Hey everyone I am seriously discouraged. I have been away for the holidays for a week. Brown was fine and I had rode him three days prior to leaving after a gymkhana. He did really well but now that I came back he is charging me and kicking out at me !?!? Would this be him testing me? Even when I first started with him which wasn't more than two months ago he didn't do this. I am actually scared to go in the turnout with him. He will come over to the fence and act likes he wants pets then pin his ears and turn around to kick. I am not sure what to do, I am curious to see if he does this with anyone else here. Any tips or advice would be helpful. Thanks
Is there any chance that somebody messed with him (other than feeding) when you were gone?
I took Rose over to a friends once when I was going to be gone for a couple of weeks. When I got back, she was acting really head shy. She admitted to me that one of the times that she was "digging to China" while she was fixing her horses feed that she wacked her in the nose with the wooden spoon that she uses to mix his feed. It took me a good month to get her used to the fact that when I raised my hand to pet her face, that I was NOT going to hit her. Needless to say, that will be the last time I have that friend take care of one of my best friends.
The way I would react to that instinctively would be to grab a rope, go in the pen, & make the horse move swinging the end of the rope (we keep the halters next to the pen so its easy to grab) However if you think its a fear thing that may not be the best way to go about it.
I agree with Flytobecat. I would not tolerate charging me AT ALL. If you can, go into the paddock with a rope or a whip and if he is aggresive to you in any manner, move his feet immediately and briskly so that he knows it's conneccted to his pushing on you. Don't let him get to the place where he has decided that he will charge you. If he turns toward you and doesnt' have his ears pricked toward you paying attention respectfully,. move him again.
Well I don't know what got into him and ironically he was given to me today as a Christmas present ( it was my FIL's horse). My FIL and I had a couple of lunging sessions and got me out there doing exactly as the two of you said, swinging a rope. He did move away from me and finally I was able to pet him and he stood quiet wihile I saddled and moved him around the pen. Then stood still while the saddle came off and his blanket went on. It was wierd because he didn't do it to anyone else just me, then again I can be a little timid at times, I am trying to work on that. But I am hoping once we get back into a normal routine it will get back to the point we were at before I left. I don't think anything happened to him while I was gone, he is at my FIL's house and he is excellant to them : ) We shall see how tommorrow goes. Thanks for the advice.
the other side of the fence! No shame in keeping yourself safe; in fact it shows you have savvy! A handy/carrot stick is good for extending your arm reach to deal with him; otherwise, a long enough rope (12' is great!) with a leather popper on the end will do.
Don't get mean or mad, & don't pop him any harder than another horse would, ever. Match his energy plus 4 ounces. If you display temper to him, he's won the game!
Back off your energy immediately after the pop, & back off walking to reward his slightest try, to see if you can draw him back to you (he turns back up to fence). If he comes back up to fence nicely, reward him with rub, treat, or just standing back & saying good boy if his body language says to.
Another way is to offer a treat, then offer treats sporadically (not each time), till he's always wondering if you have one, coming to you respectfully to see. That's not spoiling him, it's Friendly; only spoiling if it's done every time, & thus becomes a bribe that he's trained you to have!:wink:
Good Job!! You might have to go there again , with moving him around, to reinforce your postion. You did great.
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