Argh! Bring on summer already! *RANT!*

[sandi_84]

So there is a lovely patch of mud in our winter field next to the gate and this morning Loki refused to walk over it for aaages! In the end it took a well timed accidental bump on the butt by one of the other horses to get him shifted. Then when putting him out later on he totally planked I spent a good 10-15mins of bribery with polos/ crunching sweetie papers/ lifting forelegs one at a time to free up his knees/ turning and going forwards again/ moving sideways to get forward movement/ pushing his quarters round/ and flicking him with the leadrope (not beating him just giving him a tap with the end like you would with a whip whilst riding!) and NOTHING was working! Then one of the liveries came to catch in her horse and helped me. I am soooo over winter now! Can't wait till the nice weather comes and the ground dries up properly and we can get them in the next field in the rotation
Ended up totally at a loss and had it not been for the livery lady I'd have ended up having to walk all the way back down to the yard to hijack someone to help.
Any suggestions about what else I can try when I'm on my own please? I can't always rely on well timed passers by

 

[Foxhunter49]

Take a lunge whip with you so that you can reach him with it from behind.
He is taking the Michael out of you so do not be afraid to really crack him one.

 

[scheherazade]

Wasn't Loki the Norse god of mischief??? That explains that one then.....

 

[FMM]

Give him a smack - if he wanted to walk across it to get to something, he surely would! He is just being rude!

 

[benson21]

Ditto the above!! He is taking the Pi$$!!!

 

[sandi_84]

Wasn't Loki the Norse god of mischief??? That explains that one then.....

Ha ha! Yes he was Looks like he may live up to his namesake after all!

Take a lunge whip with you so that you can reach him with it from behind.
He is taking the Michael out of you so do not be afraid to really crack him one.

Give him a smack - if he wanted to walk across it to get to something, he surely would! He is just being rude!

Lunge whip may be the best idea, at least then I have something to wiggle behind him (wiggling another lead rope behind him is what got him going in the end) I'd prefer not to have to smack him properly if I can find another way - not that i'm a fluffy bunny hugger by any means! I just want to find a way that works without having to smack him if possible but if worse comes to worst I suppose I'll just have to get tough and give him a pop on the bum Thanks guys!

 

[sarahann1]

One of mine does this, does my head in, usually gentle encouragement gets him going again, but sometimes he gets the end of the leadrope flicked of his backside.

 

[alphanumeric]

Please do yourself and your horse a favour. Take a lunge whip or a long dressage type whip as the others have suggested and the next time the horse refuses to move then give him a BLOODY GOOD CRACK with the whip on the bum. NO "wiggling" or "waving" it behind him, one BLOODY GOOD SMACK.

You will only need to do this a couple of times and I assure you, your horse will respect you far more than if you try to bribe him with sweets and be nicey-nice about it. You will also be very thankful if you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation when you are on the floor and you need to move yourself and your horse quickly - it may just save both your lives.

This is the real world, not fluffy bunny land where dear little Loki is suddenly going to realise that he loves you and needs to repay you for all the love, attention and sweets you shower him with by walking through the mud. Horses are herd animals that look to the top animal for direction -we are talking about half a ton of animal with its own brain here, safety and respect are paramount.

 

[sandi_84]

Please do yourself and your horse a favour. Take a lunge whip or a long dressage type whip as the others have suggested and the next time the horse refuses to move then give him a BLOODY GOOD CRACK with the whip on the bum. NO "wiggling" or "waving" it behind him, one BLOODY GOOD SMACK.

You will only need to do this a couple of times and I assure you, your horse will respect you far more than if you try to bribe him with sweets and be nicey-nice about it. You will also be very thankful if you ever find yourself in a dangerous situation when you are on the floor and you need to move yourself and your horse quickly - it may just save both your lives.

This is the real world, not fluffy bunny land where dear little Loki is suddenly going to realise that he loves you and needs to repay you for all the love, attention and sweets you shower him with by walking through the mud. Horses are herd animals that look to the top animal for direction -we are talking about half a ton of animal with its own brain here, safety and respect are paramount.

