# horse hates indoor arena



## gymangel812 (Aug 3, 2014)

my mare seems to hate indoor arenas (somewhat outdoor but not nearly as bad). she likes to bulge/drift towards the door and speed up slow/down. i can't seem to correct it with my legs/seat. i try pushing her back over with my leg (even kicking or using my whip behind my leg to get my point across) and it doesn't seem to have much effect. my old trainer had me correct it with indirect rein, which i think made the problem worse. she likes to go around with her head slightly to the outside. she also doesn't seem to want to stop. i ask for the halt (using my seat first) the pulling and she just scoots around (circling or scooting towards the gate, she does some great dressage moves while trying to avoid doing whatever i'm asking, someone riding in the arena with me even commented that she was doing some nice dressage lol). 

she's great on the trails, much better about listening to me. she will stop nicely and responds better to my leg laterally. i've been trying to do more groundwork with her (moving haunches/shoulders/backing/making sure she knows the word whoa) in hopes of it helping but it hasn't. her groundwork is better but it doesn't translate to the saddle. new trainer suggested turn on the forehand but that's hard when she won't completely stop. leg yields are a bit more productive but not great. sidepassing from a stop is also pretty much a fail without someone on the ground. when she actually does move over finally sometimes she is not happy about it and grinds her teeth/chomps the bit.

i've tried just turning her out in the indoor and she basically stays around the gate. if she's really riled up/excited she just about looks like she is thinking of jumping the 5-6' gate/fence. on the way to the indoor, she will stop several times before we even get inside. teeth recently done, saddle fit checked a few months ago, vet saw her a few months ago. this problem has gone on for about a year but getting increasingly worse. i've tried a wide variety of bits, none seem to make a difference.

every time i ride her inside (which is almost every time i ride her since it's winter), i just end up frustrated and can't get anything done. any suggestions on how to fix it?


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## LoveTheSaddlebreds (Jul 9, 2009)

She just sounds like she's throwing fits and trying to get her way.. She's telling you "No, I really don't feel like it, you can't make me!"

When she stops on the way to the arena, smack her behind/side HARD and get her moving to the side and use that momentum to go forward. I HATE when horses stop while leading and you shouldn't tolerate it. Don't stop and look at her, even for a second. As SOON as you feel her start to slow/stop, get after her. 

Practice doing small circles/figure eights by the gate and really make her move. But make sure you have a supporting outside rein/leg so she doesn't just motorcycle around with her haunches out. 

If she scoots towards the door, close your outside leg on her and make her listen to the aids. If you cannot, you need lessons inside an arena. If she doesn't know how to listen to the aids properly, SHE needs more lessons.

Work her HARD by the gate and let her rest at the other end of the arena. If she won't stand, go back and work her HARD by the gate again. She needs to be humbled and get her saddle pad wet.

If a horse doesn't stop, but they KNOW what whoa means, I'll ask VERY loudly. Meaning I'll sit hard and really get firm on their mouth or aim them at a wall. Usually, it only takes one time to make your point, but sometimes you might have to really get after them.


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

A number of factors may influence a horse's reluctance when being asked to work in an indoor arena. These may include: unnatural surroundings; unpleasant smells; uneven lighting causing high contrast and difficulty adjusting its eyes to see clearly; echoes and other unusual sounds. Some horses adjust to such circumstances more easily than others.

Another major factor to consider is the horse's work experience in a particular setting. If a horse associates a particular setting with discomfort, the horse is unlikely to desire being in that location. This does not mean that a horse cannot be made to accept being there. This may be achieved by making it even more unpleasant to be elsewhere. However, I would try a different approach.

Rather than having the horse associate the location with tension and discomfort, I would try to help improve the horse's experience there. I would seek to make the session in the arena more of a dance than a wrestling match. I would put more emphasis on influencing the horse's behavior rather than simply forcing obedience. 

Such an approach involves "listening" as well as simply "telling". It involves experimenting with different techniques, observing the horse's reaction, and adjusting the technique slightly to see if the horse reacts differently. 

