The first thing you need is a dually halter and a long 30 foot lead rope. When he becomes aggressive it's very important that he is properly schooled immediately. Hitting him will only cause him to be more aggressive. Make him back up with short quick bursts on the dually this will teach him respect for you as his leader. Monty says, "The one that controls the feet, controls the relationship". This youngster is dominating you and he cannot be allowed to do this. Be very careful when working with him it sounds like he can be very aggressive. If he comes at you aggressively use a stick with a plastic bag on the end of it, (do NOT hit him with it) but wave it at him to back him off. Plastic bags are scary for horses that have not been desensitized to them. I would recommend watching the videos of Monty and Kelly Marks on Horse and Country TV, there are some videos that show how to deal with aggressive horses. If you are inexperienced with horses you may want to consider a professional trainer or someone that can help you with your horse just be careful that you choose someone that uses gentle methods like Monty and that you are always there when they are handling your horse so that no abuse happens. I hope this helps, keep us posted.
Kleinne

Thank you for your answer. I have a Dually. :-) Will take him out of the field first time on Wednesday.
I don't think he is very aggressive. He hasn't been treated with TLC before I guess. General stuff like grooming, stroking ..etc
I will let you know on Wednesday how we got on! :-)

Totally agree with Klienne. He is just testing out where you and he are in the pecking order and at present he is in charge. Maybe the other four horses have been giving him a bit of a bad time given he is a new arrival and he has decided that he may be able to win with you. As Klienne suggests it sounds as if he needs some good dually sessions but make sure they are effective and that you are in charge. Do watch some of those videos first as they are excellent in showing you how to use the dually correctly and effectively. As Monty advises and Klienne too - make him move his feet where you want them to go so that you are in charge. Backwards, forwards, turning etc. On a young one like this you need to hold the lead rope close to the discipline ring and use a good strong straignt arm for effective tugs/discipline if he is not responsive - as soon as he is responsive immediately soften and praise him. Teaching him to back up with the dually on your command is very effective in making them acknowledge you as boss and certainly much better than trying to hit/smack him on the bum or anywhere. That will simply make him more aggressive and playful! When asking him to back up turn towards him with your hand nearest him holding the lead rope close to the discipline ring and his head in the sweet spot and your eyes on his shoulder. With your arm staight and elbow locked so that if he thinks of biting you have control of his head step forward and ask him to back up with you. Start with a gentle push on the lead rope but if he doesn't respond then go immediately to a strong forceful determined push - soften as soon as he responds. Given you have only had him for a week spend some sessions just familiarising him to the dually and to you - walking and stopping in the sweet spot, backing up, circling, trotting and stopping in the sweet spot. Good idea to use a long lead rope and to have on a helmet and good boots for a young one like this. After some sessions you may care to introduce some poles for him to walk over, stop while straddling them, baking through them etc. Be imaginative and keep him thinking so he wont get bored. Once you have him respecting you and working with you effectively on the dually then I would certainly try a join up session as this really helps to build their trust and respect. If he has been broken to drive and ride then try long lining him and adding the saddle. Try join up with the saddle on too.
Good luck - not sure how experienced you - if you are experienced then this will be familiar to you so apologies if I have wrongly assumed that you are fairly new to handling young horses

This is a very strange (and dangerous) behaviour. I think it is a good idea to try to contact the horse with the fence in between that protects you. I would try to get his trust by catching him in the field (see also the videos), at the beginning protected by the fence. The idea is to get trust by going away.
Rudi

I also totally agree with Klienne’s suggestions. Most importantly never hit the horse and get professional help, if you are at all afraid of this horse, because he will know if you are afraid and will take advantage of you. If you are not afraid then by all means do a proper join up and follow up to establish trust and respect.

