Anyone 'cured' a scraper?

[CobsGalore]

Has anyone 'cured' a floor scraper? It drives me potty!

He does it when he is tied up, usually when he is getting bored, I am preparing his feed, or if another horse is eating around him. He still does it if has a haynet too.

If I ignore him he will just carry on and end up digging a hole in the ground! If I tell him off he stops but will then do it the following day!


*Token picture of said floor scraping*

 

[StormyMoments]

I didn't cure it but we moved yards and it just stopped along with his door kicking occasionally he picks his feet up to start but never gets around to doing it.

a friend stopped hers scraping by squirting him with water each time he started... it soon stopped as he didn't like it! telling them to stop doesn't work as they are asking for attention and by speaking to them you are giving them attention

 

[Polos Mum]

Mine used to do it in the stable waiting for food delivery! Dug a hole in the concrete! Rubber mats and ignoring it worked best for me - and sadly giving in and always feeding him first!

 

[spottyhorse]

I used to water pistol my mare when she scrapped and kicked the door, it worked but stand clear!

 

[Tinsel Town]

when I bought my horse his previous owner warned me about this 'vice' that he had, and we did witness him doing it while we viewed him, for him its about attention and to be honest he wasn't getting enough of it at his previous home (one of the reasons she was selling him) once he got settled in his new routine he has pretty much stopped doing it (he is doted on and I'm with him every day), he only ever does it if hes tacked up ready to go and I'm still getting ready (more impatience) and if hes tied up outside when the dinners are being prepared and he can see them, I usually just shout his name and clap my hands and he stops
So in answer to your question we haven't really 'cured' him but its definitely a lot better

 

[CobsGalore]

Yeah with him it is definitely impatience, as he also does it once he is tacked up while I am still faffing around with hat, body protector, hi-vis etc!

I could try the water pistol thing, but he is usually tied up at the time and I would be worried about scaring him too much and him hurting himself by pulling back or something.... or am I being too soft? lol

 

[Tinsel Town]

Yeah with him it is definitely impatience, as he also does it once he is tacked up while I am still faffing around with hat, body protector, hi-vis etc!

I could try the water pistol thing, but he is usually tied up at the time and I would be worried about scaring him too much and him hurting himself by pulling back or something.... or am I being too soft? lol

Yep Leo does this! only occasionally now, if I've got him ready first then I'm faffing getting ready, he's like come on mum!! lol maybe get yourself ready first then get him ready, and then only leave him for a minute longer before you get on and go, and then next time leave it two minutes and so on, if that makes sense? don't know if that will work, but maybe worth a try?

 

[CobsGalore]

Yep Leo does this! only occasionally now, if I've got him ready first then I'm faffing getting ready, he's like come on mum!! lol maybe get yourself ready first then get him ready, and then only leave him for a minute longer before you get on and go, and then next time leave it two minutes and so on, if that makes sense? don't know if that will work, but maybe worth a try?

Yeah he just can't wait to get out bless him!

Yeah good idea, I will give that a go - thanks!

 

[Toffee44]

Pressure halter, she is worse in the mornings.

Every morning ignored her, she scrapped go her in halter, some shoulder in and backing up in yard put back in stable and once I had 5 minutes of no scrapping I turned her out. First day took an hour, second day 20 minutes, third day two goes of shoulder in and back in stable. Fourth day she waited patiently for me, well neighing her head off but all four feet on the ground.

Every now and again I remind her but she remembers.

Ignoring her while I was in sight didn't work for us, but making her move her feet in the directions I wanted her too did

 

[CobsGalore]

Pressure halter, she is worse in the mornings.

Every morning ignored her, she scrapped go her in halter, some shoulder in and backing up in yard put back in stable and once I had 5 minutes of no scrapping I turned her out. First day took an hour, second day 20 minutes, third day two goes of shoulder in and back in stable. Fourth day she waited patiently for me, well neighing her head off but all four feet on the ground.

Every now and again I remind her but she remembers.

Ignoring her while I was in sight didn't work for us, but making her move her feet in the directions I wanted her too did

Interesting, thanks

 

[mandwhy]

Mine did this a lot when I first got her but she seems a lot less impatient now, I do think its a baby thing but some of them never stop! She does still do it if we stop on a hack to talk to people, how rude!

She did put her foot through a post and rail fence once where the posts were rotted, cue foot stuck, fence came down, her panicking, but she did stop to let me sort her out, daft animal! Now I think about it, it was about then that she stopped doing it when tied up!

