Hello and advice needed please

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out-riding

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Hi, I'm at long time lurker I first set up this account years ago but haven't really visited the forum much until this year. Apologies in advance for my first post being long and asking for advice.

I brought my horse in September and he was everything I wanted. I had him on a months trial at my yard as the owner wanted to make sure it was right for the horse as it was a sad sale.
I tried him pretty much every situation and he was always well behaved. In November time he started napping quite badly when out hacking, totally refusing to go forward. I didn't hack through winter due to working full time and dark nights. I started hacking out with a friend in March and he does seem better I have manged to go on a hours hack on my own on him. But he can still be naughty, this weekend I hacked out with a friend and because it was a route he'd never been before he was spooky and tense (he's not naturally a spooky horse) we had to go through a small Ford and he point blank refused to go through it, my attempts to get him to go forward resulted in spinning and mini rears so I ended up getting off and leading him through. He is not scared of water and will happily go through water when I've taken him cross country.

He's fine on fun rides and is less tense and doesn't show any signs to nap at all. I'm wondering how a horse who was happy to hack alone can suddenly go nappy. Is it lack of confidence due to being in a relatively new home or just plain naughtiness?

Can anyone shed some light on why he might be behaving like this? I feel like I did everything by the book buying him and still having problems.

P.s he passed 5 stage vetting,has had physio, teeth checked, saddle fitted and rechecked and he is fine in the school so don't think it is a pain issue.

Thanks for any replies in advance ☺
 
Sometimes when horses settle properly into a new home they start to play up a bit, once the honeymoon period is over!

I've had very nappy horses in the past, mostly due to them being nervous without company. It can take time but is totally managable.

One of the best ways I've found is to hack out alone and meet someone, even if it's just round the first corner out of the yard to begin with. You can extend the distance as you both become more confident.

Good luck, hope this helps!
 
Greys said:
Sometimes when horses settle properly into a new home they start to play up a bit, once the honeymoon period is over!

I've had very nappy horses in the past, mostly due to them being nervous without company. It can take time but is totally managable.

One of the best ways I've found is to hack out alone and meet someone, even if it's just round the first corner out of the yard to begin with. You can extend the distance as you both become more confident.

Good luck, hope this helps!
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Thanks for the relpy ☺

Will definitely try hacking out alone and meet someone. Sometimes though he can nap in company. It's almost like he's decided he's just had enough and wants to go home. It's very frustrating as I really didn't want to buy a nappy horse and did all I could to ensure what I was buying was right. He's a lovely boy though and brilliant with everything else but I can't help but feel dissapointed. I have spoken to his previous owners who say he didn't nap with them. He doesn't seem as confident in general as he did when he was with them either.
 
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A change of home can be very unsettling for some horses and as you haven't hacked over the winter, he's probably lost a bit of confidence. Add to this the possibility that you still have some bonding to do with him as it's still relatively early days, I wouldn't immediately get too worried by his behaviour . You may, also, without realising it, be a bit tense yourself when hacking him, especially as he's got a bit nappy. This can then become a bit of a vicious circle. Hacking to meet someone, is a great idea, always try to do circular routes if you can and I think keeping the horse out as much as possible. I wouldn't worry too much about getting off if you really can't get the horse to go forward, provided you continue with the hack once you are back on. Also keep calm and if you really start to feel you can't cope, get experienced help in to get him going. He's your first horse, so there's no shame in getting help, don't struggle on without help if things start to escalate, which hopefully, they won't. Good luck. It's taken me a year to hack my horse confidently and he's not my first horse!!!
 
Hi, my horse did exactly this within a few months of having her, she came from a big yard with little hacking and had never napped there. After trying lots of things and getting help from Jason Webb the natural horsemanship trainer I deal with it by turning her tightly when she naps (she does big rears) and as soon as she relaxes asking her to go forward. It has taken a while but once they know you won't give in they learn pretty quickly. I have guessed its because she gets bored,maybe if your doing less or more than the old owner this could be the case for you, so try lots of shoulder-ins along the road and leg yielding when you can to keep their mind focused, then they won't have time to think about stopping and napping. I did go out with friends and mostly do now, but for me found it masked the problem and made it worse when i asked her to go out alone. I have found keeping hacks less frequent and making her work when we do do them has made a big difference... she dosent see them as a doss around anymore! It could be your horse is testing you, most horses reach a few months with a new owner and begin to test the boundaries to see how far they can push... just keep battling through and you will turn a corner soon I'm sure! good luck x
 
Are you in anyway nervous of your horse? Horses pick up on this and can play up a bit if they sense you're not 'committed' to making them go forward! :D

My horse is like this too - stops dead in the middle of the road and wont go forward which is not ideal! My motto is "we can go forward, or we can stay where we are, but we're not going back". She gets the message, sometimes it takes longer than other times but she gets it!

I'd suggest taking a pal out with you, and when you're confident you go up front and have them behind. Then one day just get up and off you go! I find if I dilly dally my horse will use this as an excuse to stop dead - I just go out the front gate, leg on and off I trot!
 
Hi thanks for your all replies nice to know people have had nappy horses and got them going.

He's not my first horse, but my fourth sso I'm not nervous or tense with him, although maybe I am after him being so silly on the road i may be tense and not realising as I've never had a nappy horse before.

Yes Nato i find Riding him forwards and trotting out better he seems less likely to nap than when he's walking and suddenly decides he's frightened by something. Shame I can't trot all the way lol.

Hi LucindaGrey I do feel like he is taking the pee abit and using the spooking as an excuse to get back to him mates in the feild. I always go circular routes and never ever let him go back even when it's meant be getting off and leading him. I have tried turning him in a circle but he just gets more and more het up, spinning round and dancing along the road, it's not ideal when it's country lanes and he has very nearly backed into a huge ditch before. Going to speak to the previous owners about how much they hacked him. It was on my list of must haves when looking for another horse and hacked him alone before buying and was fine hacking alone when I first had so hopefully I'll crack him soon.

Thanks again for all your replies its really appreciated ☺
 
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