Horse has reduced me to tears today

Penny Less

Penny Less

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Have posted before about horse not going out of yard and having to lead out and get on. Today I have had to dismount and lead four times as horse refused to go forward. Every time I tried to turn away from home he stopped.In the end I gave up and turned round. He plants his feet or reverses. Have tried all usual tricks and today got hold of his ear and really twisted it to make him go forward, let go if he stepped forward. This didnt work either. This is a fairly new behaviour. I have had him 9 months and he has always been sticky at times as he is not terribly confident on his own. (Having been sold as a confidence giver!)This has got worse over last 3-4 weeks and I am wondering if it is the spring grass making him so stroppy. I have got to the end of the line I think now as the tears were tears of rage and I admit I did wallop him. Anyone got any ideas ?? (Tack teeth etc all OK, he is fine out with another horse, but cant often go out with someone else) My first horse was like this, although this manifested itself as soon as I got her home and I never got her out of it so feel really upset.
 
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Try someone confident on foot leading with a headcollar and leadrope under the bridle when you are riding, make sure they get in really close to the shoulder to give horse-face confidence - this worked wonders for my spooky Tb, who would not cross an iron bridge with a troll (obviously) underneath it. Remember we all have baaaaaad and (thankfully) good days.
 
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((((((hugs)))))) Poor you. I know how you feel Herbie is very nappy although he would nap in company to he would just stop and refuse to go even if the other horse disappered out of sight :confused:.
Agree with others if you can't get someone to ride out another horse with you can you get someone to walk or ride a bike with you to give your horse some confidance.
 
im not sure the twisting of an ear is likley to make any horse go forwards. I think you need to build his confidence and in this situation stop getting off. sit it out.
 
I really feel for you...my last horse was a rearer when he didn't want to go somewhere that I did, plus the napping and jibbing. It was heartbreaking, but we did get thru it - I just decided that I couldn't afford another horse, so we were stuck with each other.

My suggestion, fwiw, is to invest in spurs and a long whip - as soon as the behaviour starts use them (spurs gently, whip hard) and try and force going forwards - no movement, more pressure ! As soon as you get one step, huge praise and then ask for the next - if no luck do it again. I know it sounds harsh, and i'll prob get shouted at (:D) but you have to command respect.

This worked with my lad, and we came to a mutual agreement - I ask gently, he does what I ask in return for his supper... sm x
 
More thoughts, I know you're feeling at your wits end but don't twist ear, remain calm, but firm and build confidence, like you would with a toddler, keep trying, you'll get there, even if it's a millimetre at a time, it's progress - and remember - nicely, nicely catchy monkey. You're in charge, but don't pick a battle with a half tonne animal, you'll loose.
 
I second what's being said about taking someone walking with you. Belle planted her feet like this the one time I tried to take her out without anybody else and she has occasionally done it with someone walking beside us. Usually a little perseverance and getting your friend or whoever to walk directly in front of the horse does the trick (at least it works for us). I ride through a very busy village so I can't faff around too much when on the road.
 
Thanks all. I have tried the spurs and whip, nothing. He is very stubborn. I got someone else to ride him out the yard last week and then did It myself and he went! Which makes me think he is trying it on, but just wonder why now. Nothing has changed at the yard except the summer grass.
 
Twist ear? Never heard of this "technique" and to be honest I can't imagine it working... Only creating further issues.

My old boy went through a period of planting. If I got after him he'd turn/run backwards. So I just sat there. One day for about 45 mins! Eventually he just gave up and walked on! Battle of wills.
 
If you're confident the horse is just t@king the mich@el, then by @ll me@ns give him @ sm@ck, but, if he is @ stressy type & l@cks confidence, then @ny kind of physic@l punishment will only m@ke him worse. Don't sm@ck, whip. dig with spurs, twist e@r or @ny other sort of punishment, it won't work & you will end up with @ nightm@re. He needs to get his confidence from you - if th@t me@ns you h@ve to dismount & le@d, then do it. Lots of pr@ise when he does well & m@ke light of @ny 'moments' he h@s. His confidence needs building by you, not through violence.:)

Excuse the @'s - the key h@s bust!:mad:
 
if your really 100% sure its the horse and not your riding or anysort of pain issue then i agree be firm. but to be fair half the time hitting etc will just give you more problems, id personally do the ground work 1st, then id have other tricks to try.

The fact you bought a confidence giver suggests you lack some, may be you need to do the leading out etc, and get to know him again, but then maybe get an instructor on the ground to help you aswell .I say this as it could just well be him trying you out, and from the sounds of it, its built up over time and now hes winning.
 
jhoward, didnt buy specifically because he was confidence giver,but because he seemed like the type I wanted, cobby, and fairly laid back! He does not scare me I am firm with him but I get so cross because I cant basically understand why he is doing it now. The ear thing everyone - this was an idea of pressure, reward thing if he went forward pressure released, doesnt work !!
 