 

[LaurenBay]

I've given up trying to cure mine

She does it all the time. Sometimes even when ridding if I am standing still. Most photos I have of her are like this

 

[Twinkley Lights]

My new girl does and door kicks, I'm ignoring her at the moment and she doesn't get served any faster for being bolshy

 

[CobsGalore]

Just out of interest, does anyone have a barefoot horse who scrapes?

I wonder if it's the noise in shod horses that encourages them to do it, because it is more attention seeking?

 

[Hippona]

Yes....OH's mare does it...usually when she's stood at the gate waiting for a feed. So much so the field entrance is lower than it used to be.... She's unshod....
My arab does it...when he's tacked up and ready and I'm still faffing about. He's unshod too.

I just ignore them.

 

[Gloi]

Just out of interest, does anyone have a barefoot horse who scrapes?

Yes, every time I go anywhere near the feed room He doesn't always scape though, sometimes he just waves his foot in the air. I just ignore it, I know he likes his food.

 

[Magnetic Sparrow]

I wonder if it's the noise in shod horses that encourages them to do it, because it is more attention seeking?

I'd go with that. When my door kicker's door was carpeted she took to kicking the wall instead (wood panelling, uncarpeted, much noisier)

 

[CobsGalore]

I'd go with that. When my door kicker's door was carpeted she took to kicking the wall instead (wood panelling, uncarpeted, much noisier)

Haha they are funny creatures aren't they!

 

[GeorgeyGal]

My rising 2 yr old has always pawed but not so much these days! I'm hoping she will grow out of it. She did start door banging at feed times but I changed up the routine so I prepare feed out of sight, walk away out of sight when she's doing it and only return when she's quiet and then I bring her out of her stable for her feed, tie up, grab feed hidden behind pillar and ask for back up and then she gets her feed so pawing no longer comes into the equation for feeds like it did. She hasn't pawed in a while although I see her doing it out in her field! When she has done it whilst tied I'd calmly ask her to stand and obviously won't untie her if she's doing it, obviously I don't expect her to stand for long at her age though! I like the idea of asking for back up and yielding hmmm think ill try that next time as if it appears to be too much like hard work to paw maybe that will be a deterrent!

 

[Toffee44]

Interesting, thanks

Its what richard maxwell told me to do, he said my mare in particular could write a book on being bolshy and invasive the trick with her for almost everything on the ground is move your feet in the direction I want them and we will keep doing that until you accept what I'm doing (Ie washing, clipping etc). Same applied for door kicking, fine I will come get you but your working for me. Its not the nose she has thick mats down (my first port of call as she too wore a whole in the floor).

Its a very hackney thing to do apparantly...lucky me.

 

[Myloubylou]

Mine does when she is bored waiting. I'll tell her no and give her a light slap on the leg she is scraping and she'll change leg in a cheeky up yours way then stops. If she's got people to watch she's fine.

 

[Farasi]

I heard the solution is to tie something to their leg, like a wooden block so when they scrape it bangs and irritates they stop and it stops. Simples. And u are not associated with it. Never tried it myself....be interesting to know what ur pony thinks

 

[stencilface]

I'd go with that. When my door kicker's door was carpeted she took to kicking the wall instead (wood panelling, uncarpeted, much noisier)

My sisters pony is responsible for all the holes kicked in our wooden stables. When she took him to college he was in a breeze block stable and backed up and kicked the hell out of it for enjoyment, I think he loved the new noise

 

[Brightbay]

I see so many of these threads and the same old answers get trotted out - and yet it never seems to occur to people that it's far far far more effective to train a horse to do what you want than to punish them for doing what you don't want.

Punishment (shouting, growling, squirting) only works if it is applied within seconds of the behaviour and every single time the behaviour happens. If you miss a single time (if the horse scrapes when you're around the corner) not only have you failed to stop it, you've actually strengthened it. That's why punishment isn't a very effective way of dealing with this, not to mention the fact that the horse associates you, where they're standing and what's going on with the punishment.

Instead, what do you want? You want a horse who stands quietly with all four feet on the ground. Every time you see it, even for a second, reward the horse. It sounds as though the horse is being rewarded for scraping with your attention - so instead, give your positive attention the instant they stop. You might have to stand around looking uninterested for a while to catch them standing well the first few times, but the more you reward it, the more of it you will get.

Build it up gradually, always ignoring scraping and trying to reward standing quietly as often as you can. You should get longer and longer periods with the horse standing quietly.

Much better all round than shouting or squirting - and the surprising thing is, telling your horse how great they are makes you feel much better than constantly telling them off

Same principle works for door kickers with slight modifications. Why does nobody teach these simple principles?