Forward issues

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niccibunt

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Hi, just looking for a bit of advice. I have a young horse who has never been the most forward but I have always managed to switch on after warming up. Recently he has started to really reject moving forwards and has started to plant almost like napping. I always get past it and get to the point of work we are aiming for. He has varied work to prevent boredom and has had back, teeth, saddle checked and there hasn't been a significant event to start this behaviour I can think of. Has anyone got any ideas of tips/ exercises to help with this. Thanks Nic.
 
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How old is he and in what scenarios is he napping? Does he do it in the school only, on hacks, both? Could he just be having a paddy?

It could be something as simple as he needs more variety in his work but without knowing a bit more it's difficult to give any pointers.
 
Difficult on this limited information. It sounds like pain -although I see you have done tack / back / teeth. Perhaps get a vet to do a lameness workup? Bi-lateral lameness is really hard to spot. It might help to know how old is "young". When he was backed and brought on? Could something have happened to him in the past before you owned him? What is his breed and confirmation like? What is he trained for and what are you doing with him when he naps? How long has the behavior persisted for?

He could of course be being naughty - youngsters often test their boundaries. And their owner's patience. But such an absolute refusal out of the blue does suggest pain more than anything else I'm afraid.
 
He is 8 but was only brought into work at 6 as he was left to grow into himself as is big at 17.2hh. He is big but no big conformation issues. He jumps, hacks and I school him but it's in the school where he is planting. He was weak when I got him and I have not rushed him doing lots of strengthening and stretching and he was starting to really progress but then started this. He is fine hacking and there isn't any change in his behaviour in the stable etc.
 
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I would be tempted to call your vet for their opinion - there could be some underlying pain that is showing up in the school through bending and using himself differently.

Other than that he could be a little sour in the school (depending on how much he is doing in there), personally I'd be tempted to just hack him (schooling while hacking of course) for a month or so then try him in the school again to see if it makes a difference.

I would speak to your vet first though as I'd be concerned about something underlying.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Hunting normally helps with backward thinking horses, but always call it a day when they are still full of running not knackered.
Click to expand...

This,
Hunting has transformed my nappy TB .
It's taken two seasons of careful work ( because I could not risk him turning into a thug )but he's really found the on switch now .
 
it could be something as simple as slight muscling up and changing shape, my 3yo is obviously at the point of changing shape quite dramatically, and started to not want to really reach and motor forward over 2 sessions.................swapping to a thinner gel pad and voila back to normal, he just needed a few more mm room :)
 
How recently has he had back, teeth and saddle fit checked and were they all done after this particular behaviour started?

Either way I would get them all checked again, something that didn't show up a few weeks ago might show up now.
 
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