Ask Monty, July '08

07/16/08: I have recently attended your demonstration at Quob stables in Southampton, after a seven hour journey from Sunderland in the North East and it was the most worthwhile journey of my life! Both of our horses have been treated with nothing but kindness for all of their lives. However my horse, an eleven year old grey Arab gelding, has a tendency to nap if in the front on the ride. He is fine if he has a horse in front or beside him, and will go in front for a time, but will then stop and try to turn around.

I want to solve this and know that I should make this behavior less comfortable for him, and have tried using rein back, but as this is not something that comes naturally to him it is proving difficult. I am in the process of teaching him this in the school, but was wondering if there were any alternatives that you could suggest, as turning round in circles, as I have often read you suggest, is difficult as it is mostly on a single track that this behaviour is exhibited! Any ideas?
 
Kirsty McLachlan and Sheikh Shalamzar (Shaky) Sunderland

Question
I have a 5 year old Thoroughbred gelding who has a big problem with horse trailers. He used to be decent, he would load for food and paw a little, but never anything serious. A few months ago, he threw a huge tantrum in the trailer and somehow managed to flip himself over backwards in my two horse trailer. I don't know what triggered this fit. He had been in this same trailer many times and shipped alone more often than not.

Immediately following his accident, he loaded with no problem into a much larger trailer, a three horse with a box stall sized area in the back used to tack up the horses and he traveled fine. I assume this is because he was stunned from the accident and I was riding in the trailer with him. The next time I put him in a trailer he was very reluctant to load, but eventually he climbed on for his grain.

He was perfectly fine until I got out of the trailer and was no longer in his sight. Once he couldn't see me, he had another fit. He was in a stock trailer, so we could see him thrashing around and trying to break the lead he was tied with. We decided to untie him, and he decided to run circles in the trailer for the entire two and a half hour drive from Maryland back to New Jersey.

After the accident, I'm very nervous about putting him back on the trailer again, but he needs to be able to trailer safely. I've talked to several local trainers, and none of them want to work with him. Do you have any advice for teaching him to behave in the trailer? Can you recommend any trainers that would be willing to help me with him?

Thanks,

Rachael

Monty's Answer

Question
My Quarter Horse throws his head up when I go to take the bit out of his mouth, yet always puts his head down like he should when I go to put it on and when I start to take off the bridle. When I start to take the bit out of his mouth, his head goes up. What should I do?
Sincerely, Katie   

Monty's Answer
My suggestion to you is that you place your horse in a fairly small area where twisting and turning is restricted. I recommend that you get a bit taller by standing on a small stool or something safe but elevated. Once you have achieved these two elements then I suggest that you rub your horses head all over scratching and rubbing the ears until he is comfortable with all your movements while he is in that position.

With the above recommendations well in place then I suggest that you use a small stick or piece of doweling about a foot long. Put honey on one end of the stick and then begin to slide it in and out of the horse’s mouth. You could begin at the corners of the mouth but when the horse is accepting the stick and licking the honey start to extract the stick through the teeth.

These same procedures are outlined in From My Hands to Yours but mainly to accept the bit and not for extraction. The training is very similar though and should be done with wood so there is not the metallic clanking when it touches the teeth. Once your horse will open his teeth and allow the stick to pass through easily then you can put honey on a snaffle bit (only the metal portion) and repeat the process until he is comfortable.

With each of those recommendations in place, one can add a bridle (headstall) and eventually reins until your horse is a perfect gentleman about releasing the bit. This remedial problem probably began with one bad experience which created a phobia. It is your obligation to let your horse know that nothing is going to hurt him during the act of opening his mouth and releasing the bit.

You can also use the Dually halter effectively as a bitless bridle. That is, you can ride a horse with the reins connected to each of the training rings. This bitless bridle is very effective when there is a practical reason not to ride the horse with a bit.

-Monty

Question
I have recently attended your demonstration at Quob stables in Southampton, after a seven hour journey from Sunderland in the North East and it was the most worthwhile journey of my life! Both of our horses have been treated with nothing but kindness for all of their lives. However my horse, an eleven year old grey Arab gelding, has a tendency to nap if in the front on the ride. He is fine if he has a horse in front or beside him, and will go in front for a time, but will then stop and try to turn around.

I want to solve this and know that I should make this behavior less comfortable for him, and have tried using rein back, but as this is not something that comes naturally to him it is proving difficult. I am in the process of teaching him this in the school, but was wondering if there were any alternatives that you could suggest, as turning round in circles, as I have often read you suggest, is difficult as it is mostly on a single track that this behaviour is exhibited! Any ideas?
 
Kirsty McLachlan and Sheikh Shalamzar (Shaky) Sunderland

Monty's Answer
Reining back is not a natural thing for any horse but please understand that it is my position that reining back is critically essential to achieving a trained riding horse. The owners of “nappers” will, in a high percentage of cases, suggest that their horse just does not like reining back. Therein lays the problem. It is essential that riders of these individuals work hard on techniques which will improve the horses reverse or live with the problems this phenomenon creates.

I remember the insertion of a drawing in my textbook From My Hands To Yours that depicts a narrow lane or raceway created by placing panels or gates next to a wall. I recall explaining how riding the horse into that area and then backing out will dramatically improve the process of training a horse to back up.

Whether or not you improve the trail riding behavior of your horse, achieving a better reverse will cause this individual to do many things better for you. His stop will improve and even turning left and right will become a better proposition once reining back is achieved to the extent that your horse does it willingly and with generosity.

- Monty

Question
When you were living with the wild Mustangs did you notice a particular pattern or time that the horses would eat. Was it the same time each day and how often? Thank you.
Cynthia

Monty's Answer
There are definite patterns where eating is concerned whether it is herds of Mustangs or domestic horses. Like so many other animals there is a strong tendency to do most of the eating in the extremes of the day. Just breaking daylight and sunset times will produce more feverish grazing than any other time of the day.

Whether there is a moon or not horses will do a fair bit of grazing at night and probably the center of the day is reserved for shade and rest more than any other time. The least amount of grazing generally occurs mid-day.