My horse won't come in!

[SamGlynn]

Hi All,

I wondered if anyone could give me some tips on bringing my horse in from the field. When I got up to him in the field today he stood perfectly still and allowed me to put on his head collar and lead rope as always but then he planted his feet and would just not budge.
He is not difficult at all to catch he just stands and waits for you but today is the first time when he would not walk with me. I tried using pressure and release on the lead rope, every time he took a step I released the pressure but then he just stopped again. I tried to hit him with the lead rope where the riders foot would be whilst putting pressure on the lead rope. I tried walking him side to side. All of this and only 5 steps in 20 minutes :mad3:
In the end I had to leave which is probably the worst thing as he will now think he can do this all the time. I'm thinking I will take my whip up next time but I'm unsure of what to do with it and where to use it on him.
Any suggestions?

 

[Clodagh]

You need to make standing still really annoying, so rock him by the head, slap his belly behind his forelegs and just be really, really irritating.
If you can lunge you can use a long line and a whip, as it allows you to drop back behind them.
Little sod, I am sure you will soon have more suggestions.

 

[cobgoblin]

He he... We had a horse that did this for 30yrs...a big cob, the sweetest horse and a willing, sensitive ride, but this was his 'thing'.

He would do it on the way in from the field or on the way out from the stable, but always went through the stable door or field gate... So basically just stood in the yard and looked at you benignly as if to say 'what are you going to do about it?'. He didn't do this in bad weather which was a bit of a giveaway. You never knew when he would decide that it was a stopping day... But if you were in a hurry it was almost guaranteed.

We tried various methods over the years. Turning his head to the side so that he had to walk a small circle, backing him up, a tap from the whip. Even a shove up the backside or a nice bristly broom up the bum... They all worked occasionally, but in the end the most effective method was just to stand there totally ignoring him... In fact, looking the other way admiring the hedge. He'd give up pretty quickly once there was no fun to be had.

 

[SamGlynn]

HaHa thanks cobgoblin. My horse is also a big cob - I hope this doesn't become his 'thing' lol. He does tend to stop at least 2/3 times on the walk from the field to the yard. He just stops puts his head up and has a good look around but normally will start walking again after 20 seconds or so when I pull him on. Today he was totally unbothered by me and just looked at me like 'What?!'.
I have heard of the broom method I must admit, I might have to try that if this continues and I will also defo try the ignoring him and see if that helps!!

 

[Surbie]

Mine did that to me a few times in the month or so after I got him to myself. And will still occasionally. The only thing that's worked is not giving up trying to get him to move: backing up, pushing him over on his shoulders, turning small circles - I'll even get behind and give him a push start. He will move for a bit of carrot, but not very far when he's in that mood, so I don't like to use them. If he knows I won't give up he will give in first. He isn't allowed to start grazing again so there's no fun in just standing still.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Take your schooling whip, make sure you lead him from the shoulder and swishe the whip near his quarters to move him on. You shouldn't need to touch him with it but you must not let him drop behind you. You might find it useful to have a helper walk behind him, swishing the whip or twirling a lead-rope behind him.

 

[SamGlynn]

Thanks for the tip Pearlsasinger, I will give that a go - it makes sense and sounds like it should work!

 

[Shay]

Does he back up reasonably well? When my daughter's young connie does this we simply reverse and walk backwards. After a while he gets bored walking backwards to we offer the option to behave and walk forwards nicely. If not... backwards again!

 

[Diddleydoo]

Does he back up reasonably well? When my daughter's young connie does this we simply reverse and walk backwards. After a while he gets bored walking backwards to we offer the option to behave and walk forwards nicely. If not... backwards again!

This reminds me of the early days with my mare. She loved a good plant

The only 2 things that worked were reversing as Shay described or turning her head to throw her off balance so she had to move her feet. I can't tell you how many times I zigzagged the bu**er up the field. I walked so many unnecessary miles.

 

[SallyBatty]

This reminds me a bit of my mare a few years ago when she refused to walk with me to the gate. I had tried by getting her to move her front feet from side to side and tried tiny circles but she just wouldn't move forward. In the end I led her back to the closest cross country jump that was in the field, fixed the leadrope to both sides of the headcollar and then clambered on top of her and rode her down to the gate - I think she was so surprised that she didn't think about not going forward, lol - and luckily the other horses in the field didn't take any notice of us at all. I only had to do that the once and since then she is normally fine to lead in.

 

[LaurenBay]

Take your schooling whip, make sure you lead him from the shoulder and swishe the whip near his quarters to move him on. You shouldn't need to touch him with it but you must not let him drop behind you. You might find it useful to have a helper walk behind him, swishing the whip or twirling a lead-rope behind him.

I second this suggestion. Keep him thinking forwards and by your shoulder and use the whip. If he does stop then I would make contact with the whip.

 

[scats]

Pull him sidewards, he’ll have to move his feet to get his balance. Then pull him the other way. Keep doing it both sides, it’ll annoy him enough that he’ll eventually walk. When he does, instant release on the rope and lots of praise.
I have cured several planters using this method. Diva was one of them!

 

[SamGlynn]

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. I thought I would give you an update on the situation. I went out yesterday on my own to bring him in with my whip this time! He let me catch him perfectly as normal and then I could almost see his brain ticking over on if he should move or not
I gave him a little tap with the whip on the bum as I started to lead him and he was fine. He had a couple of stops along the 10 minute walk but I managed to get him going again straight away without the whip. So I guess i won the battle this time but something tells me that i haven't won the war lol.

 

[eggs]

Definitely a good step in the right direction. I had a very big youngster who took to planting and I did what scats said with the making him move sideways and it worked very well.

 

[Surbie]

Well done though - and perseverence will win the war.