Napping 4yo, please help

[joben]

I need some advise. I've got a 4yo TB mare on a 1 month trial before I buy her. she is being kept in the owner's livery yard. she is very green but a nice type and 100% in the stable. I've ridden her each day this week- she is spooky in the school but not doing anything stupid and I have hacked her out with another horse and she has been quite sensible. Today I thought I'd test her and I planned to take her on a short hack on her own. she refused to leave the yard, everytime I asked she went backwards and eventually started to rear. I tried for 1 hr but unfortunately had to give in as I was worried about falling on the concrete.
my main question is- is this just a silly young horse thing that we will work through or is it a taste of things to come- will she resort to throwing a tantrum whenver she is worried? should I walk away from the sale or is this type of behaviour no big deal in a baby? How should I handle the situation?

 

[Bossanova]

I forgive babies some nappiness- natural wariness is no bad thing but this sounds like it has prob napped before and therefore has that nappy mentality.
what do you want the horse for? with time you could prob work through it but imho, a nappy type will aways have that slight backwards thought

 

[tigers_eye]

If she knows how to go backwards I have had some success making a horse rein-back the whole way round a hack.

Also blindfolding a horse and having someone lead it (it is pretty dangerous to be on top of them if doing this in case they trip).

I wouldn't say she is a write-off, at least you are aware of what she is capable of if challenged. The question is will you be able to nip this behaviour in the bud so that she learms there is no point - if you can then keep her, if not don't! Don't saddle yourself with problems though if you're not happy with the prospect of her doing it, there are plenty of nice horses out there who don't.

 

[joben]

Hoping to event her.

 

[Bossanova]

As Tigers Eye says, their are ways around the issue if you're prepared to take the risk and the time. Personally I've been let down too often by nappy horses and esp in eventers, if that ever comes through in the xc then you're restricted with what you can do.
I would really put her to the test in the rest of the trial and expore how deeprooted her nap is before you decide to keep or not

 

[Frazer]

My mare does this she is a 9 year old tb, and I can get her to leave the yard now, but coming back is the problem, she gets hotted up runs on the spot, and if i ask her to stop will go backwards and rear the same as yours. Personaly I would ask the owners if they have any ideas and thoughts on this.. Then maybe try leading her around the hack, see how she is! Hope this helps

 

[dieseldog]

As you don't own it I wouldn't buy it. There are plenty of 4 year olds around that don't nap. If all you are asking it to do is walk of the farm that isn't a lot, if its straight it would do it.

You can't get into a big arguement with it as you don't own it and if anything happened its not your horse. Also if you decide to give it back after being firm with it the owners may decide that you've 'ruined' it somehow and refuse to take it back.

If it naps now at something small imagine what it will do on a XC course when it comes across something it doesn't like.

 

[vicijp]

Being so young I can forgive her.
Coupled with the spookiness I would suspect she wasnt broken in properly. Take her out on the long reins for a week or so. Take her alone, go everywhere and see everything she is ever going to not want to see.
Then ride her out by herself, if she still does it I would start to worry.

 

[eohippus]

Yes I would still consider her, as this may be a security thing at this yard, Ask the owners if they take her out alone at all, it may be that she is not used to being oiut in the big bad world alone and as a youngster would not necessarily have the trust or ability to cope yet, this may not mean that she will do this forever.
some horses improve immediatly once they are away from somewhere familier, see if you can get someone to lead her away from the yard, then see if she improves whilst out. Once away from familier surrounding she may put more trust in you. Of course if you do buy her this is something to consider straight away to minimise her getting into the habit at her new yard.
If you get a chance do some simple spook training at the current yard to see how quickly she accepts the problem facing her.
hope this helps
Dawn

 

[kateD]

This is a tricky one, my mare had exactly the same problem ( although didnt find out until after I'd brought her!) It becomes very dangous when the horse has learnt to rear as well to evade going forward. I made sure that whenever I rode out of the yard that someone was behind me with a whip/broom (anything!) although this was never used to hit the horse just as an aid to drive her forward and think twice about stopping and rearing. The most important thing to do is not let the horse turn around, or give up and ride back to the yard. If I had no one to help me I would get off and drag my mare down the drive!! I think you've got to weigh up if this mare has enough positives to out weigh a big negative like napping to consider buying her. My mare is fine now ( but it took a year to get her 100% nap free!) Good luck!

