{"id":38908,"date":"2020-06-30T09:41:34","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T08:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horseandcountry.tv\/?p=38908"},"modified":"2020-06-30T09:41:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T08:41:57","slug":"horse-napping-kelly-marks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/press.horseandcountry.tv\/en-us\/horse-napping-kelly-marks\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to know why your horse is napping? Kelly Marks has the answers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The hardest thing about dealing with napping is working out why he is doing it in the first place. Kelly Marks, who specialises in horse psychology and behaviour, is here to help.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Give him an MOT<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The first thing you need to look at is whether\u00a0your horse has\u00a0any physical problems, such as soreness or discomfort. Get your vet to give him a complete check over \u2013\u00a0they can recommend a physiotherapist\/ chiropracter\/oesteopath if there are back problems. Also get his teeth checked. If they can\u2019t find anything wrong, but your horse still seems \u2018depressed\u2019 ask for a blood test to check for viruses or worm damage.<\/li>\n<li>Check his tack. Does the saddle fit correctly, is the bit comfortable in his mouth, and is any of his equipment (eg martingale, noseband) too tight \u2013 or even necessary?<\/li>\n<li>Assess the general management of your horse. He is over fed and under exercised, or under fed and over exercised. Is he\u00a0bored with his routine?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Clear\u00a0<\/strong><b>communication<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Does your horse understand what you are asking him? Sometimes we need to go back to basics with our schooling \u2013 starting with groundwork.<\/li>\n<li>If you have a young horse, or one that is new to your\u00a0yard, has he been pushed into going out on his own too soon?<\/li>\n<li>Does your horse enjoy going out on rides? If he doesn\u2019t he may need a friend to reassure him.<\/li>\n<li>If your horse has \u2018over-bonded\u2019 with another horse try moving him to a different field or stable.<\/li>\n<li>During the winter it can be hard to find time to ride, so when do go out, your horse may be\u00a0reluctant to suddenly leave his friends.<\/li>\n<li>Do you ask your horse to work in an outline before he is properly warmed up? Your horse may object to this by napping because he needs to let his tired muscles \u2018break free\u2019. Olympic Gold medallists Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester constantly stress the need for dressage horses to be rewarded with a stretch and loose work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Natural instincts<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Be honest with yourself \u2013 are you insecure or nervous? If you are inconsistent with your aids, pushing him forward one moment and pulling him back the next, you will teach him to nap.<\/li>\n<li>Horses are creatures of habit, so if you always ride the same route and then suddenly go a different way, he thinks: \u2018Hey you\u2019ve made a mistake here!\u2019<\/li>\n<li>If your horse\u2019s heart is beating faster and he is ignoring your best efforts to make him move forward he isn\u2019t napping, he is just scared of something and having a look. Fear and adrenalin takes the horse back to his natural instincts, which are to back INTO pressure, so he starts running backwards. This is normal behaviour. Give him time to process what he is seeing and he will become bolder and braver in the future.<\/li>\n<li>If you deal with napping by bullying or punishing your horse, you will only make him confused and resentful and determined to \u2018fight for his rights\u2019 at every opportunity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The hardest thing about dealing with napping is working out why he is doing it in the first place. Kelly Marks is here to help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[5530,3267],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.7 (Yoast SEO v20.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Want to know why your horse is napping? 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