A rider must learn to release tension that sets up barriers to listening. This is easiest when a rider is balanced, allows gravity to make his seat stable, and allows his body to freely follow the movements of his horse's body. As a result, the horse uses less effort when moving. The horse begins to release tension in her own body. The horse becomes accustomed to the rider's body and her own body working in unison. Then, the rider can begin to influence his horse's movements with subtle movements of his own.

For example, the rider might influence his horse's head to turn from looking slightly to the outside to looking slightly to the inside by very slightly squeezing and releasing the inside rein. The feel may be likened to squeezing only one or two drops of water out of a wet sponge. The squeeze influences the horse to move its head. The release gives the horse nothing to resist against. Eventually, the horse should relax and move its head slightly to the inside in response to the influence of the rein. When it does so, it finds that the rein remains relaxed. The horse is pleased and relaxed.

Similar techniques can be employed when trying to influence the horse in other ways. The more such techniques are employed, the more enjoyable the experience becomes for both horse and rider.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

It sounds like you could be doing a lot of riding on the rail. That should be the last place you spend time. Actually, it should really be the LAST place you ride. You should only work on the rail for a short period at the end of a good ride. Then it become a pleasant place where you quit, dismount and lead out. By the way, NEVER ride out of the gate!

You should spend 90% of your riding doing 'schooling maneuvers' in all parts of the arena. Do large and small circles, serpentines, and 'squares'. Do a lot of 'leg yielding' exercises, always away from the gate or any other place the horse would like to 'drift' toward. Use inside leg to push a horse out where it wants to drift in or drop a shoulder or 'look out' of the bridle. Use outside leg every time the horse wants to drift out. 

Do NOT try to 'hold' the horse in with an inside rein. You only facilitate it drifting out worse and teach it to 'over-bend' and get 'rubber-necked'. In other words, all of your problems will disappear when this horse learns to stay 'between you reins and between your legs'. 

Spend the majority of your time riding on a loose rein but still demanding a horse's attention. Just pick up a rein and 'bump' a horse with your rein and/or a leg to keep her doing the right thing. You have to keep a horse 'correct' without just 'hanging' on its mouth. You should ride at least 75% leg and seat and less than 25% should be rein aids. 

You greatly up the anxiety level of a horse when you pull on both reins at the same time. Using what I call 'one rein riding' keeps horses much less confrontational and much more relaxed. This mean that you have a horse working with a 'dominant' rein and a 'steadying' lighter rein. You can stop by using one rein only and let the horse circle until it stands still and you release the inside rein. When taught to stop with one rein, you usually get rid of all of the dancing around and anxiousness. If the horse moves, you you just take the opposite rein and stop them with it. They figure out very quickly to stand still and relax.

When the weather allows, do most of your riding out of the arena. Then, when she is behaving nicely and you are done, finish up your ride in the indoor. Keep it 'short and sweet'. End you ride standing in the place she likes the least. Make the arena a 'good' place for her to be happy in. As soon as she is completely relaxed in that place, dismount, loosen your girth and lead her out.


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## gymangel812 (Aug 3, 2014)

i try to do a lot of figures/circles/etc but it's challenging when she's drifting/bulging/not listening to my legs. i also lead her out of the arena and dismount in various places but never near the gate (or even the side with the gate). 

by bumping with the rein, do you mean to get her to look to the inside by bumping the inside rein?

i usually try to avoid going from trails to an arena, she throws a major fit (choppy trot, pinned ears, tail swishing) but i never let her end being angry and work her though it.



Cherie said:


> It sounds like you could be doing a lot of riding on the rail. That should be the last place you spend time. Actually, it should really be the LAST place you ride. You should only work on the rail for a short period at the end of a good ride. Then it become a pleasant place where you quit, dismount and lead out. By the way, NEVER ride out of the gate!
> 
> You should spend 90% of your riding doing 'schooling maneuvers' in all parts of the arena. Do large and small circles, serpentines, and 'squares'. Do a lot of 'leg yielding' exercises, always away from the gate or any other place the horse would like to 'drift' toward. Use inside leg to push a horse out where it wants to drift in or drop a shoulder or 'look out' of the bridle. Use outside leg every time the horse wants to drift out.
> 
> ...


