Horse won’t go

[Niassa]

I’m looking for any advice about how to get a ‘planted’ horse moving forward.
Twice last week when hacking behind one other, he has stopped when they moved ahead out of view (he had stopped initially to pee).
Leg on and encouragement, first gentle then firmer, only resulted in a series of mini rear/buck/prance moves. These resolved firstly by my companion returning and he then followed and the second time I actually got off and led him down the narrow track and remounted (not enough room to circle him).

When was the last time he had his teeth done?

Make him go backwards , even if that’s initially not the direction you want to go . If this is a new issue I’d get a vet check .

I’d be getting teeth and ulcers checked.
You mention it happened when it lost sight of his friend? Does the horse hack alone?

Does he ever hack alone or is it always in company?

I agree about a vet check too.

His teeth were fine when checked a couple of months ago, but hadn’t considered ulcers.

He doesn’t ever hack alone, but is quite happy to lead or go behind 1-3 others.
His friend was only out of view for maybe a minute (time taken for him to pee!) both times so I assumed he’d know they were just around the corner further up the track?

It is out of character for him, but he was absolutely fine for the rest of the ride both before and after the incident both times and was fine yesterday. And tbh I haven’t really noticed whether or not someone has gone out of sight before- if they have, he hasn’t reacted like this with me before.

But was just wondering how to handle it in a restricted space when there’s not really the option to turn a circle.
Going with him when he’s going backwards (instead of just trying to drive him forwards harder) is a thought- might have helped to calm him down.

If only they could talk!

And good point re vet check as it is out of character.

If he’s planting and if you try and be firm with him and he’s getting upset and threatening to rear, don’t do it. He’s confused and wary because he can’t see his friend and you’re just making the situation more stressful and reinforcing that losing his friend is a bad thing.
Honestly if they plant I don’t buy the whole “hit/kick them until they do it” horses aren’t clever enough to be willingly stubborn. Just hop off, lead them and hop back on. Don’t let the situation escalate to a point where you’ve got a horse so upset it is doing something dangerous (like rearing).
It sounds like he’s just wary hacking alone which is common.

He doesn’t ever hack alone, but is quite happy to lead or go behind 1-3 others.

I think there's a big difference between leading and knowing you have company behind you, and hacking out alone.

If he never goes alone and has suddenly found himself out of sight of the others, he's probably just unsure and wary. I would either ask someone to stay with you all the time or get off and lead him until he's more confident.

If he doesn't hack alone, he probably found the situation pretty stressful. It's very different going alone to going first when there is company behind you!

In future I would ask friends to wait whilst he wees- to be honest, I think this is polite anyway? I wouldn't go out of sight of another horse whilst hacking, and if I was hacking with someone else, I wouldn't really want them to go out of sight of mine, as he'd probably want to rush to catch up.

Has he ever hacked alone? How is he working alone in the school?

Thank you all for your help and advice. I’ll make sure he stays in sight of his herd mates in future.
He is fine in the outdoor school, but thinking about it, there is always another horse somewhere nearby.

It's known as napping, this article from Your Horse should help. www.yourhorse.co.uk/hacking/how-to-deal-with-napping-on-a-hack/#:~:text=In%20the%20arena%20or%20out,they%20move%2C%20stop%20applying%20them.

Many thanks 2pence - that’s very useful!

I had a nappy horse wouldn't go alone and It was worse than rearing/running for home as you cant do something with nothing! Before you go bullying a response, supposedly they will only plant for 7 minutes but I never had the patience to try as they would do it opposite a posh competition yard so I would get off and lead until got going again. Also keep their feet moving is another route.. In any case i think consistency is key perhaps you could walk out in hand to build confidence / have someone walk out with you

Get off and lead, or get your friend to come back, and also look into the reasons he’s started this behaviour. Is there a new herd of pigs near where you hack out? Most horses hate them. If you really don’t want to/can’t get off or he’s still planted when being led, try turning his head or body as much as you can, it slightly puts their balance off and makes them more likely to step forward.

Have you ever addressed why he won’t hack alone ?

Address the issue as above but if you have to get him moving again, turning him slightly to the side so that the feet at least have to move, gets them moving again rather than kicking forwards.