Napping

[BobbyMondeo]

Im riding a mare at the moment for a lady at my yard and she will constantly nap, even in the school. She is 18 and has apparently done this all her life.

When she does it she will just start to slow down and when you ask her to move on again she will buck and stop then start this silly cantering on the spot move.
It hasnt unseated me at all and im not scared to ride her or anything just wondering what you guys thought would be the best way to deal with this or any type of napping. Thanks in advance

 

[dwi]

I know this is going to sound like a cliche but are you sure that she's not uncomfortable anywhere?

 

[BobbyMondeo]

pretty sure, i think she only had her saddle checked a few months ago. and once shes got over her little fit shes goes lovely

 

[jaypeebee]

Would you consider taking her right back in her training? If she were mine then I would start long reining her for the next couple of weeks. No riding just groundwork and long reining. After she is going forward without any hesitation at all then start back in the ridden work using a well planned out schedule of taking her back up the levels again.

 

[Cliqmo]

I found the most effective way of challenging my nappy mare was to have more patience than her!

Much like this mare, she would start getting 'sticky' and eventually stop, then no matter what you did she wouldn't budge

One day I had practically given up hope so just sat there and cried (

) after about ten minutes she got bored and started walking! It was a breakthrough as I realised she got bored easily

... through a bit of trial and error I learned that by bringing her to halt as soon as she got 'sticky' and making her stand for a few minutes, I had deprived her of the decision to nap so had got back my control, and by getting her bored before letting her move again it meant she didn't often complain when I asked her to start working again

It might be worth a try

 

[Sarah Sum1]

The gelding i bought would nap, he would set his eyes on something and stop dead and then rear. I found that if i kept kicking him on and was firm with him it actually made him panic more and rear higher! If i just stood him in the direction i wanted to go but kept still and calm, he would eventually just walk on. So you could try just ignoring it, just standing still until she has finished her paddy then try walking on? Sounds like your doing a good job staying on though!

 

[Kallibear]

Like Sarahsum1 I have a gelding who would nap over scary stuff and forcing him forwards would make him panic much more. Just sitting, ensuring he stayed facing whatever was bothering him then allowing him to walk forwards in him own time worked best. He initially tried napping then turning away but once he realised that the two choices were a) 'stand here for the rest of eternity because turninfg round wasn't an option' or b) 'being brave and walking forwards' he soon started to chose to go forwards and the napping grew less and less. He rarely does it nowadays.

However that method only works with a fairly non-lazy horse - I do know a couple of horses who would LOVE to stand in one spot for eternitiy! In which case making it unplesent for them at the same time (rocking them, playing with reins, 'flip-flopping' the stick off them etc) is often a better idea.

 

[Rosie73]

The idea that of sitting it out is a good one but only do that if the horse might be scared it gives them a chance to see what is around them. Other than this it is just being naughty so give the horse a variety of things to do so they do not have time to think. Keep asking questions of the horse. Also you mentioned she has always been like this how does the owner deal with her.