Horses who detest schooling

[No_Angel]

I was just thinking, if a horse really hates schooling, and gets them self stressed and shows behavior that could injure the rider, is it fair to keep schooling them in the hope that they will 'get used to it', or is it actually more fair to the horse to do things they prefer instead? (which also could involve schooling to some degree, just not in a contained area)

[carthorse]

Without seeing the problem I wouldn't like to give a definate answer because there could be a physical reason for this behaviour that needs addressing. If there are no phsical problems though & the horse is a polite rsponsive ride in other areas then, if he was mine, I'd forget the school & find something he enjoyed doing.

[Mehitabel]

i'd want to figure it out first - as carthorse says, it could be a physical or tack related problem - sometimes for instance saddles dig in when the horse carries itself in a particular way, or round corners.

then i'd look to the schooling methods - is the rider making it fun? are they praising for every effort, or are they drilling without respite and discouraging the horser? do they mix up fun and easy things with the more demanding things, or is it all hard work and unrewarding? are they focused and motivated themselves - do they have a definite goal and a definite strategy for achieving it, or are they wandering round the track with the odd circle? are they asking work that is too hard for the horse, or so easy it's boring?

has the horse been soured by a previous owner doing any or all of the above?

i'd want to know what about the school is stressing the poor horse to the point where it is dangerous - because that could be triggered elsewhere. if it wasn't something i could fix, like a deeply ingrained bad memory of abuse or something, then fairy nuff, i'd back off. but i'd want to get to the bottom of it - a horse shouldn't hate schooling for no reason.

[parsharainbow]

I was just thinking, if a horse really hates schooling, and gets them self stressed and shows behavior that could injure the rider, is it fair to keep schooling them in the hope that they will 'get used to it',


I didnt :o

After a horrendous accident because I did keep trying to school him and he'd had all the checks I won't ever do it again with him, I can now get him back in a school without the sweating, snorting and shaking and play games and if he's happy he'll let me ride him round in there on a long rein but I wont ever attempt to 'school' him again, he has violent temper tantrums and no self preservation at all, he's happy out hacking and completely bombproof so we concentrate on what he's good at and happy to do - I personally love schooling so I was very frustrated for a long time but Angel has started showing real promise and interest so we're all happy :)


ETA: he's an ex-racer who still thinks he's on the track, he can't handle not having his head, a loose contact or anything that involves controlled impulsion, he's got to be flat out in straight lines or not at all, he can't understand or won't understand that racing is not his job anymore and does become downright dangerous if you ask him to think otherwise.