Napping at gate when scooling in fields / paddocks

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cob1

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Hi Everyone,

Had a bit of a bad time with the ned and now we have sorted out his hacking, he is playing up when riddden in the field.

He schools OK in a school (ours isnt very big hence i need to work him in a bigger area), but can do some little bucks / kicks when going past the gate - he 'hangs' at the gate if you know what i mean.

Was working in the field the other day (one he hasnt been worked in before), and was, when i was going past the direction of the gate, just going sideways while setting his neck. No amount of holding his outside rein and using outside leg would corrrect him and he was having none of it! He started bucking and tried to tank off. He is fine doing bends on either rein any where else in the field, so i dont think it is pain related - saddle, back etc all fine.

I took him back in normal schooling paddock he was OK.

What can i do to get him out of this habit, its knocking my confidence, especially as we are trying to practice show pieces and a prelim we are meant to be doing on sunday?
 
I have a similar issue, my WB wont school in the field, he naps to the gate and its got worse, he used to just stop but now he bunny hops, spins etc getting after him used to work it doesnt anymore so be interested to see responses to this. Sorry I cant help

as a thought do you think he associates fields with play time and school with work? this has been suggested to me, but ive never had a horse like it previously in 22 years.
 
put some poles down from where he starts to nap to where he will go forwards, i generally find that having to think about some thing else distracts them as they have to think about some thing else.

Also always dismount away from the gate/napping point so hes not getting into hes head this is where we stop.

and from half way up your schooling area to the napping point ride very strong, lots of leg, inside bend sit up tall and drive forwards, if needed use a whip to tap down the shoulder try not to think about the looking pretty bit as the aim is stop the napping, I personally wouldnt care how We got past the napping point so long as we did.
 
Thanks Purple pickle.

He works better in the paddock (we have jumps etc) in - a bit silly but i can handle it.

The new field, like the paddock he has never been turned out in (however there were 2 gates open which prob didnt help). It was the worst he has ever been and it really scared me!

He is a napper rather than a horse that would get too keen and tank off, but im thinking a horse that is forward would be much easier to ride and sort out!

What gets me, is that he is quite talented for his type, and has fab paces and if we could get this sorted he would do well at showing and dressage. We scored 63% in a Intro test the other week with some 7s and mostly 6s (we only practiced once!), but i think im going to struggle at Prelim because he has such a backward thinking attitude, especially to the canter.
 
Thanks Jhoward. We have already tried a jump and stuff to get him thinking like you suggested, which does work to an extent.

I really do ride strongly when coming to the problem area, and when i whipped him on the shoulder on friday, he put in a buck straightaway. He really knows how to unbalance you by setting his neck one way then bucking in the other direction - hes such a pain at times!

We even rode around the field in a group after a hack to see what he did past the gate, and he tried the same trick (not as bad).
 
Mine is the same, he doesnt buck or tank off, just runs for the gate sideways with his head in. It wasnt pain related either

I got a few lessons and was told basically..

Dont do any downward transitions near the gate, and dont get on/off at the gate. So only use it the enter and leave when your finished
We have an exception when doing dressage but I have to keep his focus
And when practising dressage, I do it at the bottom of the feild, away from the gate
Oh and the gate is always shut, It made me feel safer and more able to control him which helps me ride better

Dont lean forward, mine used to pull his head down so I got dragged down but I was told I need to sit back

I also carry a little whip and when hes not listening to my legs, I tap him on the shoulder to get his concerntration back, although this doesnt always work

I was also told to use everything, legs, reins, seat, voice. Ive been told to growl and shout at him when he does it aswell but I hate doing that

Dont make excuses for him, I used to say 'it was windy' or 'I walked too close to gate so it was bound to happen'

You have to ride the same every time aswell

Ive been doing all of these for the last few months and the napping gone from every ride, on hack, field, arena, to once more or less every month so something must be working :D

I know its really hard, I used to hate riding him, but now I come home all happy :D, yesterday we went in the arena and then on a hack on some roads which a few months ago I never thought Id be able to do, :)

Thats quite long isnt it, ask if I havent made much sense :)
 
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Helloamys, thanks for the reply!

I know exactly where your coming from - he just destroys my confidence at every opportunity! Its good to hear you are coming along great, and it can be improved! I dread riding him in the field which doesnt help. Im going to try him in the small paddock tonight (need to get some practice in for my dressage on sunday), and then try him in the big one again through the week - WITH the gates shut! :)

It feels like we have a couple of steps forward and 10 back at the moment!
 
cob1 said:
Helloamys, thanks for the reply!

I know exactly where your coming from - he just destroys my confidence at every opportunity! Its good to hear you are coming along great, and it can be improved! I dread riding him in the field which doesnt help. Im going to try him in the small paddock tonight (need to get some practice in for my dressage on sunday), and then try him in the big one again through the week - WITH the gates shut! :)

It feels like we have a couple of steps forward and 10 back at the moment!
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Its a horrible habbit itsnt it?
My RI said hes got a 5* hotel and needs to be good for an hour :)
One day I just snapped, Id spend 2 hours poo picking in his field and mucking out and got ready for a nice ride, he was horrible, really nappy and just taking the p***. I used everything, voice, legs, arms, seat, whip to get his attention. I had just had enough. Anyway, after the nap, I went past the gate 10 times and whenever he even thought about it, I made him think otherwise.
Now I try to stay a few step ahead of him, but I can ride strong, lots of leg etc, and he will still nap


Its alot of work, and a few times Ive felt Id rather just sell him but Im so glad I kept it up :)
We can go a few weeks with no napping so I begin to realx and ride differently, so he sees an oppotunity to nap and takes it. I feel like being back at square one with him.
 
ok , how about someting spooky by the gate to make him want to shy away from it? this may sound a bit nuts byt the idea is to make the gate way a place he doesnt want to be.

ballons? somebody blowing a whistle by it? anything he may not like.

I feel for you I hate nappy horses and its one of the biggest pains in the butt to get them out of. keep going though and dont let him having his own ideas knock your confidence you sould like your doing well. and when he comes out the other side, it wil of been your hard work and perserverance which you should be proud of.:)
 
Hi..I had exactly this problem..and any taps with the whip always resulted in big unseating bucks..so I changed tactics. When he napped to the gate I said to myself.."Going to the gate..what a fun idea!"' (to stop myself tensing up and getting angry!)' and when we got to the gate we circled on the spot and circled and circled.I would stop occasionally and try a step forward..if it didn't work off we went... "Circling again..what fun !" (!!).... circling on the spot again.Any step forward was rewarded with strokes and 'good boy'.If we made it to the centre of the arena we would stop and he was given a rest. By day four..no napping to the gate.! He learnt that the gate meant work and that the centre of the arena meant nice long rests and me dismounting!Hope this helps! I was always on my own and couldn't face a battle that I knew I wouldn't win!!! Good luck!
 
jhoward said:
ok , how about someting spooky by the gate to make him want to shy away from it? this may sound a bit nuts byt the idea is to make the gate way a place he doesnt want to be.

ballons? somebody blowing a whistle by it? anything he may not like.
Click to expand...

I like this one! I was think of a whistle or a some water/cup of tea/hose (although the water might be a step to far and i might end up on the floor!). :)

Thanks so much every body - ive got some good ideas to work with!

****Off she trots to get a bodyprotector and a water pistol.......... lol!
 
the water pistols work, ive used it many times.. a shoot up the bum.. as in under the tail they dont see coming and the pressure tends to make them clamp there bums down and shoot forward just be ready that u may get trown back and remember to keep kicking the whole point is that he is going forward!
 
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