Thank u guys! I Will give him a lot of time to get used to his new home. Yesterday I used a carrot stick to back him up. As a extension of my Arm. After few backing ups, he did get the picture. And I was scratching him and he relaxed and muzzled me gently. He even follows me round the field.
I must said, that I am generally a frightened person. :-( Can't help it. Always worried.
Today when he saw me, he came straight to me. Gently. I tried to put the Dually on him, but he didn't let me. He backed up. So after few attempts, I left him. Didn't want to stress him to much. Now I wonder if I ever get a halter on him!! But he is with me only a week. So I guess he needs time to trust me.
I don't know his past, all I know, is that he has been all his life with Travellers (Gypsies).
And they have an other way with Horses.
He doesn't seem to be mean horse. Just unsure.

Dear Dominika, you are very brave to speak up and tell us you are afraid - congratulations. Now, a horse always have a reason to act around us humans - the first thing you need to do is to help your horse by not being affraid of him - I know, it´s a tricky one! At the other hand, he is telling you he just can´t deal with more fear in his life, his life is hard enough - so step up to it and become the owner he needs. I promise you - are horses is the mirror of ourself. The GOOD THING is you know about your state of mind - so now you can just change it. Say ooooh sweetiy instead of no - mind, body and projective energy will get your horse to synk with you. Good Luck! Stay Safe! And make sure you and your horse have FUN - or change it! Warmest Ann Lindberg CI Sweden

Hi dominika again! He has probably never experienced a dually halter before so will naturally be wary of it initially. Spend time with him in the paddock just patting and stroking him and then try catching him with a rope halter which he may be familiar with. Once you have the rope halter on and he is content with it then you may try putting the dually over the top of the rope halter. Make sure he is content with the dually first - let him sniff it and then rub him with it in your hand up along his neck, over his head and even over his whole body if he will allow you to - watch Monty's desensitising videos first - quietly approach with it then take it away quietly as soon as he stands still and accepts it.

Plus you may have to desensitise him to the rope halter first too - depends on what was used on him previously. If you can find out that would help.

I had similar problems. The answer was that his diet was sending him bonkers. Changed to molassses free feed, no carrots, backed off the alfafa, and no tidbits by hand. Amazing change within 3 days.

Hi there

Everyone has given you such good advice, it's difficult to add to it. One thing that struck me though - this pony sounds like he's had a very tough time in his previous life and perhaps been treated with aggression and rough handling - sounds similar to one of my rescue ponies which is also a cob. Maybe he needs some calm and peace before you do much with him and by that I mean maybe you could think of actually doing very little with him in these early stages of your relationship together. Maybe he needs s good while to adjust to a new environment and get used to you as his new leader. Our pony was pretty scared and with a tendency to rear up and like you, I was quite anxious which I think they do pick up on. If you took the pressure off both of you and instead of trying to do much with him, how about just going and spending time with him - sitting near him, talking to him, stroking him if he comes near etc and don't even think about putting halter on at this stage?

I spent weeks doing the above to start gaining some trust (there were still some very difficult times after that though!) I got a Monty trainer to help and even with the trainer there were tough times - striking out etc which is terrifying but I think also testament to how fearful of humans my pony was. His behaviour was a defense mechanism that he learnt to cope with the cruelty he'd suffered.

Even if all you do is slowly and gently touch him/rub him on his neck and walk away that would still be a very worthwhile
exercise to show him that you mean him no harm. Hitting him will only make him mistrust you and make him more aggressive towards you.

Best of luck with him. Lizzie

Some great advice here, I can't really add much other than to say please don't smack or hit him, it will just make him more fearful. And good for you admitting that you too are fearful, too many people are in the same stuation but will not admit to it and they muddle along wondering why things aren't working. I would suggest you learn some breathing exercises to keep you calm when dealing with your horse - yoga and meditation are good ways to do this. If you can train yourself out of the anxiety you will notice a huge difference in the way horses respond to you - good luck, I am sure you will get this figured out.

