The horse I have been leasing for a while became my own yesterday. He has some serious confidence issues that I've been able to avoid dealing with, but now
that he's mine, I'd really like to work on them a lot more diligently. His main issues are all related to traveling on or over obstacles such as ground
poles (especially white ones), jumps (even tiny ones), "bridges" (think Western trail class variety), logs (on trail rides), and the most frustrating
of all........ramps on trailers. He will load onto a stock trailer with no problems whatsoever, but anything with a ramp is an hour-long struggle. You
can't force him, you can't push him. He grows roots or just jumps away, no matter who or what is in his way. The most progress we've ever had was
two steps with both front feet standing on the ramp. He stands there and snorts and if you attempt to encourage any further steps, he backs off. He's not
food-motivated, he's not motivated by other horses being on the trailer, nothing.
I am just kind of at my wit's end. I don't have the luxury of 5 hours every night to work with him on things like this, and we both just get extremely frustrated when we do. He is absolutely fine with everything else (well, hates having his ears clipped, but I can't blame him for that) so this is definitely a big hump to get over in his training. Has anyone else dealt with issues like this? The barn I am at does not allow outside trainers to come in, so that's not an option, nor is moving him elsewhere. I'm just looking for any advice, though I have a feeling patience is the #1 key.
I am just kind of at my wit's end. I don't have the luxury of 5 hours every night to work with him on things like this, and we both just get extremely frustrated when we do. He is absolutely fine with everything else (well, hates having his ears clipped, but I can't blame him for that) so this is definitely a big hump to get over in his training. Has anyone else dealt with issues like this? The barn I am at does not allow outside trainers to come in, so that's not an option, nor is moving him elsewhere. I'm just looking for any advice, though I have a feeling patience is the #1 key.
