[justsambam08]

^^Excellent post Flitterbug. Reading your story, I came to realize that my boy does this as well! This was a few months ago, but I literally spent fifteen minutes just trying to put a halter on him in his stall. I was in tears, no lie.....and of course I was just trying to show him off to my cousin, who's ten. I like working alone, so I instinctively just do things around him by myself....I ride in the arena by myself, I often make trips out to the barn when there are no people around or, if it is a busy time of day, I am off in the round pen while they are in the jump arena at the other end of the property. He is more aggressive towards me, other horses, and other people when I am around, and I have known that he is insecure about just about everything; his surroundings, his feet, sometimes me and what I'm doing. I've just never connected the two occurrences together. Lately we have been doing a lot of ground work, and it does seem to have made a difference in him overall.

I should mention that he is a race track veteran, and he's only been retired for about a year and a half. While he does seem to tolerate noises, happenings, and being worked on well for the most part, crowds and high activity make him strung out.