Hello my lovely Community !!
I found a moment of peace to update u all about my little Bruno.
Well, I took it really, really slow. Like some of u suggested. I don't rush him and decided I start from zero with him. Like he has been never touched. I sit in the field on a fence and just watch him. When I call him, he always always comes! He wants to be close and I just sit there and scratch him and stroke him. Gently talking. He loves it. And I can touch him everywhere, without him getting upset. I don't feed him from my hand, I drop the carrot on the floor. After I've wrote my post here, I decided to get some proffessional help. I found a nice Trainer over the Kelly Marks Webside. Our first lesson was about the right way to to look at him and reward him. She watched him and stroke him and all that and came to the fact that he doesn't really seems to be abused or mistreated in the past. He is just a little bit unsure and young, and nobody showed him properly in the past how to behave. He really has the look like he doesn't know what u are asking him.His results in his frustration and his atemed to kick.
So today was my second lesson in the field ( still with fence in between).
We but a rope over his neck and moved him from one side to the other. He was very brave and it seemed not to bother him to much. We even managed to put a Fieldsafe halter on him. Didn't worry him at all. Then we asked him to walk on, and he done a step and has been rewarded with pressure relief and a good scratch. I thought he will go mad when we try to back him up, but he did back up. Small step=pressure relieve, scratch. We done this for the next 5 minutes and after he even listened just to the voice. No mega steps, but he tried hart. No aggression at all. Little bit unsure, but all good. Even licking and chewing. So we left it at this point and let him off. He stayed with us. Walked of after a while, but came back to call.
So far so good.
But a new worry came up now. :-(
There are of course other horses in the field. And 2 ladies reported that he tried to kick them when they waited to get their horses in. They were in the field waiting for their horse to come over. Instead my Bruno came over to them. First he was alright. Wanted a scratch. But out of the sudden, the turned his butt to them!!!! They shuscht him away, but he tried to kick. Luckily he missed and when they shuscht him off again and throw a stick at him, he left them and walked off.
I must say, that I am getting frustrated a bit. I apologized to the other people, and they didn't seem to be angry, but in a way I am ashamed of him doing this! :-(
They think he is just young and doesn't know his boundaries. But I never had to deal with such a "problem" :-(

Try not to be too disappointed with him he is young and inexperienced. Something that I taught my horse is to never turn his butt to me. It's disrespectful so when I worked with him in the round pen if he turned his butt to me I would chase him off and make him work until he would turn his head to me, then I would take the pressure off as a reward. He learned very quickly never to turn his butt to me and when I would come up behind him with the saddle or whatever I would click to him so he could hear me coming and cause him to turn to face me and move his butt out of the way. He never kicked or even tried to kick but I believe safety is always best.

Thank you my darling. I read so much that you should stay your ground and chase them off. But it looks very impressive when they do their "move" . And what, if he don't give a poop if you chase him away? :-(

Do you mean he won't move if you try to chase him off, or that when you chase him off he moves but doesn't care that you're chasing him off? Again I always work in the round pen when teaching my horse respect, this way it's a controlled environment and you can put him to work. If he won't run from you get out the stick with plastic bags attached and make him move be sure to square up on him eyes on eyes be animated if you have too. Don't be afraid to get your hands in the air. When he turns to face you and not turning his butt to you reward by taking the pressure off and allow him to come into you. They learn pretty quickly whats respectful and what's not acceptable behavior. Always stay out of the kick zone, especially if he's threatening.
Let us know how it goes.

I just went back and reread your original post and you said this horse is a gypsy cob. I was just watching Kelly Marks this morning on horse and country tv and she was talking about Caesar a gypsy cob that they took on tour and she said that gypsy cobs tend to react with their back legs more than other horses because they don't have the same flight instinct as other horses. Since their essentially not as afraid as most other horses, they tend to kick, so evidently this is just part of their breed. However, this instinct can be overcome you'll just have to work a little harder at it.
Again, good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thank you so much for your answer! Unfortunatly I don't have a round Pen. :-(
And he is still in his field. Didn't take him out yet. I work with a fance in between me and him.
Interesting thing about the Breed. I will ask Kelly about it. Thanks :-)