I absolutely understand as we're going thro' exactly same thing. We've had ours 9 months too!! With ours, I do think it's a confidence thing as when we got him he was absolutely fine to hack out, alone and in company, then in November I was injured so he didn't go out for ages. When we started hacking again he just refused to move forward or he'd back up. It makes no difference if there's someone on the ground and he won't be lead in hand either. Can't use a whip on him because he just bucks and I don't want to come off a 17hh horse - even the sound of a whip behind him has the same effect. I went out with 2 others and after about half a mile he just stopped and because I felt a nuisance holding up traffic, I turned around and came home - completely the wrong thing I know but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Anyway, my strategy now is when he stops or backs up, I turn him around and back him up so I'm going in the direction I want to, then I turn him around and go forwards and keep repeating this until he moves forward freely. Very frustrating but I know bullying is not the way with him, it just makes him worse, so lots and lots of reassurance and pats when he moves forward, even one step! Lots and lots of patience and lots and lots of time - good luck.
 
[QUOTE

My old boy went through a period of planting. If I got after him he'd turn/run backwards. So I just sat there. One day for about 45 mins! Eventually he just gave up and walked on! Battle of wills.[/QUOTE]

Have to agree with this method, far less stressful for everyone concerned but be prepared to spend a while just standing there. Eventually they will get bored with just standing there and move and at this point praise and apply leg.

Good luck :)
 
so sorry to hear of your problem. have been there and know how frustrating it is. We have a cracking mare, wont bore with story and unfortunately we decided she just was clearly not happy about something and she has now just had third foal- all stunners and thankfully all boys (needles to say nuts are off the older two!!)

If i may give my opinion I think you would be better off returnong to the arena, have lessons if need be to add variety and ideas and teach him that the smallest movement from your heel means forward, and if no response a 2nd command with a reminder from long whip and alllow him to react by rushing forward, praise him etc. then repeat until that small command gets a big response. very basic I know but it will mean that your leg gets more response when used out hacking. also teach him to move sideways off your leg, not in a perfect half pass, but so he understands what you mean

As to hacking out, find a 5min loop, even if it is round a field, lead him around the whole thing once a day for until when he heads home keen. then ride him in school. set the routine so he understands. then put the saddle on for the walk. then eventually get on him say 10metres from the yard gate. when he his happy get on earlier each time.

terribly teadious I know but it worked on ours. at the end of the day if you are upset to tears then your not enjoying riding him. best of luck.x
 
Very frustrating, I know. If you are getting angry and upset, though, this will possibly be making your horse feel even less keen to go out with you. I'd advise always allowing yourself loads of time and just sitting it out. Stay relaxed, chat companionably to him, admire the view! When he moves off again - and he will - a bit of quiet praise but not a great big fuss. If he tries to go backwards, don't fight him. He'll stop. If he tries to turn round, calmly turn him all the way so you're facing back the way he started. If you are relaxed and patient, you'll give your horse confidence and he will get fed up just standing still.
It's much less hassle in the end than picking a fight. Stubborn cobs often don't respond to the stick and spurs approach. You have to adopt the same mindset as them. Good luck!
 
Unless it becomes dangerous to do so, you must not let him win, I would try to get him to go forward, if not go straight to the school, wear him out with hard work, then take him staight back out, if he refuses, go back to the school, repeat until he realises it's a lot easier to just go out for a hack, and that refusing to go out means hard graft good luck.
 
I wouldn't recommend using force to make a horse do anything. This will only make the situation worse and make the horse not trust you. Try and be patient as possible and keep at it. Easier said than done I know but it will eventually come together for you both.
 
Had this with a mare I bred many years ago. it's long and boring, set yourself a task with him, like 10 yards up the road make a fuss and turn him back, do some schooling, next day the same and so on and build up the distance, will give you and horse more confidence in each other, and I know the feeling about losing your temper, makes you feel a right louse. Also I found in the end she just wanted to see what was further on, so she wanted to go on ,her choice.:D:D
 
I also have napping issues with my lad. Annoying thing is it did start to get better and we had 2 or 3 really nice hacks out on our own, then the spring grass came through and we've gone a bit backwards :-( However I have found that no matter how frustrated I get no amount of shouting kicking or physical punishment has any effect whatsover! My approach is to just sit it out and bore him into submission lol! Most times it works after just a few minutes but I have had to sit at the edge of a spooky field once for what seemed like an eternity! I'm sorry I have nothing else more helpful to suggest but I do sympathise and wish you lots of luck. x
 
I would also try and sit it out ask him to go forward if he does not respond then wait longer even if you are waiting for 45min. Just do not let him go back the way you came. Yes you will feel fedand frustrated up and yes you will feel like an idiot :) but eventully he will go forward. I did this with my horse that did exactly the same and it really doesn't take many hacks like this untill they give up trying! just make sure you give you self plenty of time so you dont feel preasured into turning round and coming back.

best of luck x

ps everyone gets reduced to tears I did last week over something daft. It makes you appriciate the good times even more!
 
