Napping Please Help Im Getting Desperate!!

T

Toffee_xx

New Member
Oct 29, 2008
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Burntwood, Near Litchfield
My pony is being a complete arse at the min the napping started only in the school now its out hacking!! his saddle fits him perfectly an he is in a fulmer cheek snaffle he is 5 years old an getting to big for his boots he will spin an head for home took me about 10 mins to get him of the yard anyone got some tips to help me? we have done lopts of ground work but it hasnt helped his teeth an back have also been checked :confused: i really dont want to get rid of my boy
 
Have you tried walking him out in hand first, getting him used to just being out with you?

If he is napping in the school too, does sound a bit like he is trying his hand a bit and trying to evade some work! If you can get on top of it in the school he will know who's boss! :D
 
Hi there - this is typical behaviour for a horse that doesn't want to leave the security of the yard and his buddies. The problem is here that unless you are effective in making him go out, he is quickly learning that he can get his own way....
So, if he were mine I would continue with the groundwork and ridden work at home but make it a lot more challenging. Do everything you can think of - obstacles in the arena, stick with a carrier bag on the end to touch every part of his body, bounce balls on him, lay stuff on him, lead him over and through stuff etc etc. There is bound to be something in that lot (or all of it!) that pressures him which is great because you can help him through it by insisting calmly, not reacting to whatever it is and just pushing him through it until he realises that whatever it was, wasn't so bad. This regime will help him to slow down and think a bit more and become more confident, both in himself, and in you. You will become more of a leader and he will slowly get used to doing what you ask. Look upon it as fun work, and you will both form a great partnership!
 
My horse does this too best advice i can give is ride him through it, if he naps to an entry let him go that way but keep your leg on and bring him back round in a circle going back in the direction you wanted him to go. It works! doesnt matter if he does it once or ten times keep doing it. Horse needs to know whose boss, and will respect you more for it in the long run as he will know its nothing to be scared of. this is the best advice my friend gave to me. its not nice when a 16h hw cob is pulling you where he wants to!!!

Good luck x
 
Something else to try is when he naps, turn him round and ask for rein back in the direction you want to go, when he is tired of going backward (it works really well if you happen to be going up hill at the time! :D) turn him round and ask him to go forwards again, if he won't keep doing it again. He'll soon learn!

Make sure you carry a whip to back up your leg too. Also encourage him with your voice, make sure your tone is firm but not cross.

Good luck

Hope this helps
 
Wrong time of year ATM but take him hunting. ;)

Do you ride out with others? Getting a lead off a sensible other is always helpful. He is still young and may be lacking in confidence if you are asking him to go on his own.
 
There are other parts of a horse's body that can hurt and make him start napping apart from teeth and back. Not saying he IS hurting - but he MIGHT be.
Both of mine started napping before they showed any lameness whatsoever. As it had happened once , with the second one I had him checked over for any other signs as soon as he started napping in the school... (he did it more in the school than on hacks too). he didn't start showing a lameness until we put him on quite a tight circle for the vet. Looked sound on the straight - this of course also explains napping in school (where you do turns) and not (immediately) on hacks which tend to be in straight lines.

Or - at 5 - he's being a Kevin, and you need to push him through it. But check for lameness on hard and soft ground on tight circles etc before you decide there is definitely no pain involved.
 
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tetsmum said:
What ground work have you been doing?
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I have done quite alot of lunging, inhand work in the school and out on roads making him stop when i stop walk when i walk an back up when i back up he respets me from the ground. Also, i have intoduced him to plastic bags, umberelas and other 'scary' objects an he is not botherd by this at all!!

The one thing i think might have caused this is when he was broken he was rushed an worked hard in the school everyday an whipped untill he would canter an hit round the head if he was to do anything wrong even if it was something little do you think this could have blew his mind?

He hasnt been in work properly since febuary as i wanted to give him a little time to himself just to relax an get his teeth an back checked out, but he seems to have got worse!
 
My 5 year old has just started this lark and its not fun sitting in the middle of a main road with half a tonne of black muscle doing somersaults!

