Horses (especially young ones) are such levellers......

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georgiegirl2

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*sigh* I sometimes wonder why I bother!

Last weekend we took twig out to a training centre, for a youngster that initially was even terrible suspicious of poles on the floor to jumping trebles in gridwork after very few jumping sessions was extremely rewarding and we were ecstatic with her. The next day we went to our friends water jump for her first go and she was trotting and cantering through and really enjoying herself, and as mum said, trotting round on the flat she was simply on another level compared to others that were there.

So, heres us getting all excited about this potential event horse really coming together and developing into something really special and then I go and have a totally s**t weekend with her this week.

Went out for a hack yesterday and we had rearing and napping at one point (absolutely nothing to cause it, she can be very marish and stubborn). quietly sat there and every time she went up i turned her in small circles and then went forward and eventually after a few tries she gave up!

Then today I had a lesson scheduled with margot tiffany and there was no way we could get her to load. We tried feed, following another horse, lunge line and even tapping her bum (lightly!) with a broom. Nothing worked. It was bloody frustrating especially when she is stood on the ramp with her front two feet on, looking decidedly bored by the whole thing (she certainly isnt scared!) at one point, she even let out a sigh on the ramp
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anyway time was running on so in the end I had to chuck georges tack in the car and take him which he thought was very pleasant as he is getting left out with twig being around - hes not done 'proper' flatwork for a while now and its really given me some incentive to get him loosened and suppled up again.

Just really cannot understand twig. shes never had a bad experience travelling and its not as if we do horrible things to her when we go somewhere, she always has a whale of a time!

B****y stubborn mares pah!
 
My horse was similar when she was young (chestnut mare!).

Favourite trick was to jump beautifully for a few sessions, then randomly choose the smallest jump in the area (and we are talking a stick on the ground) and refuse to go within 10 feet of it.
 
I sympathise entirely. I spent most of Saturday afternoon trying to get my horse to jump any sort of tiny XC jump at Tweseldown.

The horse happily jumps at home, on residential camps, out in the woods/on hacks/in the park, workers fences etc... But yesterday he refused point blank to do it. He went up and down banks, cantered through the water having a whale of a time but an 18inch high obstacle of any kind eluded us completely.

Smile, walk away and try again tomorrow
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I know the feeling totally. Tarquin can be really trying sometimes. Last week I started out on a hack on my own and he has been good the last few months. Well bad timing as his friends where coming back the other way but I managed to get him past then he saw a walker going through the hedge not around it and had a total fit. He stood up, around and set off for home. I stopped him, he reared up again and in the end I had to go back as he was getting dangerous and it was not what I'd planned for a sunday afternoon. Anyway got back to the yard and was furious with myself and him, destroying all our good work about hacking out on our own and not rearing up. My friend did tack up her horse and we did go out for a short one to prove a point but I was just so p*ssed off.
 
If you know she is generally not scared of going in the trailer then you need to be a little more harsh than tapping her lightly with a broom
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Give her a shove up the bum with it, mean business because it sounds as tho she is canny and will take the upper hand if and when possible. How do you use the lunge lines?
 
The think is with youngsters, it is often 2 steps forward and then one backwards, almost as if they are trying to assimilate their experiences.

Don't be disheartened, this is nothing unusual and was going to happen at some point. Restart on the loading practice when you have no time constraints, start from the very beginning with partitions out if you have to, and just do it over and over again until your horse follows you on with no questions.

The napping needs the same kind of reinforcement and confidence building.

It may be that she is just taking the mickey, but can you afford to set her back by assuming this? Better to rebuild her confidence IMO.
 
What we do with youngsters that dont want to load is just keep trying getting firmer each time. We do load in bridles if necessary and also once on feed them in there. This seems to work.

Did have one who was particulalry trick and in the end resorted to hose pipe sprayed on bum which did the trick and he hasn't been a problem since.
 
She'll get over the napping when she realises it isn't getting her anywhere.

Do you think that the 'Jolting' trailer might have upset her?
 
well it was a bit more than tapping
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I didnt want anyone to think I was beating her in!

The lunge lines was the lunge line doubled over with a person on each end. We went training last week and really struggled and as always happens somebody comes over with advice. We got her in with them that day as I think we took her a bit by suprise but didnt work today unfortunately! she stood solid as a rock and at one point nearly ended up sitting down.

To be honest I think I'm going to have to go back to scratch. I initially got her loading beautifully by standing on the ramp and not pulling her lead rope at all and just holding a bucket of feed and in her own time she went in of her own accord. We need to get her to load because she wants to not because we are forcing her
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she really is trying it on. first the rearing/napping problems, which apart from yesterdays blip hasnt happened for a couple of months, she's figured that doesnt work so is now trying something else! I'm wondering what her next trick will be
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The naping is coming on leaps and bounds. Apart from the blip at the weekend she hasnt done it for ages and saturdays episode only last 5 minutes or so when she decided life is easier to not bother with it as it doesnt get her anywhere.


I dont think its the trailer to be honest. its only the past few times we have tried loading she has tried this and when we have eventually got her on she comes off the trailer fresh as a daisy munching her hay. A friend of mine follwed us to a comp the other week in her car and commented on how she spent the whole journey munching away as apposed to the first few times she was ever travelled when she came off the trailer absolutely lathered.

As much as she is extremely talented she is also very 'mareish' she can go from threatening with her back legs at you with her ears flat back to soppy lovey dovey thing in minutes. Its just over a year ago since we bought her at an auction from racing and she was an absolute nightmare to handle, weaved constantly and looked like a hat rack and although she is difficult sometimes i look back to what she used to be like and its a vast improvement! It took mum three hours to load her the day she was bought at the sales
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its difficult knowing what to do for the bes, none of ours have ever been tricky to load before.
 
Back to basics then, but do not dismiss the jolting trailer. My mare is a bit of a cow to load in my Bateson...in fact I would go so far as to say she hates it - she loves Ifors tho, I hate them, so we are at a sticking point!
 
Sounds like mine, will sail over anything big (or through it, sometimes), but will do a very dirty stop at a placing pole on landing, or a canter pole that I've scattered about the school. ?!

I think reptition is the only way, and when it goes wrong then back to the start. Same with the loading problem, go back to basics and move on from there. She's probably just trying it on, but make sure she's getting a good ride in her trailer as that can really put them off (from what I've heard).
 
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