Hello. I am currently training a 4 year old Appaloosa gelding, named Tito. He is absolutely wonderful, very well behaved, besides pawing when I don’t let him graze. Anyways, we recently started trail riding. He walks out as calm as can be, and has a wonderful trail walk. But, last week, he was very stubborn. He pulled what I call “The Lesson Pony Refusal”, where they stand there, and no matter how much you squeeze, kick, and try to push them in a different direction, they just stand there. I eventually took him in the arena, and the roundpen, and he moved out just fine. I took him on trail to keep him from getting ring sour. I used a dressage whip, but would prefer to not use a whip/crop. Any ideas to motivate him into trail rides? Maybe bring a bag of carrots, and stop on the trail and give him one, so he looks forward to a ride? In all my years of riding, I’ve never encountered a horse who wouldn’t go on the trail, unless they were barn/buddy sour. I’ve never had a horse just stop on the trail like that, either.
Forget the carrots–you’d only be rewarding him for being balky! 
He’s being a 4 year old and testing you. :yes: That dressage whip is your friend–it is 3 or 4 feet long, right? Take your horse out in hand under halter and teach him that when you tap him on the hip with that whip he is to move forward immediately! At the same time you might as well teach him the vocal command, “Whoa!”, when you want him to stop–you’ll thank me later… Always ride with that whip–better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Then tack up and if he stops tap him on the hip with the whip. If he ignores you whack him harder–but don’t do it more than twice! Don’t nag him by giving lots of love taps or he will learn to tune you out.
If he still won’t move, push him off balance by asking him to move left and then right, or vise versa–works every time! Be firm!
Okay, this may sound weird, but I suggest you walk the trail and look all around for anything that may have changed in the environment. I’ve twice had horses suddenly balk at trails they had previously been okay with. When I was in high school, our horses began to be skittish around a certain wooded area of our property which I liked to ride through. They kept it up for about 2 years, then while I was off in the service, someone trapped a jaguar in those woods. Yes, a jaguar. In Oklahoma. I have no idea how it got there. Wild? Escaped pet? I don’t know. Then about 15 years ago my horses suddenly didn’t want to go down a certain street in my rural neighborhood. I could get them to do it with considerable urging and coaxing but they didn’t want to. Then one day my kids came home from visiting some kids down that street and told me the neighbors had gotten a pet mountain lion.
I’m not saying your trail suddenly has a large cat living near it, but if the horse was okay with it and suddenly isn’t, maybe it isn’t the horse that has changed. It might also be good to walk the trail while leading the horse and observe his behavior.
[QUOTE=Cherry;8186972]
Forget the carrots–you’d only be rewarding him for being balky!
He’s being a 4 year old and testing you. :yes: That dressage whip is your friend–it is 3 or 4 feet long, right? Take your horse out in hand under halter and teach him that when you tap him on the hip with that whip he is to move forward immediately! At the same time you might as well teach him the vocal command, “Whoa!”, when you want him to stop–you’ll thank me later… Always ride with that whip–better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Then tack up and if he stops tap him on the hip with the whip. If he ignores you whack him harder–but don’t do it more than twice! Don’t nag him by giving lots of love taps or he will learn to tune you out.
If he still won’t move, push him off balance by asking him to move left and then right, or vise versa–works every time! Be firm![/QUOTE]
Yeah, after I said the carrot thing out loud, I facepalmed. This was his second time down that trail, and he was being lazy in the arena, too. We have a exercise track that goes around our parking lot and a few paddocks, and he loves going on that. I’m hoping it was a one time day of laziness. I’ll definitely try that, since I’ll have him during the day instead of at dusk this weekend.
Bombproof, as for mentioned, only his second time down this little trail. There were some horses off to the right this time, in the neighbors pasture, but he saw them once, and just kept walking. We go by the main pasture, and the first time down he walked by it, and stopped when they all came trotting over. I’ve never seen him this lazy. He only balks in the arena, he likes to stop by my dad to avoid work, and if I try to take him away, he’ll balk and back up. Yeah, I’m happy that is his temper tantrum, compared to my last horse, who would back quickly, and get jiggy. I’ll definitely try the whip form now on, and leave a note for the other leaser. Gotta love 4 year olds xD They’re all so very different.
Sounds to me like maybe there was something specific about that trail - either something was new/different or just something about the trail itself.
My 4 y/o is generally pretty good outside the ring but there is one trail off the property that he just doesn’t seem to like. At first I thought it was because it is along an electric fence, but I don’t think that’s it. The trail starts out going downhill with fairly tall bushes on either side and he’s super hesitant about it. I’ve tried hand walking him down and he was still very balky - I actually did give him some treats, I don’t think he’s being naughty just timid. Or he totally just has my number! Last time I was able to go follow another horse & rider and he was much better about it.
So if possible riding with another, more experienced horse is always helpful. Otherwise I usually just stick to the trails he’s comfortable on unless I know I have a lot of time and patience to finish once I start the bad trail.
[QUOTE=TheReverand;8187000]
Bombproof, as for mentioned, only his second time down this little trail.[/QUOTE]
I’m sorry, I missed that part. I thought he had been down it several times. Regardless, it wouldn’t hurt to examine the trail for anything that might be concerning to an inexperienced horse. Leading him down the trail a couple of times might still be helpful. Horses are funny and sometimes they just need to get familiar with something before they’re comfortable. An experienced trail horse eventually learns to trust his person but yours may not have generalized his trust in the arena to other situations yet.
I think you have a 4yo who doesn’t want to leave the barn and hasn’t had his work ethic button installed yet.
