# Horse running backwards



## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

subbing


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## towboater (Aug 19, 2013)

Thats very odd.


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## angelbkm212 (Aug 27, 2013)

we had a horse that did that. What i found really helpful was just pulling one rein as soon s she does it and just let her spin in circles until she stops. Dont worry if she keep turning, just hold her until she stops, she will eventually. Also work on leading. If she wont cross the bridge, get off and lead her across it, they are generally more willing that way if their rider is going first.


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## Incitatus32 (Jan 5, 2013)

I'm not sure if this would work for her since our horse that does this is scared but hey, just an idea. We found out that kicking him forward did not work so we did the next best thing: we backed him up to high heaven. We always made sure it was a safe environment but as soon as he backs I back him up and literally do circles while backing. I've even backed him into a round pen gate before and that cured that. When we're on the ground leading and he does it I back him up until he's had a little come to jesus moment. One time (on accident!) I backed him up, he decided to be a brat and to keep backing and backed into the electric fence, whenever he's being a brat and backing by golly he looks first. He does the exact same thing as your mare but one rein stops don't work on him, he's like a freight train. He did this during a dressage lesson one day and believe it or not I did that entire lesson (small maneuvers and all) backwards. He wanted to go forwards pretty soon but I kept him backing and backing so that he knew it was unacceptable to not think. 

He still backs and sometimes doesn't look before hand and gets crazy but I've found through experience it's a lot safer to just go with his motion then have him bolt on me. Hopefully one of these days it will sink into his brain that backing up and being stupid about it means he gets to back up more.... But that's with a horse that's scared so I'm not sure if it would work for her. IME sometimes it's best to let them put themselves in a bit of a non dangerous predicament and let them figure it out that they did it to themselves.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I'd turn her around into the correct direction again so she trots backwards in the direction you want to go. If she tries to go forward again, loop her around in the direction you want.


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## jimmyp (Sep 5, 2013)

My paso mare, who was a specialist of getting away with BS when we got her will do this stuff. Our issue is that my mare is terribly barn sour and will fight from the barn to the road (she is fine once we hit the road) and if, bucking/kicking, wont help, then she will try to back to the barn and she can go backwards as fast as she can go forward. when she does it I will loosen the reins and give her her head just long enough for her to relax, then I will pull her head around to my knee. Sometimes all this does is stop her other times it will spin her around. 

I find this to be a TERRIBLE habit, and extremely dangerous. My mare has gone over backwards on me twice pulling this stuff. My only answer to you is to pull your horses head around so she naturally wants to turn or stop. then once you get her stopped. back her at your own leisure until you are tired and she wants nothing more than to go forward.

Jim


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## Horsesdontlie (Mar 11, 2011)

When I got Jake he did that a lot. Its a bad habit that got us into some nasty situations. He would put his head down between his legs and run backwards. He would end up running into other horses, off ledges and into anything. 

I believe it started from someone who used backing up as a punishment before I got him. Anytime he got frustrated or I would try to restrict forward momentum in any way he would just start running backwards. He expected me to start pulling and just anticipated it. 

The only way I stopped it was to disengage his hind when ever he thought about backing up. One rein pull his head to the side and dig in a heel on the same side you're pulling the rein on. Legs that are crossing can't back up. Though it takes some consideration of what the horse is backing up for. Mine believed that he would be prohibited from going forward, as he was not spooky or balky in the least. Normally this is when we would be getting ready for a barrel run, and he would always willing enter the arena, but soon as he was ready to go if I didn't let him bolt he would run backwards. He got excited to run home on trail, he ran backwards. He got so used to being restrained that its just what he did. No amount of making him back up more, kicking, spurring or using a crop broke this habit. Just the disengaging the hind soon as he thought about backing up and keeping him moving forward. 

If your horse is refusing to go forward and is avoiding something I might suggest the just keep asking for the forward movement, let them back up as far as they want but keep the cue constant until the horse moves forward, then relax and stay out of the horse's way until it stops or backs up again. I have found that turning and backing the way you want to go, or circles doesn't build the trust or stop the issue from happening...they are just tricks to fool the horse into doing it. I like to know that if I say go forward the horse has one option...to go forward. Not turn away, not circle and back that way. The cue will not be released until that goal is reached. Keep the horse facing the way you want to go.

But if you're worried about the rearing I would suggest the disengaging of the hind quarters to stop the backwards running.


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

I agree with disengaging of the hindquarters. Practice and practice until she's got it down pat, and next time you go out and see a potential problem, moment she stops moving forward disengage the hindquarters and then send her forward. 

Also, the "backwards" gait has the same footfalls of a trot - a two beat, diagonal gait. Your horse isn't "trotting" backwards, just backing fast.


