How to deal with a horse who runs backwards

horseygirl123

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Feb 10, 2007
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essex/suffolk border
I've been to look at a horse today to share, its a 20yr old IDxTB who is a safe hack but the only thing is, if you dont let it canter when it wants to (ie over a field or down a 'nice' canter track) it will run backwards in protest.
How do you deal with this? Is there any tactics you can use once the horse starts going backwards?
 
What I find helps is making sure that YOU control the direction of the backwards movement. So you keep that element of control over the horses movement.

So zig-zag him backwards, try to turn to go in the opposite direction, spin, leg yeild, do everything you can to get his attention focussed on you, rememeber, as long as he is moving somewhere, even if it is backwards, you can harness his decision and make it seem like your own. If that makes any sense at all :rolleyes:

He'll get bored eventually with all the backwards, realise that its a lot nicer to go in a straight line forwards and calmly than it is to do all this hard work backwards.

Hope at least some of that is helpful/has the right sort of idea behind it! :)
 
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I had a 7/8th TB that did this. My instructors advice was to make him go backwards until he got bored with it. Only problem was he never did :(
 
She's in a snaffle
So, if she starts going backwards do I keep leg on to try to get her to go forwards again or will that just make her go backwards even faster?
Can i try to circle her to get her going forwards again?
 
Oops, she :eek:

Keep your leg on, its her choice to either go forwards calmly and slowly, at your pace and doing less exercise, or to go backwards doing all this fancy hardworking stuff thats difficult for her. If she tries to go into canter again once shes going forwards, ask her to slow down. Its her choice if she responds to this, or goes backwards and does fancy moves again. After a while, she'll realise that you dont want to canter here, and, actually, neither does she unless you do too. Its all a game of patience, you might have a few VERY long rides before she understands :rolleyes: :)
 
Thankyou for your replies :)
So can you tell me, how fast can a horse run backwards, is it a fast walk, or more like a canter?
Can you tell i'm a bit nervous about the idea of taking this horse out :p
 
hmmm...I couldnt tell you exactly, but the one I ride goes at the speed of a trot, not that fast, just remember to keep your balance central as sometimes the forwards movement can be quite sudden (not taking off style, just a bit of a jerk)

Dont be nervous, just do lots of "listen to me" work all the way through the hack, so theres more chance of her listening to you telling her not to canter when it happens. It'll get easier after a few times out as she'll start to associate the canter areas with slowing down instead, and it'll be less work to keep her calm.

Good luck, and hope i've helped even slightly :)
 
Yes you have thanks marmite :)
I'll be going out with the owner at first (she'll be riding the youngster) so I'm sure she will be able to give me a few tips on keeping her going forward. Its just a little worrying knowing i will have to deal with something i havent come across before:rolleyes:
 
If you're nervous, theres a good chance that you could be actually causing her to go backwards. Do you have a tight hold of the reins?

First of all, drop your contact, so that you've got loose reins. Its best to push your hands forwards, rather than actually lengthening them (incase you get some sudden forward movement, in which case you'll need your contact back quick).

Then put your legs on, and ask her to go forward. If she doesn't respond to a squeeze, then kick. If she still doesn't respond still, use a tap on the bum with a crop.

If that doesn't work, turn one way or the other. Sometimes if you can get them to turn, you can then get them to walk on.

When she goes forwards, give loads of praise immediately.

If she is always wanting to canter, I would stop cantering at all for now, so that she stops expecting it;)

Hope this helps:)
 
Is dropping the contact such a good idea though? if she's going backwards through no reason other than she hasnt got her own way, and she wants to canter even though you dont, surely its a reward to have the contact drop? Would a light but consistant one not be better so she learns that backwards = more challenging stuff and no reward but forwards = a nicer time?

I dont know BTW, just putting forward some ideas :)
 
Is dropping the contact such a good idea though? if she's going backwards through no reason other than she hasnt got her own way, and she wants to canter even though you dont, surely its a reward to have the contact drop? Would a light but consistant one not be better so she learns that backwards = more challenging stuff and no reward but forwards = a nicer time?

