Horse won't budge in school !

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pacer

New Member
Mar 31, 2008
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My daughter's cob is a lovely lad, kind and not a bad bone in his body. The last lesson she had with an instructor was last Nov and after about 40 mins we called it a day as he was nearly on his knees as hot and sweaty as not clipped. Over the winter he hasn't done much, only a half hour or so slow hack at the weekends as in the week she is at college and by the time she is home too dark.

After that lesson, we found that if you wanted to ride him in the school he just would not trot (no matter how much leg or voice was used) so we had the saddler out in case his saddle not fitting after Christmas. It was reflocked end of Jan and he had his teeth done mid Feb. Neither made any difference.

If you take him in the school he will walk around to warm up but will not trot no matter what, not even a tap with a crop will budge him. Interestingly if you take him in the woods for a hack, he will trot ! However if you come back and go in the school, he will just revert back to stopping again.

One thing to say is that she doesn't have another horse to go out with so I have usually been a foot soldier walking with her.

Am wondering if this has made him want a human "leader" on the ground which is why he will trot in the woods as I am there ! Whereas in the school she rides on her own. I am wondering if I try running next to him in the school to see if he will trot - that's the one thing I haven't tried. He was previously an RDA horse so is used to being led but has not been this reluctant until this year. Am just wondering if his experience in that lesson has given him a phobia of schooling or does he just lack a leader on the ground?

Thought of maybe getting her to try some Parelli games with him to make him see daughter more as a leader though have never tried any NH. Would that help maybe ? Or am I just clutching at straws ?

Any ideas welcome - sorry for waffling, first post on the board so hope I have put this in the right category. Thanks
 
perhaps he just doesnt like the idea of been in the school. he could be bored if he has been used as an RDA and need some excitement :confused: does he trot on the lunge/long reins or inhand in the school?

all of ours are 'schooled' while hacking, or in a large open field, so they see it more as fun because it isnt the same four walls/fences to look at and we can go on little circles then blast off to the end of the field without worrying about other people or the fence or rushing to find brakes. :D:rolleyes:

does he canter in the woods or while hacking?
 
The last time he was in the school he was made to trot until the sweat was running off him and he "was nearly on his knees" !

Then he was turned away but he has not forgotten his previous treatment in the school.

Now he walks but refuses to trot.

What's happened is he was sickened the first time and put in an evasion when asked next time and, because the evasion wasn't dealt with, he uses it all the time now.

You would be wise to take him back to basics, treat him as if he is a youngster, and teach him how to enjoy his work.

He's not a machine.
 
I tend to agree with AengusOg, it sounds to me as though he remembers the last lesson & has no intention of going through that again. To be honest I've not got a very high opinion of any instructor who'd allow a horse to be worked into that state & unless your daughter is very young she should have known better too - sorry to be blunt but maybe it needs saying :eek:

However done is done & now you've got to deal with the consequences. Can you make the school fun for him, make it somewhere he wants to be? Maybe it's cheating but a lot of cobs are food orientated so maybe take a pocketful of sweets in & reward him with fuss & treats, to begin with it may have to be for as little as walking a circle but hopefully he'll start to look forward to going to the place where he gets treats, praise & cuddles. Then ask for just a couple of strides of trot & when he does it get off, tell him he's amazing, make a huge fuss & treat him. Gradually you can build uo what he needs to do for a sweet & swap sweets for lots of OTT praise. If you can take him in with others & go round with them. Try putting out handy pony type things too as some find them fun - bending cones, a maze of poles etc. Try bareback if he's safe as he won't associate that with work & it make also pinpoint if there's still a saddle problem. My old pony used to find playing tag with a human a good game too though you may want to warn your daughter to hold on tight if you change direction quickly - I remember coming off a few times when my dad ran & swerved fast & William did the same!

Good luck with him & welcome to NR :D
 
Yes I have to say I was not happy with the instructor at all and have had nothing to do with her since. Would add that I am not a rider myself so at the time was going with her supposedly professional knowledge - which was obviously wrong and has caused such trauma to a sweet natured horse, which we are hoping to put right.

My daughter is really upset and is quite happy not to school, so as you say, will try and do some groundwork and make it fun for him in the school, with rewards etc and go from there. Will also try bare back just in case of saddle problems hiding there, in case he has changed shape since it was done in Jan.
 
pacer said:
Yes I have to say I was not happy with the instructor at all and have had nothing to do with her since. Would add that I am not a rider myself so at the time was going with her supposedly professional knowledge - which was obviously wrong and has caused such trauma to a sweet natured horse, which we are hoping to put right.

My daughter is really upset and is quite happy not to school, so as you say, will try and do some groundwork and make it fun for him in the school, with rewards etc and go from there. Will also try bare back just in case of saddle problems hiding there, in case he has changed shape since it was done in Jan.
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Excellent response :):):)
 
My pony doesn't like the c word sometimes coz hes a stubborn connie so to get him over this we put poles on the floor 3 spaced out up the centre line of the menage and got him to do different circles. It made him have something to aim for so it wasnt such a battle getting the whole way round the school! also made it more fun coz he managed to jump the odd one. Also my mum walks out with me and my pony would follow her anywhere try doing the poles with him doing follow the leader then cut down the quantity you do with him then just see if you can stand about in the school like an RI. Failing all else use a bribe a packet of polos and follow the leader should do the trick with plenty of praise hell get that trotting isnt too bad (be sure he wont mow u down) if hes frightened lunging etc will be no good.
 
ok i dunno how much this will help but transitions are good when horses wont canter if you do lots of transitions and praise he may even forget himself and do a few strides of trot possibly..... otherwise have you tried actually holding with a lead rope? that may give him more security
 
Yes am happy to walk or run round school with him if need be, or in the woods where we can hack. He is such a lovely boy I would do anything to turn back the clock to that lesson. The same instructor is back at the yard on Saturday giving someone else a lesson so I will be avoiding like the plague !

