Fed up - I think I'm going to have to admit defeat

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ERB

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OK, long boring story so prepare yourselves! Bought my boy last October and despite him being a bit of a handful to start he settled in well. We were having weekly lessons and hacking out alone and in company and although spooky was really coming on. However back in March he decided he didn't fancy going out on his own anymore, he would spin and run backwards and threaten to rear. This all came to a head when, after weeks of his tantrums getting ignored he plunged down the road with me which did really un-nerve me (he's 17.2hh) Went back to riding in company where he's absolutely fine and happy to go on in front and will lead past anything at all 'spooky' and had back, teeth etc checked and got new saddle. After weeks of building up his confidence (and mine) riding out with others I decided to take him out on his own yesterday. Lunged him first and he was fine, off we went down the road and he was being an angel until he saw a car parked at the side of the road and we were off down the road in the other direction, I pulled him up, turned him round and gave him a smack and tried to get him to go forward lots of dancing around ensued. By this point he is absolutely frantic so I made him just stand still facing the direction I wanted to go, I thought he was calming down and congratulated him with a 'good boy' at which point he just launched himself and plunged, span and buggered off. Turned him round again but eventually he managed to dump me on the road and went home without me. Now I'm feeling very sorry for myself and aching to boot. I'm a very capable rider but he's really starting to destroy my confidence. Anyone got any ideas with this one? It seems it really is just naughtiness and the problem is that the firmer I am with him the more he throws at me and he knows that he's starting to get to me.

I'm sure others have come accross similar behaviour, if so how did you remedy it? Having a battle on the road is just dangerous to me, the horse and other road users. He's fine if I ride him on his own in the field.

Any advice gratefully received!
 
HI, poor you sounds like your having abit of a nightmare. Is hacking out alone a must for you at the moment? If not I would stick to hacking in company and not stress yourself about it for the time begin.
When you hack on your own would you have anyone who could walk with you to see if this makes any difference to him. You are quite right about the road not being the place for this sort of discussion and I wonder if there are any other times when he displays this kind of behaviour or if it is out of character for him.
I think it is very hard to advise without seeing the behaviour and knowing a bit more about your training and his past etc but at the end of the day your safety is paramount and you have to ask yourself if hacking on your own with your boy is worth it.
Becareful and good luck :)
 
Do you have any other hacking routes nearby you that are off road? I would try and hack out down non road tracks for a few weeks and see how that goes, even if there is only one bridle path that you can go up and down da few times.

Sometimes even the most confident riders sub conscious plays a part, if at the back of your mind your waiting for him to explode you may be sending him vibes that you don’t know you are sending.

Another suggestion I would make would be to walk him out in hand in a bridal if he is a real sod out, take a lunge line and link it to his bit for extra control. Sometimes taking it all back to basics really helps.

I hope you find a resolution
 
if your struggling with long reing ask a mate to walk with him first while you long rein or vise versa. he can throw himself on the floor as much as he wants then at least you are safe. would advise to boot your horse up to the eyeballs with knee boots though, as you might have a bit of an argument.
Dont give up keep trying :-)
 
I don't know what to suggest, but you have to remain safe. If he were mine and doing this, i'd stick to riding in school / field and in company again, like you already have done. He should not be doing things like you describe on the road and ultimately, if he does carry on doing this, then the best thing would be either never go out alone, or sell. Have you had an instructor's opinion on this?
I wish you loads of luck and hope you keep your confidence, It's horrible when you start to feel you're losing it. Remember you are a good rider and keep strong mentally. I hope someone else will offer better advice than I have, but genuinely wish you a happy outcome. Take care.
 
My horse used to similar things. He used to refuse to leave the yard, refuse to go into the school and when I went out hacking, he would refuse to go down the road if there was something scary or if it was a new route. HIs party trick was to reverse at speed and if you tried to make him go forward he would go faster or rear up. One day I reversed to a junction and had no option but to go forwards (far far too stubborn to dismount!) so I decided I needed to hit him hard enough to frighten him into going forwards. I was really worried as I didn't know what he would do but luckily hitting him once hard with a schooler made him canter down the road.
I know this sounds awful but since that day he has never put a foot wrong and goes out on his own daily!
 
Thank you! You're right, probably best to stick with going out in company and/or riding in the field for the time being and then perhaps try the long reining. I need to be more patient! I have asked an instructor friend of mine to come and give me a hand. Unfortunately we have to ride down the road to reach a bridle path and although I don't have to ride on my own it's not always convenient.
 
I had the exact same problem with my boy and spent absolutely ages trying to get over it - I long reined him, tried both a sotly softly approach and a firm one but he wasn't having any of it! Eventually I just gave up trying to get him to hack alone (although like yours he'd happily hack around the fields at the yard!) as I just couldn't carry on putting us both through it anymore. It should have been a pleasurable experience not a continual battle and so for all of our sakes (mine, his, & other road users) I just decided not to bother trying. Sorry if that's not much help it's just my own experience!
 
Thanks Yubbie, I'm of the same opinion and as OH keeps reminding me it's supposed to be a hobbie and hobbies are supposed to be fun! It's costing a lot of time and money for me to end up in tears of frustration. Did you sell yours in the end? I think it's going to be the best way forward as it's getting to the point ot becoming a chore to have to ride him.
 
Iv got a project horse who will buck rear and bronk when he wants to which is pure nappyness. I went back to basics on the groung to build trust in each other, lungeing and long reining which has taken months. Going out on the long reins he would rear up and over as he felt like it. Iv got to the stage now I'm hacking him and every so often he will get to a point and say nope that's it lets turn round and we will rear and put on a lovely rodeo show, I always ask firmly for him to go forward which he does but this goes on and goes. Came to a head a week ago when he refused to walk forward after turning back for a car, so shot me down if you want but I lost my rag, shouted and gave 1 hard smack just behind saddle. We shot down the road and he hasn't done it since. I always try to be firm but fair but sometimes they do need a smack.
 
