napping!!!!!! ahhhh!!!!

G

gennalouise

Mayella's slave!
Dec 17, 2008
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Wiltshire
My lovely DH bought me a horse for my birthday (total surprise) She is a 4 yr old tb x. She was lightly backed when i got her and since then i have lunged lots and managed to get her out hacking. Things were going great till i didnt have time to ride her for four days. I tried hackin her out and as soon as i got off the drive she planted herself and refused to move. She doesnt spin buck or rear she just refuses to move.

In me not riding have i some how lost my 'leadership'? Is she being naughty and do i kick/ use my whip. Or do i wait it out? (only problem with that is that she is more then happy to stand around.)

I havent ridden in three years and although my ground work i am more then confident in I am feeling nervous about my riding (Husband was trying to be romantic not practical love him) i have a 7 month old baby and only have an hour to ride a day! feeling a little desprate so any advice most welcome
 
could your hubby or someone else accompany you either on a bicycle or on foot.It may well help encourage her forwards.Failing that you need to keep moving her feet until she goes in the direction you require even if means going around in circles or backwards.She has to know you mean what you say and that she must do as you ask. It probably is a combination in lack of confidence on her part or her trying you out if you haven't had her long.
 
Who knows why!! But I'd try the sit it out method, if you can do so somewhere safely. As soon as she takes a step in the right direction, then give her loads of praise. Set yourself some little goals - to get to the next tree maybe, and as soon as she has walked there, then head back home. Make your target a little further away each time. It might also help, if you've got time, to do a little ground work with her before you go out, so that she's switched on and focussed. She's still a baby though so don't expect her to do too much all at once.
 
Hello and welcome:)

How long have you had her? Have you hacked out before much without problem (edit, re-read your post and see that you have, sorry)

She is still such a baby. Is it possible for you to take her out in company? at least until you both know each other well.? Or, as mentioned, with someone walking with you.
 
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my horse had a napping issue, and like yours, she is a type that would happily stand there all day:rolleyes:

i would personally get a RI out to help on the ground, i did and it did me wonders !!:) especially with her been so young.

tips:
if you feel your horse getting slower or starting to look like she is going to stop give her a squeeze until you get up to a nice impulsive walk.

if she does plant squeeze, kick, tickle with the whip and the smack with the whip. if still she doesn't walk (as Ginny sometimes doesn't) then kick, whip and shout "walk on" or something like that, which works well for Ginny but horses react differently to different things, so a whip might do your horse fine. (especially with a bit of TB in there, Ginny is just thick skinned:p)

whatever you do DONT TURN AROUND. if you do, she has won, and it will get worse.

im guessing you have ridden with someone else before?? maybe let her go in front then and slowly get her used to everything, as she is still young and things might still be new to her.

if i think of anything else i will edit .
 
The trouble is i keep her at home with a pony for company and no one to ride with me! she will go out if some one is on foot but she follows so if the person walking drops back so does she!

Maybe lunging before we set out is a good idea! Why she couldnt of done this in the summer when the days are longer:confused:

Would it be worth while walking out with some one on foot for a while (months?) Then getting the person to drop back slightly more and more each time? or will i just reinforce hacking out alone is scary?

Ive worked with horses on and off for about 7 years but this is the first time i have had one of my own and its so hard not having friends about to help!
 
ok

umm...try turning her head until she has tho move her feet- then spin her in a circle and get her on in the right direction.
start in the school first rather that going on a hack

take her for, like, 10 mins in the school before going, to make sure she's being 'positive and responsive'
 
gennalouise said:
Would it be worth while walking out with some one on foot for a while (months?) Then getting the person to drop back slightly more and more each time? or will i just reinforce hacking out alone is scary?

!
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that would be a good way to help her gain her confidence in you.Another option if she can and you feel confident to do so is to longrein her out on a hack.
 
gennalouise said:
Would it be worth while walking out with some one on foot for a while (months?) Then getting the person to drop back slightly more and more each time? or will i just reinforce hacking out alone is scary?