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## gymangel812 (Aug 3, 2014)

i will work on being more firm with the stopping, those tips will help. i feel like part of these issues is her not respecting me. 



LoveTheSaddlebreds said:


> She just sounds like she's throwing fits and trying to get her way.. She's telling you "No, I really don't feel like it, you can't make me!"
> 
> When she stops on the way to the arena, smack her behind/side HARD and get her moving to the side and use that momentum to go forward. I HATE when horses stop while leading and you shouldn't tolerate it. Don't stop and look at her, even for a second. As SOON as you feel her start to slow/stop, get after her.
> 
> ...


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## ShirtHotTeez (Sep 23, 2014)

^^^ Your horse doesn't 'like' the indoor arena? TOO BAD. He has to go where you want him. You have an obedience issue and some great advice already posted here. He is 'trying it on' and getting away with it. Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Your horse is probably arena sour, and should be ridden out more, HOWEVER, when asked to work in the arena she needs to respond to your aids, same as any place else, and not blow through them
Totally agree on working her off of the rail, schooling her. The rail should be the place the horse goes, as a reward, after the horse is listening, thus a place you can give her slack , expect her to stay good, without picking or schooling on her

Far as her drifting tot he out gate-you need shoulder control. Horses naturally follow their shoulders, not their nose, until we teach them to do so, with their entire body in alignment.
I would start by putting body control on her,esp shoulder control. Teach her to guide, staying evenly between the reins. Once a horse knows where he should be, understands leg aids, that rein against his neck, you can correct them, hard, as needed, then give them a chance to do the right thing, leaving them alone
You can feel when a horse , loping a circle, is thinking of heading towards that out gate, or stall out, start riding positively before that spot, driving that horse foreward, and if he tries to run off at the shoulder, get that outside leg up in front on that cinch and bump that shoulder over, while at the same time, blocking it with outside rein up against the neck
A one rein stop is a great emergency stop, BUT you need to teach your horse a correct hindend stop, where that horse responds to whoa, your seat, and that bit barrier, considering that bit barrier as being like a brick wall. In other words, you don`t pull on the horse, but you set that bit barrier, backing that horse if he leans on your hands, until he is soft and giving, hind end under him
Larry Trocha has a good video on teaching the stop, which I have posted before,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7r82sjmFIA

While there are reasons that a horse might resist aids , in one place, and one should also take those causes into consideration, it is still not an excuse for ahorse to decide where he will or will not work for you. That last part can;t be negotiable, if you want a truly broke and reliable horse


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

gymangel812 said:


> *i try to do a lot of figures/circles/etc but it's challenging when she's drifting/bulging/not listening to my legs.* i also lead her out of the arena and dismount in various places but never near the gate (or even the side with the gate).
> 
> by bumping with the rein, do you mean to get her to look to the inside by bumping the inside rein?
> 
> i usually try to avoid going from trails to an arena, she throws a major fit (choppy trot, pinned ears, tail swishing) but i never let her end being angry and work her though it.


This is exactly why you need to work on obedience to your legs. This is why you need to do maneuvers like 'leg yielding' and large and small circles. These should progress into circles with 'reverse bend'. ONLY when you establish obedience to your leg (not just putting leg on your horse and allowing her to ignore it) is this horse going to ride any better at all. All you are doing is practicing riding with no shoulder or body control. Your horse has gotten really good at this -- you? not so much. Break the cycle by establishing 'who is in charge' of where you go and how you get there. 

If you are unable to ride assertively and effectively enough to get her to yield to leg pressure correctly, you may have to have a trainer or more effective rider teach her to do this. I would expect her to put up quite a fuss and get really ****ed. After all, she has been in charge for a good while.

You will not get any better at riding and she will not get any better at going where and how she is supposed to until she learns to respect and respond to a rider's legs correctly. You have reached an impasse until this is fixed.


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