Please help me with my horse!!!!!?

Question

My horse bloats and the tips i have gotton are great, when im in the pasture and hes fenced in, but when im on the trails i have to go thru a gate to get to them, so i hav to get off and open the gate, and i cant do it while im on him bcuz hes to big, so wen i get off him the saddle comes with me, I bring a lead rop to tie him, and i try to tighten it, it doesnt work like it did in the pasture, and wen im done trail riding, and turn to go home, he will not go... ever, the person i puchased him from says that she has to use a crop on him to get him moving, and i try to hold back on using it, but wen worse comes to worse i use it, and he still doesnt go, I have to get off him and walk a half a mile to get home, and then if i try to get on him again he bloats again, and now bcuz i dont hav a post or tree to tie him to, i cant tighten it, and if i try to get him to stand still he just moves in circles HELP ME!!!!! i love my horse but not his behavior

Answer 1

I have a solution for this bad habit, but will get the "never hit your horsey" lecture from all the little kids on here & frankly I don't have the engery for it today.

From the sounds of it he is spoiled.  Was he owned by a young or inexperienced person before you bought him?  That is generally why they get these habits, to get out of having to do anything.  Bloat & I won't have to be ridden, same with being stubborn.  You may need the help of either a trainer or someone else who can help you with this in your area.  Someone who can see the horse & see exactly what is going on with it.

I will not be able to give you solutions, because I do not know how good you are with horses or what type of temperment your horse has....

Answer 2

You are describing many different problems -let's tackle one by one:

His "bloating" - horses aren't truly capable of bloating up - what happens is that you don't get the saddle tight enough at the outset, then as he moves, he "shrinks" - think of your self in a pair of somewhat tight pants - they're pretty tough to get on maybe, then after you walk a mile, they loosen a bit as you have to work, perhaps your stomach must tighten to do whatever it is you are doing.

Here's the solution:

when you first put the saddle on, tighten it only enough to keep the saddle on - how would you like it if someone put something tight around your waist and cinched you up fast and tight?  Wouldn't you like the chance to become accustomed to the tightness?  Tighten up just tight enough,then take the horse to an area to longe and tighten a bit more then longe the horse through about 10-15 minutes of gait transitions and direction changes.  Tighten up the cinch now and it should be tight enough to stay where you put it.  The longing also gives the horse a chance to focus on you and you a chance to see "what side of the bed" he got up on today.  If he's not listening to you, you have the time safely on the ground to get him to listen, mind you and focus.

This exercise will also get him focused on you to help a few other things -

The horse shouldn't have a problem with your ability to close a gate or open it if you are both trainer to do this properly - if he's round like a ball, put the bugger on a diet, because being that fat is very unhealthy.

Watch some videos or tune in to RFD TV to catch the pros teaching you how to open and close gates.  My guess is that while you are at home, you are both in a relaxed atmosphere and you can concentrate on opening or closing the gate, but in somewhat unfamiliar surroundings, it becomes tougher due to your worry and his resulting lack of focus.  You must determine what you are doing at home that is not happening out on the trail.

Regarding the horse's unwillingness to go.  You must train your horse that he has two choices:  Do what you request of him, or do something that's MUCH less fun.  One of the things I've had success with for the much less fun part is turning in circles.  You see, when your horse turns in circles when you try to cinch him or tighten him up, he's going AWAY from you and from the first time you give up and walk home, he's learned what a good people trainer he is.

You must take that choice away from him - and here is where the patience of a good horsewoman comes in because this doesn't happen overnight, but if you have patience it will happen faster than you think.

1.  When you're trying to do ANYTHING with the horse and he's moving about to get away from you, make him work - lunge on a short line (long leadrope) or simply make him turn about 15 tight circles - MAKE him, don't allow him.  Then when YOU are ready to stop (not when he stops), allow him to stop and begin your former task again.  If he moves, work anoth 15 to 20 circles.  You will be surprised at how quickly he learns he is not winning.  If you're trying to mount, and he moves, stop immediately and make him turn circles and WORK until you decide he can stop, try again as before - it won't take long and he'll learn he does not win at keeping you off him either.

2.  When he doesn't wish to go forward, turn him slightly to the side and move off - any direction he will go you must teach him to keep his feet moving, THEN get the feet going in the direction you want.

My guess is that this horse has spent a bit of time learning that he can train you to give up and walk or go back to the barn - either he did this with his previous owner, and he's further taught you these things or it's just been since you've had him, but the key is to have patience, set small goals and NEVER, EVER let him win.

You don't have to be mean and you don't have to beat him - you must teach him.  A crop hitting him will only fix the problem once or be a band-aid.  