Oh no how disheartening, i hope you are ok and have not hurt yourself.

could you hack out with someone but get them to go quite alot further behind or in front of him? best of luck x
 
Won't be shooting anyone down - grateful for the input! I'm not sure I've got the confidence any more to challenge him after last time, don't want to make my situation worse by a half hearted effort on my part.
 
I feel for you as I am in the same situation as you. Whats worse is that like you the problem wasnt immediately, mine had been hacking out alone for 8 months then decided suddenly no more. I wish I could get to the bottom of WHY. I have also lost my confidence now, although my boy either plants himself or tries to turn round, hasnt done anything worse than that. It is so frustrating when I know underneath he is well schooled. CAnt really give you any more advice except if you feel he is dangerous perhaps it would be best if you passed him on to someone who could deal with him.I have decided to sell mine, although no interest. I have been honest about his problem,
Today I dont have to worry about hacking out alone because I cant actually catch him since he moved to a field with grass ! Best of luck to you whatever you decide
 
If you want to hack out safely and not loose any more confidence then get rid of him before you have a nasty accident and/or are restricted to riding out with other people.
Your hobby should be enjoyable and horses cost a lot of money to keep.
So get rid of him and get yourself a nice chearfull horse that you can really enjoy hacking out alone on without all this nonsense.
 
I would look at his diet (this is from experience similar to yours), in fact I would remove everything except grass/hay from his diet (and stop all supplements). I would also long-rein or lead along the road until you get to the bridle path and then ride. I certainly wouldn't ride on the road without company until this is sorted. It is far too dangerous.

ETA, if he is better on just grass then you can start to work out which foodstuff is causing the problem, (if that's what it is)
 
I had the same problem with A when he was around. You couldn't smack him at all with the whip or get strong with him or he would fly off the handle and have a strop (2 inches smaller than yours but was still scarey at times).

Not only would he nap but he would refuse to go near water, puddles, rivers anything wet on his toes and up he would go front and back ends. problem was he was as nimble as a balrina and could spin on a sixpence in less time it took you to realise he was spinning!

I got round it by taking lots of time and standing my ground. When he went to nap I stopped him and just waited until he was listening to me again, then went forward. If he spun I would spin him round again until he was listening stop and move forward. Took about 2 hours to get past a cow once. More steps back than forward. I didn't go over board on the praise but did speak to him lots. So when he stopped I didn't shout but used a firm and quite board tone and would ask him what his problem was, when he got over it I woudl say thats better or similar so he knew he was being good but actually it was expected.

If you are really loosing your nerve on board I would go with some of he other advice and lead and long rein a few times until you have a good day and feel more confident.

It took a good 6 - 12 months but after he stopped he was a dream and good as gold past everything. He would occasionally ask the question but the bad bits stopped and he was looking more for guidence and reassurance than to be naughty like before. He even started to enjoy paddling in the river!
 
bloody hell, sounds scary.. and like you've handled it really well so far. But you have to be safe first and foremost, so for the minute,I would leave it, and then I would be sure to go out with someone very knowledgable - either on horse, bike or foot. I would agree with the diet...and would add a good calmer.

Remember that you are the most important issue here - when it's got dangerous, is it worth it ? (((((((((hugs))))))) sm x
 
Lots of sensible advice already but….I know some people think of getting off as a negative, but I would much rather get off if my horse was getting himself into a state than risk him sodding off down the road (I’m not suggesting you did the wrong thing by trying to ride him on I just meant something to consider in future!)

I’ve had my lad for 6 years now and despite being a strapping 17hh he is definitely not the bravest and I’ve had to hop off on more than one occasion to lead him past whatever it is that is bothering him. Whether it started as a spook and turned into a nap, or if it is something genuinely scary – if he’s got himself into a knee knocking state, the safest option is to just hop off and lead past. I would then keep walking until he has calmed down. At the end of the day you are still moving in the direction you want so you haven’t admitted defeat as such.
 
A nappy horse is always just that,it needs a good rider who likes it enough to deal head on with the problem; even when sorted it will always try it out on a new rider sometime.Had one like this once, found myself cantering the opposite way down the road after a spook..got rid ,and money back,tout de suite. It is a costly hobby..not a battle of nerves.
 
Sounds like your going through a similar thing to me.

My TB is 17.2hh and I've been battling with mine for 18 months.

Have you tried riding out in draw reins? It might help you to stop him from spinning and rearing, and give him something else to think about. This can work very well.

Also, depends really on if can can justify the expense, but I recently (out of desperation) bought another saddle - a really secure jump saddle with huge knee rolls, which means I now have a much better chance of locking in and staying on! He's still a bugger, but when he drops and spins, or bronks, the massive knee rolls prevent me from being flung out the side door, and I am staying on board now. I had a lot of trouble before, when I rode him in a GP saddle. He can't 'dispatch' me so easily now, and I think his outbursts are becoming slightly less frequent.

I don't enjoy it though. When a 17.2hh behaves like this it's not for the feint hearted. I'd never have bought mine if I knew what he was like and it has dented my confidence. I don't think I would be able to sell mine, because he's pretty useless too, which is why I feel that I have to plod on with him. By now I know him very well and I know my own limitations so I've altered my aims to avoid putting myself into dangerous situation.

Try not to let yourself get too low xx
 
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