I owned a native British Fell pony, similar in build and temperament to the gypsy cobs types - solid, big bodied and feathery legs. Kelly's observation that these type of horse tend to kick out rather than run away I would say is quite true. Not in every instance, but they are more cold blooded than say arabs or thoroughbreds, and whilst I hate to put labels on breeds and say they are this way or that way, there are some characteristics that just seem to come through. The Martin Clunes videos with the big Clydesdales is a case in point, like the gypsy cobs and the Fells, these are solidly built working horses, bred for farm work and not speed or athletic ability. Because of this, they can sometimes appear quite stubborn. He needs to learn about personal space and the advice given above to work with the Dually halter will pay dividends and teach him what is and isn't acceptable. I must also add that I love these type of horses because they have the most wonderful personalities, and once he knows the boundaries I am sure you will have a great deal of fun with him!

Thank you for that! Yes, I love that breed too!! It is my second gypsy cob. My previous one died. :-(
But he was never like Bruno. I believe in Bruno! I think that under his stubbornness, there is a nice little pony with a lot to give!
But isn't he to young to be worked with a Dually?? His age is not confirmed yet. They sold him to me as a 5 year old !!! But no way he is 5 ! His teeth look more like 3 or a bit younger!

A horse is never to young to be worked with a dually. Monty has video showing how to work with yearlings and the dually. You definitely should be working with a dually on him teaching him respect and boundaries,this will help him immensely.

Kleinne is correct - he is definitely not too young, and if he is only three as you suspect, then you want to make sure he is working well and respecting your boundaries before he gets even bigger as he will still have a lot of growing to do. These type of horses mature slowly to their full size, when he reaches his final height you most certainly do not want to be pushed around by a heavyweight gelding who knows he can use his strength to get his own way.

One thing I'm thinking - if you weren't there to witness his attempt to kick you don't know the exact circumstances which led him to try it. I'm not defending him but the ladies may have unwittingly displayed some body language that Bruno interpreted as being aggressive towards him and decided to defend himself? Another thing comes to mind too - I know of someone who used to scratch their ponies on the bottom and the ponies then started to turn their backs to her to get a scratch. When her partner came into the field one day the ponies turned their bums on him expecting to get a scratch and he freaked out thinking they wanted to kick him! This is an example of someone not doing a safe and responsible thing - she effectively trained her ponies to turn their bums to people. That's all very well, but look at how it can be misinterpreted?! For all you know, Bruno's previous owners may have encouraged him to turn his butt for a scratch. If so, he's only doing what he was taught?

Of course Bruno mustn't think he can turn his bum to people (the plastic bag on a stick to chase him away if he does it is a good, kind way of re-training him) - also, if you don't have one to hand, I find that if you are wearing an outdoor jacket (the noisier the better) you can slap the arm of it to make a noise and that can send a pony away who is displaying bad manners. He sounds like he is still pretty raw and finding his way. If you can ensure you don't move your feet when you correct him and get him to move his feet instead he'll see you as leader. Monty says something like: 'he who controls the feet, controls the relationship' - if your pony gets you to move your feet he will think of himself as leader - that's definitely been my experience!

Best wishes, Lizzie

Hi there! well this is a very interesting read. I have had a similar experience with my little yearling. She was doing quite well, then started to rear and buck while I was leading her. Suggestions to do join-up with her and use the dually have WORKED! Right now she will still come up to me on occasion and pin her ears when I am going to feed her. So I just send her away, she turns and stands there for a couple of seconds and then up go her ears and she comes over in a better state! She has quit the nonsense when I have been leading too! So you need to take the time to educate yourself and use the dually, do join up and please take a minute to read Monty's thoughts on "feeding by the hand". Good luck!

