How would you lead a horse who planted himself?

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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In my riding lesson this week I rode a new horse. He is a 16hh TB who I had never met before. I led him out of his stable and down to the school, but after every couple of strides he kept planting himself with his head in the air. I wasn't really sure what to do so I kept at his shoulder asking him to walk on which he would do for a few strides and then stop again. Another (know it all) rider tried to give me a whip and said to give him a smack. I refused because I had only met this horse 2 minutes ago and didn't think that it was appropriate to start getting heavy handed, particuarly when I hadn't had a chance to think about what was going on.

We finally got to the school and to the mountain block in a series of short steps with pauses of planting with his head in the air again. He was fantastic to ride, but I had the same problem leading him back to his stable. He didn't want to move out of the school and I couldn't get him to walk into the stable - someone who was very assertive and confident did this for me (not the rider who wanted me to smack him).

So what was going on? Why was he behaving like this and how would you have have dealt with it? I'm not as assertive as I would like to be with horses I don't know, but I'm not a total pushover either. Is this a classic case of the rider (me) not being in charge or was something else going on?
 
Is it quite a long walk from the stables to the arena? Is he quite new to the school? Given he was putting his head up when he stopped I'm guessing he just isn't 100% confident about the walk from one to the other and I'd be inclined to take charge, pull him off to one side to get his legs moving, praise him hugely and walk forward very confidently, head up, shoulders square, just try to emit confidence. Don't look at him, just expect him to follow. I wouldn't consider going in front of him rather than being by his shoulder a bad thing if it gave him the confidence to follow nicely.

Good luck :)
 
DollysMum said:
Is it quite a long walk from the stables to the arena? Is he quite new to the school? Given he was putting his head up when he stopped I'm guessing he just isn't 100% confident about the walk from one to the other and I'd be inclined to take charge, pull him off to one side to get his legs moving, praise him hugely and walk forward very confidently, head up, shoulders square, just try to emit confidence. Don't look at him, just expect him to follow. I wouldn't consider going in front of him rather than being by his shoulder a bad thing if it gave him the confidence to follow nicely.

Good luck :)
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Pretty much what DM said! I'd just try and keep his feet moving even if it's sideways slightly or a circle
 
I'm not as assertive as I would like to be with horses I don't know, but I'm not a total pushover either.
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You have answered the question yourself ! :D

TBs pick up on your smallest cue, they are sensetive creatures and the horse may well have picked up on the fact that you were just a tad nervous at your first meeting.

Some horses plant and refuse to go as they need more confidence from their handler, some exploit it and shove a crow bar in the crack and make you life a mysery. some just ignore and do the nannying.

A tap with a long whip on his back end may well have been all you needed to get him going, not a smack or a whack, a light touch is often all that's needed to get forward momentum again.
 
Our Joe can be king of planters - specially with me! I have started to make him back up - just gently (but firmly!) pushing him back so his feet start moving - then usually this does the trick and off we go. He can just stop dead in the middle of the school - most annoying! I think its just a habit?! Tb's eh? Who'd have 'em?!
 
Thank you all. He is new to the school and he came from a market, so he has an an unknown past. Next time I ride him my initial nerves will have hopefully gone so I will try and be more confident. I did use the trick of making him move sideways and that worked in so far as he took a couple of steps forward and then he planted again. I am very new in dealing with TBs and the more I read and learn, the more I know that I do have to handle them differently compared to my cob. I am liking it though!
 
Kels occasionally plants when I'm leading her in the field. I find the best way to get her moving is to kind of zig zag, rather than walking straight on forwards and pulling her - if I do, she just sticks her head in the air and leans back against me. If I walk from side to side, she will walk on, but it might take a few goes to get her moving. I don't know how or why this works, but it does!

Oh, and don't turn round to face him - I was told this is seen as threatening, but it's hard not to, as it seems natural to turn round to see what's wrong!
 
