Schooling exercises, and a little vent

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Dobby

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Hi everyone, sorry if this is a bit long but I have no horsey friends to mull this over with!

I've recently taken on a horse on loan, and we are still in the trial period. I was promised he was 100% in every way, was ridden by a 12 year old all last year, not nappy at all, jumps anything, great manners, and all that jazz. Well after 2 weeks it's becoming obvious this isn't the case. He naps constantly, if we head towards the school he will stop dead and refuse to budge, and once we are finally in there he will nap towards the exit constantly. When out on hacks, on the way home he will refuse to turn around to shut gates behind us. He doesn't for the life of him stand still when mounted, when from a mounting block or the ground. He takes EVERY SINGLE opportunity to snatch at hedges and grass. And on the ground, he will either walk at half a mile an hour no matter what or he will barge past you to get to other horses or to grass. Don't get me wrong, he's not the horse from hell and it's nothing a fairly confident rider couldn't handle, it's just annoying!

His owner is quite young, and the let's-just-hop-on-go-for-a-gallop-and-jump-everything type, and seems to be totally oblivious to his behavior because he thinks it's fun.

So firstly, can anyone recommend any schooling exercises to get a horse focusing on the rider? I've been doing millions of transitions to try to get him listening but don't want either of us to get bored with just this. Also any ideas on getting him to bloody stand still when being mounted! He's 9 years old but I don't get the impression he's been well schooled, he's very unbalanced and often when cantering in circles drops back to a trot to steady himself, and he rushes into canter. He's not a biggun - only 14.2hh.

Sorry it's so long, cookies to whoever gets this far!
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For the napping, I would be giving him a good smack on the bum, by the sounds of things he is just taking the pee. Do you hack him alone or in company? It could be a confidence issue. If he snatches for grass when you are on him I would give him a tap on the shoulder and a swift "oi". I rode a cob like this last summer, he would plant himself and run backwards, and dive for grass and hedges, after a swift couple of smacks he stopped and I haven't had to do it since. Its just setting the boundries really. Once you do this he may start to respect you a bit more and think "oh she really means it, I had better listen!"
Izzi
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Sorry to hear your horse is giving you trouble!!! There seem to be a number of different problems to address, although to be fair none of them sound terribly dangerous so that is really good news, and I am sure you can get over all of them and have the perfect horse!

Mounting: Take your time with this one. Forget about actually getting on and going for a ride, so that you feel like you have all the time in the world. Take small steps, i.e. first try to get him to approach the mounting block, reward and move away, then try asking him to stand still for a very small period of time reward and walk away. Repeat often, every time he moves correct and ask again, reward when he gets it right and you may find he is a lot better in a matter of days.

Snatching grass ridden and napping: sounds like he needs a slightly more positive, no-nonesense approach. What happens if you put your leg on, give a little growl and maybe a little tap with the whip? As for eating grass, personally I tend to give them a long rein, as soon as they go to eat give them a fairly serious tap with the whip and immediately long rein to see if they try it again. If the horse tries it again, then another tap with the whip, they soon learn!

Schooling: might be worth getting an instructor to work, but lateral work, e.g. leg yielding, shoulder in, a lot of changes of direction (across the diagonal, loops, down the centre line, etc.), a bit of pole work including going over poles or doing 10m circles around poles, etc. might be fun for him.

Good luck!
 
i have a really hot headed warblood who wouldnt stand still for me to get on so every time she moved i would make her run in circles around me until she wanted to stand still then reward her, i kept doing this until she let me get on then walked around for a few minutes got off and did it again. by making fidgeting hard work they soon realise that its alot easier to just stand still. i also do it with all of my young horses which only takes a few minutes for the first few sessions then they get it, it takes a bit longer if your re- training though.
 
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