Horse throwing himself on the floor!

Potato!

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Have you ever had experience with a horse that throws himself on the floor cause he was having a strop both on the lunge and under saddle on the lunge.

All checks carried out. It's defiantly a strop. He was being a bit nappy and as he was not allowed to go back to the yard and he just fell on the floor. He got up checked him ( he was ok) and carried on. I got on him whilst still on the lunge and he had another little strop then all of a sudden he dropped his head stamped his foot rolled his eyes and dropped to the ground, I jumped off before he rolled on me. I got on and got after him but every time he backed off and tried to put his head down I pulled him up and kicked him on to get him going forwards. After 3 more attempts to drop he started to work.

Don't know I've never known a horse do this but. My friend who was helping me thinks he's learnt that by throwing him on the floor he gets out of doing what he doesn't want to do. She thinks its going to take a lot of work to get out of this habit as now he has done it under saddle it could be quite dangerous especially if he decides to do it on the hunting field.

Has anybody got any tips on how to stop him doing this before he damages himself or the saddle.
 

Frozen Hoof Boots

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Not my horse but other livery... Yes have seen a horse do this many times where the saddle was too tight in front and was pinching. New saddle.. Hey preso
 

Potato!

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Saddle is defiantly not too tight in front. Had it checked last week by the saddler. He has been known to do it with no saddle on also. His back has been checked and ok as are his teeth which were done 3 weeks ago.
 

ihatework

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I have fond memories of a friends horse who after 3 hours of trying to get it on the lorry, he lay down at the bottom of the ramp. That was a true equine 'two fingers' job!!
 

be positive

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I had one horse that threw himself on the ground in a strop when being lunged, he only did it the once as he was made to get up and work immediately, no stopping to check he was ok, just a crack of the lunge whip and a lot of verbal encouragement to get him up and moving forward ;)

I had a pony that came in with a well ingrained habit of going down very carefully to roll whenever he felt like it, this was never going to stop even with a bigger child on he just got down, definitely no reason other than he knew it meant he could stop work, we tried everything but he was given away as a companion because he was unsafe to ride.

I think it needs to be dealt with very quickly before it becomes a real habit, if you can don't jump off but get after him before he is properly down, the pony was going to be impossible to cure because of it's size it was halfway down before anyone could react, something bigger should be easier to read and an adult should be able to be stronger than a child in this type of situation.
 

Potato!

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The 1st time we stopped to check he was ok as we thought he'd just tripped and gone down. We didn't realise that it was anything more until he did it again with me on his back again he's not done that before which is why I wasn't expecting it. As I said I got back on and got after him and kept getting after him so he couldn't. Next time we won't stop to check and will carry on regardless. As I really don't want this turning into a habit.
 

TarrSteps

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A variety of horses for a variety of reasons. There can be physical reasons, as discussed. It can even be a seizure disorder but in those cases the horse is usually obviously altered when it happens, although it can be very quick. I've ridden two that would just sort of shudder and collapse!

BUT I had three to start that did it and they were all out of the same mare!! They were on a stud so it wasn't anything to do with handling and there were others around by the same stallions. All three really did just chuck themselves on the ground when they got stressed or annoyed. The oldest did it the first time the saddle went on and we obviously thought there was a physical issue, although he was a pretty stroppy customer. Finally I just got after him and that seemed to sort it. The youngest one had to have surgery as a yearling and then had to handwalk in the middle of winter, up and down the barn aisle. When she decided she'd had enough, when another horse might have kicked out or tried to pull away, she lay down on the concrete! If I hadn't seen it I would not have believed it.

In the vast majority of non-physical cases I've seen the horses have been "driven" to it BUT those three taught me that there are rare individuals who really do think it's a viable demonstration! If you have checked your horse thoroughly and he responds to relatively straightforward correction then it may very well be a resistance. If it persists get him assessed by a professional, I'd say even before seeing a vet. If it is physical they should recognise the signs and then you can go with a medical investigation but if it isn't then they should be able to help you nip it in the bud.
 

Potato!

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Thank you for your comments, glad to know that it's not just me that's experienced it with a horse. I do believe that it's resistance but will look to get a professional to view him. My friend is experienced and has brought on many horses. She was quite adamant that it was a strop as he was doing it in the same place on the lunge each time then when he got up he bucked and tried to tank off back to the yard (when in hand). That's why I got on he didn't do that when I got on. So I was getting after him before we got to the point where he would be thinking about doing it. Eventually he stopped trying to do and worked nicely.
 