!
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Yes, She'll hopefully get used to being in front and after a while not worry about the other person, but trust you to guide her. Building up you relationship with her and doing positive things should be the goal, so anything which means she's looking to you more and more and still going out and about is a good idea, even you walking her in hand sometimes in quiet places.

snap with summercandy, I type too slow.
 
gennalouise i am also in the same situation as you.(nobody to ride with!!) its so annoying:rolleyes:

out of experience i think the method of someone walking in front doesn't work, when they slow down so does Ginny, if the stop so does she, and TBH i thought it made it even harder.

NightMare Rider i also tried that with Ginny, all she did was turn, then as soon as i turned her back she stopped dead, didnt work at all.

i would strongly suggest RI. not only did she give me confidence she told me what i should be doing and when, which was very helpful. Ginny didn't nap once because she told me to keep a impulsive walk etc. i haven't looked back, or at least when Ginny does i know what to do:)
 
Best advice I can offer is to keep her feet moving, that way you are in control. As soon as you feel a hesitation in her step, pick a good contact and send her forward, or into a few lateral steps, or side to side, whatever keeps her moving! Just don't let her stop. Once she's stopped she can plant or spin, she's taken the initiative and is in control of the situation. If you find it difficult to keep her feet moving, see if you can train her to go forward off your leg when you school. If you treat going for a hack as an extension of schooling for the time being you may be able to work through this. Good luck!
 
Could you take her out for a walk? We moved yards recently, and for lots of reasons our horses where not in the best of shape, so by default actually they were walked around their new yard as well as ridden.

They seemed slightly happier when we were on the ground with them, had a good old look round - and although it never occurred to me at all at the time i'm now slightly surprised that they never balked at anything and have hacked out a dream since we've been there.

Of course they've known my tribe longer - you have a horse that's new to you AND new to the yard AND a baby to boot................ but perhaps if you were on the ground she'd be happier?

So, in my passive touchy feely kinda way I'd take her for a walk if I could (maybe even with a pocket full of pony nuts...... blackmail, bribery, I'll try it all!) - and just lead her up the path or whatever for an evening stroll to make sure she got into the routine of doing the route before I was sitting on her trying to push her - I find going around in circles to obtain forward movement (or my likely arrest forward movement in my case!) much easier from the floor.........
 
Hi

I have a napping issue! (not personally lol).

She'll go in company but only behind! So on Monday i thought i'd try take her out on her own... ive known her about 4 months now and spend time with her. I also show her who's boss - not in a nasty way, but she barges! and i barge her back and now she's stopped as she knows it doesnt wash with me.

I took her out on Monday and i constantly talked to her. Then she stopped - i could feel her slowing but when i squeezed it didnt make a difference. I asked her once to walk on- Nothing, I tapped her once with my crop & kicked her -Nothing! So i stood and waited, every so often saying "walk on Jo". In the end she did and she didnt do it after that and she hasnt done it since! So maybe because i wasnt going mad and the fact she knows me, she feels safe & knows im not going to give her much attention for stopping.

All in all, that worked for me.
 
it sounds like a confidence issue. i had the same thing with one of mine. now hack out alone!
try this, find a ride that does a loop. tack her up and walk her around the loop ride on the first couple of days, next day walk 3/4 of the way round so she knows where shes going and get on and ride home. in a couple of days go half way around and get on and so on. she needs to feel confident that she is always going to get home. alot of new horses go through the same thing. remember last time she left her old yard she didn't go back. a herd animal will always feel insecure being taken away from somewhere they know and right now the only place she feels safe is in you yard with her mate. don't sit on her and beet the C**p out of her, she'll just stop trusting you. she's not being naughty.
alot of people say don't get off or they win! i took this approach with my first horse and sat on top shouting "Walk On" yelling and screaming and giving him a tap with the whip!!. it just makes you more frustrated and you do things you'll regret. he then got twice as bad, napped at everything. spinning, bucking and rearing. don't make that mistake. look at it from her point of veiw. it's a scary world and you want her to go first!!
 
