Problem Youngster!! Help Pls

[Gems]

Hi all,

i have just brought a beautiful 7 month old Palamino colt.

i have had him a week on Wednesday and making good progress.
- He has calmed in his stable after living out.
- is no longer scared of me entering and moving around his stable.
- Can groom him in and out of his stable
- pick up all four legs without a fuss.

The problem i am having is when leading him, like most youngsters he has his moments when being led which i understand. When he does not want to be led he will rear and strike out, it is somewhat half hearted but seemed a bit more today.

I know it is still early days but i would like to nip this in the butt now.
I have dealt with youngsters before (None mine).

Has anyone had this problem? what could i work on to try and get him out of this habit? and what should i be doing when he does this?

Would love any help or fews on this Horse People

Thanks

[princessblackshaw]

I read this and it sounded so similar to the problems I'm having with my yearling filly, she strikes our mainly when I try to clip and unclip her lead rope on and off her, she can be quite consistent when doing it and I don't no how to stop it!? Any help would be muchly appreciated.

[rebeccam54]

Hiya Both,

I hope you are both well. I always work on a natural horsemanship approach in everything I do, so when I'm reading both your problems I have two questions in my mind.

1) Do you know the history of your horse? This could help in trying to resolve your problem.
2) Could it be that your horses have had bad experiences from leading/unclipping lead rope?

If they are both striking out but it is not intentionally meant to hurt you then this is a warning, they are trying to tell you that something about this is making them feel scared and unhappy.

I would suggest this:

Leading:
Give your horse some horse treats whilst leading him. Do this in a secure area for instance an external menage/indoor school or even tape off an area in a field. As your leading your horse around in a square area give treats occasionally. Whatever fear your horse has suffered this might just help your horse to know that leading isn't so bad and all the bad thoughts will soon go away. Over time reduce the treats and hopefully your problems will go.

Clipping/Unclipping Lead Rope
I would follow the same process as above. Give your horse small treats whilst unclipping and clipping your lead rope on. Again do this for a couple of days and hopefully the fear of what you are doing will go and your horse will loose interest in the negative and hopefully your problems will go.

However if you both feel the striking out is intentional then this behaviour must be dealt with in a natural way. I would buy a water spray bottle. You can get these from Asda they are 80p. When your horse strikes out spray it with the water in its face. Some people say that this can make your horse head shy but it doesn't. It's a non-aggressive way of telling your horse that it's behaviour is unacceptable. Only spray your horse when you know it is going to stike out. You may have to use this method for a while, but eventually you will stamp out the behaviour.

I really hope you both resolve your problems

I'd love to knowhow you get on.

Many Thanks
Becky

[Sasca]

Just because you say its 'natural horsemanship' doesn't mean that you are training correctly. What you have just suggested is not at all good for youngsters in any way.

They are both testing boundries. You have a 7 month colt that hasn't long left mum i assume, and is now in a very unknown environment. And NO-ONE tells a filly what to do in their opinion, they are queens and you do as they say. Its all attitude, nothing to do with bad experiences. Striking out with forelegs is a challenge, back legs is fear or defence. They are both just testing your leadership. The leadrope is out of excitment, the moment being released has got her excited and in a herd, when youngsters get together in a moment of play they will challenge eachother first, its what they are doing.

To counter act a behavious you don't want, make them over do it. A rear is a backwards thinking motion which they are using against you, therefore take a dominant pose of fixed eye contact, harsh voice and square large body language and MAKE them back up, back back back for about 5 seconds then just walk on again as if nothing happened. you want a sharp 'AH AH' voice if they do something correct, they will associate this with incorrect behaviour so even if they just toss their head about badly, square up and say 'AHAH' if they stop straight away just carry on.

They will mostly grow out of this if they aren't allowed to achieve anything by it. Just keep correcting them when they cross boundries, however you will find an improvement in your colt when he gets gelded, the filly your stuck with lol.

Specifically for the clip, you need to make her wait. pause her for 3 seconds before you slowly go to unclip. If she does anything, say 'ah ah' and wait then try again, don't let her off until she is patient and quiet. She'll soon realise she doesn't get to go off until she is still. Just be patient, no shouting, just the correcting tone and wait. Her desire to go is stronger then her desire to strike so she'll soon choose the easier option.

