# My horse keeps stopping!



## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

Okay, so my grandma recently bought a 15 year old Arabian. She is a great horse, but has a few things that needs to be fixed. When I'm riding her, she is trotting or cantering great, and then all the sudden she stops. I don't know why, or what to do. I'm not putting any pressure on her mouth when she does it, it's just very random. Also, she never does it in the same spot.

Any suggestions?


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## SonnyWimps (Feb 22, 2008)

You might be telling her with your seat without knowing it. Some horses are super sensitive when it comes to your seat and knows different cues from previous training.


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

I agree with Sonny.
Since she is 15 and should be well broke, she could be all seat commands. Or maybe she was changed that with a slight change in balance, she is to stop.
Do you know her history?

She may be stopping because of the saddle pinching as well. I'm not 100% sure on that, but the saddle may be fine in the beginning and then as you ride more, it shifts around and may pinch her, causing her to stop.

I would check that the tack fits first.

If it fits her well, then I would move onto her stopping has to do with rider error.


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## dustytrails (Nov 25, 2008)

First of all, be thankful she does stop!  I totally agree, you are telling her somehow to stop. I would contact her previous owner and ask how they cued the stop. Are you leaning back, squeezing with your thighs? These are just some of the ways that the stop is done with body language. 

Good luck! I am sure it is a simple fix!


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## Spirithorse (Jun 21, 2007)

Sonnys right. You might be telling her to stop without even knowing it. My warmblood was in dressage training at a young age and was taught to stop when the rider put weight in their heels. Well, I don't do that, personally I don't want weight in my heels (just in my seat) so I had to teach him my way of stopping.

I would triple check saddle fit, even get someone who is very accurate at saddle fit come and take a look. She might be in pain, the saddle might be pinching her, or she could be out of alignment, etc. 

Check your fluidity while riding. Do you bounce, brace, or are you soft, fluid and do you have an independent seat? Sensitive horses will sometimes stop in the rider is not in harmony with them, it's their way of saying, "Hey! Get your act together will ya?!":lol: You can't blame them.

If you can rule out all these things, physical issues as well as rider issues, then you can work on the behavior shaping exercises. When you ask her to go gently squeeze her, don't kick. Allow the squeeze to slowly work down from your theigh down to your heel, then turn your heel out and down, then start creating commotion above her, like swinging a piece of rope. "Slap" yourself first across the shoulders and then irritate her with the rope. When she goes release all pressure. Say you are trotting and she stops. Go through these "phases" of pressure. Each time she stops make the interval in between each "phase" a little shorter, but only AFTER she knows the pattern. Remember you are teaching her, so you have to be patient. You need to be effective to be understood, but you need to be understood to be effective. This will teach her that it is HER responsibility to keep going until told otherwise. It's actually a pretty easy issue to fix.


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

Thanks for the help, I'll try it out. I'm almost positive that its not the saddle fit. She does it while i ride bareback as well. I'll make sure that I watch my seating and how I move.


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## Abby (Nov 26, 2007)

Sometimes a horse that hasn't had consistent recent work will think its OK to stop when they want to, which its not. If she hasn't been told otherwise, it could be a little habit she gotten. 

It could be what everyone else said too. If you think its a training problem, when you feel her slow or even think she might stop, put some leg on her, and make sure your hands aren't bouncing around, sometimes with the reins even slightly moving, a horse will stop if they are well trained because they take that as a pre cue.


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

if you want, check out this thread.
http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/training-schedule-3-horses-18233/
My gelding, Montana will just randomly go into a walk, when we're trotting and cantering. I asked for some advice and mayfieldk gave me great advice.

He too will do it with a saddle or bareback.


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

Thank you sooo much!! I really appreciate all the help. I will definitely take all of the suggestions and work on them. =]]


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## BeauReba (Jul 2, 2008)

Check her teeth. If she is hurting in there even the tiniest amount of pressure can cause immense pain. Does she do this with other riders? Try to get a video of you riding her and see if she does it when you sit or move a certain way.


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## Fisher.Cat. (Dec 26, 2007)

When I first got my horse, he would stop dead if I got the least bit off balance. Just the least shift in my weight would cause him to stop. Maybe she just thinks she's looking out for you?


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

She stops for everyone. It doesn't matter who's riding. I'm the most experienced person to ride her so far, so it could definitely be because of balance or shifting my weight. I hope to work her again tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes...


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

Any pictures of you riding her ?


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

No, I haven't had the chance to get any yet. I'll have to do that tomorrow. Hopefully I have time to ride her after work tomorrow =\


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

Reese2007 said:


> No, I haven't had the chance to get any yet. I'll have to do that tomorrow. Hopefully I have time to ride her after work tomorrow =\


 
Good. I have a feeling on what I will see but rather wait and see what you post.

