Mustang /Arab cross refuses to go down the trail

Q:

I have a mustang/arab cross gelding. He is 5 yrs old I started him under saddle last summer and rode him a total of 600 hrs trail time last year. I have been riding him since feb this year. He is not spooky and a real thinker with a great stop. The problem is going out of camp he will spin and stop facing back to camp- he does'nt walk off or move at all and if I try to turn him he tosses his head and refuses to turn back around. I have to get off and lead him down the trail in the right direction for a few feet then get back on and he will do this several times- I always make him continue down the trail. He never does this when he knows we are headed back to camp. He has been in large groups riding or just with a buddy- he doesn't seem to care if all other horses ride off and leave him. he does this no matter what order in line I ride him in. this is very frustrating and last ride out took 1.5 hours and only 30 minutes back to camp (he did it sooo many times) ! This horse was abused and neglected and went through 4 owners before me and none of them could even halter train him. He is now a nice horse to be around and has learned to trust people- I would hate to get rid of him now I am afraid he would go backwards and he has come so far. I cannot ride him with a bit due to a non-correctable dental issue - vet agrees- he does well with a hackamore. help?

Lisa

A:

Hi Lisa,

I can certainly see why you are frustrated.

You did not mention if you have done ground work with this horse but it sounds like you have certainly done some positive training to get him over his past experiences. Interesting, because I too have a Kiger Mustang that did not want to leave the ranch. He is 12 and I have only had him a short time. He is very strong-minded about staying at the ranch and when I try to ride him down the drive he stops and just backs up. Normally I would just turn him (& your horse as well) the direction I want to go and back him on down the drive and out the gate, but then he refused to back at all.

I use a Mexican Bosal Hackamore on him so I can put rhythmic pressure on his nose to keep him from spinning around on me, rather than bumping his mouth with the bit. This, combined with ground work - teaching him to back, side-pass and do half circles, has been effective. When he gets set on staying at the ranch we do a "Cha Cha" up and down the drive, sideways, back and half circles from the ground. We play like this at a pretty "Lively" pace so he has to work to pay attention to me and move his feet as I ask. After about 20 mins.of this the first day he seemed much more willing to go on down the road, so I got back on and offered it.

Camp has become a really sweet spot for your horse, as the ranch is for mine. I suggest your take sometime to set up a training session only, without the intention of a trail ride. Play with him in camp as I suggested above. After a really nice work out, walk him out the trail for a rest and even some treats with time to just chill and eat. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT make this a punishment. Smile and have some fun with it. Then do the same again only make your rest stop farther down the trail each time. Treats and rest. I have done this with "barn sweet" horses in the past and even taken them to a nice grassy place with my lunch, took saddle off, let them graze and hung out. After a few days they find that there are other places as nice as that camp they thought was so great.

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