I feel bad, but ive had enough :(

SNORKEY

SNORKEY

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Rode my boy tonight, he's 8 yrs old and is great to handle on the ground, and is a very lovely horse to look at and ride when he's having a good riding day.
But ive been putting up with his napping, and bad behaviour for years now, I had to give up county level showing due to it.
I took him to a yard to get away from his beloved mare as I thought he was too attached to her which is why he was doing it , and moved somewhere with facilities etc last year, it worked and he hacked out for miles and never misbehaved.
I moved him home due to not having any grazing at that yard, and since christmas he's behaved. I had an opp 2 months ago and have just startered riding him again after he had 5 weeks off, and he's gone straight back to square one and tonight and napped the whole way around the bridle path and then on the main road!
He just plants him self and I tried stiing there and asked him to walk on calmly and that didn't work, tried to turn him, use more leg, that didn't work, so them gave him a few smacks with the whip, that didn't work!
Then after 5 mins he just lunges forward and canters on the spot or trotts at 100mph back to the yard.
Ive really feel guilty for smacking him and when I got back to the yard i took his tack off and shooed him away into the field and left straight away with giving him no treats or dinner, he kept coming back to me but i was so angy I kept shooeing him away again.
And he's pulled my neck really badly were I was trying to get him moving.
Apart from moving him away again to another yard and breaking his mares heart (they really love each other, there is another mare on our ard as well) I dont know what to do with him.

Sorry its long but It's very upsetting after all the work that ive put in he's just reverted back so quickly to be being horrible :(
 
Both you and he have had a lot of time off. I wouldn't worry too much if the first ride out isn't everything you might have hoped for. He has (presumably) not been out much while you've been ill and so today was a big change.

Try something small and easy to get back in to the swing of things to start with. For your health and both your sanities!

Deep breath and smile!
 
Hi,

Try long reining him for a week, that way you can send him forwards without straining yourself and be a bit more bossy from the floor! This is the first thing I do if I have a napper in for re schooling.
 
It must be so dishearting for you, but just remember he did come good at one point and i'm sure if you do what you did to get him there in the first place he will be there again....
Good luck.
 
This is the third time of riding him since ive started back up again, and rode him in the fields the past two times, he even napped then and bucked, even though he had his mare in sight.

I'd like to have the heart to sell him, cos I know he'd be better with someone who rode him all the time and done things with him, but ive had him since a foal, and he loves my mums mare so much, when I brought him back last time they went mad nuzzling each other like long lost friends, so I dont have the heart to do it :(
 
You are soooooooo more experienced than me as I only bought my horse last year and I can't believe that you don't know the answer. You do know it don't you and it's not selling him is it, you just don't like being the baddie do you?;)
 
I feel for you as Im in a similar situation and its awful. Ive owned my horse for 8 yrs, he doesnt nap anymore but is a heart in mouth sort of ride, so spooky and no self preservation, if it means getting away from whatever it is thats causing the trauma that day.
Ive decided enoughs enough. Next year is THE year, Im going to give it my all, buy a wagon, get out and about and if it doesnt work out (if I make it in one piece :eek:) then Im calling it a day. Ive had enough, horses are supposed to be fun. Ive had a few horses over the years and always been able to hack out wherever I wanted, go to shows etc and have fun. Its hard as you do get attached, I love him to bits but he is the first horse Ive had that has made me feel restricted.
 
I know how you feel, my mare I've had for 10 years! At the age of 6 or 7 she started napping, would not leave the yard alone at all. She reared (and she has a vertical rear, not for the faint hearted!!) and backed down ditches and everything. I really started to feel my confidence go, in the end I had to hold my hands up and say can anyone else help, so I sent her to her breeders (who also train and SJ) they long lined her everyday for 2 or 3 weeks but again everyday had the same issue, you may win the daily battle but never the war!!!! So she came home, and I was left with the decision of sell or move yard to somewhere with more liveries to hack with (as she would follow others) school 100% and she was awesome in the school!!

I loved my YO but also loved the mare, so I moved! I only ever hacked out with others, never pushed the issue, after a few months of following I tried to edge her up level with lead horse, after a while of this she just took lead and then hacked out alone, she just forgot there was ever a problem!!!

So saying all that, if there is no way to work around his vice, and ignore the problem and see if it goes away, and if it's between loosing your confidence and not enjoying keeping him then you may have to resort to selling, but you could possibly try having another rider on board first (worked for one at my current yard, the owner knew the signs and became afraid to see it through, so the horse became wise, a new rider on board was enough to get him out again) or send to a trainer for a bit of work if you can't. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
 
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