Planting Youngster

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I have a 5 year old gelding who is the most work shy backward thinking horse ive known. I have managed to get him hacking out on his own with ease now but it you try to ride him in the field or school he will humour you for about 5 or 10 minutes then he will plant himself or try and clamber over the fence. No amount of kicking or using the a stick will work and he is ultra flexible so will bend without moving feet. I would like to take him a to a few shows this summer but i cant ride him around my 3 acre field how am i going to be able to get him to move in the ring. I'm planning to send him for some schooling towards the end of the summer but at the moment i just cant afford to send him away now.

Ive had his back checked and his teeth done within the last month and ive had his tack checked with no problems, It is an evasion im sure but how do i deal with it. He would be happy to stand there all day and i swear he is laughing at you.
 
Do you have someone else with a horse that can help you? If so you could have tjem with you and practice going in fron and also behind them? you could also simulate a riding lesson where they go so far and then stop and you catch up. it mifght help make him more forwars thinking
 
we had a horse that did that, very backward thinking. She was sent away for 7 weeks schooling and is now fab i've heard but what we used to do which helped was have someone on the ground with a lunge whip and flick it behind the horse whenever she stopped.
So, the horse would stop, rider would squeeze and be ignored and then straight after the rider had squeezed and been ignored the whip was flicked and hey presto the horse moved on again.
I also used to move her head from left to right to get her front feet moving and then forwards.
 
You say he would stand there all day - I'd be tempted to call his bluff and see.

If he plants, fine, just chill and sit there too until he gets bored enough to cooperate. As long as he doesn't start getting dangerous (no sign of him going up?) then metaphorically smoke a whole packet of cigarettes and just sit there. It worked for one of mine that would plant and threaten to go up and a friend suggested I just sit there, completely non-confrontational, only slight rein contact, but body very relaxed (me not him!).

The first time it took about 20 minutes and he gave in, the second time it was much quicker. Both times I rewarded him for walking forward by just doing a little bit of work then getting off. He still is an awkward sod but fighting him in anyway just made him more determined. Boring the pants off him was easier on us both.
 
The lunge whip suggestion worked for my horse,who sounds very similar to the OP's. We also used a light tap on the poll(think irritating fly) to unstick mine. Be sure to stop being irritating the moment he moves forward.
How big is the horse? What breed?
It could be that the horse is still immature in build and is finding engaging the hind leg in circles is more than he can cope with.
Can you school out hacking where he is more forward going?
I would consider taking him to small shows for education. You may find the buzz of the place unsticks him on the day.
 
He is a 15.2 IDxTB. He is fine when out hacking in company and out hacking on his own he is fine. It's it you ask him to do anything in a field or a school and not just in circles either. He will just stop dead and refuse to move. He doesn't buck or rear he just mont move. If someone tried from the ground to use a whip he will threaten to kick them. He has a real attitude issue. He switches off when being lunged or on the long reined though he will go through the motions you can see he hates it.
 
sit and wait for him, call his bluff, or carry on with legs and stick,they normally move eventually. make them go backwards - anything so that they move.
 
Another way is turn very small circles several times then ask them to go forward--if you get a NO--more small circles but useful for one which threatens to go up.
 
Cuffey said:
Another way is turn very small circles several times then ask them to go forward--if you get a NO--more small circles but useful for one which threatens to go up.
Click to expand...

This^^may also work,but if your horse has a flexi-neck and can bend without moving feet then you may have to hang off the side of the saddle in order to unbalance him enough to move his feet. My horse is over 17h,so when I had to resort to this trick people thought I was auditioning for the Devil's Horsemen!
 
Yes he does have a flexi neck. He can reach right around to the back of the saddle with a rider on board without moving his feet
 
Echo the standing still and waiting him out as long as it takes. Friend did this in reverse too by asking for standing when they were forward going; in the end they give up and let you call the shots when you want but it does take a lot of patience.
 
He may just find it boring!!!!! using poles and barrels is a good way to keep a horse switched on when schooling, they give the horse something to think about other than how to avoid work! :)
 
No poles etc don't work. It's not really schooling as such as we were not schooling we were just riding around a 3acre field.
 
Anything where he may have to do any work and he plants. As I say the only time he is forward going is out hacking either in company or alone.
 
Most will not agree, but I have broad shoulders. If he were mine he would be hunted hard. I would forget the schooling and let him find his own balance and self preservation in the hunting field. A season as a whips horse could be the making of him.

Obviously wrong time of year and not feasible for many, but hunting often turns a nappy lazy horse into a much more willing creature.
 
I ride my backward youngster in spurs. He has a tendencey to plant & kicking over & over again was getting us no where. A gentle squeeze or two from the spurs & we have forward motion. But be careful not to over do it or it will be ignored again like the kicking.
 
Megibo- i'll back up that!
Contriversy surrounds this method, but damn... It sure works! And is better than a battle of kicking and smacking x
 
Cuffey said:
Another way is turn very small circles several times then ask them to go forward--if you get a NO--more small circles but useful for one which threatens to go up.
Click to expand...

This.

After several very tight, quick successive turns anti clockwise and clockwise , the dizzyness will have set in and he will give anything to go forwards!;)

ETA, just don't do what I did- got myself more dizzy than the horse and promptly slid off once I straightened him up!
 
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Yes I ask him to work properly when hacking. And he does tend to plough through poles and jumps because, jumping them requires an effort.
 
Is there a possibility that you can find an instructor to come along to give you a lesson out in the field? Having a set of eyes on the ground can be invaluable, he sounds like fun!!!!!
 
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