Agree that he has to learn that “go” means “go” no matter what. He sounds like a nice horse and just needs to learn a little bit. He’s been choosing to cooperate with you so far, and you moved him out of his comfort zone and exposed a problem. He does not understand that “go” means “go.” It’s always better to keep exposing a young horse to new situations so that you can figure out whether or not the horse is really listening to you, or choosing to go along with your suggestions cuz that’s what he feels like doing.
I’d follow Cherry’s suggestions. Sounds like a cute horse, good luck!!
[QUOTE=Bombproof;8186994]
Okay, this may sound weird, but I suggest you walk the trail and look all around for anything that may have changed in the environment. .[/QUOTE]
yeah, standard horse reaction is either flight or freeze … freeze is just a defense against predators
[QUOTE=TheReverand;8186938]
I’ve never encountered a horse who wouldn’t go on the trail, unless they were barn/buddy sour. [/QUOTE]
This is how it starts.
Another thing to consider, especially with an appaloosa, is that perhaps he doesn’t see well. Over the years, I’ve had two horses that had this issue. The first horse was an event horse I rode early in my riding career and we spent years trying to force him down the trail and around the cross country course. He was half appaloosa and we never considered his vision until he suddenly started having signs of uveitis. By the time he had outward signs, the disease was fairly advanced and he was almost completely blind in one eye and had very limited vision in the other. The vets felt that his vision had likely been impaired for years and I have always wished I had looked for a physical cause sooner rather than trying to force him to do something for so long.
Years later, I had another horse that was young and refused to go down the trail. I briefly tried to work him though with discipline but he was very resistant and I remembered the experience with the first horse and checked his eyes. It turned out that he had partially atrophied retinas and he literally could not see or adjust to changes in light. I didn’t quit trail riding this horse, instead I trained him to trust me by dismounting and leading him every time he would stop and refuse to go. It took several years and a lot of patience, but eventually he started to go on his own before I would get off and he gradually got braver and braver. I still have this horse (he’s 16 now) and he will trail ride for me quite well. I know him like the back of my hand and I know what will scare him but he trusts me now and I haven’t had to dismount on a trail in years.
If you cannot correct his behavior easily with some consistent discipline, I would definitely check his eyes. Vision problems are very common in appaloosas and some can be difficult to detect so an ophthalmologist may be the way to go. My farm vet cannot see the retina problem in the gelding above but the ophthalmologist can.
I had an app in the past who when I first started trail riding him would stop and not go. If I really pressured him with spurs and crop he would back up. A couple of things I did was to make him continue backing up if he started that. If he really started acting ugly( popping up to rear or spinning), I would get off of him and walk him down the trail a ways and then get back on and continue the ride. By using these two things, I soon had a decent trail horse.
For a lot of initial “outside the ring lessons” you need a buddy on a broke, forward horse. Put the vet. in front and the greenie will follow as sure as night follows day! This is using the “herd instinct” to help you. 
One mistake a lot of folks make, yours truly included, is to dampen a horse’s “forward” momentum while working on basics. Discipline and responsiveness are important, but so is being “forward.” Encourage that in the arena and on the trail.
Good luck in your program.
G.
My little mustang mare also did the stopping and not wanting to go forward act. She is also 4 and very opinionated. I kept her facing the direction I wanted to go and if she backed up I used the dressage whip. Eventually she saw things my way and would continue on. Remember, do not lose your temper, take emotion out of it and do what needs to be done. In my horse’s case, this was a trail she had been down several times either being ponied or ridden, she was testing and being a butt.
[QUOTE=Simbalism;8205411]
I had an app in the past who when I first started trail riding him would stop and not go. If I really pressured him with spurs and crop he would back up. A couple of things I did was to make him continue backing up if he started that. If he really started acting ugly( popping up to rear or spinning), I would get off of him and walk him down the trail a ways and then get back on and continue the ride. By using these two things, I soon had a decent trail horse.[/QUOTE]
I have done this too with good results.
OP-- You have a young horse who is balking not only on the trail , but in the arena. The problem is that when you have an agreeable , mellow horse, you tend to go too fast through the basics and then you see the results when you try to do things out of his comfort zone or when you ask more of him.
He doesn’t have the confidence to trust you and go past his insecurity and you haven’t given him enough training that he will obey your cues to go forward when asked. When he won’t go forward and is stuck , instead of kicking and using a crop, just turn him to get him moving. I would go back to the beginning and get him going at the walk, trot, canter , turning, stopping and backing WHEN YOU ASK, then try the trail again.
My draft-x mare used to go only so far and then plant her feet and refuse to move! I used to joke that I’d put a quarter in at the barn and it had run out.
If you asked her to move on she’d buck or try to walk off the side of the trail into the bushes.
What worked for me:
- a steady Eddy trail horse buddy, although you also have to deal with riding alone
- patience (sometimes you just have to wait it out)
- spurs (to remind her who is driving)
- Turning her in a tight circle to get her feet moving
- Occasionally getting off and leading her forward and remounting.
My horse is fine now. It just took a few a lot of rinse and repeat.
Go out on the trails with an experienced buddy horse and rider.
Great advice for a young horse moment from these posters! . Seen it lots. Try to get them started in the direction you want even if it’s at an angle. Once the feet get moving you’re halfway there. I’d disagree w/dismounting unless there’s a genuine obstacle. He’s just green and just needs mileage, mileage, mileage. Most likely it’s fear of the unfamiliar. I think most youngsters should be started trailriding with a buddy. Being alone is so scarey too! Best wishes! I think this behavior is quite typical.
