i have a new 4yr old he is very pushy on the ground , i have had lots of people tell me i need to get tougher with him e.g the crop on the shoulder . but he was just getting meaner and this is not the way i want to work with my horse , luckly i have stoppedlistening to those people and a lovely lady called margie introduced me to monty roberts she has helped me teach my banjo to float well with kindness and care ( i will say he was hard work ,but worth it) i have brought the dually halter and are doing the leading and sweet spot lesson with great sucess , but when i take him back to the float to saddle him up it's like we are back to square one i put the saddle blanket on then the saddle his ears go back and he starts to fidget then i go to attach the grith and thats when he starts to turn his hind quaters and swishes his tail and lifts his leg to kick , then i go to the other side to get the grith and he turns again and tries to kick, it is scary as he tries to pin me up aganist the float, i try patting and talking calmly but always i have to get my crop , just having it in my hand seems to be enough for him to settle abit, but i don't want to do it this way Today I had to give him a tap on the hind leg I know this is wrong ,some one give me some advice, i'm finding very thing else is working well so why not this? thanks fiona
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Hi Fiona
I'm sorry about your problem. My suggestion would be to try to get some gound work with your horse. I'm not sure it will work but it may help him to respect you more. has he had a bad backround or has he had a bad experience in the float???
Maybe you sould ask Monty on the tab "Support" on the side of the screen.
Hope it helps
HorseCrazy
I thought he didn't, but now i'm begining to wonder the owner breed him and cried when i said i would take him , but she did say i had to be very firm with him on the ground or he would walk all over me, so who knows ? but the floating is great now and the leading is coming along really well , i will ask monty as this is one of my only problems now ( but it's a big one) don't get me wrong i have a couple more things to deal with , so more ground work and be calm and keep going
Greetings
Using spurs lung whips or crops is OK if you are just using it to signal your horse. It is the same thing as if you throw the lunge line at him in the round pen. What you avoid is using these tools in anger or frustration. It sounds like you have a very scary situation so be safe and good luck. Time and training is your best friends
Cheers
thank you, im getting his saddle refitted to see if that helps
My horse just did this same thing all of a sudden while saddling. When I finally finished putting it on and tightening it down, we had a very bad arena warm-up. She was sidepassing all over the place and could not walk in a straight line. 3 days later when I went to ride her, she was reluctant with the saddle again and actually putting her ears back and lifting her leg to kick it! I decided to take her out to the arena for some ground exercise first to see if anything was going on in her body. Sure enough, she was landing heavy on her right front leg with a real uneven stride. I am calling he chiropractor in the morning! Maybe your horse has a back or shoulder pain? Try bareback and see if he still acts funny?
HI Fiona I think this is where dicipline with the dually will really help. Join up is really advisable too. Use the dually as Monty does in his video to insist on him standing still. As soon as he moves at all discipline him strongly with the dually. Remember to relax the dually quickly, loosen the nose band and give him a good rub on his head as soon as he responds. Once you have taught him to stand still for you with the dually then you can progress to the saddling. Try to avoid tying him on the float for saddling if you can as the float will be more dangerous for you and Banjo will sense your concern. If possible have someone hold him for you with the lead attached to the discipline ring on the dually and show this person how to discipline and reward him with the dually if he moves at all. If you can't find a helper then find a good rail with a bale twine tie for him. Make him stand quietly by the rail via discipling him with the dually prior to tying him to the rail and attempting to saddle him Once he is standing still for you by the rail then tie him to the twine via the halter buckle on the dually under his chin. Then put a second maybe lighter lead onto the discipline ring closest to you. I use a dog lead for this. You can leave it hanging loose where you can easily grab it or hold it in your hand while you proceed with the saddling. If he moves at all discipline him with the dually until he is standing still again for you then reward him with a good rub and proceed. It will take time but in the long run it will pay off. Do take care with the crop on the shoulder as you do not wish him to start "fighting back" which sounds to be the case. Try to keep your adrenalin down too! Monty's video "join up with children" series Part 9 is worthwhile checking out here. He points out that the horse the young girl has just been riding is only 3 years old. The horse is so quiet and responsive to the young girl. Monty says this is because it has never been abused or yelled at so that it has not learnt to fight back. Good luck with it - I am sure you will succeed with patience and time. Listen to yourself and avoid listening to anyone who suggests that you should use harsher methods - e.g. hitting him in anger with the crop.
If you are close enough to the hores's front leg when this happens all you have to do is distract it by SLIGHTLY kicking it in the foreleg.
This distracts the horse and will break just about any bad habit.
You have a very short window of time to do this but it will work.
Ronda