Napping

[ghosthooves]

The mare I ride naps really badly in group rides in the school if there are horses standing in the middle while we're working individually. I've tried using more inside leg//outside rein, backing my aids up with a stick, etc to ask her to stay on the track but she completely ignores me and just tanks off into the middle where she stops dead and refuses to move. (She also cuts off the ends of the school even when there are no horses in the middle, and when they are in the middle she sometimes gets dangerously close to them and I feel absolutely powerless to stop her

). What is the best way to deal with this behaviour?

 

[dwi]

Apart from asking for a different horse....

I would take her straight back out again and make her do at least one lap of the school before you stop the exercise. She needs to learn that coming into the middle means that the work just carries on

 

[moneypit1]

i have only ever encountered napping with a "new horse". Often it is a sign of pure insecurity. xx

 

[Cop-Pop]

The mare I have for lessons at the RS naps badly too - I think it's because a lot of people let them get away with it.