At 07:38:54 on 10.02.10, mediclotte wrote:
any suggestions please...we have given our two the winter off,due to various snagging of legs etc and now one of them flatly refuses to leave the yard even with the others.. after some serious patience have managed to get him 10 yrds up road which is obviously a step foreward but any advice would be great.. charlotte

At 08:01:30 on 10.02.10, Flicka wrote:
So, did he used to hack out ok before? Is he ok when ridden in the menage or field? Have you tried leading him from another horse without anyone on him?

At 08:42:54 on 10.02.10, mediclotte wrote:
last summer was absolutely fine,although he did the same thing before then,he is a very strong minded horse to say least..can't get him to menage flatly refuses to move,even being led have been using the pressure release trick which seems to be working,but now have 4ft long arms!!

At 09:17:40 on 10.02.10, Horse Listening wrote:
I think ride and lead could help as Flicka suggested. Another idea: Horse Listening facilitator; Caroline Baldock, who worked for several years with Monty Roberts, has used the 'find the carrot' technique successfully with this kind of problem. What you do is put a trail of carrots out for the horse to find, so they are rewarded each step of the way. As they get braver, increase the distance you walk and the distance between carrots. One other thing you try is to drive rather than lead. have you ever long reined?
http://www.horse-listening.co.uk

At 10:01:38 on 10.02.10, mediclotte wrote:
like the carrot trick,long reining too,not done it for years, he lacks confidence in himself and really was in sorry state when we had him,he hides behind being bolshy i lost my temper with him i'm ashamed to say and he gave me such a sad look had me in tears...will persevere gently from now on... sack of carrots on shopping list

At 10:44:16 on 10.02.10, plodalong wrote:
i am in full agreement with horse listening Long lining will ask your horse to be braver and increase his confidence.This can be done with a dually halter(if you have one) some of the parelli games such as squeeze and driving will also help to increase confidence. the carrot thing will work if your horse is motivated by food.

At 10:58:03 on 10.02.10, mediclotte wrote:
he loves carrots but has epsm so very rare treat..he trots back to the yard like he's in the show ring...his racing owners named him goliathe as he was such a gentle giant 17.2hh only raced once,started off like a bullet and typical of golly,and epsm ambled home at own speed...

At 15:21:15 on 10.02.10, Flicka wrote:
Hey, if we didn't make mistakes we wouldn't learn. I think you've hit the nail on the head when you say he is acting all bolshy but is actually really insecure and I would keep that in mind as you work with him. Sometimes you have to try quite a few things to find the right key so I would just experiment with what's been suggested. I had this problem with my mare, although she would go out as long as long as another horse was in front. I rode her out one day in just a rope halter and took all the pressure off her. It wasn't long before she was taking the lead. I'm not saying that's what you should do just that for various reasons it worked for her. I'm just saying keep an open mind. If he has EPSM maybe you should be careful of giving him too many carrots. You don't think the EPSM may have anything to do with it? Be interested to know how it has effected him.

At 15:38:31 on 10.02.10, Angelalain wrote:
excuse my ignorance, what is EPSM (I expect I could look it up, but I'm sure you lot can tell me!!

At 16:38:27 on 10.02.10, mediclotte wrote:
it's equine poly sacherine myopathy...excuse spelling.. basically means he can not convert the sugar in grains into energy for his muscles...he is on a high oil high fibre diet which has improved him no end but still a hat rack over muscles very slow progress pretty sure not epsm related as lives in a field with an almighty slope and gallops up and down like an athlete..pretty sure his confidence in himself and us needs bulding up again