Welsh sect A requiring breaks

[IcklePickle8]

He’s pretty well behaved in the school and field but just takes it on himself to occasionally poke his nose out and walk back to the stable. Dd is nearly 9 and a nice quiet rider and they work pretty well together usually but she’s getting quite unnerved by him doing this. He has a soft, tiny mouth. Currently in a double jointed eggbutt snaffle. Has any one any suggestions. We’re working hard at getting him to listen to his rider but he’s like a tank once he gets something in his head.

I would first try getting a very competent but small teen on him. Seeing if they can get him out of the habit. If your daughter has VERY good hands maybe a Wilkie Waterford but I’d not be doing anything too drastic at this stage if I could help it

Also if he’s not tanking off just ignoring his rider he’s just learnt he can get away with it it’s not really a breaks issue! I would try and get a stronger rider on for a while and see if they stop when they realise they won’t be getting away with it

Thanks @Lastqueenofscotland I’ll have to step up the search for a small competent rider. Been struggling to find one

Do you have a local Horsey group on Facebook?
You’ll get a lot of cocky rough riders but you’ll also get recommendations of nice quiet small adults/teenagers who offer services :)

I also have a cheeky section A that would absolutely do that. I would think he iis just taking the piss and she needs to be really firm with him. Get an instructor in is probably the best bet. He might need a tack change if he's opening his mouth to evade contact and be cheeky.

So it's more a nap/ignoring her aids and doing what he wants than pissing off at speed? Agree with others that I'd be wary of putting anything too strong onto a soft mouthed child's pony, I've been there done that and the result too often is that you swap occasional cheeky moments for frequent full on napping/tantrums because the child (even a capable, balanced one with otherwise good hands) usually doesn't know how/when to release the pressure and can end up hanging on their mouth whenever the pony goes a shade faster than asked for, result = pony never wants to go forward at all and gets very confused and frustrated. Agree about getting a light weight capable rider in to remind him of his manners if you can, and in the meantime can you work out what his trigger is to do his walking back to the stable trick, is it at a particular point in the school or time in the session he starts doing it? One of ours would always nap when he had to walk past the school gate in walk on the left rein, bizarrely never on the right. And on our yard there's a particular time of day that's to be avoided with certain horses because the school ponies will be being led past the arena to be turned out and they'll lose their minds . So if you can work out his trigger points you can either prevent or anticipate them? Does she ride with a short stick and know how to use it if he drops a shoulder and takes her off in the wrong direction - make sure she has it in the 'correct' hand (which might be the outside hand so possibly not what she's previously been taught to do) to be ready to catch him? If she can learn to feel when he's about to nap, driving him forward with the leg right before he starts would probably be the best solution even if he then moves forward a bit quicker than desired...Keeping him busy with lots of lots of transitions and changes of direction may help also, keep him moving and keep his routine interesting with lots of hacking, games, maybe little jumps (on a lead rein if needed) may also stop the napping before it starts?

If you did want some kit to try, I think I'd go to a standing martingale (if he does head in the air) or daisy rein (if he does head down) before changing his bit - welshies do like to set their neck and use their strength against a small rider and she'll find it easier to stay in control if she's got something to discourage from that happening (bonus with the martingale is it can act as a neck strap for her to grab and feel a bit more secure if she feels wobbly) - it's crucial though to ask for help from an instructor or someone experienced in how to fit them so the aid is loose normally and only comes into play when she's losing control, you absolutely don't to want to strap his head down or inhibit his movement or you'll get worse nappiness as described above...