On the road to nowhere? Napping, why it happens and what to do about it
So let's start with frustration!!! A napping horse can be the most frustrating thing in the world, no matter how much you sweat, kick and finally plead with your horse they still seem to be going backward - aaahhhh!!!
If there's one tip I can give it's don't get frustrated (oh thanks! I hear you say!!) and if you do let your emotions get the better of you, stop, breathe and start again once you're feeling better. Frustration only adds to the emotions of the situation and makes everything a lot worse, it usually means it all takes longer as well.
The first step is to identify why your horse is napping, there are basically two reasons...
He’s in pain
He's scared
He just doesn't think going forwards is in his/her interests
We don't often associate nappiness with a horse being scared simply because the behaviour usually appears to us to be stubborn. So how do you know? If the nappiness appears for example by the gate when you're leaving the yard for a hack and when you do finally get your horse out of the gate he tends to be on his toes and spooky, this is likely to be a fear issue. Your horse is saying 'I don't want to go out there because it's scarey don't you know there's monsters out there?!' I'm putting human words into it but you get the idea. Nappiness due to fear is usually associated with going somewhere new or at least relatively unknown.
Solution...Get your horse to be confident just going out of the gate or even better on a very short loop and come back again. I know it goes against all our instincts to go to all the effort of getting out of the gate just to turn around again but this will prove to your horse that just because he goes out of the gate, doesn't mean he's going off into the wide world miles away from all his friends. Once he's going out of the gate easily start building up the amount of time you go out for so you don't over face him or get a friend to join you once you're out of the gate for the rest of your hack to help build your horses confidence.
So what about the other horse? Who doesn't think going forwards is in their interests?
If you start kicking you are almost guaranteed to add fuel to the fire. You horse is already thinking about stopping rather than going, often kicking will just create a more negative reaction. What you need your horse to do is to think of a new solution rather than the one they have now.
Why is that? It’s because, if you are constantly kicking or squeezing to keep your horse moving forwards then there is no release. There is no comfortable place for your horse to move into and therefore little incentive to keep going.
I recently met a horse like this who had real problems going forward and would just stop and plant his feet, his owner described him as not wanting to do it, lazy etc and would get very frustrated with him - understandably. When he did go, he was often slow, adding to her frustration!!
Here's how we fixed the problem.... when he stopped, the first thing I asked her to do was to relax and rub her horse. What?! I hear you say? Yes, stop and rub him!
Why????
In most cases when napping situations escalate it’s due to our frustration and our horse is simply trying to tell us that they aren’t happy about something. If we instantly get at them, they feel they have to ‘shout’, this manifests as rearing, running backwards or something else we really don’t want. By stopping and rubbing them first, we diffuse all the frustration for ourselves and our horse.
Right, what’s next?…
Once they were stopped and had both relaxed… I asked the rider to put her legs on with a gentle squeeze (no kicking).
If he didn't go forward from the gentle leg the next step was to tap him (again gently, you’re just looking to be like that irritating fly that doesn’t go away) with the stick and keep tapping until he took a step forward, as soon as he did, legs off and stop tapping, even if he was going at the pace of a snail, he was going forward - it's progress I'm looking for not perfection (yet!!).
NOTE: This is never hit your horse with the stick, it’s more like ‘bug your horse’ just enough tapping that your horse starts to feel ‘that’s annoying, how do I get rid of this tapping’
It took a couple of sessions before this little horse worked out 'Hey! Every time I stop she puts her legs on and if I don't go she taps me with this stick, might be better if I just kept going'.
So now we had a horse who would go, mostly from the leg only but he was still slow. The next step was to ask the horse for the 'walk' we wanted. Once he was walking I asked the rider to put her legs on again (and use the stick if necessary) until she got a forward going walk. As soon as she got the walk she wanted - legs off and just ride. If he slowed down, legs on, stick if necessary until he maintained the forward walk for himself. The same process worked in trot and canter as well. It usually takes 3 or 4 sessions until this is working consistently, it takes a bit of patience but once you have the clear understanding of the leg and that there is a release afterwards the whole thing becomes easier.
And guess what? There’s no escalation! Before you know it, your horse isn’t a ‘nappy’ horse anymore - yay!!
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Before trying any training technique it is important to rule out pain or discomfort. Saddle fit, teeth, back, hoof balance and lameness issues should all be checked by a qualified professional before applying any training.
If you have questions or need idea's to help with a specific problem feel free to get in touch with me on lylacansfield@hotmail.com
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Lyla has been helping riders and their horses in the UK, USA and Europe for over 15 years. She has prepared horses for crowds of over 6,000 people with no calmers or ear plugs for venues including Birmingham NEC, Aintree, Bury Farm EC and Hartpury.
Lyla specialises in horse psychology and behaviour problems with a specific interest in dressage and has worked with horses from grass roots to Grand Prix across the UK and Europe including international competitors and Olympians from Spain, the US, Canada and the UK.
Lyla has regular teaching days in Gloucs, Wilts, Worcs, Warks, Northants, West Sussex, Herts and South Wales.
See www.lylacansfield.com or email lylacansfield@hotmail.com for more details.
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All training techniques discussed are from experience only, it is impossible for to accurately advise on horse/rider combinations without seeing them live. Lyla Cansfield & Equine Mind & Body Training strongly advise anyone considering using any of the techniques discussed to get live help and can take no responsibility for the outcome of applying any of the techniques discussed without supervision. Riding is a high risk sport.
