Is my horse stubborn?

Question

When we do some jumping, she will jump perfectly in the direction of home but when we try in the other direction she either refuses or jumps really lazily and she'll knock the pole over on purpose. She's jumped higher than 80cm and at the moment we're only doing 40cm. I am not sure why.

Answer 1

Stubborn doesn't really come to mind over such an issue. Maybe for awhile, when jumping at home, only approach the jumps one way, the opposite way of the barn. I'd work on gymnastics in that direction and just drill it in. After your horse puts in a decent round of jumps in the opposite direction, then I'd end the lesson for the day with a lot of praise. You can make a jump course like normal, but any jumps in the direction of the barn, I'd make just ground poles which is a great opportunity for you to practice your distance without having to worry about the size of the jump or messing up.

Also, change your habits. When you end work and when you dismount, face away from the barn at the farthest point in the ring from the barn. Your horse will begin to associate being away from the barn as the place where work ends.

Answer 2

She is probably not stubborn but maybe just doesn't like jumping when she's not near home. She might just feel a bit uncomfortable being away for home. Whenever you have time you could take her for a walk round from the other direction and try to get her used to it.

hope i helped=>

Answer 3

shes only jumping good in the direction of home because she knows her friends and food is over there. and when she goes there she knows she gets to stop riding when she gets there. so maybe you should work her over there like do circles and backup and whatever your capable of doing and then take her back to were you jump her and stop and take a break and give her a carrot or something and then mix things up for her so she never knows for sure where shes going to be worked or rewarded

Answer 4

Horses are herd animals so they like to be in a group and your horse has to be confident enough to be away from the herd you should try having someone prehaps a friend jump in front of you and your horse and encourage him to be independent eventually and hopefully your horse will be confident enough to jump on his own if this doesn't help ask your instructor or someone more experienced and willing to help to ride her over a couple of jumps in the opposite direction of the stables and make her be intrested in the jump at least.hope this helps good luck

Answer 5

yep your horse is being stubborn.  there is no answer to this that i know of....it's all part of the temperament of each individual horse.  Some will walk very quickly when coming home, some will not walk any differently on way out or way back.

But I have a hunch that it is also bordom.  When you do the same stuff in the same place in the same way all the time, life can get pretty boring.

If you take a horse way out of its territory or do something completely different, it will not be as inclined to slip into the "Ho hum, here we go again, boring, boring....oh, now we are going home.  I'll walk faster now" mind set.

If possible, try something vastly different.

Also, keep your horse fit and lean!

Answer 6

She's completely testing you and you're failing if she's not going over! Barrel horses will do the same thing, they will run like heck home but not neccessarily TO the barrels...Try not ending the ride at "home". When you're done riding, get off next to a jump. This will sort of transport "home" to wherever you want your horse to be. In barrel racing, I will stop and get off my horse in the middle of the arena and walk back to the barn. That has helped me a lot, hope it helps you!

Answer 7

yeah shes just being a bit stubborn. she thinks that if she will jump in the direction of home she will go to her friends and wont have to do anymore work.when you are jumping in the opposite direction of home try and nudge her on in a trot or even a canter and feel as though she doesnt have any stubborness and just act as though you are casually going over a jump and she mite feel what you are thinking and go over it perfectly.just be prepared in case she does one of those quick refusals. try to get another horse to go in front of you and then follow after cause since horses are herd animals they like to follow others.when she does jump over the jump give her a big pat and reward her so that she knows what she did was right.

hope this helps!!

happy riding! :)

Answer 8

I guess you could call her stubborn but I don't think it's the best word to use. Lazy and disrespectful aren't quite as nice terms but they seem to be true in this case.

She is not listening to you or your leg, so you really will need to make her work in order to correct it.

-If she refuses a small fence(less than a foot, or a cross rail), DO NOT let her turn away from it. Give her a smack with your crop and have her jump it from where she refused. If it's too large to jump from where you refused, walk her right up to the jump and give her a smack.

-Jumping lazily comes from a lack of going foreword. Use lots of leg going into the fence, but don't work too hard. You're not supposed to be exhausting yourself up there. If she's not listening to her your leg, use your crop. Make her go!

-She may be less confident on this lead. Work her over some trotting poles, making sure she is going foreward like she would for some jumps. Progress to jumps larger and larger. Do lots of circles in this direction.

Answer 9

Kind of but I'd call it napping. She showing her reluctance to work away from home - she just wants to get back, have her feed and rest with her friends.

You just need to be more determined in that direction. You know she's going to do it so get after her before she starts.

Also changing routines etc can work wonders with stubborn/nappy horses. Keeps them on their toes if they don't know what's coming next.

Answer 10

some horses are generally better on one rein. its like being left or right handed. Do lots of work on the rein she's worst at, and end on her best rein. Just keep swapping reins, this way she'll build up on the worser rein.  If this fails, call in a well respected instructor, to see whether its her back etc.

hope this helps! =]

Answer 11

when you are home try lungging her to show her she still has to work