If he's not doinh anything dangerous - ie rearing etc andis just planting himself then I think it will be a battle of wills. He is effectively saying "nope I don't fancy going out actually) so you may have to sit it out - do not get off unless it is getting dangerous. If ylou haven't tried already maybe try turning him round and then reverse him the way you want to go. Then turn him back round again and ask him to walk forward. If he still refuses then turn him again and make him reverse the way you wants to go - keep doing it until he finally relents.

I had to do this on my 24 year old pony the other week, He is not nappy as such but if he's that way out he'll decide he has seen something 'scary' and will stop, snort and reverse! The more I try make him go forwards the more he reverses so I have worked out if i MAKE him reverse in the way i want to go he eventually gets the message that I will win!!! I had to reverse him UP a steep hill when he tried this the other week. It took a while but I did win!!! You will find something that works but it's finding it that's the tricky bit!!! Hitting or getting mad can just make them act up more - although i fully understand how it does make you want to do it!!!!
 
galaxy23 said:
Twist ear? Never heard of this "technique" and to be honest I can't imagine it working... Only creating further issues.

My old boy went through a period of planting. If I got after him he'd turn/run backwards. So I just sat there. One day for about 45 mins! Eventually he just gave up and walked on! Battle of wills.
Click to expand...

Yes I had to do that with my mare - twice a year! Every year, spring and autumn, but once got her going we were fine. Once I had to sit on for 90mins.... With her, worse thing was to use a whip - she just got cross and had a tantrum. But I used to very very gently tap her on the bottom, continually, and it irritated her ..... very frustrating but patience, calmness and being firm will prevail!
 
ok, I had this with my old horse. So fustrating and I can truly understand how you feel. This won't neccesarily make sense, doesn't to me, I am a confident rider who has ridden and competed various horses for a living and bought my old horse as a 5yr old. He was the nappiest, bloody minded little ****. Wouldn't go out hacking on his own, couldn't even get him off the yard. Fine in company but wouldn't go in front. I tried everything until I had just about decided to give in and just hack in company and stay at the back and then I moved down south and took him with me. One day my new Mother in Law told me to take him hacking and she would walk the dog with me, after nearly laughing in her face, I said yes and armed with body protector, spurs and a whip in each hand we attempted to leave the new yard.....he didn't put a foot wrong, don't get me wrong I was happy but I could have throttled him. I was so embarressed. 5 yrs later we had had a few naps at a certain corner but basically never looked back. Moved to a private yard and he got even better and no naps at all. This horse then turned into a great hunter and I sold him on to an elderly gentleman to hunt!
Apart from obviously moving yards or borrowing my MIL lol, this isn't much help but I thought I would share my story, hang on in there :)
 
Well I think I will have to try the sitting it out technique. I only hack out so need to sort this. He will actually go out if someone walks in front of him anything so he hasnt got to deal with the *dragons* himself. There is a distinct lack of people to help out though where I am. Anyone got a good book for me to read while Im sitting it out ? I have sat here and composed a for sale ad so he is on notice. Make a good riding school horse probably.
 
ok my last resort, for a horse that you know 100% isnt in pain or unconfident but really is takign the p.. water gun up the bum. BUT you as the rider have to ready for horse to shoot forward and be confident that your not going to sock him in the gob, if you do that your just telling him going forward is bad..
the moment you go forwards ride forwards.. even if you need to do a few strides of canter on a rode. the main thing is your moving.

if possible you need someone on foot to follow you a couple of times.
 
I have a great book to read called "Horse Training the McLean Way" by Andrew and Manuela McLean. I think it's out of print, but they have new books out on the same topic. They use a pressure/release training system and I can vouch for how easy it is for novices like me to understand and implement. It's helped me across the board from leading and loading through to teaching my horses to jump and certainly stop napping!

I wrote up an essay explaining it, but it got lost in the ether. Basically, if your horse is napping then he doesn't understand "go". Go back to square one and transitions, transitions and transitions!

Edited to add: Here's a link to the McLean's website book store for their new books
http://www.aebc.com.au/shop/category/2/books
 
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I was given a horse that was like this all i did but you need lots and lots of time i just sat there and did nothing up to five hours at the beginning so boring but because he didnt get a respouse from me unless he went forward even one step you would have fought he won the grand national with the amount of praise he got but i never got of never lost my temper which was very hard when we got half a mile down the road then turn him round for home after three weeks could hack out no problems.
 
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