Hey!
This is a very interesting post and although i do not own a youngster or have a prob i find it interesting to learn EVEN more about how to deal with our Wild but (sometimes) gentle friends! I was wondering how your training was going and if it is working?
Thanks
best of luck :)
Charlotte

Hello my lovelies!
I am back online to update you all on our progress!
My Coblet is much better. :-) I left him in the field and did the same thing every day. Stayed with him on the other side of the fence and just talked and scratched him and throw him some carotts on the ground. I didn't go in the field, cause I was still worried quite a bit and my heart rate was overly high, lol, so I didn't want to make him unsure about me.
But then, one day, my friend got her cob out of the field and she said to me that my boy is ok now. And to proof it, she marched up to him and hooked a lead rope onto his headcollar and just got him out of the field. He was unsure a bit, but he was fine. Munching some carrots of the ground!
A few days later, the lady from intelligent Horsemanship helped me to introduce him to the farrier. We got him out of the field and he was good. When we walked him up the yard he looked around and was chewing and licking, but he was a good boy. While waiting for the farrier to come, we were just standing there with him. He never been up the yard and it was quite busy. But he was standing there all quite and didn't move an inch!!! I thought to myself, that there will be a drama with the farrier. Cause when I bought him, he had all 4 shoes on. And I wanted them off. But the farrier managed only the hind legs. Cause he was so distressed. So the farrier came and took the fronts off. And he was as good as gold! Nothing! No dramas! After that we brought him back to the field. And he stayed with us close to the gate. :-)
That was on Friday. Today I took him out all by myself. I was almost 100% calm. :-)
The only problem is, that he pulls his head away when u want to put the headcollar on. I use a simple leather headcollar, cause the Dually is a bit more effort to put on. And it is already a tricky thing to do. I have to stand behind the gate, tempting him with a carrot, so he scratches his head out. When he does this, I put carefully the headcollar on. You might laugh about this, but I had no other options at the moment. Lol

I'm glad things are going well...keep up the good work!

Sounds like you are going in the right direction - progress is definitely being made! And good for you getting professional assistance, much better than struggling along on your own.

Thanks guys! I am so glad about the progress. And I will give him all the time he needs!
I was glad that I had somebody to guide me. Especially without any form of violence. But every time a worked with the Lady, other people at my yard rolled their eyes and call it money wasting! :-(
Hate it!!!!

Well done dominika and thanks for the up date - you are making great progress and let those people roll their eyes!
Now that you are doing so well you may try to desensitise him to the dually and then if necessary put it over your other head collar once he is relaxed about it. You will find it makes a huge difference and much safer for you as you can control him so much better with it.

Me again. Well, I managed to put the Dually on. All good so far. Buuuut.... when I try to work with the Dually, like Monty in his Video, Mr Bruno Cob is not really responding. Like he doesn't mind the pressure at all. He just stands there. Backward it's a little bit better, but forwards...NO chance!! He is glued to the ground! I rewarded him when he moved his leg slightly, but it doesnt make a difference.
Bruno glued to the ground.
Any ideas?

Make sure that the dually is fitted properly this is necessary for the horse to respond appropriately. The next thing I would suggest is that you use a 30 foot long line when working with him so that you have better leverage with him. He can dig his heels in but he can't pull you off of your feet and eventually he will come off of the pressure of the dually. Don't make the mistake of taking the pressure off of him, let him come off of it by himself. This way he teaches himself that when he's negative the dually negative, when he's positive the dually's positive. When backing him up don't lean into him he will just lean back on you. Use short quick bursts at whatever strength required to get him to move. Then go light on the dually, if he moves great...if not go immediately back to strong. He will learn quickly.
I hope this helps,
Kleinne

Hi again dominika try to watch some of the videos which demonstrate the use of the dually on the horse and country tv. UK series with Monty and Kelly Marks. Listed in forum under titles so try a forum search. They are excellent in demonstrating how to use the dually as this seems to be where your problem now lies. Good luck

I have a similar problem.
With a four year old horse. If he is on the pasture and you go to him he comes some steps to you, and than turns and tries kicking you. What can I do?

Immediately chase him off, never let him be disrespectful like that. By chasing him off you are showing him that you control the relationship. When he turns to face you then take the pressure off. He will learn quickly that turning his butt to you is unacceptable behavior.

