Nappy young horse help..

charlie76

charlie76

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Any ideas of what to do with our young horse who is being nappy to the point it's getting dangerous.
I am by no means an inexperienced rider and have had many problem horses in the past all of which have been resolved and become fab horses however this one has us scratching our head.
We bought him in the winter and he was pretty poor, he was imported from Ireland as a just backed four year old, he had rain scald, conjunctivitis, terrible feet and was thin and under developed. We spent a long time building up his strength and muscle with gentle hacking, long reining and lunging and he was very easy. Once he was looking a bit better we did short sessions in the school with him and apart from being green was very easy. He was also a great hack.
He was never over fed in an attempt to build him up, just a token amount of food and ad lib hay and grazing, he has also always had daily turn out.
All was going well then one evening in the dark but flood lit arena, a rabbit running alongside the school made him jump. He then decided point blank not to go to the far end of the school, eventually by quietly riding through it, he went and he was then fine again.
Out hacking he then would start spooking and reversing, this would happen whether in front or behind another horse. At first, a quick kick and a small tap with the stick got him going again but he has got progressively worse. He is ok in the school 99 % of the time and he is never naughty when jumping. However, every now and then he will plant, and this can be mid canter and reverse. You can usually get him forward quickly in the school however out hacking he is naughty. He won't come out of the yard and leave down the drive, he reverses, half rears, bucks and then looses the plot, snatching and striking out with his front foot, he will reverse into ditches, fences, anything in his way, if you smack him he goes hysterical. He has even reversed into a stable with another horse in it with a rider on!!
We have also tried sitting him out but as soon as you put your leg on the hysterics start again.
Then all of a sudden he decides to go!
Once he looses the plot he won't even follow another horse.
We have solved the leaving the yard issue by leading him to the end of the drive and getting on, just to defuse the whole issue.
This is fine but if he sees something he doesn't like on a hack he starts again, yesterday he reversed having a hissy fit for a long way on the road which is dangerous!
As I said, we have solved it in the school so sorting him out in the school is no good as its not an issue.
I have long reined him for miles and he walks out like a pro so he isn't scared, he is being naughty.
If I chase him forward with a stick or lead him out the yard he goes but I can't follow him for miles!!
Taking him with another horse or horses doesn't work as he will do it from the middle of a ride.
He is not fed any hard feed, he is out daily and he is very easy to handle. He also moves really well and jumps .
He has had his teeth, tack and back checked and has passed a five stage vetting. He shows no signs of lameness or pain.

Suggestions welcome!!
 
Yep, several different riders. He is the same.
AM, he is about17 HH and we have sat him out for as long as its takes for him to breath and relax. This could be seconds or minutes. Or sometimes even longer!
 
I am having similar-ish problems with my youngster who is just 4. However, as he has thrown me off twice I am not hacking him out until I can get to the bottom of the behaviour. I think some (not all) of it may well be due to pain/discomfort caused maybe by his saddle or girth (or both).

Have you checked these areas with yours? He will have obviously grown and changed shape since you got him so will have needed his tack reassessing as a result.

I am working with a lady who believes in a lot if ground work to work on the issues so it may be worth you getting in touch with someone as it's fairly simple, black and white type teaching (that's how horses' brains work). She works on controlling the flight response and ensuring the horse is listening and focusing on you. Also, some basic ground work techniques that you can then use when on board.

I would also consider whether yours has maybe done too much too soon and needs a bit of a break? maybe it's all just blown his mind a little bit and taking some of the pressure of for a while may help.

You say working in the school is fine but I think maybe you need to do some 'staging' in the school with some 'spooky' items and working on the basic flight response control. he sounds like he needs to build his confidence - it is not naughtiness, you have to remember that. Horse really don't think in that way.
 
Put a man on him. Not to beat him - but just a stronger individual. I would also totally advocate waiting it out. He'll get bored before the rider. I did it for about 2 hours on Amy. She never napped again.
 
We have tried a man,several times, a good rider as well and he still did it. If he just planted it would be ok but it's the blind running backwards that is getting beyond a joke.
 
Conjunctivitis you say? Might be worth getting a vet out to check his eyesight isn't compromised. The spooks sound so extreme that he may not be able to compute what he's seeing.
 
Have you tried anyone else as a fresh pair of eyes to try and look in to the reasons for the behaviour. My pony would (and still does) the reversing (at high speed) if he is worried by something. I would either make him reverse until he stopped then I'd ask he to walk on or, when he'd spun round I would make him reverse in the direction I wanted to go in the first place.

However, he would never rear or anything like that at at 14.2hh was a littel less to cope with than a 17hh!!!

I would still suggest going back to the drawing board a bit as something has clearly had an affect on this horse's confidence.
 
His eyes have been checked and are fine. I have had someone come and ride him for me and she is a very good rider, not hard but firm and fair, he has done it with he and she rode him through it, next to e she rode him he was good as gold, third time naughty again.
He can be brilliant for days and then suddenly decide again that he isn't going.
He isn't always spooking or scared or anything. He just jacks it and starts.
If he simply plants then he gets a kick or smack. Sometimes this works and he goes. Other times this the sends him into his reversing, rearing, striking out frenzy. Once this starts all you can do is drop the reins and take your leg off, any pressure or attempt to make him go makes it worse.
We did try turning him in small circles when he reverses or plants and the ride him forward out of the cirlcle but is doesn't work with him.
It's so frustrating as he can be fab but its a 50:50 chance and he needs to stop.
 
Only thing I can think of is turning his head as far as it will possibly go round to ur foot untill he stops, Will take a while but if give it a good go I'm not sure how he would be able to run or walk back wards with his nose to his shoulder but I could be wrong
 
Hi I don't know if this will be any help at all, but thought I'd share my experiences.
I've had my loan horse since a unbroken four year old and although amazing at times, she has presented similar problems to yours. When she was five she developed this crazy and irrational fear of one corner of the school. She would, like yours suddenly brake from a canter and spin then run away! People approaching or just being on the lane adjacent to the arena would send her into hyper spin. out hacking she would see something in the distance, go into meerkat mode and then could reverse high speed into anything, without thought for her or my safety.
I've always delt with her quietly as that is the person I am. My instructor at the time suggested,when I disscussed this problem with her that I need to change it up! You need to be consistent, so need read the signs without pre empting so stay relaxed. Then as she reacts suddenly raise your voice as positive as you can manage, anything you can think of to say but loudly and firm! Really hard when your not a loud person, but I did it and by god it worked. Not straight away, although the initial shock sent her shooting forward at a rate of nots!
She still has this tendency and I'm always aware she can and will react, but she now knows when I raise my voice along with positive aids she must go no matter what. I have deployed this in the school, when boxing out for a lesson somewhere new and scary and long distance endurance rides.
It really depends on the horse and their personality, I'm aware it won't work for all of them but just thought I'd share!
 
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