This is a bit of a speculative question... I have a young mare who is 3 who I have posted about before. I have trained her since she was bought from an un-handled herd last April.She is ridden, hacks about etc and was trained as I did my intro course year before last using MR techniques to the nest of my ability. No abnormal adventures there and she is well behaved now, follows me out the barn to ride without being led, moves around me in the stable with voice command, very respectful 99% of the time which is great considering she is so young. HOWEVER... 50% of the time she does this with an absolutely disgusted look on her face. ears back (not flat) and a real negative attitude I suppose you could call it, this happens when you are near her- to narrow it down when you have to do things that are more invasive. She doesn't like you standing at her stable door unless you pet her and there is no feed in her territory. Rugging she's not keen on. Having her saddle on (which is 100% and has been checked). If she has a gripe and snatches at her rugs and saddle she goes to the opposite side I'm on and snaps at the rug/saddle- not me which is interesting. The only thing that really relaxes her are having her face groomed and nose held. I wonder whether I am asking too much of my teenager that behaves EXACTLY like a teenager. I wouldn't be surprised if I wonder in one evening to find her listening to heavy metal music and wearing Doc Martin boots.... Rage against the machine!
Any opinions on the general attitude found in young mares- especially lucky young mares who have had a good start but still hate their mum...and everyone else for that matter!
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Horse Behavior and Training
disdainful attitude!
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Hi. Well she certainly doesn't hate you. If she did you'd sure know it. She is still very young. Perhaps if you concentrated on the activities she really enjoys whilst reducing the ones that cause this behaviour she would come round to your way of thinking as she matures. Remember, at this stage in her life her training should still be in the form of play. Keep sessions short. Reward her with enthusiastic rubbing. Stay positive, even when she is less so. Move her feet immediately. As foals both my youngsters kicked me - once. This has never been repeated! Kirk dabbed me on the jawbone during his first lifting back feet session. I remained silent, calm & composed, nudging him sideways with my hip, gently. The 5th time I moved him he looked at me with a "You're really not pleased with me, are you" expression. I used the same procedure when my filly, having a right old play about, galloped past me & dabbed me on the knee. She responded with a look of "I know not to do that again". Good luck. Jo.
Without seeing her it's hard to comment, however I can offer one perspective from a mare I know :-) She is a "grumpy type" for want of a better phrase and what I have found with her is that you have to take your time and let her prepare for you to be doing things. We often have a tendency to move too quickly around, flinging rugs on, girthing up, barging in and out of stable, etc etc. Many horses are quite ok with this but I know that the mare I am speaking of likes me to go steady. I walk up with the rug, stroke her, stand with her for a bit, wait for her to relax, then quietly slide it on watching for any reactions. Think of it as Waltz time rather than Quickstep... 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 . It might be worth a try :-)
Hi Becky,
Adding to what the others have suggested, I'd like to invite you to do some liberty-work with your young mare. She seems to know the routine after being started at your Introductory Course, but as I try to read between the lines, I sense she'd love to be surprised by what you bring into her life.... she's young and curious.
Search for the lessons by Florian Oberparleiter on this Uni, and you'll find the first steps on a path full of fun with your youngster! Fun for you and most of all for your horse. It'll add to your bodylanguage and to the level of trust between horse and handler.
Keep us posted,
Miriam
Thanks guys! Hi Vicci! I do take it slow and often she's better about it out of her stable tied up by the door, she's never bitten me but and has never kicked me but occasionally threatens to do so. If she does I do the foot thing and funnily enough she lifts her foot up now! I did some ground work last night pushing for back as she's gone stiff going backwards so symptomatic I feel! I would love to do more training and will do in the spring and summer I've avoided putting her in the school so she doesn't sour and she's due for her wolf teeth out in a couple of weeks so wanted to wait until she had the bit back in as she's been bitless for months now. She is fundamentally a good horse, she was shod for the first time 2 weeks ago and just slept though it all! A new development however is if her plastic feed bucket is left in the stable whilst I do front rug straps up she goes to it and bites the bottom in an obsessive manner. I now take it away so she can't develop a habit- right thing to do? She gets given lots of toys, she has a likit thing that hangs up which you put nut licks in and quite often I hang a turnip up as well as a jolly ball. I'm not overly worried about it but glad to hear you guys have encountered and experienced the more 'conservative with affection' types! Will keep you updated and will do more research on florian Miriam- thanks for the suggestion
Sounds like you have got a good handle on the situation Becky; I'm just curious, how much time does she spend in/out of the stable?
Excellent advice, one thing I'd add Becky, it could be something you are giving off with your feelings that's causing the behaviour in the stable. Do take it slow like suggested above, but also take time to breath and think what's going on in your mind, are you relaxed, are you rushing, are your thoughts on what else you have to do. Horses are very susceptible to our thoughts and feelings, so it could be something very simple that she's picking up on and not necessarily understanding. Remember stepping back and feel what you're feeling will help you go forwards with her.
x
Thanks Mel, my biggest problem and I am aware of it is that the level of emotional involvement sometimes leads to me not being objective about her behaviour- the boudaries are blurred sometimes. So because I love her and I've been her sole trainer/rider/carer with hardly anyone else's input I sometimes don't correct behaviour I should do. I battle between wanting to let her get away with somethings because 'aw well shes just a baby' and the other part of me that says 'hmm you train for other people and you cant very well have your horse as a bad example- she needs to be brilliant!'
Now I am on a bigger yard I share grazing and the girl I share with sometimes turns Hatti in and out and that's been good for her to have someone else handle her.
She is testing the boundaries and sometimes she finds they give way so she occasionally thinks she'll try again. Since my original post on here I am taking a bit of a harder line. Correctly her with M.R methods and spending time doing groundwork everyday and doing pressure release with her rugs and rubbing them over her. She is also committed to being lazy which I reckon is half the problem- she is so committed that yesterday I did loose schooling over fences and she didn't want to go over it so much she leaped up the vertical 7 ft mud bank (leaped/scrambled) round the edge of the school just to get to the grass up there. I've never seen anything like it! Would have been less energy popping the 2ft cross pole.... Anyway that's off the subject! Suffice to say though I thought that demonstrated serious commitment to the cause of laziness!
p.s in answer to Vicci- she is turned out by day and in by night. She's got a new field companion now so is a lot lot happier! They spend all day beating each other up followed by lovingly sharing their hay together and generally creating havoc. Lilly her mate is also a highly hormonal mare so it was WW3 to start with!