slow going out, rushing home

[sally87]

I went out for a ride today which I really enjoyed as I dont get to do it often. The only problem is the horse that I ride (not very often, once a week max due to circumstances) goes really slowly when we leave the yard. by slowly i mean VERY slow no matter if we walk or trot (but mainly walk as he is quite unfit). then as soon as he realises he is on the way home (even if we are doing a circular route so we havent turned around) his walk increases in speed & he start calling to his friend back at the yard. Im not exactly scared at this point as he is still only walking but it puts me on edge & i tense up & i think this might be making it worse. Also as he is unclipped & unfit it means by the time we get back to the yard he is really sweaty & it looks like we have been working hard when all i had in mind was a quiet wander! does anyone have any advice how I can speed him up on the way out & stop him rushing home? if I can shut him up on the way home that would also be brilliant as we do get some looks!
thanks

 

[Ravenwood]

Oh this makes me so cross!! Trixie will do this and does so to anyone kind enough to let her.

I won't stand for it and as soon as I get on she knows I mean business and I will damn well ride her and make her stride out as soon as we leave the yard. Now she doesn't even try it with me but immediately reverts back to donkey mode for anyone else if she can.

Regarding coming home, she has tanked off with my daughter when she has ridden her out on her own, just to come rushing back to the yard - naughty mare but again simply because she knows I have got her measure she will behave all the way round, but then I like a horse to go forward so am happy for her to do so coming home as long as it is by my terms!

Get tough with your horse - don't let him behave like this, it won't take long and eventually he won't even try it.

Not sure how you stop the calling though!

 

[sally87]

thanks & i love the pics in your signature!

i try & get on at him, i ride with a schooling whip & try to make him move forwards, he just bucks! not in a dangerous way just a "I will do what I want not what you want" way. in the school i dont mind this & keep at him until I win, I guess i'm just a bit more nervous on the road so tend to leave him plodding to avoid him bucking when there are cars around. I should probably go out at a quiet time (which I did today) & wait till there is no cars & start getting on at him. The only thing is when I hit/ kick him he stops in order to do his pathetic buck so it seems a bit counter productive to me.

electric spurs seem the best idea...

 

[Ravenwood]

LOL at the electric spurs Just those spiked cowboy ones would do

Persevere, if he is stopping to buck - you have let him stop, don't let him stop in the first place, I am sure you can tell when he is about to a stride or two before he does, act before him! At the moment, he knows he can get away with it and it will take a few rides before he realises you mean business. Keep driving him forwards at all costs, use your voice as well as your seat and legs.

Good luck - you know you can win this one

 

[ThePony]

Poss try a different whip? My mare gets rather bucky with a schooling whip, which I use to back up my leg aids when she decides against listening. Now I ask her with a squeeze, if she doesn't respond I give her a decent nudge and if she is still being pig headed then I give her a slap with a whip with a leather flap on the end instead of a stingy type schooling whip (depending on the length of whip you prefer to ride with, you can get schooling whips with this. This is good value and looks smart too http://www.saddlery.biz/pp/Riding_Whips/Dressage_Whips/Dressage_Whip,_Small_Leather_Flap.html). It gets a much better response and she knows I will back up what I am asking so I need to ask with a whip much less often. When we go away from home I really send her forwards and make her work, on the way back she really strides out and I keep my leg on and keep her at it. If she breaks into trot I make the most of her forward-ness and keep her going nicely and then stop when I want to, not when she decides she's had enough - I just work her harder and she starts listening and working well. I'd take advantage of the forwardness, for me it's about the only time I work less hard than my mare!!!

 

[Arabelle]

Second all the comments about ensuring she strides out on the way out. On the way home, I would ride her past the yard and continue the ride for a bit longer - she cannot anticipate when she goes home - that is your decision. Or, if she jogs and gets annoying, turn round and ride the circuit back the other way - again, being prepared to go past the yard and carry on. Or, once she is back, immediately set out again for a short ride, or take her in the school. Don't let her anticipate - keep her on her toes so she has to listen to you, not just assume she knows what is coming next.

 

[nofie]

My mare is the same, she can be sluggish going out but much more sprightly coming home. I have discovered that if I work her hard for the first couple of minutes, then she will soon settle and stop taking the biscuit. You just have to be tough and keep working them forwards.

I also agree with the stick- leather flap seems much more effective than stingy end.

 

[Vicki1986]

my mare does this, i have given up trying to change her... she only slugs along for a short while so I use that has her stretch time and ensure shes on a long rein. meanwhile i sort my phone out, day dream, etc. then when we get half way along the road i collect her up and she understands its time to work. she speeds up on the way home - some days worse than others, dependant on season and also a lot of the time its bcos she is busting for a wee, which she does as soon as back on the yard (annoying). turning her or stopping her makes her jogging worse so i just have to slow her down constantly to a walk without antagonising her. annoying as she does sweat up if its a hot day. riding past doesnt really work as she then jogs to home, does the donkey/slow/sulky walk past the yard then reverts to jogging when i come back home from the other direction !

 

[Kat]

Re: bucking when smacked, two alternatives:

1. Rattle his cage and get him going by giving him one on the shoulder one on the bum one on the shoulder in quick succession, he's then got too much to think about to do a little buck and it is less predictable. Works for quite a few naughty horses I know. Don't have to be hard just well timed to send him forwards really.

2. Try a cowboy style smack with the end of the reins or a rope.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Re. the going slow on the outward journey and "stampeding" on the way home; this is basically a napping syndrome and you have to treat it as such.

The issue is most likely a confidence issue when hacking alone; my boy used to nap a lot as he'd never been ridden solo before I got him, but gradually we've got him out of the plant and wont move thing, but he'll still do the stampede home thing if I let him.

What he needs to realise is that he moves forward from your leg WHEN YOU SAY SO, and if necessary he needs to realise that if he doesn't then you will use you whip, or the whip-whop thingy that natural horsemanship people use. The stimulus isn't the thing, its the fact that he must obey your command to move forward.

The second problem is the rushing home; which lets face it every horse (even a plod) will do on the homewards journey, but again he has to understand that this is at the pace YOU say and not the pace he dictates! With mine, I've turned a circle when he starts acting up, or doing leg yield from one side to the other, or doing say six paces walk and six paces trot, and then bring him back to hand, so he learns the difference between going his speed and the speed that I want! When he does listen to me and settle, I've let him go on a looser rein as a "reward" for good behaviour. Its just about showing him what behaviour is required and rewarding him for that behaviour. If he's really behaving like a total tit, then one (emergency) tactic is to open your hand really wide and literally pull him around in a very tight circle - this is uncomfortable for the horse and if he's in stampede mode he needs to learn that if this isn't the required behaviour then it will be uncomfortable!!

If you have access to a school/arena, you could go in there with another horse and make him go away from it without napping; or perhaps on a hack you could do similar, just to get him listening to you, the rider, is the thing, rather than what his instinct is telling him to do.

Hope this helps.