Good advice Kleinne and Mimi I had the same with our 2yr old gelding. I find too that as he turns his butt to me I raise a hand in a stop signal, say 'hey' (not shout) and look directly at his eyes, loweing my head slightly as if I'm the lead mare going to chase him off for his disrespect. Works everytime. :D

Well it is what I did but he backs up and tries to kick ones he kick me doing this.

I'm going to try it ones more

Carry a rope or a stick with plastic bags attached to the end of it and wave it at him, the bags are scary to him and I guarantee he won't be backing up trying to kick you if you scare him off with this, just don't hit him with it. If you use a rope make sure it's soft and that you can toss one end at him. Make yourself bigger and more animated than him. Don't let him be the boss. Most important, stay out of the kick zone!
I hope this helps,
Kleinne

Mimi
If he kicked you once doing this you''re in his space, step out of his space but only just. I find if BamBam wants to try to butt kick, then I stand my ground just outside of his range. Remember he who moves the feet is in control, if you're too close and have to react, then he is in control.
With having our new pony in the field the last few days BamBam has tried herding me the same he's doiing to the new boy, head down ears back walking directly at me, if I stand my ground and dont move my feet, by the time he gets to me he's realised I'm not moving and has to go around me.
It might work too that is you can achieve this, then follow up and and join up with hm, push him away with body language only, eyes on eyes etc. ve prepared to make time though as once you start in the field you'll have to follow through till it's achieved, in the field the few minute join up wont happen, if he legs it follow with your eyes then catch up steadily. Do not lose eye contact until you see the licking and chewing, he will stop to graze also but apply the same rules of join up in the pen you're the one in charge. when he stops to graze, move in closer, if he starts to walk away, apply the pressure again, he'll start to reduce the distance between you as he starts to listen, but until he lets you stand near him each time he turns and walks away, apply pressure. Less pressure the closer he lets you come. Remeber to listen to him too, he might be trying to tell you something even if it that he's not comfortable with you being in that space, find out what he's telling you. :D
Mek
x

I'm not sure that a scare tatic with the bags is a good idea at this time, it sounds that he already has something to be scared of, so the carrier bags might add to it and aggravate the situation more.
Mimi can you get someone to record what happens? From when you first see him in the field to where he turns to kick out, it might be something simple with body language that is unintentionally being conveyed to him, remeber he is young and still learning.
Remember to keep safely out of the kick zone.
x

Well tomorrow I will try to do it again using your advieces.
It can also be that he is frightened of me because he had terrible experiences before because here in Uruguay the people aren't very gentle with the horses. When he came to us I couldn't touch him. So I understand why he does that.
Thank you very much for your help hopefully I have more luck tomorrow.:)

Mimi - your horse seems to certainly have issues with humans caused by past mistreatment. Have you tried join up with him? If you do try join up make sure you have a wand or a stick with plastic bags handy in case he does come at you. Remember to keep out of the kick zone when you are sending him off. If you achieve a successful join up then he will be more respectful of you. It also helps when he is running free in the paddock as once he has joined up with you then if he shows any disrespect you can just send him off in the paddock for a mini join up and only allow him to come to you when he is respectful. I am constantly having to keep on top of my Tricka this way as she could become quite a mean horse if not consistently shown that ears back or bum towards you is not acceptable.

I tried join up many times but only ones I could do it. I tried it with the stick and the plastic bags but he kicks the plastic bags. But this morning I tried an join up in the pasture. I was running after him for an half an hour but than I got tired and went to the stable to have a little rest now I'm going to try it again.

I was trying to do the join up in the round pen the same problem as always has anyone an idea how I can make him move. I tried it with a rope and with the plastic bags, now I don't have more ideas.

Hi Mimi, in which part of the world do you live? (Sorry if you mentioned it, i didn't see it)
Can you contact a Certified instructor for help?

Regards,

Mirna, Croatia

I live in salto Uruguay and here are no certified instructors.

