Stubborn horse help

[HolsBols]

Hey, some tips and advice needed please guys!!

I have a particularly stubborn gelding that I need some extra tips on... He is absolutely refusing to leave the field on his own. And when I say refusing I mean he will not budge! As soon as we crack it with a new technique the following day he becomes wise to and it won't work.

Literally every time we get him out of the gate, he accepts it and walks completely normally so it's not a fear response-he'll even trot to the stables! It's just the last 4 or 5 metres he will not walk. At this point he plants all 4 feet and will not budge, I try to the left and to the right to change his direction and we get one or two steps and then he decides it's too close and will lift his head as high as it will go and back up 6 steps. the first time I did the left and the right trick he didn't reverse and I got him in after 20 minutes. Now he will reverse every time we get a few feet forward.

I was incredibly successful with using his reversing to my advantage and reversed him the whole way to the gate within 5 minutes. The following day (and every day since) he's become wise to it and if I face him the other way to reverse him he literally barges through me-he's a big horse and it's dangerous!!!

We've tried lunging him in the field so he is working and listening to us, but as soon as we try to take him out he refuses again.

We've done ground work with him in the field away from the gate so he's listening and tried again-back to square one!

I've led him the whole way round the field, in different directions, stopping/starting all absolutely perfect, licking and chewing, go to the gate and nope-won't go within the same distance.

When he arrived we couldn't lead him anywhere, he was bolshy and didn't have any manners! We have been consistent with him and while he still sometimes tries to walk through you, he doesn't get very far and he respects us as leaders... Outside the field.

I really am stuck with where to go with this. I share him and I'm ready to just give up my share full stop. I am used to mares, used to the stubbornness and the negotiations needed with a mare but this is something else! I would understand it a lot more if he wasn't so happy to follow as soon as we have left the field but it's literally like a switch in his brain of "ok she's got me now, but I will learn from that and it will not happen again" everyday it's taking longer to get him out the field not less time. This started just over a week ago and we have not changed routine at all!! You couldn't get a more obedient and willing horse to ride though-you could put any level on him and he is perfect! Everyone loves him and he works hard at whatever you ask...

I am willing to try absolutely anything... And my next step will be to call an RA if things don't start to improve soon but I'm looking for more tips in the first instance if possible please

[Caroline]

I think the standard response applies well here - call an RA! Horses can be like complex puzzles and it sometimes takes an external set of eyes to see a perspective on a situation. We can be too close to it to see it ourselves.

There could be many explanations for your horse's behaviour. A lot of horse behaviour comes down to fear I think. It seems to be one of their ruling emotions. It applies to many things and manifests in many ways. He may be what Sarah Weston calls "a member of the flat earth society" i.e. he doesn't have a lot of experience of the world outside his field and finds it worrying when he has to deal with it and wants to return to his safe place (the field). He may be a trauma victim - they are very motivated to get to and remain in their safe place. He may have some sort of emotional interaction with his field companion/s that makes him want to remain with them e.g. a desire to protect, a desire to be with his pair-bond, a reliance on his pair-bond for feelings of safety. He may just be really enjoying the grass in his field at the moment and is unwilling to leave it.

There are so many possibilities and it's best to understand what's going on in his head and heart before trying to solve it I feel. It may help to spend time just sitting somewhere quietly in his field and observing him over as long a period of time as you can manage - seeing how he responds to his surroundings and interacts with his field mates and pair-bond. That might give you some clues. But I do think a second pair of eyes like an RA will get you to your solution faster.

What we see as stubbornness is often a horse clearly stating their wishes in a non-violent way. They don't want to fight if they can possibly avoid it, so will use their ability to stand still as an effective means of resistance. He is being very gracious by just standing still rather than getting violent in his resistance to what you ask. Don't focus on fighting his strategy, focus on understanding why he feels the need to deploy it. Then you can find a strategy that you can both consent to to move forward

[kafee]

I'm afraid the best advice I can offer is to call an RA in, you've tried everything I was going to suggest, except, you could try passing a long rein from your hand over his back, around his quarters and back to your hand, to encourage his forwards, but by the sound of things that might work for one day, but not after that.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[alonerawnut]

What is he like following another horse? You could use another to lead him out & gradually get them to be further and further away.

Is there an electric fence by the gate? He might be worried about going through the gate but ok afterwards if there's clicking from the electrics or a bit of a short circuit.

Mark Rashid used this technique with a horse that had trouble loading: lead him up towards the gate and when he starts to show signs of planting, imagine a line at that point. Lead him away and aim to get him happy walking just up to that line - don't even try to get all the way to the gate. Once he's happily walking up to that line & away, try getting one foot over that line, give him lots of praise for standing there quietly & walk away again. Build it up gradually.

Monty & Kelly use a technique when loaders back away from a lorry: you need to be in control of reverse. Ask him to walk up to the gate and calmly & quietly back him away from it. Try this a couple of times & ask him to stand quietly closer to the gate before you back him away.

[marychick]

What do you do when you manage to get him to leave? Fixing the planting is only part of the problem your horse needs some insentive to leave too. Can you get him just past the gate an give him a feed then put him back in? Then build on that (or something similar) try and find something that will make coming out of the field the most fun ever rather than just focusing on stopping the planting.

[HolsBols]

Sorry for the slow reply-been a busy weekend! We do bring him out just for feed at times but even that's not much incentive when he doesn't want to leave the field.

I decided to tempt the whole herd down to the gate with sweets so that he could see the area wasn't a bad place to be... And twice they all galloped off from the gate at something unseen by me! Mystery solved anyway... At least now I know for certain that there's some fear related to being at the gate. Really concerning because as soon as they were all at the gate he had a really long drink so I don't think he's drinking enough through fear of the scary corner!

Thankfully though... Fear I can understand and work with! Thanks for your replies guys xx