agression to being headcollared

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Kayleighs

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my first horse, had him about a year now. 10 year old gelding.

Originally, we could go in the stable with him and groom, tack up, rug, all of it.

The last few months he’s become quite aggressive when somebody goes into his stable. He will pin his ears back and swish his tail, swing his head and lift a back leg.
The situation is much worse if you intend on putting his head collar on. He has lunged at me multiple times, bitten, and it’s become impossible to get it on him at this point. I’m now scared of him in the stable if I’m honest.

The only time I can get his head collar on without issue is when his buddies are going out to the field and he doesn’t want to be left behind.
He will happily stand and let me put it on him then, not a single ear pin or protest.

I also can’t head collar him when he’s out in the field, he pins his ears and will turn his bum on me. It’s a little easier in the morning (all the horses come in for breakfast at 9am) but he’s not happy about it.

We believe it’s based on fear of being taken away from his friends since he’s fine with it when he thinks he’s going out with them.
If he’s turned out without every herd member he calls to them. Much less now than before, originally it was non-stop.
I’ve cried so much over this as it’s ridiculous to not be able to get a damn headcollar on your own horse.

Other notes: he’s quite touch sensitive, isn’t fond of being groomed. He’s started trying to nip when tacking up. Has never stood still at the mounting block without a lick to distract him.

I dont really know what I’m asking, I’m just at my wits end and I don’t know what to do. I do have a behaviouralist coming out soon.
 
nutjob said:
One of mine has been treated for ulcers recently. He became a bit resistant to handle and quite aggressive with the other horses. I'd get a vet to see him before a behaviouralist especially if he was OK previously and is getting worse.
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And I think I might have a saddle fitter before the behaviourist, maybe also equine dentist - dependent on anything the vet might initially find with the horse’s back and head.
 
Being clingy to their friends can be a result of pain too, so that behaviour might also be a symptom rather than a cause. At least it sounds clear cut - hopefully a good vet and dentist check, and scoping for ulcers, will find an obvious problem that you can treat. Agree with @Exasperated that if all that comes back clear, a saddle check would be a good plan. I would do that last though (unless you have an existing reason to doubt his saddle fit), because saddle fitting can be quite subjective and you don't want to go down a rabbit hole that way unless everything else is ruled out.

Is your yard similar to his previous yard? Just thinking, if it is ulcers - why? Is something causing him stress? As they'll likely just reoccur unless you remove the source of stress. What have you changed from his previous home - feed, TO situation, type of stable etc.
 
Exasperated said:
And I think I might have a saddle fitter before the behaviourist, maybe also equine dentist - dependent on anything the vet might initially find with the horse’s back and head.
Click to expand...

As a fitter I'd disagree. We can't fit a horse in pain so it's highly likely to be a wasted visit. I don't do this but many fitters it seems do a static fit, say it checks all the boxes, and you're left no better off than before.

The pain MAY be saddle related but even then horses aren't designed to carry a rider or saddle, so this is often where problems can show up first. So even if a vet or physio says it's saddle related, proceed with caution. Look at musculature, posture, compensatory movement patterns first, these are the precursors to lameness in so many cases, and there can be a fair bit of pain involved, horses are good at compensating for it.

Equitopiacenter.com has some great resources for this.
 
My daughter’s pony was aggressive when we got her, she was a RS pony and was just fed up of inconsistent handling. Many years down the line, physio, well fitted tack and 99% of her handling done by one person and she’s a lamb. She will call to me in the field, trots over to come in and is 100% for me to handle in the stable.

If the aggression was a new behaviour I would investigate with vet/physio.
 
Amymay Again said:
And, they've gone..m
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Not gone, I didn’t expect so many replies and I posted this before bed. Just a tad overwhelmed here.


Thank you all for the advice. I will be scheduling the vet for him.
He doesn’t show any ‘classic’ ulcer signs but I have seen that a lot of horses don’t have any symptoms at all?

He had the dentist in July, teeth all good. He’s also seen the physio who has only reported slight tightness on his right side. No pain from her assessment.
Hes otherwise good under saddle, very forward going. We do have slight issues with braking, he can take some convincing to come back to a walk.

Widgeon said:
Being clingy to their friends can be a result of pain too, so that behaviour might also be a symptom rather than a cause. At least it sounds clear cut - hopefully a good vet and dentist check, and scoping for ulcers, will find an obvious problem that you can treat. Agree with @Exasperated that if all that comes back clear, a saddle check would be a good plan. I would do that last though (unless you have an existing reason to doubt his saddle fit), because saddle fitting can be quite subjective and you don't want to go down a rabbit hole that way unless everything else is ruled out.

Is your yard similar to his previous yard? Just thinking, if it is ulcers - why? Is something causing him stress? As they'll likely just reoccur unless you remove the source of stress. What have you changed from his previous home - feed, TO situation, type of stable etc.
Click to expand...

I’m not totally informed about his previous yard situation, I’ve been trying relentlessly to get contact info for his last owner but she isn’t interested in talking.. not sure what happened, I believe she had an dramatic change of circumstance as when I bought him as he had quite bad rain scald.

he’s in a mixed herd, which I do wonder if is a bit too much for him and he needs to be in a gelding only herd. He was well behaved until around spring, coinciding with the mares coming into season. As he gets quite upset without his herd, I’m hesitant to move him. He’d likely jump the fence to get back to them.

He’s currently stabled in the main aisle at the yard, which I believe may also be too much commotion for him as he dislikes anyone walking past his door.
Is this enough stress to cause ulcers?
We will be moving him and a friend to a stable with a corral in a quieter part of the yard soon.
 
Problems braking are usually related to balance, and poor balance is, in a way, a compensation in itself. A horse carries us best when well balanced so it's absolutely assessing in the way I suggested. If we're pulling on the mouth we're arguably causing pain, and think about how he's using all the wrong muscles when he pulls and gets away from you. Horses naturally fall forwards and adding our weight makes this worse unless we help them move in a better way.

You can help him become more "regulated", you're seeing a ton of symptoms, potentially. Yes you may well be able to find a better way to manage him, being in a busy area can be too stressful some horses, but helping him self regulate (connection and relaxation etc) will help him across all these areas.

All of this comes after a thorough vet check and even then it's become clearer over time that it's just not possible to 100% eliminate pain so even if he's cleared by the vet, I would keep this in mind. I see horses as a saddle fitter that have been to the vet more than once, told nothing wrong, but once we assess posture and movement the vet manages to find something.
 
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