The first hack,i got off and lead him, this was great until i had to find somewhere to re-mount the nutcase (he is normally fine hacking out alone) no amount of kicking would move him, plus there were people watching so I was quite reserved! After 4 times of deciding he wasnt going to go the way I wanted, I was in a right predicament, main road, busy junction and no alternative but to go in the direction I had to go in, last chance saloon so to speak! so....(your not goanna like it) I went mental kicking him and backed up my leg with my whip, shouted at him too, I must have looked a right idiot......but it worked! It seemed I was far more scarey than whatever was down that lane! He hasnt done it since, sometimes you just have to lose your temper and show em who is boss.

If this offends anyone out there, that doesnt bother me, 16hh of baroque friesian have a fit of the Kevins is not a good thing, he hasnt napped since and needs to know I am a good leader.
 
Yummymummy said:
My 5 year old has just started this lark and its not fun sitting in the middle of a main road with half a tonne of black muscle doing somersaults!

The first hack,i got off and lead him, this was great until i had to find somewhere to re-mount the nutcase (he is normally fine hacking out alone) no amount of kicking would move him, plus there were people watching so I was quite reserved! After 4 times of deciding he wasnt going to go the way I wanted, I was in a right predicament, main road, busy junction and no alternative but to go in the direction I had to go in, last chance saloon so to speak! so....(your not goanna like it) I went mental kicking him and backed up my leg with my whip, shouted at him too, I must have looked a right idiot......but it worked! It seemed I was far more scarey than whatever was down that lane! He hasnt done it since, sometimes you just have to lose your temper and show em who is boss.

If this offends anyone out there, that doesnt bother me, 16hh of baroque friesian have a fit of the Kevins is not a good thing, he hasnt napped since and needs to know I am a good leader.
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This is not normally my style either,but I will second this approach in certain circumstances.When faced with a young horse that for whatever reason decides that no they are not going to go in the direction you want,I have used similar tactics,lot's of leg backed up fiercely with schooling whip and lot's of growling etc.It seemed to be enough of an overload and surprise to said horse that did decide moving foreward was probably the easiest option.
As poster above said not ideal,but I have found as a shock tactic when needs must,it does work.Maybe the surprise element,maybe just sheer overload and constant nagging,maybe a bit of both,but for whatever reason it seemed to have the desired effect.
I have only done it though on a fairly bombproof,usually sensible type,that I knew wouldn't flip out at such OTT tactics,I probably wouldn't try it with a nervous,flighty type as would probably have the opposite effect and make them worse.
 
You may be interested in a similar thread just started in the nh section....

Just for a different perspective?
 
devonlass said:
This is not normally my style either,but I will second this approach in certain circumstances.When faced with a young horse that for whatever reason decides that no they are not going to go in the direction you want,I have used similar tactics,lot's of leg backed up fiercely with schooling whip and lot's of growling etc.It seemed to be enough of an overload and surprise to said horse that did decide moving foreward was probably the easiest option.
As poster above said not ideal,but I have found as a shock tactic when needs must,it does work.Maybe the surprise element,maybe just sheer overload and constant nagging,maybe a bit of both,but for whatever reason it seemed to have the desired effect.
I have only done it though on a fairly bombproof,usually sensible type,that I knew wouldn't flip out at such OTT tactics,I probably wouldn't try it with a nervous,flighty type as would probably have the opposite effect and make them worse.
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Thanks for backing me up on this Devon Lass, I do not usually have to take this kind of approach with him, he has been hacking out alone for about 10 months and is usually pretty damn good, not much bothers him, but I cant risk him taking control and sometimes you have to take serious charge of a situation.

I risked getting shot down in flames here, but if it is just tantrums, and all other problems have been ruled out, you must take charge.

Good luck!
 
napping is fascinating -- as there are so many reasons why horses do it --

some can nap because they are worried or scared -- or just unconfident -- about the route, the scary butterfly that just went past their ear -- or their lack of confidence and connection with their rider so they feel alone out there and really really want to get back home to their herdmates...

taking time and building up their confidence and trust in themselves and their rider is the only real way to stop this form of napping short and long term

some can nap because they dont want to go out and do all that effort -- and they do not respect their rider enough to worry about disagreeing with them. I liken this to a sulky teenager -- who sulks and pouts about going bowling with the family but if you manage to drag them out there they quite enjoy themselves!

developing respect as their leader is an ideal way to stop this form of napping.
you can use groundwork, and riding exercises so the horse is soft and willing and responsive to you on the ground and when ridden -- this is where lessons are very useful as they help you develop this

I do have a differing opinion on one issue -- while I think some extremely assertive approaches work in the short term, I see no long term value in being more scary than the thing that is triggering the napping, losing temper or showing a horse who is boss with any form of emotion or aggression.

whilst this approach can work in the short term -- and indeed, sometimes in tough situations it is hard to do anything else -- sometimes you just have to deal with the moment -- it is important to realise that it can actually have the effect of REDUCING the horse's trust and confidence in the rider as leader and result in more problems later on.

regards

Cathy
 
Have you done any long reining on the roads, i.e. driving the horse ahead as a leader?
Can be helpful for some ...
If not, schooling whip, stong determined attitude & Zero Tolerance!
 
