Nappy cob

[mollymonster123]

Hello,

Looking for any advice please.

Had my cob for 8 weeks, hes 9 years and came from a reputable local dealer.

Bought him for hacking, everything has been great apart from a few ground manners, which I am working on.

He is kept on his own and does not show any signs what so ever about being bothered by that. He is fantastic in traffic and has been on many different routes with no problems.

Over this weekend he has turned into a horse that i dont recognise, very nappy on the roads to point of dangerous for me and traffic, very nappy in the lanes stops dead and is completely dead to everything. Crop does not work, turning in circles does not work. Its like hes has completely changed personality in 2 days!!

Any ideas what could have happened? Last weekend hacked out without any issues. The only thing that happened this week is that I got his back checked for no reason other than it would be nice thing to do for him as hes newish to me. He enjoyed it and the lady said his movements where great and showed no signs of anything.

I am an older novice rider, and really stood my ground yesterday when he first started this behaviour. I was out for hours, trying to wait it out hoping he would get over it. I managed in the end with brute force, crop, lots of leg to get him going forward. We ended up in ditches, in hedges but I kept on and finally got going. Today was the worst refusing to move forward as soon as we got to the main road. He was very dangerous, turning going the way he wanted all over the road. He was so strong I couldn't do anything. I had to get off in the end for my safety and I lead him back home.

Any advice would be very appreciated.

 

[meleeka]

Try leading him in hand. It sounds like he’s having a bit of a confidence crisis. You aren’t yet well known enough to be trusted as his leader and he’s nobody else to take cues from so he’s making his own decisions on his safety. In my experience you can’t bully a horse into being brave, you have to let them work it out. Plenty of groundwork will help with that.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Essentially with horses, you need to set yourself and the horse up for success. Always stack the odds in favour of things going well.

The problem with horses is that they are prey animals. They hide how they are feeling very convincingly for survival purposes and therefore observation is an utterly unreliable way to know how stressed he is or not. This is why I have read scientific studies that use heart rate, eye temperature and the stress hormones in the faeces to assess the real level of stress that a horse feels.

Please move to a good yard where your horse will have company and you will have support from an instructor. This will be the start of setting the partnership up for success.

 

[bonny]

Stop arguing with him, you are going to lose

 

[be positive]

Essentially with horses, you need to set yourself and the horse up for success. Always stack the odds in favour of things going well.

The problem with horses is that they are prey animals. They hide how they are feeling very convincingly for survival purposes and therefore observation is an utterly unreliable way to know how stressed he is or not. This is why I have read scientific studies that use heart rate, eye temperature and the stress hormones in the faeces to assess the real level of stress that a horse feels.

Please move to a good yard where your horse will have company and you will have support from an instructor. This will be the start of setting the partnership up for success.

All of the above, he is probably losing more and more confidence as time goes on, the days are shorter, the weather has been dreadful and living alone is becoming more of an issue even if it is not obvious to you, as a novice you have probably missed the warning signs that someone more experienced may have picked up on and if it is not to become a seriously ingrained issue something needs to change as soon as possible, the first thing that is easy to address is to get him company by moving to a yard where you will also have some help.

 

[Starzaan]

Firstly, please move to a yard where he has company and you have support from much more experienced owners and riders and a good instructor. Then get said good instructor to help you with him as he’s having a crisis of confidence.

 

[Bellaboo18]

Sort out company for him and the rest will fall in to place.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Horses are not adapted to living alone and most don't do well in that system. Other posters have explained why, above - do yourself and your horse a favour and move him to somewhere he can have company and thrive.

 

[mollymonster123]

Try leading him in hand. It sounds like he’s having a bit of a confidence crisis. You aren’t yet well known enough to be trusted as his leader and he’s nobody else to take cues from so he’s making his own decisions on his safety. In my experience you can’t bully a horse into being brave, you have to let them work it out. Plenty of groundwork will help with that.

Thankyou for your response.
Lots of other replies are saying to move to a yard. I have my own fields/stables where I live so it is very convenient and cheaper to keep him close. It wasnt your first answer and I wondered what's your opinion on this? Do you think non ridden company in the field with him would help him be more confident on a hack or make him more dependent on company. Thankyou

 

[AmyMay]

Oh, if you’re keeping him at home get him some company should be easy.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

If you don't want to move to a yard (even temporarily while you get through the initial ups and downs of new horse ownership) then you need to get an instructor to come to your yard/stables. Yes, a companion is an excellent idea. You could have an initial issue with separation anxiety though because horses who have been alone can express it more than horses who have always been kept in herds. So again, stack the cards in your favour by 1, getting a companion who is happy to be left behind and 2, booking that good instructor to help you.