My horse sometimes plants, and I have come to understand that this is a sign that she's not happy, either with me or the situation. And she's no TB either, she's a 'sensible' cob...

I've found that a tap (as in a very light tap) on her shoulder with a crop usually gets her going, or a wave of the leadrope, like a vertical helicopter blade.

Having said that, she hasn't done it for ages and ages (famous last words..:biggrin:) as she's on a yard where she's very happy now. But when I first met her she was at a riding school and she did it all the time...
 
LL can do it when I ask her to back up at the gate - If she is not standing still whilst I open the gate I make her walk round the school and stop every 10 strides :devil: so she trys to plant to stop me from making her walk around the school. She sticks her head up too, but the bonus is she will go backwards. So i make her do it backwards for ten strides, then she realises that forward is easier.

I find as long as you keep them moving its better but can just take a little longer to get somewhere. A tickle with a whip might have helped.
 
TB strange little things aren't they.

My boy walks in from the field find and if there are people in the main yard he always stops and plants. He never does it if know ibe is around. I believe he is attention seeking!!!!! because as soon as someone asks after him or comments on him he moves off!!!:giggle:
 
I too used the 'zig-zag' technique - sometimes it took ages but at least kept his feet moving...we must have looked a bit drunk coming in from the field sometimes!
 
Depending on why the horse has planted I either keep up gentle pressure in the rope until he gets bored and moves again. Or I get someone round the back end with a lunge whip...or there's always the patent Collie method!....which, sadly comes into play before I ask sometimes. :o
 
Roxy occasionally plants when she's not in the mood to play ball....

I'll keep the pressure on the rope and not turn back to look at her. I want her to continue to think that I am leading HER and not the other way around. I'll lean on the rope as much as I need to for as long as it takes until there's give and she moves forward, at which point the tension is released immediately (very important it's released immediately) and she gets praise.

If it continues I'll walk her off to the side so she has no choice but to balance herself by moving her feet which can also works and often gets the momentum going.
 
Either a rope halter and long rope - match her resistance and the minute they give, release, or when they plant back up. My thoroughbred who had been in racing for 10 years was the king of back up. Once I owned back up, he wasn't so keen!
 
Number one thing with a horse that plants is to KEEP THE FEET MOVING. If the horse doesn't want to move forwards, then move him sideways or backwards instead. It doesn't matter which direction he is moving in as long as he is moving!

If you watch a group of horses interacting in the field, you will notice that the more dominant members of the group assert their control over the less dominant ones by moving their feet. As a handler you need to be able to do the same thing. You assert your control/leadership over the horse by not allowing it to plant - it must move SOMEWHERE because YOU told it to.

A horse does it in several different ways, for example biting or kicking the less dominant one so it runs away, or walking towards it with ears back and making it go away, or bumping it sideways with its butt to push it away from a pile of hay. A really dominant horse can control a really passive one even further by making its feet move QUICKLY... like the way the bossy herd member chases the pushover all over the field, just for the sake of it!

There is of course a difference between a horse moving another horse around, and a human handler moving a horse around. A lot of the time a horse will move away from a more dominant one because it feels threatened (by hooves, teeth, a simple ears-back). Whereas as the handler, you don't want to be moving the horse by making it scared of you! - but by asserting yourself and kindly but firmly telling it to move. You can turn the horse's head to one side until it is forced to move its feet, or push his shoulder away from you so that he has to move his front feet, or push his hindquarters away from you so he has to move his back feet, or ask him on the chest to back up. As long as you keep him moving you retain the upper hand.

I used to exercise a mare who had started planting her feet whilst being led up the field. I followed someone's advice to catch her with a lunge line rather than a leadrope, taking a lunge whip down with me as well. When she planted her feet and refused to go forwards, I lunged her there and then for half a minute or so, then tried again to walk up the field, if she planted I lunged her again, and so on. She quickly learned that keeping her feet moving forwards was far easier for her than being stopped and made to work!
 
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