Napping away from home?

noblesteed

noblesteed

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Does anyone else's horse do it? My WEIRD horse has developed a new naughty trick - refusing to go HOME when we hack out alone. We haven't been able to ride much over the winter due to weather, no school/lights etc. He has had full day turnout every day, so not cooped up in his stable. So we have just been hacking and competing at weekends.
This new trick came about after xmas, I was off work so hacked him out every day, gently as he was unfit and trying to use circular routes wherever I could. Every time we have been heading for home we have got so far, and he has just planted, backed up and spun, refusing to go any further down the road, despite his friend calling to him in the field. I am very experienced in preventing his napping away from the yard as he used to do this on a daily basis and I know exactly how to move him on now, so thats not a problem.
These new naps seem more like massive tantrums, a smack and a boot does nothing, neither does encouragement, and he just gets more violent! The only way I have managed to get him home each time is just by quietly sitting out the tantrum, this is fine but he will run towards cars and pedestrians so this is why I am asking for advice!
To cap it all off he did it yesterday out hunting - we had all gone the wrong way so had to turn back to loop around a field - he had a massive paddy at having to turn back, reared up, spinning in circles. Everyone else cantered off and left him but he wouldn't follow, thankfully a girl came back for us and I got him to settle.
It's so annoying - great to have an eager horse but he can't half throw a wobbler when he doesn't get his own way! It's naughty and I want to know how to stop it!
Thanks guys!
 
You have my sympathy! I took my fella out alone for the first time since before Xmas yesterday, it took me an hour and 10 mins to do 1.3 miles! Grr! (and destroyed my YOs perfect lawn in the process.)
Its unusual to nap on the way home though isnt it?? Once we were coming home I had the opposite problem and had to hang on a bit! Will be interested if anyone else has this problem. I wish my boy would want to stay out longer, you would think I was torturing him instead of taking him for a walk!

eta... sorry that wasnt much help, good luck though, I hope you get some good advice!
 
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Mine has started napping away from the yard i.e. decides he's turning right at the end of the drive. Pretty unusual but for a while I only rode to the bridge and back so I guess he thought it was an easier ride!
 
Just maybe get him checked for pain my previous mare would nap any were, though in hindsight it was if it was slightly down hill, she had pain problems Maybe he is just a bit uncomfortable.
 
Hmmm, difficult one this OP. I think a lot of horses are scatty at the mo - its gotta be to do with the lack of exercise and/or disruption of routine due to the weather, or summat.

My boy used to be a right toad to get out on his own, would nap like hell, now he's fine on his own but has started to be a right prat in company.

I just wonder ..... if there's something that your boy is anxious about at the yard? Maybe another horse is victimising him and making him feel insecure?

You say he was nappy going AWAY from the yard initially - I wonder if this is still a "nappy" problem you have, only its being manifest in a different way, i.e. he's still having issues going forward when you ask and how you ask, and this is maybe the thing you have to tackle?

My trainer has taken me and mine back to groundwork; the horse wasn't listening to me as his herd leader, he was unsure about my leadership and was looking to the greater "herd" (i.e. the company he was with) for his leadership, and was ending up confused, which is why he's being misbehaving. The horse needs to respect you as herd leader wherever you are - and that means going forward when YOU decide and at the speed YOU decide.

Personally, I would be inclined to take a step back, for a while, and do some groundwork with him using a pressure halter and a long rope, the idea being that he has to focus on YOU and not whatever's happening around him and/or whether he's going away from home or towards it. Make him go around you in a 6 foot circle on either rein, keeping him close to you is the key - you are herd leader and this is what would happen in a herd. Make him go backwards, forwards - walking fast beside him and then slowing (he should go the speed YOU go); then do some turning in a circle. The one who makes his feet move is the herd leader. If you need some input, the Michael Peace website is good.

The herd leadership issue also affects feeding: mine used to ambush me whenever I appeared at the stable door with food - now I make him back up and wait politely for me to put his feed/haynet up, THEN he's allowed to eat. All part of him respecting me and being polite.

It sounds like your boy has some confidence issues which is normal with a nappy horse - he needs to be able to trust you, and vice versa, and if you're in a situation where he's being nappy with traffic around then you need to take heed for your safety and if possible deal with this issue in a safe area off-road. If you're getting stressy coz there's traffic around, then he'll sense that mega-quick and will pick up on it, so for your safety I think you need to sort this in a safe place first. I always ride out in a pressure halti underneath the bridle and carry a long rope coiled up on the saddle (like a cowboy!), then if I get a situation which merits it, I can easily slide off and instantly start doing groundwork. This immediately focuses his attention on ME -which is what I want. Some people say Oh don't get off because you've admitted defeat, BUT sometimes this is just what the horse needs to give him confidence; and I certainly wonder if this might be the better option, for now, if you encounter traffic and he's being nappy. If it does the trick, then why worry what anyone thinks?

Good luck anyway; your horse sounds like mine; clever plus quirky!
 
Yeah we have been working on manners on the ground, well since I bought him in fact! He has always been bargy and rude, even with other horses. Hence he is covered in scars from where he has been bitten, and he is always having his rugs torn :/ We have done groundwork to death to be honest, as had his previous owners - he knows all the tricks and moves. So he can almost beat you at your own game in that sense!

It's almost as if he has a tantrum and doesn't know what to do with himself, like he gets SO wound up that he can't think... know the feeling sometimes.

Hmmm maybe pain could be in issue, I'll keep an eye on that.
 
I was thinking my youngster was the only idiot in the world. Apparently not. ;)

Pips did it the other day. He's only just backed and riding for short toddles but he decided he was NOT going home, he wanted to keep going and explore. Thought I'd have to get off and lead him, he was being so stubborn about turning round. :rolleyes:
 
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