Consider this as well - do you only interact with your horse when you are going to ride?  Does your horse think what you're doing with him is fun?  If you're just getting on and riding him, and it's not fun for him, but he sees it as work, he will not comply with you.  change up what you do - today work him over some 2x4s on the ground or cavaletti or just go for a walk together.  Next time maybe ride just in a controlled area and practice some things or set up some obstacles to step over or around like those orange pylons for safety.  If everytime you go get him, go out on the trail and ride, then put him away, he's not having fun.  It must be fun for him to get over his desire to just go back to the barn.  And you must teach him that if he does what you wish, you'll do fun stuff too.  When you come back for a ride, take some time to brush him quietly or find his itchy spots and rub them for him as reward - give him something (other than eating grass or rolling in sand) as a reward for a job well done.

Hope this stuff helps

Answer 3

First, you aren't getting the girth tight enough to begin with.  

I wonder if you have a mutton withered horse or any other conformation or saddle fit problem that could cause the saddle to slip because the girth has to be too tight to hold it in place?

Sometimes non slip saddle pads or neoprene girth are helpful to deal with horses whose backs are hard to keep saddles on.  

I've seen a western girth buckle that can be added which allows you to easily tighten the girth while in the saddle, but I can't recall the name of it, and it's only for western girths.

Are you sure this isn't a problem with the saddle fit?

Answer 4

If you cannot tighten your saddle enough to keep it secure while you ride, it sounds as if it does not fit your horse.   You should be able to cinch up, lead your horse around a little, and then finish tightening the cinch securely for your day's ride. Have someone who is experienced check out the way your tack fits your horse. A saddle must be he proper width to for the width and shape of your horse's withers. It needs to fit him both securely and comfortably.

Answer 5

When you get on, the girth is looser so you will have to learn to fasten it when you are on board. Just keep pulling the reigns until he stands and praise him when he does. Hold the reigns in one hand and fasten the girth quickly before he has chance to move much. I hope this helps.

Answer 6

For the bloating, saddle your horse up like you normally do and tighten his cinch as tight as you can.  Then, lead him around for a minute, and tie him back up, and tighten the cinch again.  Walk him around, then kind of poke him in the stomach with your fingertips (they usually flinch away from it, and let out the air they are bloating with), then tighten it again.  When you get on the horse, don't pull yourself up with the saddle horn, put one hand on his neck, and the other hand on the back of the saddle, and try to step up in the stirrup, instead of pulling the saddle.  For getting off, swing your leg over, and step down, don't lower yourself using the saddle.  This should help with any saddle slipping.

If he is bad on the trails and doesn't want to turn to go home, make sure you always carry the crop to help you.  As soon as he refuses to go when you ask with your leg, you can use the crop to smack him where your leg is.  Do it pretty hard, to really get his attention, and fix it after one refusal.  If you do this a couple times, he will start to realize that you will NOT let him get away with it.  By just picking at him a little here and a little there, he will continue to be a brat, so you need to just fix the problem so it isn't an issue anymore.  I had a horse that would try to spin and go back home, and I would carry a crop, and smack him on the left shoulder if he tried to turn left, and the right shoulder if he tried to turn right.  After about 3 rides of that, he gave up and he was a ton of fun.

Good luck!

Answer 7

As far as your girth tightening problem could be a combination of two things. First off he sounds like a typical "cinchy" horse. They expand as you tighten the girth, some also resist like try to move around, some threaten to bite cow kickect. Usually this comes about from the girst being tightened to tightly, too fast too many times.

When you first put the saddle on leave him untied, I'll personally never tie a horse to saddle, I've spent too many years starting green horses that are liable to panic if restrained. Just hook the lead line or your reins in the crook of one arm. Hold them stationary there while you put the tack on and tighten the cinch. If he walks off just hold the pressure by bending your elbow to catch the reins and turn him in a circle towards you. He'll catch on fast and soon stand still everytime.

When you first pull the girth, just snug it enough to hold the saddle on. Walk him around some and after he's relaxed snug it up a little more. Do this several times until you had it just snug enough to hold the saddle in place securely. Check tightness underneath not on the side as this is the pressure point that holds the saddle down....it will be tightest there not on the side since horses are not shaped like beach balls.

Also, does he have a good set of withers? With mutton withered or low withered horses it's very hard to keep the saddle from rolling since there's nothing up top to keep it in place. Being tighter doesn't necessarily help that much.

Also, make sure the bars of your saddle are wide enough for him. If it is too narrow or tight it just sits up top and doesn't provide any stability.

A too narrow saddle could also be contributeing to him not wanting to walk back after a long ride. A saddle is designed for the shoulders to slide freely back underneath as they move. If the saddle is too narrow it resticts this movement and makes their shoulders extremely sore when they walk after a while. Your getting off would relieve part of the pressure and make him more comfortable walking or moving.

