Her napping is getting dangerous.

[chickflick1066]

Stumpy has been nappy since I had her. At yard 1 it was her reluctance to leave the yard and hack out alone which was the problem - after months of misery and not being able to hack out alone our instructress was able to get her out of the driveway and to the next yard with her not napping once.

After that day about a month later we even managed a hack out alone with no napping whatsoever. From then on we never had any problems, admitedly she'd be slower alone and sometimes try and turn for home if i wasn't concentrating but it was easily sorted with a lot of leg and forward riding.

Since we've been at Yard 2 her napping has gone back to its original severity. I am surprised that at this yard her hacking out alone has been near immaculate, with only a few times of hesistation quickly worked through...it's her hacking and napping company which is awful.

For the first month Stumpy happily went in front, being a bombproof horse she usually is for the youngsters who needed a nanny horse. But recently its got worse. Stumpy will outright refuse to go in front...if i ask her to go in front using my legs and using the whip as a back up she just throws a wobbly.

This wobbly tends to be her throwing her head up in the air, backing up and eventually doing small rears, leaps in the air and bucking...the more i ask her to go forward the more she throws a wobbly and then the greater that the risk that her rears will eventually be full and dangerous rears. This in turn scares me and then we both get very upset.

Obviously these aren't full blown rears and she if a horse is in front then she'll happily follow but this isn't always ideal - she also throws a wobbly if the lead horse does something i dont want her to do and she just wants to follow - its hard trying to hold her back.

I hope this all makes sense - sorry it so long. Any tips and advice to help me and Stumpy get over this, I couldn't bear to part with her.

[Cheko]

When you think about it, it's unnatural for a horse (which is a herd animal) to go out alone. However, this is obviously inconvenient for us when we want to do something that requires the horse to go out alone. If I were you, I'd try leading her out in hand on her own and see how she reacts then. Each time, take her a bit further. Also, it may be that when you go out alone, you tense up and of course that transmits itself to the pony. It might help if you take someone along on foot, who could walk with you and the pony. It will take time if she's unused to going out alone but if you persevere, I'm sure things will come right. Good luck.

[NuttyMare]

Alrighty, heres what I've learnt about napping:

Prevention: put her in situations where she can be praised for being a good and brave horse. Maybe her self-esteem needs building. Work in an enclosed area and have an older horse go in front until she gains confidence maybe?

Try and use a loose style of riding maybe? This works well on reluctant horses I feel. Try mabye longer reins freely given to the horse but be able to bring your hands back and regain the contact if you feel the need. Use one leg at a time to encourage her forward rather than both legs at once - move each leg backwards and forwards independently to encourage her forwards. Try changing her direction so she won't be going directly straight but she is still going forward.

Have you trying getting off? She could be genuinely nervous or unsure about something and getting off may help her overcome her fear.

Try to get her excited about going out. Maybe join a countryside drag hunt for a good 'ole gallop? Or even an organized ride.

If it all goes badly: rein back. If she is refusing to go forwards past something then she might be willing to go backwards past it!

Circle her. She'll learn that its more work to resist, so circle her 4 or 5 times and then give her another chance to go forward. If she resists, its back to your circling!

Shake the reins on her neck. Have the reins loose so theres no chance of jabbing her in the mouth, and shake them on alternative sides of the neck. This will hopefully encourage forward movement.

If I can think of anymore I will let you know :)

[chickflick1066]

Cheko, her napping alone is fine - it's when we are in company that things go downhill :(

NuttyMare, thanks - I will eagerly take on all these tips and I'll let you know how I get on - it's really easy just to give up and get angry though :(

[NuttyMare]

I'm sending you good luck vibes, and I know how you feel. You spend ages researching in advance and when the time comes it all goes to pieces! Just remember to count to ten before getting angry, works with me when I need to keep a clear head ;)

[coblover26]

:) Stumpy's so cheeky. Tell me how it's going. :o Good Luck.

You tell her who's boss (that's what you always told me!!) :D

Lv Lu xxxxx