Napping

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emzkes

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hello
i wonder if anyone could give me advice on how to hack out a nappy horse. he is a fizzy TB ex racer who has had some time off. he had some problems with sore back muscles that were causing him to buck, aswell as what we think was a sugar intolerance causing him to be hyper. he has seen a physio, his back is now fine and he is on unmollased chaff only so no heating feed at all.

he has been getting quite bolshy and dificult to handle, taking off suddenly then bucking on the lunge and refusing to move, running bakwards etc when im trying to lead him to schooling area to lunge or long rein him out.

i think a lot of this is he has gotten away with it while i was waiting for his physio appointment and the time off after the physio. he has also got realy attached to his field companion, a shetland filly and naps realy badly, i cannot get him out the yard. he is just taking the p*** out of me really.

i am keen to get back on board as i feel i have more control on his back than i do on the ground. ive given up on the lungeing idea as i think it winds him up. but i would like some tips on how to get him to go forward when he starts napping. and what to do when he spooks and threatens to take off/buck.

any opinions and advice would be great!
 
Sounds like he could still be in discomfort somewhere. If its a sugar intolerance he could also have an intolerance to grass and I guess that your boy is out at grass a lot? He sounds a lot like one of my ex racers- he was a incredibly nappy and bolshy bugger when his stomach was hurting, but just fine when he wasnt having stomach trouble. He was intolerant to just about everything (espec grass) and he could only eat bland hay and alfalfa.

Would try puttiing him a diet of just bland hay and alfalfa for about a month/6 weeks to see if his behaviour improves, along with gastric supplements like coligone. If that makes no difference, and vet has given him a clean bill of health, you should prob call someone professional, to come and give you a hand and deal with the napping once and for all!
 
I think it depends on the horse as to what works best. I've tried various methods with mine and have found the most effective to be sitting quietly, but insisting on the dierection of travel. If he wants to stand still, fine, but we DON'T turn round....he soon gets the message and carries on. It's actually worked really well so far and he's doing it less and less now.

What sort of physio did you use? Proper Physio, or Osteopath etc....?
 
thanks for the replies. He is out 24 7 just now but there is realy no grazing in the field and he has ad lib hay in the field instead. a gastric supplement sounds worth a try tho as he is a windsucker aswell. coligone sounds like its had some good results from reading their website, i wil see if i can get some from the saddlers this afternoon.

im reading up on kelly marks' methods just now and dont know if it would be worth trying a wip wop thingy? has anyone on here had any success with them?

it was a proper equine physio that saw him. he is very very good so i trust him. he has had the vet check him over and do his teeth and his saddle fits too
 
As long as you are certain he is medically fine, there are a couple of approaches. Some horses do respond to being given an almighty pasting, but many like mine are made worse. I find sitting quietly like jumpthemoon suggested usually works - the horse will pratt around but just keep quietly facing him in the direction you want to go with your leg on and stay there until he gets bored. It might take an hour or two first go but eventually they realise it won't get them anyway. Another trick I've found works if they really do plant their feet or start running backwards is to turn the horse around and make them go backwards for about 15-20 yeards. When you turn them around and ride them forwards, if they nap again repeat the exercise until eventually they get so fed up they go forwards. Whichever approach you take, always make sure you have plenty of time and lots of daylight hours so you don't have to give in and put a neck strap on him so he doesn't catch you out with a sneaky buck or rear. The kelly mark's wip wop thing is a good idea but I can't help thinking it is a lot to manage unless you are used to using the wip wop - staying on horse, wopping horse at right time, avoiding traffic/trees/fences etc. I'm sure it can be very useful but I'm not sure I'd want to try it first go on a horse that naps while hacking out!
 
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