Any tips on dealing with an in your face horse?
- Thread starter Annagain
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Both of my horses are a bit like this but they do tie up and stand and are generally well behaved, they have massive characters and just love to be near you and they do the most silly things, I actually find them funny and think alot of horses are pretty boring in comparison.
I sort of look at them as being playful and as long as I am not coming to any harm I'm not bothered, I never feel scared or out of my depth.
Both of mine are well known with my vets he has said to me many times his never met such characters, all the vet nurses know them by name I'm probably referred as the woman with the crazy Arab's, one of the nurses always requests to come here if the vet needs help as she worked at the stud where Arabi was born and he was her favourite foal.
I sort of look at them as being playful and as long as I am not coming to any harm I'm not bothered, I never feel scared or out of my depth.
Both of mine are well known with my vets he has said to me many times his never met such characters, all the vet nurses know them by name I'm probably referred as the woman with the crazy Arab's, one of the nurses always requests to come here if the vet needs help as she worked at the stud where Arabi was born and he was her favourite foal.
Consistency will help a lot with this horse. It rang an alarm bell with me when you said if you weren't trying to do something it would be hilarious, OP. Bad manners, in your space/face, niggling at you should never be hilarious. Behave like that with other horses, fine, but not with humans. He sounds like a horse that has never been "put in his place" and what I mean by that is out of your space, unless invited in. He needs to no it's NOT ok to be rubbing on you, nibbling, etc etc. He wouldn't do it to another horse (unless he wanted to wind it up to play, or to push it around).
I would
1. Stop feeding from the hand, ever.
2. Buy a few idolo tie rings, use a long rope through the idolo ring (15 foot at least, or 20 if you have one) tie up shortish to it (they are designed to pull through, so make sure the long end is out of the way and can't be trodden on. If he pulls back, the rope will run through, while still keeping pressure on. When he stops pulling back pressure is released. They are game changers.
https://idolotethertie.com/
3. Watch some of Steve Young's videos. There are hundreds of them on his website, free to access. They can be a bit long, but pretty much all follow the same principles. He follows the principles of people like Buck Brannaman. Pay particular attention to his "Unwanted forward movement principle". Here's one I found quickly with a horse which sounds a little similar
4. Get an IH trainer in. It might only take a session or two to give you the tools you need to go forwards. It's absolutely worth the investment now, before things escalate
5. Be consistent in NOT accepting nibbling/head rubbing etc. I find slapping your clothing sharpy, possibly with a rope end or coil, sends them off you. You don,t need to hit the horse, but you do need to be forceful enough in what you do to step them away from you.
Good luck OP
I would
1. Stop feeding from the hand, ever.
2. Buy a few idolo tie rings, use a long rope through the idolo ring (15 foot at least, or 20 if you have one) tie up shortish to it (they are designed to pull through, so make sure the long end is out of the way and can't be trodden on. If he pulls back, the rope will run through, while still keeping pressure on. When he stops pulling back pressure is released. They are game changers.
https://idolotethertie.com/
3. Watch some of Steve Young's videos. There are hundreds of them on his website, free to access. They can be a bit long, but pretty much all follow the same principles. He follows the principles of people like Buck Brannaman. Pay particular attention to his "Unwanted forward movement principle". Here's one I found quickly with a horse which sounds a little similar
4. Get an IH trainer in. It might only take a session or two to give you the tools you need to go forwards. It's absolutely worth the investment now, before things escalate
5. Be consistent in NOT accepting nibbling/head rubbing etc. I find slapping your clothing sharpy, possibly with a rope end or coil, sends them off you. You don,t need to hit the horse, but you do need to be forceful enough in what you do to step them away from you.
Good luck OP
I think the OP's horse sounds quite different to this - like a bit of a thug!
My Welsh is a bit in your face (once you catch the little sod!) but he's very gentle and polite about it, so you never get the impression of a rude horse, just a sweet, cheeky one. I'd struggle with what the OP has described!
My Welsh is a bit in your face (once you catch the little sod!) but he's very gentle and polite about it, so you never get the impression of a rude horse, just a sweet, cheeky one. I'd struggle with what the OP has described!
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it's a 4 month old thread and things have moved on a bit since then, i believe 
it's a 4 month old thread and things have moved on a bit since then, i believe
Yeah I know what you mean 😏 my 2 are not rude just a bit silly and quite funny 😄
it's a 4 month old thread and things have moved on a bit since then, i believe
Landcruiser - I tried one of the Idolo tie rings. He learned that if he grabbed it and pulled in the right direction he could pull it all the way through. More often than not a 12ft rope gave me enough time to spot him doing it and pull it back through but if I left him for more than about a minute he'd have pulled it all the way through and would be off to the nearest patch of grass.