Dear mister Roberts,
I live in the south of France and i got a nice 9 years old mare.
She used to be very nice and quiet, but since 1 year now, she took the bad habits to kick the wall of her box, espacially when she is in bad mood with the horse whitch is in te next box.
We tried to put a chain on one of her rear foot to school her, but she quick learned to kick with the other one.
i am afraid she wil be hurt badly and i don't find any solution.
Could you help me to solve that problem ?
thank you in advance and above all, tank you for all the things you do to make the relationship between horses and riders better.
Have a nice day.
Benoit DESSEIN
b.dessein@wanadoo.fr
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Horse Care and Comfort
Kicking the wall of the box
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Hi Benoit
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In Monty's book from "My Hands to Yours" he talks about kick rings. They are made by the Farrier to fit your horse and sit around the pastern and rest on the coronet band. When the horse kicks, the rings jiggle on the pastern and coronet band. If your horse kicks with both feet, you would put a kick ring on both feet.
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The kick ring also stimulates blood flow to the coronet band making the hoof walls harder and thicker.
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Kind regards,
.
Gen
Benoit
The first thing that I would do is see if you can't get your mare another stall if she has a problem with the horse net to her. Horses can get just as frustrated as people and the way they get their frustration out is through aggression. In the case of your mare, she has taken to kicking. This is not unusual. If my stallion gets irritated by noise or something is scaring him he will kick his stall and has put a couple of good size holes in the walls. Since it is not a continuous habit I just accept the fact and fix his stall. On the other hand we have a young horse that did not know how to handle stress or frustration and would kick all the time with his front hoof. We used a soft leather strap on his front legs to limit his ability to kick and after three or four months he quit (He is not the brightest horse in the world!)
If your mare cannot be moved then by all means restrain the back feet. I am not too sure about putting anything around their pastern that bumps, particularly metal chains or rings.
There are a number of ways to limit the movement of the horse safely with either soft leather or cotton rope that limits their ability to kick but not to walk.
Cheers
Hi Benoit,
Why don't you get in touch with Jo Bond, Certified Instructor of Monty Roberts in the south of France. She 'd be able to give advise at your place and help your horse overcome this habit.
I agree with the advise give by and Dennis, but I would really be against the chain option you tried! I guess your horse has a social problem and restraint doesn't seem the right answer to that. Monty has developed the "Kicking-rings" for horses that cannot be helped otherwise, try all other options first.
Good luck,
Miriam
Miriam
Can you explain the kicking rings for me. What material are they made of and what do they look like. When i read that you should have your farrier make them, my thought was they are made of metal and hit the horses pasterns when they kick.
Cheers
Hi Dennis,
The horse rings that Gen and Miriam are talking about are found on pages 171, 172 and 173 of Monty's book, From My Hands to Yours.
Ronda
Ronda
Thanks but I don't have Monty's book yet. Shame on me!
Cheers
Hi everybody,
thank you for your help...
i just bought the book " from my hand to yours"
As it come from us,( we can't buy it directly in france )it will take few weeks, but anyway..
you are right Dennis i will try to change her stall, first.
And i will try to get in touch with jo bond.
Maybe you got his adress , Miriam ?
Have a good week end
Benoit
Hi Benoit,
Jo Bond is a woman, she is on the list of certified instructors on this site, her personal site is called www.bondwithyourhorse.com, her phone number is +33.563.945.869. Give her my kind regards, she was one of the interns when I did my Intro Course in Febr. 2010.
Hi Dennis,
"The kickingrings are made of black, iron-bar stock 5/8 inch in diameter, shaped like a horse shoe. They fit on the pasterns, sitting on the coronary band just above the hoof, the intention is for them to massage the coronary band. The opening should allow the rings to fit onto the pastern. Holes are drilled to attach ties, to keep them on the foot." End of quote from " From my hands to yours", sorry I can't draw the beautiful pictures that come with this explanation. If any book is worth it's money, it's absolutely this one! An idea for Christmas?
A good weekend to all!
Miriam
Thanks Miriam!