I totally agree we are NOT in fluffy bunny land and I don't expect him to "love" me etc etc although I do expect him to respect me - which he usually does I'm very much an animals are animals person even if they are intelligent! I definately don't shower him with sweets, he gets a treat now and then but a packet of polo's usually lasts me a good long while (a good week or so and thats with 30 or so horses kicking about on our yard)! Don't worry i'm not going all hippy- "but his aura is so clouded" -dippy on you! It's just that he's still new to me and I don't want to get it wrong you know? So I was tring to start with the softer approach rather than go into full blown "crack him a good one!" straight away, AND THEN if need be up my game. I just wanted to know if anyone had any other tips I could have tried before bringing the whip into the mix.
Sorry if that sounded a bit rude, it wasn't meant to I just don't want you all to think i'm on of those daft people that think if you give him a reprimand for unacceptable behaviour it'll scar him for life

 

[alphanumeric]

I must admit, your original post did set "fluffy bunny" alarm bells off in my head, hence my rather to the point response

 

[sandi_84]

I must admit, your original post did set "fluffy bunny" alarm bells off in my head, hence my rather to the point response

Ha ha! Hell no! My mum, sister and niece are ALL fluffy bunny huggers! and that's quite enough for one family If hell ever freezes over and I become a bunny hugger you have my permission to come find me and give me a bloody good crack on my butt with the whip! I always think if we had an apocalypse situation all the hunting would be done by yours truely (if it's a food animal i'd have no problems killing it) and all the gathering/washing etc would be done by the girly girls ha ha! No I think i'm just a bit ginger about it all atm coz I've only had him a month and he's my first horse, I'm a lot tougher on my big sis and mum's horses... how daft is that?! I reckon i'm still in the settling in/ getting to know you place and I know now is the time to be setting boundaries etc but I just don't want to go overboard. Does that make sense?

 

[alphanumeric]

If hell ever freezes over and I become a bunny hugger you have my permission to come find me and give me a bloody good crack on my butt with the whip!

You're on

 

[sandi_84]

Ha ha! I did have a re-read of my first post and it did sound a bit bunny hugger ish ah well!

 

[JennBags]

I almost bought a horse called Loki he was a big chesnut Irish thing....not the same one surely?

 

[sandi_84]

I almost bought a horse called Loki he was a big chesnut Irish thing....not the same one surely?

No , my boy is a 15h black and I named him when he came to the yard as all he had was his show name. There are some (bad, my photography skills are severely lacking) photos in my album if you want to have a look. Actually that's his nostril you are looking up in my avatar... aparently cameras look edible

 

[luckyhorseshoe]

Pressure and release with a halter. Works for everything, loading, napping, barging etc. they learn pretty sharpish.

 

[JennBags]

I'm on phone so can't see avatars/sigs

I really liked the horse - he was just too young & green for me. Third time I tried him was on my birthday, and I had got myself all excited about buying myself a birthday present. Bit the dust

 

[Arizahn]

First time Ali tried planting herself in her field, I dropped the lead rope and walked off. She soon trotted after me - wasn't about to miss her hay net!

 

[sandi_84]

I'm on phone so can't see avatars/sigs

I really liked the horse - he was just too young & green for me. Third time I tried him was on my birthday, and I had got myself all excited about buying myself a birthday present. Bit the dust

Aw! Falling off on your birthday sucks! Hope you didn't hurt yourself! I bought mine just before my birthday, best birthday prezzie ever!

First time Ali tried planting herself in her field, I dropped the lead rope and walked off. She soon trotted after me - wasn't about to miss her hay net!

It would be brilliant if he'd do that but I think he'd just run off back to his favourite mare

 

[Walrus]

When my youngster (or not so young now) was being taught to trot up in hand etc. and walk properly I carried a schooling whip. Very useful as they aren't so unwieldy as a lunge whip but long enough that you can tap behind you without turning round and faffing. You don't have to beat him, one smack on the backside will probably make him realise you're not a pushover. I just have to move my arm back now, not even touch with the whip or rope and my lad knows he should be walking on.