ETA - I should have made it clear that you will need to have the instructor out regularly to begin with. Having experienced eyes on the ground who can assess both you and the horse will give you much more accurate advice for your ridden/any other issues than anyone on a forum can give.

 

[meleeka]

Thankyou for your response.
Lots of other replies are saying to move to a yard. I have my own fields/stables where I live so it is very convenient and cheaper to keep him close. It wasnt your first answer and I wondered what's your opinion on this? Do you think non ridden company in the field with him would help him be more confident on a hack or make him more dependent on company. Thankyou

The horse that’s going out is rarely the problem so if you find him a friend that doesn’t mind being left I think it might help. He’ll learn over time to trust you and if he’s settled and happy in his field he’s bound to feel braver all round.

 

[mollymonster123]

Thankyou to everyone for taking the time to reply. It seems company and an instructor will be the move forward.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Agree re. getting a professional in to help you; when I first got my old boy, he'd been in a trekking centre and hadn't ever been out on his own to my knowledge!

I got a professional in, who taught me about working on the ground first and foremost, little games to build confidence, always setting realistic goals i.e. a walk down the road (wearing a bridle) in hand, then a little bit of praise/reassurance, and return. Then next time out go a bit further, or even better a circular route. When you're ready, you could tack up, lead out in hand, circular route, and return. At some point you may feel confident enough to just hop up and ride home.

You WILL get there, but a professional will be able to guide you towards achieving your goals. You need someone who will be able to help you to be a good Herd Leader to your horse, he needs to be fully confident in you to look after him whilst he's out, and that is a big ask for a creature that is a natural prey-animal with the flight-or-fight response.

While you are waiting for your professional, have a look at the Michael Peace website and/or get hold of one of his books, he has good sensible practical advice. Also have a peek at the Intelligent Horsemanship site - you hopefully would be able to find an instructor near you. All I would say is to consider carefully if you go the Parelli route...... others will no doubt contradict me - but you could spend an awful lot of money and still get nowhere.

Good luck. You WILL get there!

 

[oldie48]

I keep a couple of horses at home, one of them is a companion who is Ok about being on his own ie doesn't show any outward signs of being unhappy as long as he can get his head down to eat. However, When he's been on his own for a while and my mare comes home I know that I have to be careful with him until he's settled back down. He gets quite anxious if Rose goes out of sight and if we are out for a couple of hours at a lesson, I know it's better to keep him in with something to pick at. Horses are very adept at hiding what they are feeling but it does tend to come out in other ways. I hope you find a way forward with your cob tbh i have never met a truly relaxed horse that was kept on it's own.

 

[mollymonster123]

Thanks again everyone for your replies.

I have an instructor booked and going to get him company. Currently looking at maybe rehoming a companion only from a rescue centre.
As I am new to horse ownership, I am also wondering if owners with retired horses look for grazing land? Instead of huge livery costs would a retired horse be ok with 24hr turnout? Does anyone now what would be a fare amount to charge someone?? And what they would expect in return?

 

[splashgirl45]

its a good idea to get him company as this is likely to be the main problem with his confidence....there are lots in rescues so that should be fairly easy. yes people do like to have grazing for their retired horses but sometimes another person can be more trouble than they are worth so you would need to be very careful especially if their horse was injured by yours.......if you can afford it i would go for the rescue companion....

 

[Bellaboo18]

I think this sounds like a great plan
Rescues should have lots of companions available. It's best to try and get something that matches your horses feed requirements so if you've got a good doer that can live off fresh air get one that can do the same. Also make it clear the companion will be expected to stay on his own while you ride.
Good companions are worth their weight in gold. I've got a Shetland, he's a good doer but never had laminitis and he won't bother when I take the horses away to ride.
Regarding having someone else, it's a good idea but I'd be careful. I think it's far easier to have a companion you are in 'control of'. It's ideal for most retired horses to live out 24/7 but obviously they'd come in to have their feet done and maybe for a groom etc, it depends on how your chap would cope with this. As for how much you can charge it would depend on where you are in the country? and what other facilities you've got? Is there a stable for emergencies?

 

[oldie48]

I have a sect C on loan from a friend, it's a great arangement for both of us but he is a fatty whereas Rose is not. So that presents some challenges. For me the key thing is that the companion will stay on his/her own without becoming upset and that is quite hard to find but when you do find one it's worth dealing with the any other issues that arise. I am stupidly fond of my loan pony and to all intents and purposes, he is mine and I treat him exactly as I would if he were. I fully expect him to live his life out with me except I suspect he may outlive me!

 

[Spotherisk]

I would call the person who came to check his back. It may be that a slight change that she has made feels ‘odd’ to him and he’s struggling with the change ie the saddle may be sitting slightly differently etc. I went to the osteopath last week after a three year break and doesn’t the two following days feeling lopsided and drunk - but she’d put me straight.