Problems with nappy horse - how to stop it?

J

Jingleballs

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I'm looking for some help!!!

My cob is a great hacker in company - he practically goes to sleep when another horse is with us. Recently we've been hacking out frequently with my friend but this seems to cause problems when I try to hack out alone.

My horse will take every opportunity to turn for home - not in a dramatic way but any time I relax the contact too much or pull over to let a car pass I generally find myself facing home again although it is easy enough to turn him back. He can also be very slow - doesn't want to go forward which is not fun but I try to school him which seems to work!

Other days, like today, he's very spooky at certain points, especially when we are still close to home - he uses a spook as an opportunity to spin and nap home - but he spooks at things that on another day he wouldn't bat an eyelid at as he is a VERY laid back horse!

Today I had to get off him and walk him past a nearby dairy farm (which we walked past twice on yesterdays hack with no problems) as he kept pratting about and trying to spin for home - there was a car coming and I didn't wat to risk it. I led him past but also gave him a smack as he was IMO messing about. I tried twice to get on him again and he tried to spin when my foot was in the stirrup - again I'll admit to giving him a smack on the shoulder with the stick.

After walking him on for another few minutes I was able to get back on and continue our hack - he didn't try to nap again even when I took him down roads he'd never been down before.

Firstly, did I handle the situation correctly? I can be a nervous hacker and a few months ago I woudl have let him turn for home but I was so adament that he was acting up that I decided to make a point!

Secondly, how do I prevent this behaviour in future? It is much worse when we intially leave the yard but then he seems to settle but it's still a bit of a fight and I worry what he's capable of after he once did a similary spook and spin but managed to canter 100 yards up a relatively busy road. I'm going to taking him the same route tomorrow with a friend but make him lead (which he'll do with no problem) and then hopefully take him on Sunday on his own and won't feel the need to get off and lead.

Has any one had to work though similar problems and how did they do so?

Thanks in advance!

K
 
Gosh, your description is so like my boy I could have written it myself! except the fact of using the whip, not that I wouldn't use it, but if I did I'd be over the hedge!! Also my boy is very forward going, to the point I have to keep half halting to stop him jogging. But like yours, turns into a dopey plod when out in company! I tend to be able to tell when he's going to try and nap, I feel him tense up, and sometimes he just 'plants' himself, then spins and takes off back home. Generally I'm ready for him, spin him back. I'm firm but also encouraging and just make him go forward. Don't really know why he keeps on trying as he never gets away with it. He also could let a huge lorry rumble by him without batting an eyelid yet is truely 'petrified' of a daffodil in the verge!!

Cobs, ya got a love them
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If it were my horse, everytime he even thought about heading for home he would get just a little tap behing my leg, just as a warning. If he then tried it on more I would give him a sharper smack with the stick on his bum.
Your horse just seems to be playing up to see if he can get away with it.
Izzi
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I found that when I moved to France some of my horses became nappy at certain new things. I did as you did when on the road and dismounted and led past. Once they got used to the new environment they settled down.

I did have one mare mess me around one day. I led her past spooky thing several times but she would not walk past ridden. Finally I did what you did I gave her a hard slap and she never did it again.

Horses are herd animals and I make allowances for the fact they don't like being on their own. With new youngsters I take them short distances from the yard on their own and gradually increase it until they lose that 'fear'.
 
He is totally playing up - I know some people will argue that horses don't have a complex enough thought process to do such a think but I swear that's what he does.

He is also very, very good at ignoring your aids (hands, legs, seat, whip) when he feels like it and is so strong that sometimes not matter how hard I fight him I end up going in the other direction.

I gave him a bit of a rollocking today (the dairly farmer probably thinks I'm a mad woman now) but I'm glad I did because he did settle.

I sometimes ride him with a flash just for hacking as he can get a bit strong and really grab hold of the bit but I took it off yesterday for schooling and forgot to put it back on which probably gave him the upper hand!! You also get no warning - and sometimes he'll plant but you can push him forward and other times he'll plant and then spin and I just can't have him doing that on a road (he has no fear whatsoever of cars and has nearly sat down on a couple of bonnets in the past!)
 
