DEALING WITH PROBLEM HORSES

Whilst every horse owner tries to ensure that their horses are well behaved and confident, problems can still occur. Dealing with difficult situations as they crop up is all part of horse ownership. Sometimes the solutions are quite obvious and easy to carry out. For instance, if a horse becomes too lively in the winter, just changing his feed to a non-heating, high fibre mix or cubes may make him quieter, but without losing condition.

However, some problems may take more thought and a longer time to resolve. For instance, a horse that apparently for no reason, suddenly decides not to leave the yard when being ridden and starts to nap and rear. The obvious starting point here is to get your vet to thoroughly check the horse over. The vet will be checking in particular, the horse's teeth for signs of sharp edges or points and also looking for wolf teeth or tushes, which may be getting in the way of the bit. Also the vet will check the horses back for possible muscle damage and examine the horse for lameness, which may only be slight, but is sufficient to cause the horse some discomfort.

The next thing to check is the tack. Make sure the bridle fits the horse and that the leather is kept supple and clean. Then ask a qualified saddler (names and addresses supplied by the Society of Master Saddlers, Tel/fax: 01449 711642) to check the fit of the saddle and to make sure that no damage has occurred to the saddle. As with the bridle, make sure that all leather is kept clean and supple, and wash the numnah regularly.

If all the above checks draw a blank, then you will have to think if there has been an incident in the horse's recent past which may have triggered this reaction. It is usually easier to correct a problem if you know the reason why it is happening. Maybe a new horse has come onto the yard, to which your horse has become particularly attached, making him reluctant to leave the yard without his new friend. The answer to this problem would probably be to hack your horse out with a companion, but not the horse to which he is attached. At the same time try to wean your horse away from his friend by turning them out in different fields or at different times, and make sure that they are stabled where they cannot see (and possibly hear) each other.

Sometimes horses can be reluctant to be ridden if they have been worked hard for the last few days and their muscles are a little tired and aching. If you suspect that this might be the case then give the horse a few days rest to recover. When you ride again, lead the horse into the field or arena before mounting to allow the horse time to loosen up before you get on. Then just ride for a short time around the field or in the arena, preferably with another horse for company and added incentive.

If you ride in this way for a few days, the horse should soon realise that he is not going to be made over tired and be left feeling stiff and aching; he should begin to enjoy his work again. When you are ready to start going out hacking, begin in the field or on the arena with a companion, then just ride out of the field following the companion out of the yard and along the road. As long as you have done your job well, in making the horse happy to be ridden again, he should be willing to follow his companion out of the yard.

You may not be able to find a reason for your horse starting to be nappy, but you will definitely want to try to cure him! The most obvious answer is to take your horse out with a companion until he becomes happy and confident at being able to hack out on his own again. Occasionally there are horses that do not 'latch on' to other horses, they are happier to follow a human instead. So if your horse is still misbehaving with another horse present, then try having a helper on the floor that your horse knows and trusts. Make sure that your helper is wearing suitable footwear, gloves and preferably a hard hat, then they can lead your horse on a lunge line. You, the rider should sit in the saddle fairly quietly and passively, to give the horse chance to relax and focus on the helper on the floor. Once your horse has started leaving the yard quietly again with the helper, then reintroduce a horse companion to join you on your hack. This should help to focus your horse onto the other horse and make him want to continue hacking out in the company of his companion. So that eventually you will not need the helper on the floor (who by now could be quite fit!).

These are just some suggestions to help deal with the problem of a nappy horse. If at any time you feel that you are not making progress or that you are not able to deal with the situation that you find yourself in, then my advice would be to enlist the help of someone local to you. Either, get a personal recommendation from someone you trust, or try the British Horse Society instructors register (Tel: 01926 707700, website: www.bhs.org.uk), or British Dressage instructors database (Tel: 02476 698830, website: www.britishdressage.co.uk), or the British Eventing (formally British Horse Trials Association) list of accredited trainers (Tel: 02476 698856, website: www.britisheventing.com).

Fiona Lace fiona@stabletalk.co.uk

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