Well, that's far away, Brazil is the closest but still quite far I guess...
Practice with a friend's horse if you can, so you can be sure that your body language is alright, and you are doing things right, then, you can concentrate on the horse,

Good luck, stay safe

Mirna

I have done join ups with other horses.
I will go on practicing with other horses.

HI Mimi

I tried longlining our BamBam for the first time a couple of days ago, join up and follow up seem to come quite quickly now with him even without the round school.
Longlining however was quite awful for him as soon as the longline went down the back of his legs he froze, when I positioned my self to move him forwards, he went backwards. So our first lesson was extremely short. It does make you wonder what they've been through before to freeze like this, BamBam's back legs have always been an issue even with following all the advise Monty gives and the forum. I think for both of ours, a little more patience is required.
If you try join up in the field, don't run with them when they run off, just maintain eye contact and follow where he goes. It took an hour and a half to join up with a mare in the field a couple of weeks ago that I've never joined up with before, the key without a school area was to be patient and stay with it until she joined up without threatening her space. If you see all the signs, the ear locking and if a field they will drop their heads to graze until you come closer to them, if they run off again, keep the presure on with your eyes until he circles closer to you. They do naturally circle each other as the trust in the session builds.
You do need to make the time for a complete session, if you give up before join up in a field it may make it harder next time for you.
The pattern to look for is galloping off to get away from you, slowing to a canter but still going away from you, slowing to a trot maybe a fast walk, but as you come close they'll canter away again, make sure when you see their head come up to canter away that you apply the pressure to make them go away, you're in charge of the conversation. If you get close with around 5 meters and they still canter off, take the pressure off when he grazes, drop you're head to say you are listening to him too, slowly at a 45% angle, so your shoulder goes towards him, move carefully to him, he'll make a move with his feet, as soon as this happens stop and look your head down to the ground, you don't want him to go now, you're here to say I want to listen to you too, I've found that a grazing position works very well at this stage and it will help you move closer to him so that you can join up, once he lets you touch first his muzzle, face, then move to his whiters and give a gentle rub. All this time keep slighly bent over so you are not putting on any pressure. Use incrimental stages so don't touch the muzzle, straight to the face, straight to the whiters. Take around 10 mins at this stage to let him know you're here to say hi and you like him. I've found not even speaking can speed this bit up also. Once you've got to the withers, stand up straight and incrimentally start to massage the rest of his body, if he shows any signs of unsure, move away from that area and go back to the withers and start again so he trust you touching everywhere. Only once you have done that introcude the daully to him, let him sniff it, rub it on his body, incrimentally again, until you can gently slip it over his head.
I've done this over 3 acres of land, so it's essential that you don't get puffed out, so remember to walk and as long as you have the eye contact, they won't loose that with you.
Remember Trust and listen to your horse.
Mel
x

Today I went out to the pasture to look if I could make fritz (that horses that I had difficulties to catche) to catche me and it worked he catched me and I could touch him all over his body and he had no halter on. I was so happy.
Thank you all that gave me so good advices.

Fantastic Mimi - well done and have a happy Christmas too!