Mine can nap when hacking out, both alone and in company.
He will spin around and rein back, when I first got him I saw no option other than to get off him and lead him, re-mount, contiune and take him back round the same way. He doesn't do it because he is spooky, just because he can be rather arrogant and where HE wants to hack out is more important than anything else *rolls eyes*. I have not been able to stop this behaviour 100% but it is greatly reduced i comparison to last year. He acts like this I am assuming because his previous owner was scared of him and rightly so too, not an ideal place to be on a napping horse but not suggesting you are scared. So he learnt he could get away with this.
When he tries to spin I will just not let him, if he gets the better of me I will make him face the correct way, no matter what he tries he will be facing the right way eventually after trying it on and getting no-where he eventually gives in because I am willing to sit there all day whilst he prats around but he WILL do as I tell him evenually.
I also tried to stick to short hacks I know he enjoyed, maybe do the same, stay on roads you feel confident on that if a problem arises you feel you are on a safe(ish) road to deal with it. Maybe if it is possible hack out with someone on the ground a few times so that you have someone there if you desperatly need a lead but you can still tell him off as a rider, it may help.
Sorry if this is a pointless reply.
 
sounds to me like he is really just takin the P!! big style!! if he can get away with it he will give it a go, i would use the stick,give him a good short sharp smack! ur not being cruel or beatin him but u will be asserting you autority!!once he understands that ur the boss he will pack it in.
 
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With new youngsters I take them short distances from the yard on their own and gradually increase it until they lose that 'fear'.

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That's the thing though - he's worse when you are close to the yard but once you're past a certain point he's fine!! You just have to fight to get him to that point!

I have no problems with him spooking - I can handle a spook, I can handle a spooke and skite forward but it's the spook/spin's and dash for home I hate!
 
Do you have transport? can you box him to an unfamiliar area & hack back to the yard? I had a friend who did this on a really spooky horse & as their confidence grew the napping disapeared. Good Luck
 
My pony used to be just like this but she would do it in company as well, she would use anything as an excuse to spin and head for home, but she was totally at it as she is so non spooky. She did improve and now only every does it very occasionally. My advice would be just to keep at it and he should improve once he knows that you mean business. Agree with damnation give him a small smack if you feel him thinking about it or even if he just backs of your leg slightly.
 
My coloured mare does exactly the same! I'm afraid smacking her with a stick would lead to me ending up on the floor - is a rescue and was beaten - and the speed that she manages to spin is not only impressive but can be scary when sitting on a big strong cob so I do know exactly how you feel. I haven't totally cracked it with mine but she is loads better - and we will have to work through it again now the days are getting longer so the chance to ride out more increases. Any how how I dealt with it was as follows - if we are going out on our own I always wear spurs and for the first few weeks I changed her bit to a Cheltenham gag with 2 reins so if she did try and bugger off I was 100% sure I could stop her. I did have a lesson with my instructor using both the gag and spurs to get her down the drive and along the lane - like yours once she is past a certain point she will pootle along quite happily! I'm afraid it does seem to be part of the cob personality!
 
I have a cob mare that did this (only reason she doesn't now is that she's not ridden and due to foal down).

My mare went from being completely ok out hacking on her own to "play spooking" ...oh a sandwich wrapper its going to kill me...anyway she started this napping lark and when you are on your own its frustrating! I did the whole smacking with a whip but tbh I was in floods of tears doing it (she of course wasn't arsed about it!).

A friend I knew then said use two schooling whips, one in each hand to drive her forward - and it worked for a while...and the napping stopped.

Then it started up again, I'd read somewhere that if your horse turns round to keep napping, just keep turning them round and round and round until they stop - I spent 25 minutes doing this (I must have looked a right idiot) but it worked because she saw it as more effort than going forward.

