Re: Difficult stallion (long)

["sharon dial" <dial@pe.net>]

> does not want to go or wants to see what the other horses are doing, or
> wants to get closer to the fence, he goes into reverse mode (and I mean
> REVERSE MODE!) no amount of kicking or (heaven forbid, I tried this once
in
> frustration, to my eternal shame) walloping on the butt (it was with my
> riding cap) will get him to move forward

Celeste,

I had a wonderful horse who was a master at backing up terribly fast. As
with your horse, it was his way of telling me "no".

Since you're an experienced rider and trainer, I hope you won't take offense
at this question. Is there any chance that you are maintaining contact with
the bit while asking him to go cease backward movement and go forward?

What finally worked for me with my gelding was to put slack in the reins and
then to pick up one rein and turn him. This at least stopped most of the
backward motion and that gave me a place to work from.

Whacking the poop out of my horse when he was backing up only made him back
faster. I'm guessing this  could also lead to other undesirable behavior
(bucking?) so I can see why you are trying to avoid going that route.

Sharon (sympathetic)
So. California