Expert: Lisa Lee - 7/1/2009

Question
QUESTION: My question invloves my 8 year old Standardbred off the track.Training was going well,riding he took to right away,but he now refuses to go forward period and if pushed will rear and buck with his rider.What can I do to change this,he has no other bad behavior,hes a sweet horse but refusal is now a huge problem,I dont want to give up on him.But he is now dangerous to attempt to ride.

ANSWER: If he was doing well, and suddenly has these issues, you need to rule out any physical problems.  Is there any chance he may have hurt himself? Such as his back, or somewhere else that would not necessarily show up  when walking out......

How is he under halter? Will he go forward on a lunge line with tack? There must have been something, either mental or physical that caused this behavior.....and you should really rule out anything physical.....

If it was my horse, I would start from zero - ground work and start progressing through the stages of training again fromt he ground up as if he had no training. Try to see if tehre is something particular that he reasponds to - good or bad......

Let me know how you make out with the  physical aspect.......Lisa

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hes fine on a lunge line and goes as asked,vet has ruled out medical,he has a set bowed tendon but is sound on it.Could it be mental?weve had no accidents or tramas,but refusal came quickly and has progressed to not ridable,should i still just start over with him?Im at a loss with him.Can we push him past this?

Answer
First - I'm sorry about the delayed response...this question got lost in my email....

I would not try to push the horse into anything. I think starting back at square 1 and seeing if there is anything physical that is causing this behavior....maybe ill fitting tack, a problem with his teeth.....so many things......what I would do is take it slow - it is easier to do that than try to 'fix' another problem....OR get hurt trying to push too hard!

Does his environment have anything to do with it......if he is fine on a lunge, is that wil or without tack? Can he be lunged with a rider just sitting there or does he start to act up? If that is the case - I would suspect either the tack or a back problem. .....

A lot of things to consider, please feel free to post an update!