If you ever rode a horse that would stop and refuse to go forward then you would know how absolutely annoying it is.

Why do they stop? Because that's their reaction to a worrisome or unpleasant situation. Even nervous and timid horses can stake themselves to ground because they are apprehensive about leaving herd or barn.

What other reasons are there for napping? One is horse simply doesn't know what to do. They'd rather stop and stand than move forward. If your horse naps in a place he's familiar with (ie. your home area) then you should check your tack for things like a bad fitting saddle. The pain could finally become unbearable and horse simply won't move.

Often, horses will react to bad fitting tack by rearing or bucking. So when tack is bad fitting, napping is a pretty good alternative compared to rearing or bucking.

Another place a horse may nap is riding around an unfamiliar area. If he naps during this then it's likely he's doing it out of fear. The same can be true if he sees unfamiliar objects.

A secret tip about nappers is to closely observe where they're napping. If you find they get nappy around certain things then you might spot a pattern. For instance, every time your horse rides by a hay tarp and he stops then that is likely your culprit. But it could be lots of different things. It could be bushes. Trees. Dog pens. Etc.

When trying to solve napping from fear, you should take approach when working with a spooking horse. A horse that spooks needs to be treated kindly. He shouldn't be forced into stepping over his "fear boundary". You have to talk to them, pet them, and be patient.

To uninitiated, voice commands for horse are nothing more than words. But to horse they are only sounds.

Obviously, horses cannot speak our language. Since they cannot speak our language we should think through what we say to them when we want certain responses from them.

Take word "whoa" for instance. I have no doubt this is most abused word in human/horse language. When rider says "whoa" then horse should know to stop.

But problem is this. Often word "whoa" is said when rider wants horse to slow down...not stop. Before you know it, rider has conditioned horse to slow down at word "whoa" instead of stopping. Then rider can't understand why "stupid" horse won't stop when he says "whoa!".

Telling your horse a command when you mean for it to do something else is lying to your horse. You never lie to your horse because results you get will not be what you want. Jesse Beery, a famous horse trainer from 1800's, knew this well and was first to say "don't lie to your horse".

Thus, when you say "whoa" to your horse, you must only say it because you want to stop...not slow down.

Also, when using voice commands be sure to use simple words with as few syllables as possible.

Thus, if you want a horse to back up then say "back". If you want him to walk then say "walk". If you want him to trot then say "trot".

Next, when using voice commands be sure to associate an action with command. For instance, let's say you're teaching your horse to gallop at command "gallop". So while in round pen you use one of your aids to teach him to gallop. So first you say "gallop" then bring in aid to motivate his movement to a higher speed.

If you want to teach your horse to walk then start your horse around pen in opposite direction from which you taught him to gallop. When he's gone around several times, stop him, and pet him. If he goes too fast use word "walk" and have him go slower by making a slight move to front of him.