napping, how do i stop it ?

[hannah90]

So glad to see this as a subject as had my mare 2 months now and she has just started this. Luckily yard owner was following in the car when she done this, but she has been perfect and my ride Saturday was the first time she done this so badly. I was really disheartened. I tried the patient approach I tried the vocal approach , tried circling but she wasn't moving forwards for toffee
My mare is 10 though.

Some good advice on here worth trying


And CC, lots of people have said the same about Ds !

 

[baby_dudley]

Yes definately good advice. Hope I can sort this as she is my perfect horse in every other way! She obviously loves her home and friends too much lol x

 

[Caol Ila]

Whilst I agree that plenty of horses nap for 'reasonable' reasons (pain, fear etc) there ARE plenty of horses who nap simply because they don't want to do what's asked, usually hard work. It's an attitude thing: not all horses have a desire to expend unnessesary energy and would much rather stay here, thanks. There is always a reason napping but it's not always an acceptable one! There are plenty of lazy horses who'd just rather not work hard (like people!) because they find it an effort.

I have one. He does as he's told because he's a submissive little soul but in reality he'd much rather just stand, dozing (or even better, eating). If he plucked up the courage he'd try nappying (he did once and got a hard smack for it!). On the other hand I have a youngster (not yet broken) who desperately loves to rush about and do some work : he's the kind of horse who would only ever nap for 'acceptable' reasons (fear/pain)

I think even with horses who can be described as lazy (an evolutionary smart way to be -- better save that energy to run away from a wolf), it's still a question of training. Most people, including me, will be a little bit inconsistent in the way they are around horses and some people will be a lot inconsistent. Experienced horsepeople can be more or less consistent enough, hopefully at least for the horse they have (I have no trouble with my mare; not so sure I would get on with something super hot like Salinero). With the real uncertain and inconsistent novice, the horse never knows what the deal is with his human. Some are kind souls who try to work it out and go on regardless, but certainly not all, or even most. Can you easily send the horse forward off your leg? Can your horse trust you to be his herd leader when out on a hack? Have you even convinced him that you are the herd leader? A horse might try to balk, saying, "I don't think it's a good idea to leave the barn today," and a good trainer, if they've prepared the horse correctly, should be able to show it that leaving the barn is a good idea. If a rider has constant problems with "napping," that tells me there are some deeper, underlying issues. Not just that the horse is a lazy sod who just doesn't want to do it.

 

[mulberrymill]

Having been there and just come out the other side, this is what eventually worked for me.
1. Riding in company as much as possible, preferably in front.
2. On our own, oodles of patience, and mainly waiting it out for safety reasons, (spinning and running backwards on roads is not a wise move)
3.Occasionally getting off and leading past, but as I cant mount from the ground due to a hip problem, that meant walking home so was done as a last resort.
The breakthrough was those fluffy cheek pieces. He cant see all the dragons other than those in front of him and started listening to me instead of the imaginary demons in his head.
Now had 3 hacks on our own without them and not a nap in sight.

Its taken months, but we are there, and hacking is now a pleasure not a chore. In his case, it was total lack of confidence and the newness of everything as he was greener than the grass when I got him. For a good horse it is worth persevering, there is always a key

 

[FfionWinnie]

I would never ever make a horse walk backwards.

I put a 100% in all ways mare on loan. I owned her from 2yrs old and backed her myself. She hacked alone from when I backed her, in company, led nervous horses in any situation. The woman who got her on loan was less of a rider than she lead me to believe and I discovered the horse had started (at the age of 12) napping. So she made her walk backwards. So the horse started rearing.

When I got her back I got on her having not ridden for the whole time she was away and she napped. I sorted her. I rode her through the rearing and the faffing about which to be honest was a challenge when I was not riding fit.

She never napped with me again.

Put her on loan again to a very good and brave young rider. She tried it on, the rider sorted her, she never tried it again.

Nappers need to be made to go forwards. Not backwards and not in circles. I have a c x d who was a bit nappy when I got her. I rode her though it. Now she does not nap. There is curing, and there is coping. You want to cure.

Please get an instructor to help with your mare. It will be worth it in the long run.

 

[hannah90]

I would never ever make a horse walk backwards. Get somehelp with this mare please.

i dont make her walk backwards , or plan on . Not sure what you mean ?

 

[hannah90]

I would never ever make a horse walk backwards.