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

Ah.... I had one that did that to get out of work... And was not scared, just ornery. What finally worked for him was making it my idea... Once he started to go backwards... We kept going backwards til I said to stop... The first day we must have lapped the arena 50 times going backwards.... More backwards than forwards. But
Then he realized he wasn't getting a rise out of me, no fight and wasn't getting his way. The habit quickly went away. I wouldn't do it with a scared horse or one that wanted to rear.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Sheena, I'm wondering if this horse was at one time forced backwards as a form of punishment, because of when she is doing it. It seems the moment she's upset this is her reaction. About all I can suggest is that you watch her ears and feel what her body is doing and begin circling and serpentines, lots of them, to try to get her focus back on you. If on the trail, circle whatever obstacles nature provides. Try not to think she might react to something as they seem to know this, as it radiates thro your body. Just start doing it out of the blue. ie don't allow her time to think.


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## AnrewPL (Jun 3, 2012)

Just sit the other way around in the saddle, problem solved. 


Just kidding. 


If the horse is scared of stuff then probably a way to get it sorted out is to build its confidence in you. This has nothing to do with “just spending time with it”, and “bonding” with it by giving it treats, pats, or grooming it. What you can do is get something like the Parelli lateral lunging gear and work on that, then transfer the same kind of thing to exercises you can do in the saddle. Now I know Parelli is a dirty word to may around here, but the older stuff is really worth a look. I learned that stuff, but never learned any for these 7 games, just the principals and the techniques to get a horse moving, then made up my own games from that and it works well. Get the horse going around you in a circle well (just do about three circles on each side in any one go, don’t run it round and round and round), then build from there. Look for challenges for the horse to do. So once it can walk around you, get it to walk around you and and between you and the rails of a yard, and after that, through a gate. Or get it to jump over a gully, or a log, get it to walk into a shed (if it is safe to do so) and out again (getting a horse to willingly walk into an enclosed space and be happy about it can be a big step to sorting out fear issues). The thing to remember is 1: all of this may seem disconnected from the instant in which the horse starts to play up, just remember that a good foundation in having that horse trust you and follow your commands will lead to you being able to override the fear response that the horse may give when it would ordinarily act up and 2: that you should start off with the easiest thing to do, just walk around you in a yard or the paddock, and only increase the difficulty/challenge (and so “scariness”) in the tiniest increments that you know the horse can achieve. If you give the horse clear, consistent and firm instruction, it (and you too) will come to see that the horse can do everything you ask it to do (because you set it up to succeed with each challenge) it will come to trust you and it will look to you for security and not other horses around it, and it should put a dent in the jogging backwards issue. 


If horse isn’t scared of anything, then Id be looking to see if its confused about something. For example, I have found that a reasonable number of the horses I have trained will walk about backwards on their first ride. So the very first time I get on them I will ask them to walk out but they start going backwards because they are a little confused about what I was asking. Haven’t had it happen in a long while so, now that I think of it, it might be that I'm setting them up better through he ground work these days, but anyway, when they did it I got my signals clear and they walked out forwards once they got what I was asking for. How that might apply to your situation? Keep track of when exactly the horse does it and see if there is anything you are doing that is causing it. If you notice that the horse does it after the same signal from you each time, then you'll probably narrow down the catalyst for it, and be able to figure out a solution. Possibly clearer release of pressure to help sort it out would be my first guess. 


If not, if the horse is doing it because it figures doing it will get it out of doing what you want. In that case, start working on respect training from the ground up. The good thing is that all the stuff about the lunging and giving the horse little challenges that I mentioned above will also build respect if you do it right. Also, when you are riding the horse, and it dose this stuff, I wouldn’t try to kick it out forwards, nor would I try to back it up till it gets sick of it. Doing the former seems to be leading to the horse rearing, the latter is kind of like my friend from primary school. He started smoking at 8 years old, if his father caught him he would make him smoke a whole pack of cigarettes in one go. My friend loved it, far from stopping him smoking, it encouraged it. 
What I would do is: on the ground get your horse yielding all quarters well, and combine them through side-passing too. Once you have done that, get on its back and get it yielding all quarters well from the saddle, and side passing. Once its going ok, if it starts this jogging backwards stuff, turn it around its back feet by giving a direct rein signal to throw its front end over the appropriate back foot (this will take some practice to get the timing right as you will have to coordinate your signals with where its feet are at to get it to work) and once it comes about, get it moving in a forwards direction before it can seize up and try to rear up on you; after that you can turn it around and set it in the direction you want to go, and repeat the process if necessary. And don't give your horse cigarettes, terrible habit .


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