Nappy Pony at Competitions

[DollyDoo]

Help... my daughters pony has a tendency to always nap towards the gate of any arena or school we are in. At home she is on top of this and just gives him a short smack on the neck and he gives up pretty quickly. At competitions he is impossible and will nap back to the gate as soon as he can by dropping his should and spinning usually resulting in my daughter falling off. Should we just be firmer??? My daughter perseveres but she is always eliminated through a fall or refusals at competitions although she will usually finally get him round. I don’t want her to end up hurt. He is ridden in a snaffle and is 14 years old. His previous owner competed him without these problems although he has always been a napper. Thanks

 

[Jessey]

My old horse used to pull this when he was younger, he knew the difference between home where I wouldn't let him get away with it and away where I couldn't necessarily take the normal steps I would have (showing western, only 1 hand on reins or in a show class doing a circle would have been off pattern and eliminated us etc.), TBH the best thing I did with him for this was go to a couple of non-competitive clinics where I could deal with it in the ring and with the support of a coach and generally just in the normal way I would have at home, and also enter a couple of classes non-comp, again so I could deal with it without the pressure of a competition.

 

[fourlegs]

You need to find out WHY he is napping and deal with that issue - just "making" him do what you want results in unhappy horse and unhappy rider ....

 

[Mary Poppins]

I agree with @fourlegs in that the cause of the napping has be determined. There are loads of things to consider here:

Is it due to the way that your daughter is riding? For example, is she hanging on to his mouth all the way round but loosens off when by the gate? Therefore the horse associates the gate with a lack of pressure? Does she always stop by the gate when schooling to give the horse a rest? Perhaps your daughter gets nervous competing and rides in a different way that doesn't suit the horse? What is the horse like with a different rider?

Or, is it due to this horse wanting to be with other horses? If there is another horse in the arena with him does this make a difference? Can you pick venues which are busy and you are jumping in rings which are next to other rings (if that makes sense) so the horse isn't on his own? Why not try taking the horse to some group training clinics and experimenting with where the other horses are situated?

Or, is the horse sore or lame? Is he trying to tell you that he doesn't want to jump? Have you had his back/teeth/tack checked?

There are loads of different reasons why the horse is napping, and I would systematically work through them in turn. Giving the horse a smack to 'make' him comply isn't the way that I would approach this problem.

 

[DollyDoo]

My old horse used to pull this when he was younger, he knew the difference between home where I wouldn't let him get away with it and away where I couldn't necessarily take the normal steps I would have (showing western, only 1 hand on reins or in a show class doing a circle would have been off pattern and eliminated us etc.), TBH the best thing I did with him for this was go to a couple of non-competitive clinics where I could deal with it in the ring and with the support of a coach and generally just in the normal way I would have at home, and also enter a couple of classes non-comp, again so I could deal with it without the pressure of a competition.

Thank you - yes I had been thinking that - we will def give that a go and start jumping away from home but not in a competition so we have time to deal with it. X