help! husbands horse keeps backing into me and my horse

[Shady]

hi everybody, i'm new to this forum and my husband and i are both fairly novice riders, we ride out together often and until 3 weeks ago i would say quite amiably. hubbys horse has always had a slight tendancy to go backwards a bit if he doesn't want to do something but if you leave him a minute he will then go on, now he has started slamming backwards into me and actually angles himself so he can get us! really disconcerting and we've done a few staggers as he's too fast sometimes for me to get out of the way. any thoughts on this new and bizarre behavior from him ?

 

[AdorableAlice]

You need a rider on that can pre-empt the reversing and give him a reminder or two.

It is rude nappy behaviour that needs stamping on quickly.

 

[spike123]

without sounding like im advocating horse abuse give him a bloody good smack with your crop. He's taking the mick and it's escalated to that stage because it's not been stopped sooner. If you are worried about it then get someone more experienced to hack him out with you that will let him know it's not acceptable behaviour.

 

[ester]

without sounding like im advocating horse abuse give him a bloody good smack with your crop.

But before he has got close enough that if he kicks out he will make contact .
But yes very rude and not acceptable or necessary.

 

[Gloi]

Husband needs to react the second he feels his horse backing off his leg and starting to slow down. He needs to get after him at this point before he actually stops. If he can't do this get an experienced person to ride him for a bit and then maybe to ride out with your husband on your horse to help him learn to deal quickly with the behaviour. It needs nipping in the bud before the horse gets too much of the upper hand or it will get worse.

 

[Shady]

thanks guys, that's a great help, thought a good smack might be half the answer! i ride out twice a week with a really experienced rider and she rides husbands horse who is very different with her altho he does back up a bit even with her sometimes, maybe 1 or 2 steps, just not into me! she always says he is a marvel to ride so it's a novice rider problem by the sound of it, i have to say he normally looks after my husband really well( apart from this!) so i have been puzzled by this sudden quite aggressive behavior.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Ride ahead of your OH horse?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Ride ahead of your OH horse?

That would be my suggestion. It won't stop the horse reversing but it will keep OP safe. The rider needs to react quickly as soon as the horse shows signs of slowing down, a Pony Club kick is usually effective if delivered in a timely manner. If not, a smack with a schooling whip should send him forward. This horse is just being naughty and rude. He knows that you are all worried by his behaviour and he has you at a disadvantage.

 

[Rhodders]

your husband needs to register when it's about to happen and head and neck bend his horse in the opposite direction making it impossible for his horse to get it's backside in your direction

 

[Shady]

thanks again, passed info to hubby and took Rhodders advice last time we went out, bingo! also pre empted him a bit more, he was much better, actually think he's been taking the micky a bit and now the shock of being caught out has done some good between him and hubby, he is a much bigger horse than mine with a longer stride so he mostly goes in front as it's hard for him to work well behind my horse all the time.