 

[KatB]

Yep agree that long reining is one of the best ways to get a youngster walking out and thinking forwards. My boy had been done as a part of his backing, and has always been forward thinking, so I think it does them the world of good.

Good luck with her, but don't buy her if it becomes an ongoing issue.

 

[Peanot]

Hi, I had my mare as a 6 yr old, 3 1/6 yrs ago and the first time we tried to venture around the village, she was backing and semi-rearing with spinning thrown in too. It took me about 15 mins to get her to go the first 100 yards and then she kept going but still kept trying it on. I just kept going and managed to get her all the way round, although it turned a 40 minute hack into an hour. After that I rode out with a friend with me keep going in front as she didn`t like this much at first. After about 2 weeks of us doing this, I decided to take her out again. This time it took about 50 minutes with the odd semi-rear and spin. I just kept taking her out and after a week, the ride was a 40 minute ride with no spins at all. I used lots of leg and praised her when she went forward. I found that we first left the drive, it helped when I trotted her and kept her going forwards. She hacks out now anytime on her own without any hassles at all. She has always been a spooky mare and this has made it harder with the x-c, but in her defence, she isn`t nappy at all when we go X-C or sj etc.

 

[maestro]

Iwould worry this is the wrong time of year to take on a nappy horse and to be honest if you one to event this is not the sort to buy. If you have one it has to be sorted but I wouldnt buy one. My four year old goes on her own whereever you ask her has done from day one. Thats why Ican happily sell her knowing she is ready to do what ever is asked.

 

[Tilly06]

Just my personal opinion, but i wouldn't buy her. Like someone said there are plenty of nice horses out there, that are well behaved etc even at four years. The purpose of the trial has served its purpose its highlighted possible problems etc, up to you what you do with that information now. If it was the odd buck or general nap, then id probably forgive her for her age, but not rearing. ive seen it happen with a friends horse, and it escalated until it was dangerous (not implying she is going to go the same way). definate no no but thats just my opinion, good luck with what u decide to do x

 

[lillie07]

Just my opinion, but I would never buy a horse who was showing any kind of a nap- the fact it rears when challenged would be a definate no no. When asked to hack alone my 4 year old can get a little wobbly, but it is just a security issue, but with a little reassurance is fine. The way I think about it is that if he puts up a fight the first time you ask him to do something as simple as walking out alone, somewhere (i presume) you had been previously, what will happen the first time you go to dressage- or the first time you put him at the bottom of a XC course? There are so many gorgeous youngsters about. Good luck with whichever you decide to do.

 

[goeslikestink]

i agree with all replys but i want you to think --

ask yourself have you the confidence in your riding to make it work-- if the answer is no-- which i think it will be as you gave up--no offence but youngsters are and can be nappy but you must be confident in your riding giving clear signals if you hesistant the horse will know and play up --

you have to ask yourself are you a good strong confident rider--
in order to handle this perticular horse---
if not then fair play to you
but be aware the owners could turn it around and blame you for the napping--

only you know if this horse is right but dig deep and be honest withyourself then decide and stick to it -

 

[Iceni Warrior]

I had an ISH that spent 2 weeks on his back legs refusing to leave the yard after I had an incident on the canal tow path where he refused to go past something and I had to give in or get dunked in the canal! So I had to just spend however long it took to make him go where I wanted, I remember once he was rearing, runing backwards, leaping around and this guy stopped in his car and waited whilst all this went on, then when the horse finally went forward he said 'can you please tell me how to get to Althorp House' .........

but back to the question ... I would either not buy this horse or at least get the trial period extended, and then be prepared for some long fights, which you MUST win.

 

[The Voice]

I am sorry, but obviously you have never ridden a young horse before. Give it back before you do any more damage and there is another problem horse and get something that is older and has been produced properly that you can enjoy.

 

[AmyMay]

Has it ever hacked out on it's own?

Have you spoken to the owner - if so what did she advise?

Personally - I wouldn't worry. It's only a baby, and everything is new to it. We very rarely hack out the youngsters on their own tbh. Building up to it gradually over a matter of months after they have been broken in.