JillA

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If you forget about human emotions like strop and two fingers, (and you are 100% sure it isn't a physical problem) you begin to see it was a behaviour he used at some point when something he was being asked was too much for him. That behaviour worked, so he kept it in the memory banks to use again as a successful strategy - positive reinforcement in action. There are two ways to cause a behaviour to die out - the longer one is to ignore it and it will eventually go away, possibly after an extinction burst when briefly it gets worse in a last ditch attempt. The other is to respond with an aversive - something the animal doesn't like - and they can be most effective when the behaviour is about to present, so look for that tiny window of warning that he is about to do it. Work out some aversives - waterpistol will do it if he hates hose pipes, jumping up and down and flapping your arms might also be effective, running towards him noisily, hitting him certainly will but will have the unwanted side effect of making him frightened and/or resentful so the ideal is something he doesn't recognise as being directly from his handler. Interesting stuff
 

Potato!

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That's a good idea. He can be quite stroppy and a thuggish way at times and nearly always when he's being asked to do stuff he doesn't want to do. You can see him literally thinking about ways he can get out of doing whatever he is supposed to be doing, wether walking around the outside of the school or something else.Out hacking he is forward going and a pleasure to ride.
 

LEC

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Is the horse a cob? We have only had this once and it was with a horse we had as a foal. It was also part CB!
It was a joy to break but every time it did not want to do something it would lie down. Twice it happened once while educating it about ditches and the other loading. As a 4yo it went through a very nappy stage and spent half a hunting season being nagged along and my father sweating with effort and then suddenly it finally got it and was fine. We are very stubborn though and it was not allowed to get away with it.
 

Potato!

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His breeding is unknown but I was told he was IDxTB but I'm not so sure he looks to have alot of welsh d in him but at 16h maybe a sec d x
 

TarrSteps

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The ones I knew were full tb. They were also naturally very brave and unbothered and turned into good amateur horses.

Come to think of it, I rode another who did it, although he only did it once with me, the first day and not while ridden. He was from a family known to be smart and tough but I knew who had had him before and always felt the horse had good reason for his wide range of ways to say no! He was also very brave and came good.
 

ester

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Mum's old pony used to lie down, one at a RS I knew used to lie down and an exmoor pony who through a proper strop when being rebroken a couple of times and threw herself on the floor in front of the arena gate ;)
 

Potato!

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That's encouraging as he is very brave but if he was to spend half as much energy doing what he is supposed to be doing instead of trying to find ways to get out of the work he will be fantastic. But he seems to try different things every time.
 

Potato!

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We think he's sec d x tb but unsure. He is too intelligent for his own good at times but very brave.
 

Honey08

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My gelding can do this sometimes. He will threaten to rear and start to twist as though he is going to throw himself on the floor. He has only actually done it once, while having his teeth done - that time he put me in hospital.

I find, with him, it is mostly when he is being pushed out of his comfort zone faster than he'd like. I find that a good stroke and a calm word works wonders. He is 90% wonderful, kind, soppy horse, so I try to keep him in that mode. The only time he has done it out of pure no-reason naughtiness was his first time on a farm ride when he wanted to go and I was waiting for a decent gap between us and the lead horse. On that occasion, a loud growl of his name and a slap with the whip on his shoulder seemed to snap him back out of it, then a stroke and a pat..
 

Honey08

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My gelding can do this sometimes. He will threaten to rear and start to twist as though he is going to throw himself on the floor. He has only actually done it once, while having his teeth done - that time he put me in hospital.

I find, with him, it is mostly when he is being pushed out of his comfort zone faster than he'd like. I find that a good stroke and a calm word works wonders. He is 90% wonderful, kind, soppy horse, so I try to keep him in that mode. The only time he has done it out of pure no-reason naughtiness was his first time on a farm ride when he wanted to go and I was waiting for a decent gap between us and the lead horse. On that occasion, a loud growl of his name and a slap with the whip on his shoulder seemed to snap him back out of it, then a stroke and a pat.. Touch wood he seems to have outgrown it a bit, or else I have learned how much to push him perhaps.
 
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