OK so, we have a youngster who we bred. She is a quarter horse x thoroughbred and is coming up for 3 years this july. She is an absolute darling... most of the time anyway. She is really quiet, doesnt bother about anything and usually pretty laid back.. however, rearing has become an issue. She used to do it in the field when she was younger and occasionally leading in and out from the field but we put that down to play and didnt do anything about it except shout at her. However, now, she has started doing it in the stable when trying to put rugs on and off, and did it to my mum this morning putting her in a corner. SHe is around 15hh now so it's relaly dangerous and i'm worried for my mums safety considering she is the main handler while im at uni and she is in her 60s . She will rear occasionally on the way to the field if she hasn't been out for a few days, but we try put them out everyday only keeping them in if weather is too bad.. ground too hard etc.
She is perfectly ok to brush, slightly funny about picking up feet but is getting better .we usually tie them up and brush in the stable. Stable manners wise, since she was born she has always put her ears back at you in the stable and nipped, but he dad does that and we heard some of her brothers and sisters did it too, some have grown out of it. She long reins fine and seems to like working, though we have not done much of that so far as she is too young. She has had a saddle on her back and a bridle on just in the stable just so she gets the feel of it but no rider and nothing else.
i realise these behaviours are probably through our own fault, but we want to fix it. We have never done anything to harm or hurt her at all. Really she is taking the piss out of us.
can anyone give any advice? it's getting to dangerous now
sara
also, i meant to add, even when leading and in stable she swings her head around alot and has cracked us over the head a few times doing it.
Have you done join-up with her and are you using a dually halter with her? If not the join-up and dually will help you establish respect from her. She is showing dominance over you and like a spoiled child that will have a temper tantrum to get their way, she has figured out she can get her way by being difficult and dangerous. This is a serious problem that must be addressed immediately. The round pen (if you have one) is the first step to getting this behavior under control and the dually with a long line to keep you safe will help her to learn that when she rears up it's going to get uncomfortable for her. If she keeps her feet on the ground then it won't be uncomfortable for her. If you feel she is to difficult for you to handle I would suggest that you contact one of Monty's trainers, but you must stay calm and keep your adrenaline down while working with her because she feeds off of your nervous energy. A calm horse starts with a calm owner. Teaching her to properly lead with her head at your shoulder will keep her from hurting you by swinging her head around, I would immediately correct this behavior with the dually, when she swings her head, correct. I hope this helps.
I should have addressed the nipping, I would also use the dually to correct this behavior, when she nips correct immediately. Never let her get away with it, if you are not consistent with her she'll keep doing it whatever it is that your trying to correct, so be consistent and don't handle her without a dually on.
Sara
You have a horse that is out of control and dangerous. A horse that rears because they are happy and just getting their energy out is one thing, but if they rear when you are handling them is quite different. When a horse rears that is an aggressive move and the same with laying their ears back. They are warning you that they are upset and if you keep it up they will strike at you.
To correct this I am afraid is far beyond doing a join up, though the join up will be helpful. When you say she is a pretty laid back doesn't square with her behavior, so you need to start looking at her as a very troubled horse and if it was my horse I would have her vet checked and get some blood panels done to eliminate and medical issues. If she comes up clean then I would seek professional assistance. There is something that is really causing your horse a lot of stress and anger. So if you eliminate a medical reason I would look at the type of feed that she is getting including the mineral. I would also look at the amount of exercise she is getting. If she is not getting good exercise everyday she may be getting frustrated with having too much energy and no way to vent it.
While the dually halter is great training tool, you have to know when and how to use it or it can send the wrong message to the horse. Study the videos of Monty dealing with aggressive horses for some help in where and how to start the process of correcting these dangerous habits and make sure you and your mom wear a helmet and a protection vest when you are with the horse. If she does loose it you need to have protection.