A video would be good to but at least a picture.


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

Should i take the pictures riding bareback or with a saddle?


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

Reese2007 said:


> Should i take the pictures riding bareback or with a saddle?


Prefer saddle and in motion if you can.


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

I didn't get to ride yesterday, so there are no pictures or videos. I'll get them up as soon as I get the chance.


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## pleasurehorse11 (Dec 1, 2008)

be glad all she does is stop! when i first started training one of my horses she would get so mad and lazy that after i stopped her when i asked her to go forward she would just back the entire length of the arena she was never fast about it just back at a slow pace lol thank god we cured that!

- this new horse just may thnk its time for you t get off and she's saying 'i'm done' if you can sense she's about to do it i would give her a little pressure right before she's about to. or if you say she's doing it in the same spot prepare yourself right before you get there and give her some leg. i don't think you would be off balance in exactly the same spot she stops in every time unless the grounds uneven and she's stopping because she's off balance.


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## SonnyWimps (Feb 22, 2008)

Reese, how's the stopping going? Figure out what was wrong?


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

I haven't gotten the chance to get back on. Thanksgiving was crazy, so things are just starting to slow down back to normal. I'm going to ride her after class tomorrow night and we'll see how it goes.

Pleasurehorse - There is no warning whatsoever to the stopping. And it's not in the same spot every time. She just...stops. She can go from a fast canter to a complete stop, which is kinda cool....but with the circumstances...not so much. Hah. She has sooo much potential, but with this problem it's hard to get anything done.


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

Okay, so I should probably give an update. I rode Cameo tonight and recorded it. She ended up stopping twice out of about a 30 to 45 minutes of riding. Usually it's a lot more. I think it's just because she knew the camera was there... -_-* So... here they are. (I can't figure out how to get a video on here...)










I went off balance a bunch of times on purpose and she didn't stop. *I don't think she would stop even if I fell off... =P* I also had my mom get on, and she isn't as experienced as me, and Cami didn't stop for her. She wasn't on for very long though.

Here is the section of the video of me going off balance and everything... Kinda goofing around I guess.






Hellllp! >_<


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

Wow...Okay. So the videos did show up =P


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## Spyder (Jul 27, 2008)

This horse is not stopping suddenly. It is planned. I could almost guess when she was going to stop. 

You have a western curb and more or less neck reining her but I don't see any real neck reining but more a loose rein and "you are going along nice and I have a light rein so all is kosher" type of rein.

This she is taking advantage of. When she stops she has her front leg out to support herself and the gait just a step or two before the stop changes slightly.

If this were my horse I would be thinking of changing two things. First go to a regular snaffle bit.Take contact and DRIVE her forward in no uncertain terms. Balking results in a crop on the side. She has to learn that you are boss and through a direct contact bit (snaffle) she will know you are there and not just a passenger with "bus stops" along the route that she has decided on.

The second thing I would do is make it more interesting for her. Going around in circles is boring. Make many, many changes of direction so she does NOT know where she is going and will have less opportunity to plan these "bus stops".


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## Reese2007 (Nov 23, 2008)

The only reason I don't use a snaffle on her is because she continuously chomps at the bit. I can change it back though. And we don't usually just ride in there. I have a bigger round pen outside, but it was dark and snowing so I couldn't ride out there. We also have a pasture available to us that we use to ride around in.

And she doesn't neck rein yet. I'm hoping to teach her how to soon.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

I agree with spyder up to a point. If she is not neck reining yet, then I would put her back into a snaffle bit. If she has been ridden western and is not used to contact on the bit, then keep it on a loose rein. You should be able to feel when she is about to stop because her gait does change about 2 strides ahead of when she stops. When you feel her start to prepare, cue her to continue trotting or even go into a lope. Let her know that it is you who chooses when and where you stop and slow. I would advise taking her on the trail and just riding at a constant pace for long periods of time. It looks to me like this is a learned habit. You also might try riding on a little looser rein. It appears to me that your reins contact the bit at odd times while you are riding and this may be what is triggering her. Good luck


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

...I don't know... I think I see 2 things. One, is she off a little in the front? She looks like she may be spur broke. Do they do that in the arab world? She is stopping when you heel slides back and touches her side. I THINK you are telling her to stop.


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## bgood400 (Nov 10, 2008)

The horse might just be testing you to see what it can get away with, or she may be locking up when you put your legs on her. I think, as other people have said, it would be helpful to contact the old owners and talk to them about the problem.


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## amandaandeggo (May 21, 2008)

well . . . it could be worse . . . she could run away with you . . . see theres always an upside =) . . . sorry i realise this does nothing to help you but hopefully atleast it made someone smile =)


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