I dont know BTW, just putting forward some ideas :)

I can see your point, but maybe she's not going backwards because she can't canter.
I was wondering, if the rider is nervous, like she said, she could be hanging on the reins in an attempt to stop the horse, causing the horse to go backwards,

I watched a novice rider the other day, trying to get his horse to stand still (she was fidgeting). The more she fidgeted, the more he clenched tight on the reins, so she started going backwards. It was a vicious circle, until I said to him to drop his contact. As soon as he did, she stood still;)
 
That makes sense, although I dont think she's experienced it yet, just heard about it from the owner. If she is nervously hanging on, giving does make more sense though. I'm expecting plenty of updates HG123 btw, wanna know how it all goes!
 
That makes sense, although I dont think she's experienced it yet, just heard about it from the owner. If she is nervously hanging on, giving does make more sense though. I'm expecting plenty of updates HG123 btw, wanna know how it all goes!

No I havent been out with the horse yet, my instints would tell me to drop the contact and either kick her on to go forwards or to keep turning her around until she realises that actually going backwards in a circle isnt that much fun either.
I dont ride with a tight contact anyway, never have done, i much prefer to have a soft contact. I'm not a 'nervous' rider, and have dealt with 'silly' behaviour from various different horses, just wanted a bit of advice on how to deal with this one.
I'd have thought that if i kept the contact and tried kicking her on at the same time she might think 'hmmm i think she WANTS me to go backwards' :rolleyes:
Until it happenes i dont know how i will react, but i'm pretty sure now i am aware she will do it i will be fine.
I was thinking of maybe avoiding the fields the first few times we go out so i know she is listening to me and we can build up the trust and then maybe the next time riding towards the field, and if she starts messing about circling her straight away before she gets chance to run backwards, then reward her with going forward a few more steps, if she tries it on again, circle her again, go back to the start of the field and try again, soon she will realise as soon as she starts messing about we start back from the beginning.

Do you think that would work?
Also 1 more question :p ....
If she is going to run backwards is it like an instant thing or will she stop then go backwards? just trying to work out some 'signs' i can look out for to stop this behaviour.
 
Sidney used to do this. He was very adept at it too! He would run backwards - npt a trot but not a walk something inbetween that was very fast!! I could not turn him either, he would put his head in the air and set his jaw and neck.

I used to use my voice and keep my leg on and use the whip to back up my aids whilst pushing my hands forwards. He stopped doing it in the end, but it was rather unnerving - especially when I knew he was running backwards in the direction of a car! He never actually ran into anything though - he knew exactly what he was doing. (apart from when he trippe up a kerb :rolleyes: )

He would do it when he didn't want to go past a scary object.
 
An aquaintence of mine used to have a horse that ran backwards everytime she mounted. She had everything checked. Nothing wrong was found. One day she went out for a ride, the horse stopped and ran backwards. She drove him forward but he still insisted on out of control reversing. There was a holly bush near by so she made him reverse into the holly bush. It certainly made him wary of using 'reverse gear' to get his own way!​
 
I think you need to ask the owner much more about her behaviour.

If it is to the point that she could get herself (and therefore the rider too) into a dangerous situation by backing up, then I think that's a big problem and I'd steer clear. But she might just do it because she's excited, but she wouldn't do anything dangerous by it. So if she was excited but there was a main road behind her, would she still back up?

You might get the feeling that when she does it, you're actually still in control, because you know she would stop before getting into any real danger. However, you might also feel out of control and that she would rather run backwards over the M25 than contain her excitement, and it is this that really would make all the difference as to whether I'd share her or not.

Perhaps you could ride out with the owner? Then, the owner would be on hand to give you some support. Or maybe you could see her being hacked by the owner, and witness the backwards thing first hand.
 
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