stubborn horse

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Permalink Reply by Eileen on June 6, 2009 at 7:26pm

You say sometimes your ride this horse. Who else rides this horse and do they have the same problems witn no way of getting her to move. If you are the only one having this sort of problem I feel that the horse "has your number" Is the horse only in an arena when she refuses to move or is it only n the trail or is it anywhere. It could meant that the horse is arena sour or there could be other probs. More details would be helpful

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Permalink Reply by Leah Klaassen on June 6, 2009 at 10:08pm

Alot of the other people that ride her have the same probolem. although some people love her!
I have never ridden her on the trails,so I'm not sure how she is... I think she would be better because it's not as much of a lesson, but I'm not sure!

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Permalink Reply by Queenrider on June 9, 2009 at 8:47am

Stubborn horses are often very smart horses! This one has obviously trained her humans instead of the other way around. Last time I checked people are supposed to be smarter than horses so use your brains. Also for some horses if you start beating on them they simply shut down and ignore you. It is their coping mechanism for what they consider intolerable. You need a professional trainer to help you.

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Permalink Reply by Leah Klaassen on June 9, 2009 at 4:58pm

Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Terri Bowhey on June 9, 2009 at 3:06pm

First of all I'd say stop smacking her with your crop and kicking her "guts out". I'm confused when you say
you "ride her alot" yet she "won't go" Is it everytime you get on her that she doesn't move? If everyone is having this problem with her, she might be trying to tell you something, that maybe she's in pain, it's certainly hard to guess, but if she's pain free you might want to take a few steps back and try some in hand work with her.
I expect that when you're getting smacked around, you might tend to lose some respect for your rider and perhaps you need to go back to setting some boundaries and trust between you and your horse. Hope this is somewhat helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Leah Klaassen on June 9, 2009 at 4:57pm

Thank you for the advice! Alot of people have the same problem with her, so I will tell them your advice!

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Permalink Reply by IrishRider on June 11, 2009 at 12:16pm

Have you tried a small spur on her? When used correctly, spurs can be a very helpful tool. It sounds like she has no respect for your leg and a small spur might help remind her that she needs to listen to you. As she gets better about listening then you can try riding without the spurs more and more. My legs would fall off if I didn't ride my mare in my short nubby little spurs.

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Permalink Reply by Leah Klaassen on June 14, 2009 at 7:09pm

I never thought of that... and it sounds like a good idea! Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Kinni P on June 29, 2009 at 10:04am

I agree with Terri about using force. If she's not listening now, upping the ante of violence isn't going to help for long. I'd check her for pain before and after riding over a two weeks period. Sometimes the pain is intermittent, but the fear of pain is enough to cause resistance. Once you've ruled out pain as a cause, your best bet is groundwork. How does she lead? Working on a leadrope can have some pretty surprising results. Bill Dorrance has some very nice exercises in his book True Horsemanship Through Feel. You'd be surprised at how long a horse can stay confused about some seemingly simple things. She may just think that standing there is her job. Be it pain or a lack of training, don't expect too much at first and reward her for every little effort, even a shift of weight. Best of luck.

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Permalink Reply by Leah Klaassen on June 29, 2009 at 7:29pm

thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Hank on June 29, 2009 at 7:46pm

She sounds pretty sour. Are you able to hack her out? She sounds like she needs a couple of months of no ring work and lots of of fun rides with her buddies. Also, if she is experiencing any pain, it's amazing what a couple of months of hill work will do for working out a horse's kinks (providing the pain is not too serious). If this isn't possible, does it make a difference to her if there are other horses in the ring with her? We have a drill team that practices once a week and most of the horses really seemed to enjoy that. If she is sour, you need to find things to do with her that she finds fun and that she can feel good about herself doing--pole work, jumping etc.

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