Napping !!!

[thefarrier]

Can anyone give me any advice on how to cope with my horse keep napping.
it has got to the point where she wnt leave the yard and just rears.
I can get her forward away from the yard sometimes, and get half way up the lane and she will plant her feet and no way is she going any further ???

has anyone got any help they can give me to solve this problem.

[pedilia]

I had the same problem with my horse, first establish why they are napping, quite often it is because they are nervous and lack confidence. I believe the key is to establish groundwork, first spend time grooming her, leading her in hand, long reining if you can and generally building her confidence in you.

Set yourself realistic goals in regard to how much you do each day and how long it will take, it is likely to be a long slow process. It took four months for mine to go out happily alone.

How long have you had her ? and what is her background ?

[Portia]

I sympathise. I can't hack alone, or rather it's dangerous to attempt it. Mare will happily go in a group, or out with a human as lead, but nervous alone. I try to go very short distances ie around the field, trouble is there she can see her friends so sort of compounds the problem.

Have you tried taking her out in hand? walking with her and showing that the world is not such a scary place will help build her confidence.

[Unbridled]

I don't have any experience with a rearing horse, sorry. But my horse got into the habit of nappping when passing her pasture gate on the way to the trails, so I understand how you feel. If I were you, I honestly would not try to sit out a rear or drive her forward, as there is a danger she might fall over and you could get hurt. (Although I'm still a novice rider; a more advanced one may well work through a rear a different way.) But if it was my horse I would try to get her forward and, if she reared, dismount. HOWEVER don't take her back to the barn or remove the tack. Instead, lead her in hand out of the yard. If she only rears when leaving the yard then you could get back on once you reach the bridle paths/trails. If she continues to nap I would keep working her in hand. Don't let her think rearing is a way to get out of work. It's true that many horses nap out of fear or lack of confidence, but with my mare it was clearly a dominance issue. Once she figured out I was not intimidated then she began to go out quite nicely on her own. How I did this was to keep her going very straight, keeping in a tire track on the road so I could tell if she drifted even slightly in the direction of the gate. If for some reason I could not keep her going forward then I would turn her around in the direction she wanted to go and then proceed to back her up several paces. Backing up is much harder than walking forward and usually I only had to do this once before she'd give up the argument for lost. However, she never reared up, so I'm hesitant to tell you to try any of this--especially the backing up. I would try working her in hand for now.

Have you considered calling a professional trainer? They can get a little expensive, I know, but it only took me on session with my instructor to learn how to cope with napping. After that I was able to continue working on it on my own and save my lessons for other things. Might be worth thinking about.

[madferret]

One of my old horses used to plant his feet and refuse to go foward sometimes. then he would do little bunny hops, not quite a rear, but certainly letting me know that he wasn't happy.

In the end I worked out that I would only use positive reinforcment and it worked!
Every time he refused to go forward I just sat on him quietly not asking him to do anything but not letting him go back either.
after about 10 mins, (you've got to be prepared for this to take a while) ask to go forward again. If your horse only takes 1 step, praise her like she's just won the grand national and give her a polo. Try and get another step out of her and reward.
Then head back the yard - (only when you are ready though)
Do the same the next day, see if you can get 10 steps, lots of polos, lots of praise and encouragement. You should be looking for things to praise, to give her confidence.
I had no problems after this. Incidentally, mine was due to fear, he didn't want to walk through the mud, but once he was getting praised for trying, he tried to overcome his fears and put his faith in me (and also to get a polo)
try it and see if it helps :)

[horsey_woman]

My pony takes the lead on hacks and is happy to go out alone BUT she naps at the end of a ride by her field gate!

Why oh why would she!!! She spins around and backs up!!

[bexj]

MadFerrets technique has worked for me too!

[notpoodle]

mine went through a spot of napping just after i got her. she had been ridden out alone with the previous owner all the time, so si suspect she was just trying me out, ahem. i found it all very scary at first and just didnt go out on my own for a while. then i decided enough was enough and, uhm, got after her. we had just ONE major disgreement, shes been fine ever since or only makes the odd half-arsed attempt to go home which i quickly rectified with a tap on the shoulder and a NO!

no idea about rearing horses though, rearing is dangerous!

julia
x

[thefarrier]

Thanks ever so much you ppl for giving me some advice on how to cope with this problem.
Last nite was a real good ride, we had no problems at all and i was able 2 walk her not a trot 2 keepher goin and get her mind off thinking going back.

something must have improved.

[dcp]

Hi My horse used to nap too. He would walk out the school stand at the gate and rear. He would try turn to go home on hacks then rear. We thought it was because he was new and was trying to take mickey out of me BUT actually turned out to be his saddle. It was too wide and was putting all the pressure on his whithers poor boy when the saddle fitter came out he wouldn't let her measure his whithers :( Since getting my new saddle Charlie hasn't reared once that's been like 4 months :D :D make sure you establish the real problem. Even my yo was like that horse is taking the p**s kick him on but he was trying to tell me something.

[Jessey]

Hey TheFarrier, napping is a real pain and to be honest I've never had a really nappy horse, but I do have a rearer and that is also not nice.

Having read your other post about the use of a running martingale I remember you said you have to ride in a gag bit, Obviously I'm not aware of the reasons for this but in my experiance a gag bit is about the worst type to put on a rearer as the gag action has the effect of lifting up in the mouth and acctually encouraging lift in the front end, the last thing you want in a rearer.

I know that doesn't help with the acctual problem here but it might help to minimise the effects of it.

J x