Dangerous stop?

Question

My horse is great when she is in an arena but when you go somewhere out of it like riding down the road she will not stop When you pull back on the reins she tosses her head and tries to rear but in the arena she will stop on a dime. Why does she do this? I tried the one rein stop and next time i try to stop she does it again the next time and we ride down the road often. It has gotten so dangerous that one time she did not want to stop and almost bolted in front of an on-coming car. How can i get her to stop and stay stopped until I am ready to go again? and why wont she stop outside of the aren but does it perfectly in the arena?

Also she only doesnt stop when we are heading away from the barn but not when we go back to it.

When she does'nt stop she isnt scared she just doesnt want to stop

Answer 1

My horse is like this. It's because she loves hacking out, it's more play than work. So being out and about gets her excited and very forward going. Some horses rush because they're nervous and on edge, so they need a confidence boost. I ride my mare in a slightly stronger bit out on the road than in the arena, and I always wear reflective clothing so I'm well seen if she's playing up on the road. I don't carry a whip unless I'm going somewhere different (like over a river, through a gate etc). Some horses are faster at just the sight of a whip. If you want to carry one to smack her if she rears, take a short whip rather than a dressage/schooling whip. Try and find rides that don't go back on themselves, so it's a round trip. This will stop your horse rushing home as much. Ride out with a calm horse with an experienced rider on board to give your horse confidence and set a pace. Attach a flash to the bridle if she opens her mouth when she shakes her hear, this will stop her avoiding the bit so much. A running martingale may also help stop her shaking her head as much. If you hack out a little more regularly, it should become less exciting, especially if you take her on the same route (as long as she doesn't rush home). The less exciting she is, the more she's listening to you.
When I first had my mare she'd bolt all the time so I introduced a double bridle. Because of the 2 bits, curb bit and bridoon, I have a choice to what pressure to use, and in turn my mare learnt that the choice was actually hers. I'd apply pressure on the bridoon (fairly soft) first and if she didn't stop immediately I applied pressure on the curb bit. I have never failed to stop her in a curb bit because it is so strong, but you need to be experienced to use one and some horses don't agree with it! Eventually she learnt that she's gotta stop either way, and she'd rather stop with the lighter bit pulling. Now I ride her in a dutch gag on the 2nd ring down, and occasionally in her snaffle when I'm riding with someone else and she's usually fairly well behaved (she doesn't bolt anyway)! Hope this helps.

Answer 2

What the other answerers said may be true; outside of the arena your horse has much more to worry about and can easily become distracted. I always stress groundwork to gain respect and control in new situations. I recommend taking your horse out by the road on a lead and walking, trotting and just standing there. Maybe put a saddle on her while doing this and once she's calm, hop on and start slowly.

I'm just assuming that if she's uneasy under saddle, that she's uneasy by the road on the ground too.

And also, once riding her by the road or another unfamiliar place, distract her with cues like backing or sidepassing. She will have to focus on these things instead of oncoming cars. You also need to let her just stand and look, too.

Answer 3

It sounds like a security thing... in the arena she knows it's safe to halt, but once you're outside, there is so much more that she has to worry about, and just wants to get the ride over with so she can be back in an area she knows is safe where something isn't going to attack her. You're just going to have to work with her. Maybe you should lead her where you're going to be riding her so she can check things out and make sure there's nothing there that's going to jump out and attack her.

Answer 4

It sounds like she minds in the arena because its a controled place where she knows she can get away pulling stuff like that but when out of the arena there is nothing stoping her from doing what she wants. sounds like she needs to go to the trainers for a little while to work on her stoping.

Answer 5

I know this sounds odd, but have you tried lunging her oustide your arena on a small bit of level ground? Or maybe taking her on a lead line through the places she's anxious about.

Does she react in the same way on the lunge or lead? If so, then you'll know that's most likely your problem.

Answer 6

You need more training. You need to be in control. There is a vast difference in horsemanship and riding.