Hello, I have a 12 year old Morgan cross gelding that's having issues standing still. He was previously a trail horse before I bought him and was almost always with another horse and tied to a trailer (which he can still do just fine) but at the barn I board at we have crossties and the other horses are kept outside during the day. If I go out during the day, he's usually fine because nobody else is out there and things are calmed down but because of school and work I almost always get out there after 5pm. Once he's in the crossties, he's moving back and forth, throwing his head, and is especially bad on his right side. He always turns his head and body to face the stalls (its sort of like an L shape, up and down is were the crossties are and to the right are the stalls) and it's extremely annoying and not helping him to stay focused. Can someone help me out with ways to improve this? Thanks!
Do you have t use cross ties?
I am not a fan of cross ties, although a horse that is 100% being tied solid, is then usually also good in cross ties
How is he, tied solid, and alone from other horses? If he does not stand well then, I would go back and work on that
Ditto working on tying without x-ties first. Perhaps you need to work on getting him comfortable NOT being tied at all first. I get the idea this horse is new to you, new to this environment, new to being alone. Maybe new horse/lack of confidence/trust syndrome. All big reasons being anxious being tied alone in a strange place. I'd also want to get him more comfortable being with you & away from other horses, and comfortable about being in the stables(or wherever), before you tie in that sort of situation.
Horses are big, stronger than us and we cannot force anything from them...you have to get him to want to stand still.
How do you do that? That good ol' "make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult"
Stand him where the crossties are and hold the lead, when he movea make him go back a few steps and forward, back and forth until you have his focus. As soon as his focus shifts to you and off of his anxiety, let him stand still and praise him. Keep working with this until he stands for a bit (if he will normally not stand still for more than 10 seconds whenever he stands for 20 that is good. If normal is 2 min, go for 3 mins). When he is good walk him out of the area and do something else to reward him. Bring him back later or the next day and build on it. Baby steps, it will come.
^Above will work, IF you can 'make the right thing easy', of which, if he's in a foreign, scary environment, may be impossible. Work in this manner at whatever level/place the horse CAN be comfortable & relax in. Also remember to work in very short sessions in 'high stress' situations, as the longer you keep him there, the more anxious he may become, & with the best training, he may become worse. Lots of short, easy sessions, with stress free breaks in between are a lot more effective than a few long ones.
I went out to work with Nemo a bit today, and it did not go as planned. As soon as I slipped the halter over his ears, he started dancing and slinging his head... so I just tied him up, and waited.
He was not good, that's for sure. He was tied in a 12x12 stall/shelter with rubber mats and open on one side, but he was dancing and half-rearing so much, I was afraid he would slip and fall with his head tied, so I moved him to a tie-ring outside the barn.
He just jumped and pawed and half-reared and shook his head for twenty minutes before he started to settle down. What the heck?
I don't have a round-pen or good place to work with him off lead, so I am going to work on the suggestions posted on this thread. I would like to board him at a barn with a trainer for a month; a place with an indoor arena, to work on several ground issues and to get us started under saddle. He is supposedly well-trained, but I'm pretty sure he will buck once we start really riding program, and as the only place I have to ride above a walk is the road, and since I have seen Nemo slip and fall on slick surfaces at least three times (his rubber-matted stall), I would like to be in a safer environment with a smart trainer until I am sure what I'm dealing with.
Sorry to end that last sentence with a preposition...
Just needs a lot of repeating. Most horses are antsy when they are put back to work and separated from their friends. Usually I just leave them to get over themselves (at least as much as possible at the moment), sometimes I lunge them before tying them. One Cob I had attached also with a lunge line around the concrete post because she was so determined to leave that one rope wasn't enough - she had learned to break free from a handler in general.
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