How do you deal with napping? (alone)

[Patterdale]

FreddiesGal - I meant that he will know that he gets a treat once he goes past, if he's napped. If he just walks past no hassle - no treat. They are v wily like that as u probably know!

It's not about 'scaring' the horse - but IMO it has to respect you and know that if you ask it to do something, it has to do it. No buts.

If you sent the horse to any professional yard or rider then this almost certainly how it would be dealt with, and after one or 2 hacks it wouldn't do it any more and would probably be a happier horse because it's not fighting every ride.

One argument = job done

But it's your horse and totally up to you, obviously. More than one way to skin a cat

 

[Peegeesmum]

No offence, but IMO by getting off and giving him treats you are teaching him that this behaviour is ok. It's probably just a habit now.

I would ABSOLUTELY not give treats and I would also be very loathe to get off.

If he does it when he sees something he's scared of - fair enough, he might be a bit scared but tough luck IMO. He needs to learn that even if HE thinks something is a bit scary, it's not going to eat him. You have to make him go past and then the more it happens the more he will see that the plastic bag in the hedge will not actually punch him and take his lunch money!

Tbh, I have dealt with LOTS of napping horses. Apart from one, just one, they were all being naughty. And they have all, apart from that one, been cured by a good hiding.
Slate me if you like, but it works and it's how pretty much all professional yards will cure a nappy horse for you (but they just call it 'strong forward riding!').

Once you win one big argument you will only ever need to growl at it. Once you have got past the point that it was napping then be as nice as pie and make a massive big fuss of it.

But bottom line - horse goes where you want it to, even if it finds it slightly scary. It trusts you that the 'scary' thing isn't going to hurt it - but that fighting about it will not be pleasant at all.

Again, please slate me all you like - but it's never taken me longer than a couple of hacks to cure a properly nappy horse!

We did the same with one of ours. She put up a hell of a fight in the middle of the cross roads,but we couldn't let her win,so we spun her tight & spanked her bottom! She was drenched in sweat,but she finally gave in & trotted up the way we wanted to go & NEVER napped again!

 

[FreddiesGal]

If you sent the horse to any professional yard or rider then this almost certainly how it would be dealt with

The exact reason I would never send a horse to a 'professional' yard

Just out of interest, what sort of characters did the nappy ponies you worked with have?

 

[Bernster]

I have similar problems with my mare, I've tried the growling and really pushing past but this always made her reactions worse. She goes up if i do this and gets higher and higher each time i make a fuss.

I now just sit it out, took one time of just sitting there and not letting her turn then eventually she went the way i was asking, if im going to hack alone i make sure i have time to sit it out so if she nap's she never wins.

Yep, worked for me this weekend. Also a mare. First time out on our own. We had a mini debate about whether we would go past a field of goats or not. Tried a few different things but the one that seemed to work best was a moment to have a look and stare, then when she relaxed a bit, a squeeze forward and off we went. I was thankful for the tips I've seen on HHO before as it meant I was calm and patient, trying different things and we worked it out. I felt that pushing hard, thumping/whip, would get a bigger reaction (and we were on the road) so I went softly softly instead.

However, when my normally bombproof boy did the same at a field of sheep (what is it with my nags and small animals?) what worked was a boot and a whack on the bottom. Horses for courses eh. Or mares and geldings perhaps?!

 

[LG's Skivvy]

Mine plants himself firm, refusing to move, then runs backwards, plants himself, leaps sideways, we have ended up in countless ditches and crashed into many a tree, then he eventually bolts for home

I can't ride him with a whip of any description and won't get off as he doesn't let me get back on again. Only once was he dangerous enough for me to dismount as he was bolting down a very windy lane with lots of blind corners and I could see him either slipping over or running head on into a car.

