I learned what napping was today....big time lol!

S

Songbird

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Hi

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I have had my new mare for 4 weeks - i love her! she is 16.1 Id X Tb 17 year old ex 3 day eventer, as a novice so far my golden first horse - she's not good with other horses & takes a while to get to know them but soon settles & hasnt done anything to worry me until today, whilst out on a hack with my friend on her aged reliable horse my horse spun round & cantered off until i pulled her round & made her go forward, i dealt with her but she did it about 3 times & as a novice its worrying - i'm sure its me but we have hacked out about 2 or 3 times a week & she only just did it today - i have had her teeth etc done she has a well fitted saddle & no expense is spared when it comes to her health etc. What can i do - she often stops when the other horse stops & it is difficult to make her go forward but she has never spun round & ran off before.... any tips advice etc????

Thank you in advance x x sorry its a bit long winded xx
 
You've only had her 4 weeks so it's probably no more than her testing the boundaries to see what she can get away with.

Try having some schooling lessons on her, you need to build your confidence and instil in her that you are in charge and she can trust you.

From her point of view she is in a whole new environment with people and horses she doesn't know and it will take time for her to build a good bond with you.

Don't expect to much of her to begin with, she will be taking confidence from the other horse so I wouldn't be worried about her stopping when the other horse stops at this point.
 
In my experience as a one year on owner of my first horse, I'd say your horse is showing classic signs of not having the confidence in you to see it out of trouble should anything arise and its saying it would prefer to go home where it feels more safe.

Joe used to do this to me and still does some times. I would just do a lot more bonding work, ground work so that your relationship is so much stronger and you build on your trust with each other. Are you able to do a lot more schooling with each other? I can't do this with Joe as he hates the school with a passion so we have to do stuff on little hacks and, even though he doesn't go forward very well, he's so much more relaxed.

Time and riding is your friend, enjoy everything, learn from everything but respect and listen to each other :)
 
when you say ground work do you just mean longreining,lunging, and walking in hand or are there particular exercises you can do. Have been doing previous with my VERY nappy lad but nothing else. Have to say he is excellent as doing thesestill wont move forward though on ride
 
Thank you for your answers - has made me feel a lot more relaxed about it - I have been in touch with her old owner & she says that she also used to do it with her & to keep doing what i'm doing & she will stop it - agree completely on the schooling & have called an instructor & am going to do more in the school as well as hacking - its obvious she's not going to trust me yet as she doesnt know me - i wouldnt have faith in a stranger & i'm really enjoying bonding with her & i do make a point of spending loads of time with her without making her work etc - you guys are great its fab having all this experience at your fingertips it makes me loads more confident xxxxxx

i think by groundwork it means just that working with them without being on them AM xx
 
ground work is the time you spend brushing/feeding/fussing/leading.
the more time you spend with the horse on the ground the more chance that in a sticky situation the horse will put trust in you that you will get the horse thru the situation that its decided to be scared of.

just a thought, could she be missing her new boyfriend :eek:
and just wanting to get back to the yard;)
 
You need to be her leader and give her confidence. Try to hack out on your own a little if here is somewhere safe for you to do it, this builds trust faster than anything else will. Also, in hand grazing around the hedges alone with her, I know this sounds daft but if you think about it, horses graze with their mates, don't they?

Any time you spend with her, just the two of you together will not be wasted even just sitting in the field with her, she may look like she's ignoring you, but she won't be. Do these things without making any demands of her and you'll become friends too. You will be building a base from which you can work up from. Think, as from today, it's we, not I.

She sounds like she is going to be fun and a real character. Enjoy and good luck!
 
I think you're partly right Kiteman, i just need to learn what to do when it happens, i rightly or wrongly smacked her & made her go forward - mostly through being worried what she might do next!!! I'm looking forward to being able to relax & think i know what to do here. :p

thanx for being so positive in your posts i thought people might be neggy her & say she's bad news !!


I think she was pushing boundaries a bit too

:-)
 
The main thing is to be confidence. Don't concentrate on how many times she tried to run off, concentrate on how many times you stopped her!!! Think of this as a positive incident when three times you told her that running off is not an option.

It's also recognising that other little niggles, like stopping when the other horse stops, are signs of napping. If you can keep her going, give her a little boot with your legs to say, "I really mean it now, move!" and a big pat when she does it. If she went forward from a smack you were entirely right to smack her. Better to smack her once and teach her to listen than to make her dead to the leg and willing to take over matters in her own hands. Sounds like you are doing great though!
 
I can relate to how you feel. I was so disheartened when my new horse threatened to spin, buck and run for home when i took him out. I got off him and together we walked the short route and came home friends. After that I walked him out just me and him and gradually built up to getting on him when we were heading for home. We just built it up from there until we could leave the yard mounted and finish mounted. Stay calm it's very early days. Hope this helps a bit.
 
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