Backing and pushing away a youngster is what the lead mare does in the herd, they don't have water bottles and treats, they have body language which is all you need to train and earn respect. Food is not respect and will make youngsters worse, they will become demanding and nippy, and behave even worse if they are expecting treats and not recieving any. Really bad move to use treats for training. An occasional reward is fine, when older, but not at this age at all. The only 'punishment' for any behaviour you need is to push them away from you in an aggresive manner using square shoulders, hash tones, and they will soon respect your leadership without you ever having to raise your hand to a horse ever. Horses SPEAK body language, its how they work. If you want me to go into more details or even come out and help with any issues, just get contact with me. Ive trained youngsters, rescues and damn right nasty or terrified horses for years. Im not good at much, but i am good at ground training a horse. Hope this helps.

[lazydaisy]

I'm sorry, but as someone who has had youngsters for some number of years now, I have to agree wholeheartedly with Sasca's comments....don't want to upset anyone, or tread on toes.....but......

[allnaturalhorses]

as a breeder, show producer, and natural horsemanship trainer i have to say that treats, and spay bottles are not part of any correct training practice. timing is everything, and the last thing you need is a hand taken up with a bottle to scare the living day lights out of the youngster. also, a little practical scence here on this one......you are using a sprayer to stop one behaviour while creating another....what happens when you then need to spray said youngster with fly spay and have him freaking out on the end of a rope wondering why he's being punished for something he hasn't done?

as for treats, a bargy, rearing, mobbing youngster is not what you need at all. treats are a quick fix that encourage more bad behaviour, especially in colts who tend to be nippy anyway.

all youngsters will test boundaries. they don't trust you, they trust other horses. you have to teach them to trust you by being the same as mum/lead horse. be firm, say no, and as has been said; be big and invade their space to make them back up, move over and such. use consistant commands when the horse is actually doing what you want him to do. when he does walk on tell him 'good boy, walk on' and make it a commanding voice. when stood tell him 'stand up'. don't let him lag behind, his head should be at your shoulder so you are in the lead position. if he plants himself still this is cool, don't haul on his head. instead, stand in front of him with some distance, keep the rope taught, walk a semi circle to his side keeping the rope taught at all times (and rather high to prevent him getting his foot over it if he does rear), the rope should be tight enough the his head has to turn as you walk the semi circle. at a certain point he has a choice, he either moves or risks falling over. however, i have used this on countless horses and not one has ever chosen to fall over. they move. please note you are not ragging him around, just gently walking around him. what you want is forward motion and thinking. at this point he may not be at your side, but he is moving which he didn't want to do. as he moves tell him 'walk on, good boy'. he'll get the hang of it quickly. try not to pull him around you either to get him walking, this encourages the rearing and invasion of your space. instead get him to move and turn away from you. praise him at all times and give him a rub, not a pat. it works far better, and quicker than spray bottles.

as to the filly, tell her 'stand up' when she stands still, make alot of her too and give her a rub. stand her still and flick the clip so she hears it, but don't let her go telling her all the time to stand up, and praise her while ever she does. if she rears just keep hold of her, tell her 'no' in a very firm voice. as she stands give the command again and praise her. you can teach her the command of 'wait', so that at the stable door you tell her to 'stand up and wait' make sure she walks slowly (even if it's one step at a time) through gate ways and doors....baring in mind that both areas are significant in us removing clips..... the trick is to not release her consistantly, so that she has no idea when you have released her. make sure she is not released until she stands still with her head down.

as for when putting the clip on.......if she will allow you near her to fuss her then do so with the rope in hand, but don't attept to clip on straight away. in fact sometimes fuss her then walk away, but always with rope in hand. give her the same commands as for unclipping. 'stand up, and wait' praise her while ever she does. this is best done in a smaller area because you need to then just keep clicking the clip as it's probably the noise she associates with having to do something she doesn't want to. if it's not the noise then it's the weight/pressure she is reacting to. again the best thing to do is command everything and praise instantly that she shows good behaviour.

the best reward you can give a horse is a happy voice, and a rub on a favorite itchy spot.

anyone wanting any more info can contact me should they wish.

Suzanne