If after checking saddle fit and checking for soreness after riding and everything checks out fine. I'd suggest investing in a riding bat. Do not him with it. When he balks try turning him off to one side slightly and cueing to go. Usually this will break the feet loose as they shift in that direction. When the feet start moving keep giving the cue to walk, lightly brush him rump with the bat. This is usually enough to get them moving. If a brush doesn't work give him a very light tap on the rump. It should work but be sure to always give very clear and assertive cues to move forward before even moving the bat. The bat is there as a last resort.

Eventually he'll go in any case. In 35 years I've never once seen a horse absolutely refuse to go home and stand stationary until they damaged themselves from either lack of food or water. Worse case senario (i.e. the bat doesn't convice him to go)  just wait him out, he'll want his evening meal and head out home sooner or later.

Honestly, and please don't take this the wrong way, but sounds like he's trained you to get off and lead him home. :-)

Answer 8

first of all ( for the saddle trouble ) put the saddle on and walk him to a small pen or just do it anywhere i guess and lunge him. stop after you do five circles on each side. place the rope in the inside of your arm ( right on the other side of your elbow ) and tighten the saddle. if he tries to get away grab the rope and yank him around. make him do circles and back him up. go back to tightening the saddle. repeat this and if your saddle is all tight then just fake that your tightening it. make sure the saddle wont fall when you get on. you can do this by stepping into one stirrup and putting yourwhole weight into it. if it slips all the way then lunge your horse again and tihgten it. when you want him to go home... if he doesn't budge turn your horse into circles by taking one rein and shortening itand taking the leg on the same side of your rein in use and apply pressure. back him up and so 5 more circles. then ask him to walk.. suggest ( use your calves to apply pressure ) ask ( add heels and lightly bounce with them against your horse ) demand ( kick kick kick add a spanker ) if he bolts as khim to slow it down pull on the reins and repeat easy. still doesn't work? pull him off into circles and repeat this whole process. it may take awhile.. but its worth every minute

Answer 9

Use your reins.  Give a quick tug each time he tries to move while you are tightening the girth.  I use snap on reins so that I can detach them and reattach them to the halter (or halter part of a halter bridle combo) so that I can use them as a lead.  Anyway I would work with the horse until it will stand still to have the girth tightened.  I tighten the girth on a horse like that usually three times sometimes 4...once at the trailer when I first saddle the horse, once again before I start to ride  Once after riding 1 or 2 miles.  Sometimes once again at the half way point in the ride. (I usually go 10 to 15 miles at a time.

Addition (Had to come back to finish this)

Your horse must really be mutton withered.

Get a neoprene non-slip pad.  I put one under my wifes felt saddle pad and that helps tremendously.  I also use a neoprene girth.  Also make sure your saddle pad is not one of those really thick ones.  The thicker it is the more torque you will be putting on the saddle getting on and off and the more it will twist.

Walking them around between the first two tightenings works well if you do not have the 15 to 30 minutes I usually do.  

They make a special strap that you can use to tighten the cinch while on the horse.  It connects between the girth and the saddle and snaps together to attach the girth.  Then pull to tighten.  No loosening and no tying.  Just pull.  

Failing to find the above device they now make a neoprene girth that has an extra bar with a roller.  The tie strap goes through the girth through the saddle ring back through the girth on the second bar.  The roller makes this strap much easier to tighten.

Make sure the saddle fits and is up far enough.  One mistake a lot of people make is they put the saddle too far back.  This is hard on the horse's back and makes the saddle more likely to slip because the front of the saddle is not on the whithers.

Normally I advice against this because it causes barn sourness really bad, but since your problem is the exact opposite of barn sour I will give this advice.  First I agree that you should teach your horse to listen.  Do what you ask or they do something they enjoy less.  However a quick fix to the not going home is to feed him a little grain right before you put him up.  A cup or two will do.  Do this random not every time.  Once he gets to where he wants to come home I would stop or at least cut back.

Answer 10

if your horse bloats when you titen the girth,it may be because hes girthy- which is when you tighten the girth way too fast and the horse decides he's not gunna like it when you do it.  that is probebly the reason why your horse walks away.  try putting him in the cross ties, so he can't walk away.  also, show him over time that there is nothing to dislike.  tighten the girth SLOWLY - if you use an english saddle like me then when you put the saddle on, put it on the first hole, then get your boots on, come back and do it up another hole.  then go and get your chaps/helmet on, come back and do it up another hole, then get the bridle, come back and do it up another hole and so on.  before you mount, check that it's tight enough and mount.  walk around a bit and if the girth goes loose(your horse stops bloating) get somebody to hold your horse while you tighten it mounted.