, there's no easy fix, BUT I have to say its so worthwhile to be able to go out into the great beyond with just you and your horse and just chill out. His Lordship can still be a prat and try it on, but I now feel confident I've got the skills to nip it in the bud and not let it be a problem.

My suggestion for what its worth is that you find yourself someone who can help you with your horse. I'm not saying necessarily the person who has certificates coming out of their ears!! (tho' nothing wrong with that if they know they stuff too). I hesitate to use the words "natural horsemanship" coz I know people get all cranky about it, but sometimes a different approach, without being obsessive or silly about it, can just do the trick.

Good luck with yours: a year ago I would have sold mine to anyone at knock-down price coz I just didn't know what to do with him, but I'm so glad I persevered. You WILL get there, just be encouraged, and you will value your special relationship all the more because you went for it.
 
I got my gelding when he was 8, had been with previous owner 6 months and had never napped. I had a honeymoon period of 2 months when I would hack out with others from my yard and also regularly hack out on my own and he was fine.

Then he started napping, not only on his own but when out with others! Having come from somewhere much quieter (he was just with 2 rams!) he had got attached to the other 10 geldings he was with at the new yard I had him at. Would absolutely plant and refuse to budge, also try and turn or reverse me back rapidly towards a ditch just to scare me rigid. I had to give in sometimes and head home as it got ridiculous but this was a bad move as obviously he thought he'd then won! He would also threaten to buck and rear as I tried to battle him forward though they were half hearted attempts so I knew an element of his behaviour was just seeing what he could get away with but he was starting to make me nervous which I think makes the problem worse.

I read all the books, articles I could find but in the end had to just spend best part of a year doing lots of hacking with others for safety's sake more than anything else. We did every route near us endlessly and many some distance away so he got more used to being away a long distance from the yard. Also if he did nap, and one big whack from the whip didn't get him going forward, others would get their horses behind me so he had no choice but to go forward or I've had other riders grab my reins and lead him forward. We conquered it by endless hacking and by me getting more confident and seeing what the worse was he would do and realising I could handle and tackle it without him scaring me. He started really enjoying all the variety of our rides I think too and then one day, when it was very hot and I knew he wouldn't want to mess about in the heat and just plod and I felt very confident I just went back out for the first time again by myself (equipped with spurs and crop in case of problems) and he was a star and didn't nap. And we've not really looked back since. I try and ensure I do a solo hack once a week if I can just to keep it going but also ride with others. And if we are out alone I give him a bit more time now if we do stop at something he's really unsure of and he trusts me a lot more now I think to to get him past things and reassure him that it's alright. I tend to do shorter routes by myself as still think he could nap on longer rides but I keep meaning to extend our rides a bit each year on our own. I hope it resolves itself for you, it's a tricky thing to sort napping but the rewards once you get it sorted are great as I think if your horse feels safe out with you you have a great bond.
 
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