[starfilly117]

i love my horse trigger but he's got some minor groundmanners issues....

if you leave the stall door open more than a foot he will barge through and prance around the barn. not trying to escape, just playing. he barges through stall guards too. if you leave him untied while putting a bridle on him, he will walk away. not run away, just walk. again, he's playing. i've gotten into the habit of strapping the halter around his neck to put the bridle on (he opens his mouth for the bit though so he's not running away from the bit bc he's good about that). the most annoying thing is that i have to lead him everywhere with a chain leadrope over his nose or he won't follow. i've tried the rope halters with pressure points, and he doesn't respond. he just stands there. but for some reason the light pressure from the chain makes him listen! not even pulling hard, just lightly! it's just a pain. can anyone help me with these??

the other thing is, i can't figure out how to get him motivated in the riding ring. he is great on trails, peppy and ready to go, and responds to the smallest urging. in the ring, i've got to go from squeezing to kicking to flailing (lol) to smacking with crop (and others have ridden him with spurs with not much difference) and he won't speed up! it's not that he hates being in the ring, i think he just gets bored. i try switching things up, and he LOVESSSS jumping, but sometimes jumping doesnt even get him moving. what should i do? his training is there, he's just choosing not to respond and i don't want to ruin him with continual assault with a crop! lol

what do you guys think?? feel free to ask questions to get a better idea of the situation!

[KayCee_Lady]

From the sound of things, I'd label him disrespectful. Nothing he's doing is intentionally dangerous (yet), but he knows he can get away with it and will continue to do so. At some point he figured out that the chain meant you were serious. My TB was like that for a long time when he came off the track.

Go back to your ground work... If you still have the rope halter, work in that for now. Use a dressage whip or a carrot stick tapping it behind you to get him to move forward. Work on halting as well... and when you ask him to halt, mean it. Don't let him move, back him up if he takes steps forward before you're ready. As he gets better, move to the isle... then to his stall.

Once you have him moving willingly on the ground the riding should improve. Everything you do on the ground has an effect under saddle.

I'm not a huge natural horsemanship person, but I've seen enough demonstrations to know they have developed techniques for this. You may want to try finding some of their workouts... it will give you a good idea of step by step process.

[pittmd]

KayCee_Lady has it right IMHO. I would only add that one of the better training aids for ground work is Clinton Anderson.

[starfilly117]

thanks guys

trigger is used as a part time lesson horse and he is usually good with me now on the ground bc he knows he can't get away with being bad, but he can sometimes pull off misbehaving when beginners are using him and sometimes he forgets i'm not a beginner so i know he is still being pushy with others.

as for his laziness, it dawned on me that he may be reluctant partly bc i've been using a crappy old stubben saddle on him while i look for my own saddle (it's my school's saddle). this might make sense since he's more willing to move while wearing a FQHB western saddle....

[KayCee_Lady]

If the saddle is pinching, that can cause him to be balkey. Though he may also need a break form lessons. Some horses need a refresher and time off of being the teacher.

[foxtrotting]

The one thing I would address is the barging through the stall door. That is pretty dangerous in itself. One definatlly go back to ground work. but with halter and lead rope [no stud chains] uless you absolutly have to. I would do lots of in and outs of the stall. Making him stop and patiently wait to go though the door, both ways. Since he is not in a hurry to go in I would start there and then go in and work on coming out. Not knowing how bad he is you may want to use a whip in front of his nose to help him not push past you.

[starfilly117]

yeah the barging out of the stall is the part i'm worried about...he does it more in play than anything so hasn't tried when there's someone directly in front of the door, but i don't want to risk him hurting someone...or himself! he's shoved open a door that was only 1 foot open in the first place.
i would have worked with him a lot by now but my time is limited...i may give up a day a week of riding and just work on moving when i tell him to, not when he wants to...thanks for your ideas!

[meljean]

Barging through the stall door can cause him to hit the points of hip, and can lead to serious problems. The door needs to be shut when not going in and out yourself. Plus everytime he goes in and out himself, then he is getting the idea that he can do things on his own.

[starfilly117]

he hasn't escaped with me in over a month...i think just because a lot of people ride him i want to try to cure his habit instead of hoping people remember to close his door, because we all forget these things. i know better bc i know very well what he does, but others sometimes forget and he's really a great lesson horse and loves it so i don't want to have to put him on "probation" bc he accidentally runs someone over.

maybe i can get out there today and just work on in and outs :P
if not today, definitely tomorrow!

[Bruce Wiley]

Hi Starfilly, this is not a personal attack on you or anyone for as that goes.
Thats never my intentions, for I don't know your handling skills, nor your horse training knowledge.

If the horse is properly train as you have stated, then by the sound of this the issue, this has more to do with him expressing his lacking of an effective leader.
I believe it is his wishes where you should provide that element, which is again lacking in his life with you.

This wouldn't go on for long within a herd of horses, because there would have been
the one, which has come around or up thru the ranking and has attained experience and have gotten the knowledge and then executed, deaming themselve as being on top of the pecking order, knowing he or she will need to prove themselve often because there will be those horses, which will display unwanted behaviors which must be corrected in order to have and keep harmony within the herd's union.

This is only telling you to step up and deam yourself as the lead horse.
If you have any doubt, you should seek the proper guidance from an experienced horse indvidual so that you could be able to convince your horse to opt out of his disrespect playship with you, also to surrender his mind and performances on these terms on no matter when or where, etc.

I hope this insight helps.