Nappy/Lazy horse

J

Jade and Dolly

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Hi I have a 7 year old mare we do Showjumping and XC regularly and she can love it and fly round or she can just refuse to walk and when I try and push her forward she will either go backwards or refuse to move! But when she starts to walk backwards she will kick anything in her way!!! And even though I shout and people theywon't move!!!!! This is becoming a big problem because it's her napping badly and I can't do anything to stop it she will do it at any time during a competition but mainly when leaving other horses!!

How can I stop her doing this?? I've slightly improved her from doing this by giving her regular brakes upped her food to a large amount of competition mix and sugar beet!! Which makes her move and Spurs (otherwise she won't move at all at any time) had the back lady, saddle fitter, vet and farrier out and she's perfectly fine! But she's started competing about a year ago and she always does it!!


How can I get her to stop napping ???!
Any suggestions/ ideas /anything will be appreciated
Sorry for the confusing SA but I'm starting to lose hope with her now!!!!
 
Upping food won't encourage horse to want to work. You say all chks i gather teeth as well. Check all tack, all health aspects. Then cut out competitions for a while. Good old fashioned hacking. One on one. No expert regards competing, but great believer in hacking. You need to teach your horse to want to work for you. Good luck.
 
Sounds like she has gone sour. Possibly because of something that has happened before you got her - possibly more recently. Why did she only start competing a year ago? How often do you compete, and how often do you train at home? What breed or type is she?

This type of behaviour happens when a horse is really bored or tired of competing; or something when they have had a bad experience they can't get over. They work out that you can't make them do what you want them to do and that is pretty much it.

The only way to deal with them once they have gone sour is to give them a complete break for a while and then see if you can get them back in slowly. So turn away completely for a while and come back slowly with the help of a good instructor. Look at what work you have had her doing - and the frequency of competing - and make sure you have enough variety and space in your schedule. Also that she isn't over worked at home. Aim for nothing more than some fun rides this summer and perhaps a bit of autumn hunting to see if that can sharpen her up a bit.

From experience it takes twice as long as it took for the problem to develop to fix it. She's been doing this for a year already so reasonably plan for it to take at least a year to get her right. And I'm afraid some never come right for that particular rider. They may do with another.
 
The nappy, inconsistent mare in my yard has been transformed once we realised she was suffering from PSSM, I had always had suspicions it was pain related rather than just naughty but everything had been checked and nothing amiss found by the vet, her whole attitude had improved by using a softly softly approach never pushing her too far but she was still not giving much, she is now working totally happily, hacking alone, something that we wondered if we would ever manage and is generally a much nicer horse.

I would now look at PSSM for any horse that seems to be able to do something but is unwilling, especially if they are inconsistent, stuffing them full of high sugar and starch with be detrimental if they have this condition.
 
My nappy lazy horse also turned out to have PSSM, the difference with the special diet is unbelievable. I had had everything checked out before including ulcers, lameness, back, etc and I deeply regret it took me so many years to learn about PSSM.

If I were you I'd have the vet out and discuss options. I'd want to rule out ulcers, anaemia, PSSM, etc.
 
Something has triggered this, horses don't behave like that for no reason. You just need to find the trigger, whether that be pain, anxiety, she's gone sour, bad memories or her feed.

It can be a bit of a needle in a haystack but I would really consider getting the vet to do some thorough investigations as the first port of call.
 
Before I'd got to comment #2 I thought this sounded like my PSSM mare! She's taken me backwards into a 4 foot ditch before..... Off to read JW's comments.
 
Odd advice. In my opinion it is irresponsible to suggest behavioural training before a clean bill of health from a vet, especially with a sudden onset behavioural problem that could have a number of physical causes.
 
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