Yes - Merry Christmas For Tuesday Everybody!! :)
Charlotte

Hi All

This is an interesting thread. Maggie this is particularly for you and Mimi and Dominika I would love to hear how it ids going after all this time. Maggie It seems you have a similar case with Tricka in that you have to continue to maintain respectful behavior. I have to admit and confess despite my successes in some areas with this horse Shadow i have been in tears all week:( He has always been prone to aggressive behavior to varying degrees like at feed time and he has always had a propensity to bite. Since I got him as a wild un-handled 2 yo I know we have come a long way. He has been the bottom of the pile with the other horses since he came to us and was pushed off his food and gets moved around a lot by our now little herd of 3. Before it was a big herd at a livery yard. I think this must have impacted on him in that he feels he has to protect himself and his food. I have worked with him a lot with the dually and getting him to back up was an issue, but it really improved with the work. I always get him to back up and put ears forward before receiving food too as he would always coming rushing up with his ears pinned back at feed time. He was getting much better. I have been riding him more recently and having lessons on him and it has been going quite well. Recently he started getting nippie again, especially in the stable. Perhaps I did not catch it early enough and he got my adrenaline up. I started to find it hard to put his rug on as he would try and nip. I would always square up to him and get him to back off, but I think he took it as more of a challenge and got owrse. Then on last Friday evening he really went to bite while putting the rug on and bit my arm really hard. I have a huge bruise and it deflated me completely. I have lost all motivation as I thought we had got past that. It also triggered major anxiety in me which made me realize I could not work with him at the moment as I could not keep calm which made him go to nip or be rude every time he saw me. Really interestingly enough and more saddening to me, i asked my groom, the guy who has been working with the horses everyday and takes them out to graze about the rugging up and he said he managed to put the rug on without even a headcollar on the horse and had no issue. Clearly it is an issue with me and I guess he is just very sensitive to my emotion and anxiety and he can not deal with me if i am even slightly uneasy. I am devastated but am looking for a way forward. Last night i put a small plastic bucket attached to his head collar to cover his nose and dropped a few horse pellets into it when he stood nicely. This also meant I could not get bitten as it covered his nose. He was so busy with trying to reach the pellets in the bucket he did not mind about me putting the rug on and I could be a little calmer. However I am not sure where to go from here as the main goal is to try to reduce my adrenaline so i can do things to build up our relationship again. Maggie, what do you think? Does Tricka still challenge the relationship from time to time. Will we forever be dealing with having to maintain respect? I truly believe Shadow is a sweet and clever horse at heart and does not wish to fight but he obviously feels insecure or as he gets picked on wants to pick on someone else. I would love to hear from you. Many thanks. Helene

Hi Helene

First of all I feel I want to give you a hug!! I sense your sadness and despondency, please don't despair Helene, let's try and support you to get back on track :-). Can I make a suggestion - can you repost your problem with Shadow as a new thread so that we can look at it from the beginning? There are a couple of other things I'd like to know if you don't mind if you could include it in the new post. 1. Whereabouts in the world are you: whats the weather like at the moment? (bear with me, there is method to my mad questions I promise!) 2. The groom that can put his rug on: have you seen him put the rug on? Is he kind to the horses? Forgive me if this sounds rude but I want to get a 'feel' for what is happening. 3. Do you always put the rug on from the left side? What happens if you try to put it on from the right side, does he still try to bite you? 4. what do you do when he tries to bite?

Thanks so much Vicci. Yes I know I shouldn't take it personally but I adore the horse and have been putting a lot of thought and effort in so it really bust me up. I am starting to think of ways forward now rather than moping so that's a bit better;)Will make a new thread, thanks!

Hi Helene - just found your post here. So sorry to hear it has come to this with Shadow but hang in there. Hope my long response to your separate thread helps. Tricka is now 7 but because she has had a bad back for the last couple of years I haven't ridden her nearly as much as I would have liked. Generally she is very good but whenever she isn't handled for awhile we need to have a few warm up training exercises again. My very best wishes and good luck with Shadow.

Dear Helene, our relationship human-horse is a never ending story. Horses always ask questions, especially if they know we speak equus - and we need to answer them or it will be a Yes. It is not about challenging you, it is about asking how it should be. Try to think of your relationship more of a 50/50 - and it is a live and open partnership. I often tell my students to just be aware when you loose a point or two - knowing that means you can always get your "points back" and you will have a live and respectful relationship! And a question - do you have the Dually on when you put the rug on? If so, ask him to stand still, put the rug on, if he moves, school him a little and continue. And be sure the rug fits, so it is not a frustration over an ill fitted rug! Often we humans make much out of little things, it is just the way we are. If you want, please tell me and I can make a small litte video and put up on the youtube channel so you get a little more feel for it. Keep up the Good Work! Warmest CI Ann Lindberg

Can I ask for that vid if she doesn't??? ;)
Pretty please with a cherry on top?