I have a handsome now 9 yr old thoroughbred gelding that I rescued a few months ago. He has had a pretty rough life with being tossed around quite a few times back and forth between different owners throughout his whole life. He has not been trained correctly in any area meaning ground or under saddle.. In fact the last home he was rescued from... that horrible man had a 22 held to this gelding's head and was ready to shoot him because the horse had bucked him off! Oh FYI - that was the horse's first experience under saddle~But to make it even worse~That jerk felt the need to use a spiked bit!! No wonder "Hot Shot Bucked Him Off!! Fortunately a kind gentleman showed up in the nick of time and stopped that horrible act and took "Hot Shot" home with him. Which is who I later got "Hot Shot" from. Hot Shot has been through a lot of rough times with humans and with that in mind, I feel lucky that he will even have anything to do with me! It has been almost a year now and I want to start moving forward with him, but I wanted to take things slowly and just observe him for awhile and kinda learn about his nature giving him some space and time to heal a little. This is what I've learned...He acts as if he is a stallion...VERY DOMINATE in the pasture, ie first one to eat, mounts mares when in season, calls out like a stallion, tail swishing and all, bites and kicks at them but stomps and runs back and forth in front of them and even me when he feels there's a threat! (Once there was a coyote in our paddock while I was in there with them and he basically grouped me and the others all up and kinda like protected us all... Although it was flattering act, I am facing an issue of him acting up or studdish anywhere we go publicly. He was gelded at the later age of 5. His parents were race horses but he was never raced due to original owner retiring from breeding Race horses, so she had him gelded since no need for any studs any longer. To try to make a long story shorter.. is there anything that can be done that will help me possibly have any success with this guy! He is a sweetheart and we have a great time on short walks on foot together alone (Even accepts a saddle, but no riding yet)He's excited to see me everyday as i am to see him and I'd love to take him out and show him the wonderful world out there via trail, but at this point I'm feeling he may be a danger to himself,other horses or riders even.. Any advice will be soooo wonderful!! Thanks...
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Horse Spirt Girl
Even mares can act studdish which is to say they want to dominate the rest of the horses. As far as modifying this behavior, that can be an overwhelming task. On thing that you can do is to teach your horse to respect you and your space and not et him dominate you. You might also walk him with a dually halter which will give you a little more control but not be as harsh as a stud halter
If you teach your horse both ground manners and manners under saddle you will be OK Like all horses your must pay attention to what they are doing as well as where they are in physical relationship to you. As well mannered and trained my stallion is, when a mare or another horse is in his space he becomes very aggressive. That is the type of situation you need to watch for. I am sure with time and your rental approach to training you will have a nice boy to ride. When you feel he is trained well enough to take out on the trail don't worry about having an aggressive bit for him. Your control will be moving his head back towards you and his butt away from you which puts him in a tight circle. This is usually enough to take the beans out of him with our punishment
Good luck and I hope I have been able to help answer some of your questions
Cheers
Horse Spirit Girl - I like your title and it seems you will need it here. This is a huge challenge for you and I can't add much to help you except agree with Dennis. It seems that "Hot Shot" still thinks he is a stallion as a result of being gelded so late. Poor fellow that gelding must have knocked him around so much too. Good luck with it and do stay safe as Hot Shot sounds as if he could be dangerous at times.
Thank You Both Dennis and Maggie! I will take your advice very much to heart! So far I havent felt any real danger at least. He really is such a puppy dog and actually quite lazy, it's just mainly when he gets around the herd. Currently I am working with him daily one on one without the others around as distractions and just in the last week he has really seemed to grow into a horse! lol But the true test will be when he is reunited with the others... Thanks Again!