What do you do when...

[Karin]

You're trying to go on a hack and you get to the edge of the last paddock (where some of your horses buddies are) and your horse refuses to move on. In fact the further you get from home the slower your horse walks.
I've tried nudging, kicking, talking, cajoling, using the crop, and my leased horse keeps turning around trying to walk back to the barn. This weekend I held the reins in enough so that we actually kept doing circles in place. She'd tease me by taking two steps forward but then she'd try to turn home and we'd start the spinning thing again. Remembering my teacher said I don't have her respect, I tried to get more agressive with a firm kick and "walk on" in a strong voice. The horse answered by throwing her head up and down and pulling me harder.

My hacks keep turning into a battle of wills and strength and she keeps winning. This has been happening over and over again. She's great in the ring but has no interest in going for a hack.

I've asked others at the barn for advice and they say "get mad", "mean it" or "try spurs". (I am afraid to open up that can of worms after the last post on spurs.)

Has anyone had this happen? And how did you solve the problem?

[Elissa]

YES!
This has happened to me too. My POA gelding is great 99% of the time and I have great confidence in him but one day while trail riding, he decided he didn't want to go onto the trail into the woods. I didn't care personally about whether we went in or not but I didn't want him to feel like he was able to do whatever he wanted. He did the exact thing as what you explained. I don't know if this is the correct fix but my way was to get him to step even ONE step and praise him, another step, praise him. He soon was willing to go forward again. Just try and use correct leg pressure and praise when your horse does something right.
the more your horse wins, the more it's going to be stubborn about going forward away from the ring, try and do it before it's even worse! Hope this helped you at all. Good luck.

[Farm_Girl5]

You said something about turning in circles. If your turning in circles then she is half winning. She's getting to face back the way SHE wants to go. As soon as you feel her turning turn her the OTHER way so your winning. If she knows she can turn around even for a little while she'll keep trying it. Just make sure she is always facing the way you want her to go!
Kristy

[Sarah]

hello!

I know that problem all too well!

Try the method that Elissa suggested - every time your horse takes a step in the direction that you want, really praise her. If you turn her in circles, like Kristy said she is winning half the time so you won't get anywhere, also your horse will learn to do that as an evasion which isn't fun.

As you say that she is great in the ring, does she move off you leg well and really listen to all your aids? If not, it could be the fact that she know she can outwit you on the sly that enables her to nap like this. Schooling will help with the napping.

Another thing that could help would be riding out with others. The first few times you go, tuck her in behind a friend when you get to the place where she starts to nap. After a few rides, try having her going next to her buddy. After a while of doing this, try having her infront on her friends, even if it is just so that her nose is infront and slowing increase the distance between you. This could take a long time so don't expect an overnight cure!

I would strongly advise against turning her napping into a battle of wills by starting to use spurs or resorting to other forms of physical coersion. At the moment she is just turning round, but throwing her head up is (in its smallest form) a type of rearing, so do not push her too hard at this point.

I found that when my horse starts to have a nap attack, asking it to do something totally different (that it doesn't want to do) can help - eg ask her to stand still for a while, totally immobile until the horse sighs to give in, then you can usually get it to walk on. Also, as you get to the nap point on the ride, ask your horse to do some leg yileding, or shoulder in, or anything, just to get it concentrating on you can help.

Good luck, do let me know how you get on!

bye!

[Myrmex]

I agree with what the others have said. If you have to ride out alone, making a nappy horse stand still for a while till they get bored often works well, as does Elissa's method - I've used both successfully to get nappy horses to go forwards. Flicking a rope backwards and forwards over the withers can help, but you must stop flicking if they take a step forwards. With circling you often find your circles moving back up the way you came from, ie. the horse is winning. And getting into a big confrontation - shouting, bullying, kicking etc - don't bother. With most horses, it just winds them up and doesn't necessarily work anyway. In fact, quite often the horse just gets the idea that there is something really scary about the spot that he/she's refusing to go past, even if the initial reason was just wanting to stay with the other horses. After all, if you're making a huge fuss, there must be something awful there... One of my horses still spooks at two places he was bullied into going past over two years ago (by another rider). Besides, any horse is much stronger than you so confrontation is a risk. If you get really stuck, get off and lead the horse past the sticking point. Safer for you and gets the horse moving forwards without any stress. Saves time (I've spent up to 40 minutes sitting in the same spot on a stubbornly napping horse), even if you end up hopping on and off every few minutes! Some people argue against this by saying that the horse has gotten rid of the rider, so has won - maybe in some cases, but in my experience, the horse is more bothered about walking past the point he's decided not to go past, so from his point of view, you've won.
Every horse is different, so you'll have to experiment to find out which method suits yours best. Good luck!

[Karin]

Thanks everyone! I am so comforted that you guys have experienced this too. I keep thinking Wanda looks at me and says "Aha, the beginner again. I don't have to do this."

Just a couple of follow up questions. I see what you mean about the circles - that means I'm letting her face the barn. But here's the problem. If we're walking and she turns stong to the right, and I try to hold her with my left hand and right leg on, she wins, she's just plain stronger. Which is why I've let her go to the right then used the momentum to bring us right back around with our backs to home again.

I do praise when she walks forward. I'm not sure she cares, but I'll certainly keep at it.

I'll try again on Saturday to do the "stand in place" technique when she acts up. Last ride I tried that and she started walking backwards. I could see her thinking it through. "Okay if you won't let me turn around and go home, I'll walk backwards all the way". How do you get her to stop that?

It absolutely worked riding with another someone else, but I'll be alone 2:3 rides a week. So, I've got to master this thing by myself.

Thanks again for your thoughts. K

[Sarah]

hello!

With regard to walking backwards, the way I stopped my horse doing htat was to askher to walk backwards for about half a mile. When i then asked her to move forwards, you have never seen a horse so keen to move on! She has never since used the backwards trick on me! I used a similar thing when she decided to go sideways at one point, we returned to the yard at full pass ( a distance of about 500m) again, no trouble with her wanting to go sideways to nap now!

bye!

[Karin]

You made me laugh out loud...

[CLAUDIA]

ME TOO!! :) LOL!!! :D

[Myrmex]

Hey, I did that once too! Except I reversed the horse in the direction she didn't want to go. She never did the reverse thing again.
Karin - I can sympathise with the circling thing. My gelding used to do a nice trick where he'd do a little rear and try to spin round in the direction of home. I found the answer was to really learn to sense when it was coming (I could feel his heartbeat go up, his back tense up and his head rise a little for at least 10 seconds before the action came). It gave me enough time to spread my arms quite wide and hold the reins out either side of his withers with a good contact. Not pretty, but stopped him getting away from me. He doesn't do that any more - just leaps forwards in a few strides of angry gallop! Mind you, it doesn't always work - got a problem with my other horse at the moment where she tries to run for home at the sight of a lorry/tractor/rattly vehicle (not her fault - she's had a few scares - there are some complete b*stards on the roads round here). She's so fast at ducking sideways that I can't catch her, so have to resort to hauling her round in circles. Not ideal, but better than galloping in the direction of home.