Napping and bolting coming in from field

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Tiger21

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I have had my 4yo for about 6months now and I bought him unbroken. he was sent away for breaking at the beginning of November was backed and walk/trot off the lunge before he took an abscess and was on box rest for over 2 weeks abduction due to the weather hasn't been taken back into work since.

I have had him home for about 4 weeks and he is turned out/taken in by someone at the yard Mon-Fri. A couple of weeks ago he bolted away from the gate when he was taken in and the next couple of nights he apparently kept stopping then going into reverse when asked to move forward. I hadn't had any bother with him when I do him weekends until tonight when he was first to come in...he was awkward to catch and got half way up the park, stopped and as soon as I asked forward again he starts going backwards. I had a schooling whip with me but with his heavyweight rug on he feels nothing. eventually got him to move on and we got a bit further then he started backing up and spun round and took off - he did this another 2 times, once I managed to hold on. what can I do yo try and get him out of this before it becomes a habit?

he is turned out 8am-3pm with 7 other geldings, handful of chaff at night and ad lib hay. hoping to start working him again after Xmas but need to get him out of the field first!
 
Lunge line off a bridle and gloves/hat for you.

Could you ask a helper to walk behind him with a lunging whip/long swishy schooling whip maybe with a plastic bag tied on the end so the second your gelding considers stopping they can cause all manor of excitement behind him to get him moving forwards again.
 
Get a training halter and teach him to yield to pressure and to lead...is the simple answer for a permanent solution.

I wouldn't bother with the whip. If he anticipates being assaulted if he naps, he will just want to run away.

I wouldn't lead him in a bridle either. If he tries to run off, you'll only hurt his mouth.
 
AengusOg said:
Get a training halter and teach him to yield to pressure and to lead...is the simple answer for a permanent solution.

I wouldn't bother with the whip. If he anticipates being assaulted if he naps, he will just want to run away.

I wouldn't lead him in a bridle either. If he tries to run off, you'll only hurt his mouth.
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I prefer to use a cow halter but hesitate to recommend to novices as they are not as easy to respond quickly to the horse's behaviour without practice. I would NEVER recommend a controller halter to anyone as I feel that they are too thin.
 
hiya,

I used to share a horse that would sometimes bolt on the way in from the field, normally as soon as you got him through the gate. I bought a dually headcollar and did some work with that. I found it was particularly important not to let him get his neck straight as then he could just run. I also began giving him a treat before and just after the gate so his attention was on me (he was very greedy!) every time we went through the gate. This made a big difference and did seem to break the habit.
 
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