Retraining the horse who refuses to NOT be first

[cnvh]

OK, so I had a very interesting trail ride today… Went out with a friend who borrows a horse to go trail riding with me. Ride #1 (2 months ago) was a large (10+) group ride; it’s possible that it was Horse’s first trail ride EVER. Horse was reasonably well-behaved on that ride, other than not wanting to cross a small creek. Ride #2 (today), was just her plus my very seasoned trail horse, and it was a whole different story.

Her horse was An Absolute Jerk. :eek: He didn’t want to leave the trailer; he resorted to full-body shakes to try to unseat my friend, and when that didn’t work, he started bucking. That unfortunately DID work, and my friend got thrown. We longed the horse a bit and tried again; he immediately resorted to previous antics, so Friend called it a day. I got on Horse and took him for a solo ride in the woods, about 1/2 mile away from the trailer; he was a s**t, but once he figured out his behaviors Would Not Be Tolerated, he settled down and got with the program. So my friend got on my steady-eddie trail horse, and we went for a ~2 mile ride together.

Absolute Jerk Horse was pretty good if he was in the lead, but he was a royal jack@ss if he was in the second position-- head tossing, tail wringing, body-shaking, pinned ears, the whole gamut. I am not one to let the horse dictate the ride, so I forced him to stay in second place; a couple times (when the trail conditions were safe to do so), we circled away from the leader and worked on riding quietly away, then coming back. Took a few times, but that helped somewhat… But it certainly did not fix the problem. He pulled like a freight train every chance he got, and of course, his worst behaviors were saved for trail spots where CTJ corrections would have been pretty unsafe (think drop-offs and ditches on each side of the trail).

So… If we have another ride, what’s the best way to reschool a horse who refuses to be #2???

[chicamux]

Play the leapfrog game. Do not make him stay in back, give him short periods in front then swap places then swap places then swap places. Only allow him to go up front if he is behaving but do not insist that he be good for 10 minutes, just as long as you get 60 sec of good behavior swap places. ride there a couple of minutes and swap again.

You are doing the smart thing by sticking with one other horse for now, with the more experienced rider on Brat Boy for now. I had a very big walking, bold, brave endurance mare that also wanted to lead at all times. I would ride with 1-2 friends and in the beginning I did lead for the firt 10 minutes then we would swap and swap. Late she came to understand that her chance to lead would come and I could start out at the back. Reward good behavior with a little more rein, getting time in front, grazing breaks, etc. the horse needs to relax and learn to enjoy a mellow ride. then move on to Leap Frog at the trot.

chicamuxen

[katyb]

Yes, the leapfrog game, but it sounds like he has a lot more going on than just wanting to be in front. Good for you for sticking with him. I would have chickened out for sure.

[cnvh]

I hadn’t thought to let him have chances to lead, will try that next time. Thanks!

I tell you one thing, it really makes you appreciate having a GOOD trail horse!! I get my guy out off-property almost every weekend, sometimes alone, sometimes in a group; he didn’t start out awesome, but mileage does WONDERS. The whole time Brat Boy (love that!) was being a dork and we were having ‘teaching moments,’ my horse just stood there and looked at him, like, “dude, you are ruining a perfectly good day…”

[cnvh]

[QUOTE=katyb;7751218]
Yes, the leapfrog game, but it sounds like he has a lot more going on than just wanting to be in front. Good for you for sticking with him. I would have chickened out for sure.[/QUOTE]

Oh, for sure. Actually, the fact that he settled down to (almost) normal when he was in the lead is why I’m 99.9% convinced that his attitude was straight-up spoiled-brat 'tude, not pain/fear/whatever else.

After he bucked my friend off, we came back to the trailer, pulled his saddle, checked ALL his tack for anything that might have been aggravating him, checked his feet, checked his mouth in case he had anything wedged in there-- nada. And he wasn’t even a little bit SPOOKY at anything, even when I rode him well down the trail all by himself… He just kept trying to plant his feet, turn, and head for home.

From what I understand, his usual “job” is giving occasional leadline pony rides to his owner’s children, and prior to yesterday’s ride, he hadn’t been ridden in about 3 weeks. He was originally a halter horse, was purchased to be a gamer/barrel racer, but he proved to be too lazy for that, so his intended current job is as a kid’s mount. Sounds like he’s perfectly OK to be led around a field at his home with a kiddo onboard, but when asked to actually DO anything off-property, out come the “I don’t wannas”…

You know, I think he really could be a great trail horse with a little work… I was quite happy to see him start to behave himself on our little solo ride. But to have a buck-off-my-rider temper tantrum if he’s not in the lead??? Uh, no. That’s a non-negotiable.