Some great ideas there! makes sense doing the loop then getting on at the end it makes real sense! Unfortunatly i dont have a school and with the weather being so wet i am unable to use my fields! keeping her feet moving makes sense as well as once she has planted it impossableto move her at all! I have done lots of in hand walking and she is great with this not jumping, spooking or napping at anything.

I think i have made a mistake of walking up the road and back rather then doing a loop!

Thank you all or your advice. im feeling a bit in over my head with her at the moment so its good to have people to chat with, She is the most sweet and gentle horse its me thats letting her down. We will get there (i hope)
 
Of course you will get there :)(Rome wasn`t built ina day).........i would suggest long reining her in an enclosed area, then when you are confident take her out and about.IMO,really helps a horses confidence and encourages them to trust you,lots of voice commands and praise :)
 
i have had the same problem with my mare who i have owned for 3.5 yrs!

we moved yards about 9 months ago and then i had to ride her out on her own (whereas i always rode in company before). the new yard only has a few people that ride, who arent always available when i ride!

anyway, this is what is working for me:

1. spend lots of time in the school working on the ground - this really built respect and trust between us.

2. lead her off the yard and just take her for walks around the local small routes - this built her confidence in the areas we would ride. i also did some ground work off the yard.

3. ride with someone walking/riding a bike - i had to do this as i really wanted to be out there riding - this gave her confidence on the further rides

4. ride in company - where possible (my mare insists on following others - so i have slowly over time asked her to lead for short sections of rides, now she is feeling much more confident and will lead for longer than before)

5. finally try riding out on your own. this may mean leading the horse for some or all of the ride.

6. my mare does two types of napping - one when shes just trying it on and one when shes scared. when she trys it on i use a wip wop and once we have good forward motion i reward her with a treat (shes very food motivated). When shes scared she walks backwards if i try to ask her forward - in this situation i always get off and walk her forward until shes relaxed then i get back on. sometimes i just sit and wait, but we never turn around.

i had absolutely no experience of napping before i moved, it was a complete shock to me, especially since my mare has always been a complete docile plod! i find with my mare that if i do small loop rides shes much better and more forward than when i do long straight rides! also I also use grazing points for my mare for her to 'look forward' to something.

remember its trial and error, every horse is different!
 
I absolutely agree that in-hand walks and plenty of groundwork will help. It sounds like your horse doesn't trust yuo, so you need to establish 0and keep reinforcing) your leadership. In your horse's eyes, a good leader will never punish the horse for being frightened or lacking confidence. Good leaders don't flap about, make a fuss, hurt or otherwise frighten the horse further by using the whip/shoyting/kicking etc - this will merely prove to your filly that there really is something to worry about, and that you cannot give her confidence through good leadership when she needs it. You need to behave in a consistently a calm, quiet and positive manner; for example, asking her to walk forwards with your legs quietly and encouraging with your voice (not shouting at her). If your horse still doesn't want to move forwards, you can ask your hubby/Riding instructor/friend etc to walk beside/ahead of her and lead her forwards. Far from what many peole believe, getting off and leading your horse is not an admission of defeat or letting her 'win' (a very human concept that isn't in the horse's nature) it will encourage her to follow you, as her instincts will support. When your horse learns that when you say to go, she can go, and that you will keep her safe and your judgement can be trusted (if a leader harms the horse in any way, the horse cannot trust that 'leader' as the leader has not proven that s/he can do provide these essential things for the horse).
Doing plenty of groundwork - you don't have to ride at all until you feel safe and in control,a dn you have built a stable relationship with yuor new horse - as much as possible, even if it's only for a few minutes once or twice a day. Teach your horse to move backwards, yield her shoulders and yield her hindquarters to you when you tap her there. She needs to be able to happily allow you to lift all of her hooves for as long as you want, as well. You can also teach her to walk on in-hand when you do, and halt when you do.
When she 'naps', you can hope off and lift/rotate each of her hooves, following out ritualistic groundwork exercises as mentioned, to reinforce your status as her leader and control over her feet/movements. This is likely to also give you confidence as you feel in a position of greater control.

Good luck, and take your time!

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