Eliminated through napping

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samp

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Well went SJ yesterday and what a disaster. We warmed up in the collecting ring ok though still being very gobby and snatching the reins (like she has been past few days when ridden). Also would say did not totally trust her not to rear (just had this feeling). Anyway the first class she would not go off leg - stopped at first, then came to third (near gate and again stopped and reared). I was well fed up.

Went back to warm up for the 2nd class and she was trying to nap by my dad, however I rode her forwards. When it came to the 2nd class she tried to nap when entering the ring so she got sent forward. This time jumped first hesitated at 2nd and made her jump from stand still (simple upright). Came to 3rd a different fence by the gate and this time we went in to a huge napping fit, we just reared up several times. I was fuming. Madam was having none of it! So we went and jumped fence 2 again.

Any ideas what I should do? Shall I pay for someone else to compete? Put it down as a one off and take her to a clear round next time so I do not waste my money? May be in pain in the ovaries as guess time of year to start coming in season (and she reared for no reason about this time last year). Put it down to a pain response due to soreness?

She is a great horse and when she is good she is fab. She can be quirky and I thought we had overcome that. I want to persevere once again, but I realise if it continues I will have to send her away and sell her
 
Could be season. Might be worth checking out / trying one of the many products to improve the hormone imbalance.
I would take her to some CR. Then you will have the chance to work through the napping. having to come out of the ring through elimination following a nap will only reward this behaviour.
If you dont feel confident to push her through this (assuming its not pain related) then certainly enlist the help of another rider.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Could be season. Might be worth checking out / trying one of the many products to improve the hormone imbalance.
I would take her to some CR. Then you will have the chance to work through the napping. having to come out of the ring through elimination following a nap will only reward this behaviour.
If you dont feel confident to push her through this (assuming its not pain related) then certainly enlist the help of another rider.

[/ QUOTE ]

I echo 4faulter!!!
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Thanks, like you I think CR is an option as we can then get her through it I hate taking them out the ring for bad behaviour. I may enlist the help of a stronger rider? ATM i'm in the frame of mind of you will bl888y do it, however if she gets bad then I will call it a day and let someone more experienced work on her and then hopefully take over again.
 
I watched a girl like this yesterday where I was. She had the same problems, had to get her dad to lead her horse round for a while. Maybe it was you? The girl sat really quietly and tried to ride her horse forward, and horse just kept napping towards the doors. I really felt for this girl. I was watching standing beside 2 other people and at the same time we both said, "She is very brave"
It napped at the first fence and went through the timer and it took 40 seconds before it went over it, after going past it then up to it again. She was trying to get horse to go forward, but it just kept going backwards and the poor girl kept looking behind worrying that it was going to bump into jumps and hurt its legs.
Little bay horse. Very nappy but the girl sat quiet and well and managed to get round.
I would suggest the same as the others, go to some CR where you can have as much time as you like with her. I do hope that you overcome this.
 
I really feel for you, probably because this sounds so similar to my mare and i dont know what to do either for the best. I hate to think that this horse is going to get the better of me, and so my mind set has now changed from "hmmm...this horse is quite dangerous, little bit afraid to put my leg on/ smack as she will probably just rear higher" to....."this horse needs a bl**dy good smack and IS going to go forwards".

Was this just a one off? Have you been making good progress recently until this show? If so, I would just persevere and try not to see it as too much of a set back, perhaps she just didnt settle that day? Or she found it too stressful at that particular venue?

A few months back i actually got a professional rider to come and look at how my mare behaves at home, with the intention of giving her to him to compete over the event season so i could sell her on (which is usually much worse than how she is at shows). He watched me ride her from the yard to the school (which is where she does her worse - rearing, backwards, plunging etc) and then when i got her in the school she wouldnt "work" for me, ie not off my leg etc. He then got on her and she was suddenly transformed into this wonder horse!! She tried it on with him once but he just gave her a good kick and she didnt do it again. I suppose i could have felt like a crap rider, but in actual fact it gave me a real boost to sort her out! Seeing her react and behave after he reprimanded her spurred me on to do the same the next day, and now we are making much better progress at home and she is much more off my leg and "working".

However, i still need to transform how she works at home into a show environment, as i dont always have her working properly. I suppose i am more aware of the surroundings, ie "if she rears here we're going to end up landing on that other horse"....but i know deep down that i just need to again ride her more forward with convinction and not worry so much about what can happen, as if i ride better then in theory nothing should happen!!

We still have a very long journey to take, and i had a similar setback to yours last time i took her out to a Grasshoppers competition (BIG MISTAKE!!!), but just going to put it behind us and hope she doesnt nap like that again in competition environment.

Sorry for long reply, but feel free to PM me if you would like to chat about it!
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I know where you are coming from too. I stopped sj for a while as I was just getting eliminated all the time. My outings became so infrequent that it then became a big thing and pressure would mount so I did as others are suggesting here and just go back to CR for a while and I told myself that the day I could go into a CR and do go forwards without a single run out or refusal I would be happy. Progress was slow whilstever I didnt go out often but once I put the effort in and went regular the peny seemed to drop. Now I can tell his heart is actually in it and *touch wood* we can go in cold and go clear first time.
 
She has been out probably to 8 indoor comps since Dec, she has been great to warm up, occassionally would try to plunge etc but I just send her forward. She reared like this last year about this time and then I was like right I need to sort her out and I changed my attitude. TBH I think I was a bit scared Sun as my old horse was a vicious little wotsit at shows that I could never warm up just go into the ring. I need to know give myself a kick up the bum, not make an issue of it and do what I have done at many shows and be determined to get around!
 
Do you have any clear round clinics near you? The ones where you jump 2 rounds with instruction? They might help as you'll gain confidence from having someone ni the ring with you?
 
I know Sally Thurloway is based in my area and am aware she may run something like this? I will give her a call
 
I had a mare that did this for a while and all I can say would you think that the mare is telling you something. Is the saddle pinching her, has she got a sore back. Oh how about teeth. Not all the time it is down to the mare being in season. I also advise to invest in a decent numnah for horses with a sore back.

How is she on the flat is she the same. I think the mare is telling you something its not always about just refusing to do it. There is always a reason for napping
 
I have the saddler attending in a week on Monday (earliest he could do), physio can not come til 2 weeks on Fri. I will then get her teeth checked after (have felt and can feel no sharp points). On the flat in last few weeks been hard to get to canter and then Fri and SAt it was the opposite she kept breaking from trot to canter and was snatching at the reins and refusing to rounden and lower head
 
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