I put a 100% in all ways mare on loan. I owned her from 2yrs old and backed her myself. She hacked alone from when I backed her, in company, led nervous horses in any situation. The woman who got her on loan was less of a rider than she lead me to believe and I discovered the horse had started (at the age of 12) napping. So she made her walk backwards. So the horse started rearing.

When I got her back I got on her having not ridden for the whole time she was away and she napped. I sorted her. I rode her through the rearing and the faffing about which to be honest was a challenge when I was not riding fit.

She never napped with me again.

Put her on loan again to a very good and brave young rider. She tried it on, the rider sorted her, she never tried it again.

Nappers need to be made to go forwards. Not backwards and not in circles. I have a c x d who was a bit nappy when I got her. I rode her though it. Now she does not nap. There is curing, and there is coping. You want to cure.

Please get an instructor to help with your mare. It will be worth it in the long run.

your post just changed ! not sure what i quoted now !

 

[FfionWinnie]

your post just changed ! not sure what i quoted now !

A few people suggested it sorry, I didn't mean you would do it but I wanted to make sure you didn't. I pressed submit instead of space when I was typing originally so had to edit it!

 

[hannah90]

A few people suggested it sorry, I didn't mean you would do it but I wanted to make sure you didn't. I pressed submit instead of space when I was typing originally so had to edit it!

no, not going to try that one ! Patience seemed to work today, took a while, pointing her in the right direction and telling her to walk, got soaked but in the end she did go forward, as if she had forgotten why we were standing still !

 

[Kallibear]

Patience seemed to work today, took a while, pointing her in the right direction and telling her to walk, got soaked but in the end she did go forward, as if she had forgotten why we were standing still !

That's good Next time she'll go forwards quicker. Just ensure you praise when she does go, regarless of how annoying se's being! She'll do it for a while longer, and poss when she sees something genuinely scary, but in a couple of months time you'll read this back and wonder what all the fuss was about.

 

[Kallibear]

I think even with horses who can be described as lazy (an evolutionary smart way to be -- better save that energy to run away from a wolf), it's still a question of training. Most people, including me, will be a little bit inconsistent in the way they are around horses and some people will be a lot inconsistent. Experienced horsepeople can be more or less consistent enough, hopefully at least for the horse they have (I have no trouble with my mare; not so sure I would get on with something super hot like Salinero). With the real uncertain and inconsistent novice, the horse never knows what the deal is with his human. Some are kind souls who try to work it out and go on regardless, but certainly not all, or even most. Can you easily send the horse forward off your leg? Can your horse trust you to be his herd leader when out on a hack? Have you even convinced him that you are the herd leader? A horse might try to balk, saying, "I don't think it's a good idea to leave the barn today," and a good trainer, if they've prepared the horse correctly, should be able to show it that leaving the barn is a good idea. If a rider has constant problems with "napping," that tells me there are some deeper, underlying issues. Not just that the horse is a lazy sod who just doesn't want to do it.

It is all training and caused by the rider but that doesn't make some napping less naughty and unacceptable.

There're loads of reasons why they nap. Some are accpetable:

'I can't go forwards, I'm scared'
I can't go forwards, I don't trust you to keep me safe'
'I can't go forwards, it hurts'

are all 'acceptable' reasons and I have every sympathy for the horse. They needed treated at the root cause and benfit of the doubt given to the horse.

However

'I can't go forwards, it's means I'm going to have to do some hard work'
'I can't go forwards, I don't want to and I don't need to do what you tell me'

are just sheer bad manners and naughtiness. Yes, caused by the ineffective rider but no less naughty.

me Almost every young horse has a go at it at soepoint. They try the ' I don't really want to go forwards as it's hard work, I wonder what happens if I say say No?'
A skilled rider will make it absolutly clear what happens when they say no (it's unpleasent) but a novice rider will miss it and the horse quickly learns bad habits. Again it's still just naughtiness. But as you say, CONSTANT napping, that doesn't improve or gets worse has an underlying issue. Either the horse has an 'acceptable' reason for it, or the rider is useless. Real experience and skill is needed in deciding which it is.

 

[hannah90]

That's good Next time she'll go forwards quicker. Just ensure you praise when she does go, regarless of how annoying se's being! She'll do it for a while longer, and poss when she sees something genuinely scary, but in a couple of months time you'll read this back and wonder what all the fuss was about.

she had a fuss for being good ! no doubt she will do it for longer ! but im sure we will get there ! thanks