Good luck and be safe
Cheers
Great advice from Kleinnep and Dennis too so go for it. Good luck with it. She certainly needs to have this unacceptable behaviour corrected ASAP and you will do it with the dually and consistency. The idea of a trainer sounds good if you do feel a bit overwhelmed by it all.
Thanks guys, when i say laid back, i meant loud noises , tractors going right past her, grooming generally etc.. she is fine. the sweetest little horse ever, doesn't ever spook or jump or anything , it is just this problem.. I think it is maybe an attention thing and a dominance thing because she does tend to throw a tantrum when she doesn't get her own way.. i just simply havent got the time right nw to deal with her (to be honest i've not had a whole lot to do with her) due to university commitments. so i think we may need to see about getting a trainer to see her and get it fixed asap becasue i don't think my mum could do it alone .Hoping to sell her in the next year and don't want her to go on with this behaviour unsolved.
thanks for the advice.
A trainer sounds good. It certainly needs to be corrected before you sell her or otherwise she wont have much of a future. Sounds a bit too big a job for your Mum too given I am a Mum of similar age!
I sympathise with you, my daughter recently bought a 4yr old 15hh Section D mare, she has the same problem, we have had her for nearly 4 months now, she is also dominant, we have suffered biting, kincking and rearing when you ask her to do something she doesn,t want to do. We seem to have got over the biting and kicking only the rearing to address. We can be turning out to the field and she suddenly rears for no reason, some days she can be really soft and we think we have sorted it. We always use a dually halter and have tried putting the pressure on with the dually by pulling her off balance as she throws her head and you know it is coming, but then you are turning the rearing towards yourself. I know the answer is getting profession help but where do you go to get the right sort of person you can trust within your budget, to resolve this issue without violence. I have had several people look at her including the vet who says there is nothing wrong. I too know that it is probably something we are doing to provoke her but what, that is the question. Good luck with your horse, we all want to do the best we can for our horses, the problem is that sometimes I think it is the owners that need the training as we don,t know what we are doing wrong. Please let me know how you get on there must be lots of us out there needing help.
Becky
Becky
I am glad you have more patience than I would with such a obstinant horse. The horse is acting like a two year old child and totally disrespecting you and putting you and your daughter in range. Not knowing exactly how you pull her off balance when she rears, I would say that is the right approach but when you do that you need to also get her feet moving either to the side or back. Back would be preferable and i don't mean one or two steps. Back her 5-10 steps stop and make her stand. You have to do these manuevers with speed and energy. Don't yell at her though. Don't touch her or rub her. She cannot be rewarded for backing up when it is a discipline move. Once she stands for 15 to 30 seconds move forward 3 or 4 steps and stop. You can then give her a rub, because she moved forward correctly. I would also make sure you do a join up with her. She should get the message pretty quick that rearing is going to bring a whole lot of energy towards her and that she will not be allowed to behave that way.
Cheers
In montys my hands to yours book he recomends using goggles and tape off top half of goggles as horse dosent like to rear were it cant see,this seems to b for ridden problems thogh dosent say bout hoses on the ground.
Very good advice Dennis!!!!
She is a spoiled brat; doing any behaviour when playing out in the field is fine, they can do what they want, it's their time & horses play!
Using this behaviour to force you to back off from her is totally unacceptable & you need to correct her straight away.
Don't handle her in the stable without the Dually on & make sure you study how to use it correctly.
She is only a baby, so she must go out every day, there is no reason for keeping her in a stable because of the weather, let her use her energy to keep warm etc.
Are you feeding her too much so she has excess energy?
To add my wee bit to this - lateral thinking. Young, boisterous and bored. Quite possibly what is needed is dually training. If there is no medical issue then put her to work. Keep her thinking. Keep giving her new things to think about. Find out if Monty has Associates in your area for support, help, advice and to bring this horse under a stimulating training plan.
Just to point out that while useful this post dates back to Feb 2012 so original poster may not be around to see it (but still useful info!)