napping and naughty spooks

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dizzyf

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can horses just 'grow out' of these things?
My horse seems to nap and spook for no apparent rreason other than he's trying to avoid work.
He's a bit lazy, but I also joke about him having ADhD!
Do you think it's just a phase (he's 8 but not done much, so really he's a big baby)
 
I hope so, as I have an 8 year old who sounds similar to yours - however, my neurotic 15 year old pony just gets worse the older he gets!
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Daisy is massively less nappy than she was when I first got her but I wouldn't say its because she grew out of it, more that I didn't give up as previous owners had done. I was told she wouldn't hack alone but I was quite determined she was going to and after three months of hard work she was fine. She will still occassionally spook but she knows that it doesn't get her anywhere so rarely bothers making a scene unless something is genuinely scary.
 
I know exactly how you feel. I had a very very very bad napper as a youngster, but with perseverance and kindness he rarely naps now and we can go out for hours on our own, but I think it will always be something he has ingrained in him and I am always prepared for an episode
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People will tell you to look at getting your horses Back, teeth etc checked, but sometimes napping is more psychological and you have to figure out what it is and why it is they are napping. You might find a pattern has already emerged.

I haven’t had much napping in the school but from experience, with a young horse or one that hasn’t done much, keep your sessions short and to the point and most of all fun so they want to work, lots of praise and reward, I wouldn’t go on for an hour arguing with each other, it’s not worth it. 15-20min of good structured work is much better.

As for napping out hacking, get your horse out with other confident well behaved horses and go in a circular route if you can, if you have to get off you haven’t lost a fight as some people put it. It should never be a fight in the first place. Get off and walk as long as you need to till your horse is confident again to go forward.

Good luck, if your horse is fit and well, you should be able to reduce the napping instances x
 
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I hope so, as I have an 8 year old who sounds similar to yours -

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I have one too and really really hope so!

We hack out alone because I'm determined to. How bad she is does seem to depend on whether she's wearing her ID head or her TB head at the time
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