for those who don't know i have a highly field aggressive horse who likes to charge / attack anything new in his field whether it is animal or human. i have had lots of help from trainers prior to joining this forum, however i think i found the best advice from talking to follow forumers here.
the advice that some have given me have helped change the behavior a little for the better. its not completely gone but its not the first thing he reverts to anymore. i had denny back from the last trainer for a few months and within that time had been charged every day just for entering the field. with the help of cherie and alex s and ottb (i hope you guys don't mind me referencing you) i had started to take more control of the situation and look at it from a different view. with there help and others i figured out a rountine that denny responded well too.
his routine to me entering and catching him in his field was as follows
no matter what field they were in i would take the quad out and round them up and bring them into the small field. lock them in there. then catch the 3 other horses first and tie them to hitching post. then go in with small bucket and a handful of grain walk to denny with halter and lead and put it on give him bucket (only one bite) and lead him out. in my other hand as well were baling wire and a small crop.
with this approach he stopped fighting/charging me. now i do not condone feeding a horse to be caught but it has been working to get his aggression down since when he gets into a rage he wants blood and wont stop til he gets it.
this approach has slowly been working and within a month he didnt put his ears back when i entered the field which is a good sign.
well now i sent him to a trainer on 1/8/12
the gentlemen had him in a small field with hay and was immediately charged which spiked his interest into putting him a dry lot and feeding him every 2 hours. now its been about 2 weeks... there is no improvement with this method. denny has actually gained weight with this feeding schedule and in turn has given him more energy. and he is naturally a pretty hot horse who feels his grain.
well the gentlemen did not listen to me about not trying to put him in a stall. thought he new best... well he knew best how to get his ribs broken sadly
denny supposedly walked into the barn and was fine. it was when asked to go into the stall he blew up and broke the trainers ribs. i feel bad his ribs were broken but i had given him warning about stalls and tight spaces and he delibertly ignored my warning/advice on that matter.
well his wife is ****** at me for giving him a dangerous horse yet he specializes in dangerous horses. therefore i dont understand how she can really be mad at me when its her husbands specialty. sorry my horse has proven tobe a bit harder than most.m and i am sorry he got hurt!!!
i went to pick denny up yesterday and the gentlemen was there and said i could live denny there and when he got better he would work him on the stall fear and field aggression but i said no as the wife was there practically screaming at me that she was going to sue if i kept my horse there and that her husband doesnt know what he is talking about. good thing the contract i signed has written in there "will never be put into stall no matter what the circumstances". but i feel like i let denny down again.
since i was making progress before he left and this gentlemen was making a small step of progress before he tried the stall thing, i think i will continue to work on it with him since he is a perfect gentlemen once caught.
sorry this was so long ... just felt i needed to share
the advice that some have given me have helped change the behavior a little for the better. its not completely gone but its not the first thing he reverts to anymore. i had denny back from the last trainer for a few months and within that time had been charged every day just for entering the field. with the help of cherie and alex s and ottb (i hope you guys don't mind me referencing you) i had started to take more control of the situation and look at it from a different view. with there help and others i figured out a rountine that denny responded well too.
his routine to me entering and catching him in his field was as follows
no matter what field they were in i would take the quad out and round them up and bring them into the small field. lock them in there. then catch the 3 other horses first and tie them to hitching post. then go in with small bucket and a handful of grain walk to denny with halter and lead and put it on give him bucket (only one bite) and lead him out. in my other hand as well were baling wire and a small crop.
with this approach he stopped fighting/charging me. now i do not condone feeding a horse to be caught but it has been working to get his aggression down since when he gets into a rage he wants blood and wont stop til he gets it.
this approach has slowly been working and within a month he didnt put his ears back when i entered the field which is a good sign.
well now i sent him to a trainer on 1/8/12
the gentlemen had him in a small field with hay and was immediately charged which spiked his interest into putting him a dry lot and feeding him every 2 hours. now its been about 2 weeks... there is no improvement with this method. denny has actually gained weight with this feeding schedule and in turn has given him more energy. and he is naturally a pretty hot horse who feels his grain.
well the gentlemen did not listen to me about not trying to put him in a stall. thought he new best... well he knew best how to get his ribs broken sadly
denny supposedly walked into the barn and was fine. it was when asked to go into the stall he blew up and broke the trainers ribs. i feel bad his ribs were broken but i had given him warning about stalls and tight spaces and he delibertly ignored my warning/advice on that matter.
well his wife is ****** at me for giving him a dangerous horse yet he specializes in dangerous horses. therefore i dont understand how she can really be mad at me when its her husbands specialty. sorry my horse has proven tobe a bit harder than most.m and i am sorry he got hurt!!!
i went to pick denny up yesterday and the gentlemen was there and said i could live denny there and when he got better he would work him on the stall fear and field aggression but i said no as the wife was there practically screaming at me that she was going to sue if i kept my horse there and that her husband doesnt know what he is talking about. good thing the contract i signed has written in there "will never be put into stall no matter what the circumstances". but i feel like i let denny down again.
since i was making progress before he left and this gentlemen was making a small step of progress before he tried the stall thing, i think i will continue to work on it with him since he is a perfect gentlemen once caught.
sorry this was so long ... just felt i needed to share