Others on yard have suggested using a crop or spurs but we won't be doing either as neither would be suitable in this situation I think.

Might have a go at trying to teach him to lunge in a fun sort of way, with some treats etc. He has never been lunged as he was only ever long reined so it would be something new.

Would some Parelli games also help do you think ?
 
Good luck with him pacer, it may take a while but I'm sure he'll get over it. It's obvious you & your daughter think the world of him & it may sound awfully twee but horses seem to know when they're loved & forgive us almost anything as long as we give them a bit of time.

I'm sorry if I sounded abrupt before (just reread my post :eek:) but I had a horrid image of you wanting to get him going in the school just so there could be more lessons like the last one. My mistake, it's now perfectly clear you feel bad that this happened & didn't need me getting stroppy!
 
No offence taken, everyone has given helpful advice which we are going to try. We are going to keep time in the school to a minimum when he is ridden, enough to warm up, maybe a few minutes with cones and poles for fun, and then go straight out on a hack. Also do groundwork with him in hand etc and see how we go.

At least summer is soon here and the woods are lovely - except for the midges !!
 
Along with all the other ideas, if you find you have success on the lunge and can get him to lunge, you could the lunge your daughter on top so that he is trotting with her on top and get him to listen to you daughter asking him to ask him to trot, you can always use the whip to encourage him if he doesn;t, then take away the lunge and gradually increase the size of the circle so he will eventally be happy off the lunge.
 
I don't buy into the idea that someone has worked your horse to the bone in 40 minutes. Even if it's true I wouldn't consider it as a reason for the horse to be disrespectful now. My guess is that nobody is giving a loud enough "forward" cue and the pony knows it.

For a different concept in your thinking, "what do you suppose would happen if somebody set off a loud firecracker under his tail?" ;)


Keep on, keepin on

Jack
 
levi1739 said:
I don't buy into the idea that someone has worked your horse to the bone in 40 minutes. Even if it's true I wouldn't consider it as a reason for the horse to be disrespectful now. My guess is that nobody is giving a loud enough "forward" cue and the pony knows it.

For a different concept in your thinking, "what do you suppose would happen if somebody set off a loud firecracker under his tail?" ;)


Keep on, keepin on

Jack
Click to expand...

Ah but then we get into the realms of shouting causes horses to and humans alike to stop listening whereas a whisper requires to to concentrate to hear it.

Why do you not think that tapping into the the horses will and then offering the whisper is not applicable in this case Jack?

I'd love to know your thoughts behind this as I always read your posts with great interest :)
 
I'm afraid I disagree with you on this one levi1739, in my experience it's quite possible for one unpleasant session to put a horse off big time. Yes he is being disobedient but he has his reasons & getting after him is only going to make him think he's right about the school being a bad place so I'd look at changing his view so he's happy to say "yes" rather than "no" or "I can't hear you". To be honest making it fun will probably get a quicker fix, a far happier partnership & no long term attitude problem so why pick a fight?
 
pacer said:
Yes am happy to walk or run round school with him if need be, or in the woods where we can hack. He is such a lovely boy I would do anything to turn back the clock to that lesson. The same instructor is back at the yard on Saturday giving someone else a lesson so I will be avoiding like the plague !

Others on yard have suggested using a crop or spurs but we won't be doing either as neither would be suitable in this situation I think.

Might have a go at trying to teach him to lunge in a fun sort of way, with some treats etc. He has never been lunged as he was only ever long reined so it would be something new.

Would some Parelli games also help do you think ?
Click to expand...

Although I don't like Parelli, I do think some groundwork with your pony would be the way forward.

If you can teach him that, by working with you, he can experience non-confrontational but still firm and fair handling, his attitude to you and your requests of him will change.

It follows that the relationship fullfilled on the ground becomes the relationship developed under saddle.

If you can think on your feet and adapt your teaching to what is in front of you, rather than what Parelli would do, then you could use Parelli as a basis for your training.

If, on the other hand, you need Parelli for everything, then you really could do with a visit from a skilled horseperson to give you some guidance.

You'll get plenty of Parelli advice on the NH section.
 
people sometimes forget that 40 minutes school work is hard work, the surface is different and if it is deep, he would have found it hard going. you wouldn't take an unfit, unclipped horse on a three hour hack on day one, would you?

for a first time in the school 40 minutes trotting till he was on his knees is way way too much for an unfit horse - i'm not surprised he isn't keen on it any more. ten minutes fun would have done him so much more good.

it's just a shame that some stupid person has made a willing kind horse say no - games and what you have decided with him hopefully may make him realise that he isn't going to be abused in the school every time he goes in there.
 
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