Wish there was a magic cure as I rarely hack now & nobody will ride with me. I used to have a circular route but have to double back on myself now which has made the problem 100 times worse

Looking at the tips here

 

[Crazydancer]

I'm noting a LOT of this stuff down!! My old gelding will go past anything pretty much and always has. He does have an issue with JCBs/big tractors, but even so will go past, and I've never had him just plant. I know when he genuinely has a problem, and would get off, lead, and back on. But he is 14.2, and I've had him 19 years so we know each other well.
My young mare however does nap. And only just finding out how badly. I tried to take her to a show yesterday, and she really had a melt-down there. We hacked over fine as she was following my gelding, but once at the showground, forget it. I tried to do an intro dressage test, and did eventually get round, but it took ages, and I lost count of the times she planted. No amount of leg or stick was working. I remembered other advice I've read on here about getting their legs to move sideways if not forward, just to get movement, and did eventually get her to move, but it was SO embarassing. I tried the sitting quietly for a moment until she relaxed a little and did manage to squeeze her forward - but it only worked the first time I tried. She also has napped while out with another horse, and seems to have a problem with sheep and cows.
I am going to try the 'keep her working' method, and the 'spin round and round until she gets fed up' method, the 'turn round and back up past the scary thing' method, and if all that fails, I'm taking food and drink and going for the 'sit and wait' method.
Hopefully one of those will work, as after yesterday, I know the big stick isn't going to work with her.

 

[Patterdale]

FreddiesGal - tbh unless it's a total headcase it doesn't really matter what character they have - a horse is a horse. I treat them all the same (with minor variations for individual personalities) and this means - Consistency, Discipline, and Kindness. Same with kids IMO!!

I love my horses and when I used to work professionally I cared v much for all clients horses too. I think they like me too, they are always pleased to see me and every one comes when called.

But none of them nap!! Or bite, barge, kick, pull back when tied up, or do dirty stops at fences. They know the lines and they don't cross them. Because of this I don't have to 'tell them off,' at all, hardly.
I have always thought it is better to come down hard on an issue and nip it in the bud, than let it drag on and on.

IMO one big argument, over in 5 mins, is better than having the same petty squabbles every day and on every hack

 

[chestnut cob]

A comment about horses who run backwards... my big horse has been known to do this. I spin him 180 degrees and he usually carries on going backwards... straight past the thing he didn't want to go past! After a few metres he realises he's been outsmarted and gets on with his job!

 

[loisb501]

For me it's the more I push forwards the faster he goes backwards!!

Mine would do this, at one point she was backing up into barbed wire/ electric fences (which i hoped would 'buzz' her forward but she just shot forward a few strides then planted and shot backwards again that time also involved her going vertical twice in a row and bouncing around with her head on the ground and i genuinely think its because of the way i was riding it- i was forcing her to go, with my legs, stick & voice and she just shut down. That's why now just sitting there seems to do the trick

She does sometimes try to go backwards but when she does i turn her until i'm facing the way i want to go and just sit... after about 5 seconds she goes- i think it's finally clicked that im not giving in.

I hope you manage to sort it out, im pretty much there now but it has taken a few months. If the sun had put his hat on more often i might have managed to get out hacking more often...but Dundee has rained pretty much every day for the past month and a bit

 

[WestCoast]

Many years ago I owned the stroppiest cob known to man. He'd been owned by a gypsy who hadn't had much time for him before I had him and first time I rode him he dumped me and legged it.

Anyhow when I first had him he was very scared of cows. Would pretty much sit down and refuse to go past, or try to spin and bolt. So with some patience and help if a friend's calm mare who he liked we taught him to go past with no fuss.

A couple of years later a nice, very competent lady started to ride him during the week for me. After a while we were having a chat and she said to me "he's really scared of cows isn't he?". I think we'd both been had.

And then there's the story of the time a jet fighter went over and he ended up sitting in the bonnet of a land rover.

Mostly though with time and patience he was completely bomb proof in the end.

 

[FreddiesGal]

On a few occasions he's backed up and gone down a few small ditches which taught him a lesson for about half an hour. I live in SW France and pretty much all of my hacking is in mountains and as you can imagine the thought of him reversing back and down the side of a cliff isn't a cheery one!