If you have the confidence to give your horse a good smack and mean it... and you have tried reasoning.. then you go for it... but.. only if you are prepared to take him on.. you may well have a fight ahead of you if you do this.. if you don't think you can win the fight, don't try this approach, you will only come out weaker... but... sometimes, they just need a good smack to get them to listen to you... I'm not suggesting beating him.. and I wouldn't take my horse on like that... but when a horse is testing the boundaries.. you have to set them!
 
Toffee_xx said:
when he was broken he was rushed an worked hard in the school everyday an whipped untill he would canter an hit round the head if he was to do anything wrong even if it was something little ....

but he seems to have got worse!
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I would say that an aggressive/assertive approach is the wrong tack with this particular horse. He seems to have a fairly negative view of being ridden, and no wonder, given his history! Giving him even more reasons to have a dim view of being ridden is unlikely to help. Yes you may get him past whatever he stopped at, but next time he may not even leave the yard.

A basic rule of thumb I try and use is that if a behaviour is getting worse, then whatever you are doing to 'fix' it is not helping, and it may be time to change your approach.
Good luck with him:)
 
I have been reading all the answers and agree with both sides, you have to work out what method you use, you have to get inside your horses head, he is young and there is no wrong in taking him back a few steps,my horse was four when we got him, fine hacking out in company when when we started to take him in the school he would nap at the gate and if asked to move would rear and buck, I had all the usual comments of broom up his behind and lunge whip round his hocks, thank goodness I didn't, I later found out he had had a rough time in the school. I took him back a few steps, done join up every day and I dont mean for a week for at least a month and trained him to go from the voice, walk, trot later on canter , all the downward transisition, stand, turn for change of rein, I then repeated this with tack on, if he napped I drove him on with the lunge whip, never touch him with it, then my daughter was put on board, still going from my voice, she just sat there, she then gradually took over with her voice and I gradually took my voice away. You wont achieve this overnight, you need patience. Please dont think I am airy fairy with my horses I am not and insist on good manners, on and off the ground, but with a horse that has had bad experience in the school and at such a young age you have to be very careful, otherwise you'll end up with a very angry horse. When it came to hacking out, I reverted back to my voice, if I said walk on 100 times I didn't care, I had a friend follow me in a car if I got into trouble, I never did, cause all the work had been done in the safety of the school, I became his leader so he depended on me for his safety, what I said went, his confidence giver. I hope this helps but dont expect overnight success.
 
Hi Toffee
I can understand your frustrations as I am going through similar experiences with my 6 year old pony!! He has been used to going out with two older experienced horses, but I would like to be able to go out on our own. The few times we have been out alone, he has tried to turn for home but I have managed to circle him back round and keep him moving forward doing a circular route. I made a fatal mistake of taking him so far up a bridle path (we were going well) and then because it was getting dark, I decided to turn for home, where he promptly took control and bolted back!! Very scary. After receiving some good advice on here I am going back to basics to build up slowly. As much as I am desparate to ride out, I have decided to take him out in hand for as long as it takes to get his confidence.

Even in hand, he still has a little stop every now and then. I read something by Michael Peace about "hassling the horse", so if he stops, I hassle him by waving my arms and trying to raise his energy by his drive line (a NH technique shown to me), until he starts moving, as soon as he starts moving, I stop hassling!! This is seeming to work without shouting, pulling or anything else, and means I have made his feet move. When we are a few hundred yards from home, I then get on and ensure he walks back to the gate. I'm hoping he will associate me getting on and walking him back home as a reward for being out with me!! I'm sure it will be a slow process to get to the stage where he is confident to go out alone with me, but as it's something I want to be able to do, I am just going to do lots of groundwork and leading around before, I jump back on board for a whole solo hack!!

Good luck with your equine friend!!
xx
 
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