Unfortunately I find the napping comes back every so often, and I just have to find new and interesting ways to divert her - interestingly she does it more when she's fitter!
 
sorry i haven't read all the replies but am sure there's some good advice. firstly I would say be possitive! if your horse is going forwards he won't be thinking about stopping and spinning. If i'm on a youngster or known napper i tend to make them trot purposfully out the drive and then go for quite a brisk hack round, always making sure i carry a schooling whip to back up my leg the second he slows down. I would also every time he tries to spin stop him dead, i have a young mare to school at the moment who is traffic shy and will turn and spin when faced with cars or things she isn't so keen on, so now we are breaking the habbit by learning to stop, stand and face the problem head on. You can spin them on the spot but this is more of a way of breaking the cycle with a serial napper, which it dosent sound like yours is - YET. Go for short confidence building hacks, best thing for a nappy horse, as often napping is just a way of saying "i don't understand" there are two types of napper, the insecure nap and the evasive i don't want to work nap, and they both start the same, with a confidence issue, it just depends how far you let them go with it in to how much of a bad habbit and evasion it becomes. 90% of the horses i now own have been very nappy little gits when i got them, which is how i ended up with them, but with the right discipline they do come right.
Don't give up either, hack every day for a month if you have to, even if it means doing a 20 minute hack then going in the school to finish. Good luck and let us know how you get on!
 
I'm with all that!

I'd also like to add that maybe TowerHamlets is a little more experienced than some of the rest of us?

The point i'm trying to make, friends, is to not feel intimidated by anything you read (or from trainers who feel their best approach is to be scary, as opposed to knowledgable), but rather learn from it/form your own judgement.

TowerHamlets talks sense.

(And i haven't a clue who he/she is, or where he/she is from)

But if we all treated our horses the same way, from the start, well, wouldn't our lives be so much easier? And if only we took the time to understand them...

All bests to all, BS x
 
My horse is a napper so I fully understand your frustration. He naps on hacks and in the school which means he has really got the measure of me! I know he is being a git now so I have the mindset that I'm going to be one too. He has to do what I want him to do. With him it's not wise to get into a battle so with the good advice I've had from here and the support of my friends I am slowly winning! Be positive, be safe and most importantly you must win the battle. I've learnt that now. Good Luck with your horse and let us know what progress you are making.
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Keep going out, the more you do it the less he will be a problem (this is usually the case), make it fun, and try new places when you are in company so that you have a good selection of rides to do on your own. Never turn for home deliberately, always do a loop (if possible). It sounds like you are doing the right things already.
 
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Do you have transport? can you box him to an unfamiliar area & hack back to the yard? I had a friend who did this on a really spooky horse & as their confidence grew the napping disapeared. Good Luck

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Yes I have a trailer so may be doing this soon - when we've taken him for lessons or to shows on his own he doesn't nap or fuss at all and is perfectly chilled ??
 
Thanks for all the advice - today I took him out with a friend and made him lead past the scary farm - surprisingly he was very reluctant to go forward even with his friend right behind him and I really had to push him forward and use the stick to back up my leg - once again when we were past he was fine but I did notice that the door to the barn was open and all the baby calfs were peeking out - I didn't notice this yesterday and have never seen them before and I'm now wondering if infact he was actually a little scared of them!

I'm going to take him round again tomorrow on his own - if I need to get off and lead him past again so be it (he's only 14.3 so I can hop straight back on). Fingers crossed with more practice he'll settle and get used to them (because they'll soon be turned out in the field next door!!)
 
my mare naps like crazy! i've had her 8 months and probably had a dozen successful rides out alone in that time. i'm having help from a monty robert's trainer. its been going well, but it will be a long, slow journey. its a behaviour she's learnt and got away with for many years. she has two types of nap. one is just trying it on if we get near a homeward bound path. she'll start going sideways and pretend to spook at stuff to get to where she wants. i can control this with strong legs and pulling her back round and growling at her! and then loads of praise once she gets going again. her other type of nap is when something scares her and her reaction is to rear and spin for home. this i cannot control at the mo. she gets herself into such a tiz, all i can do is get off and lead her till we get past the scarey thing. i try to stay off roads on the way out, i'll lead her till we hit the Downs. then she's ok. if i stick to the same route she's usually ok, if i try to go anywhere else. she'll throw a tantrum.

just stick at it. horses need to learn who's boss and once they respect your leadership, they will listen to you. altho can still try it on from time to time!! i would highly recommend intelligent horsemanship if you need someone to help you.
 
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