At what point is enough!? ( telling your horses off)

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Clofox

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Hi all,

i was just wondering the level of discipline you carry out with your equine companions....
ie, today while doing my mares girth up she took a hefty bite out of my bum:o:o would you tell her of for this?cause i did not as much as she needed thou...
so what levels of discipline do you carry out with your ponies/horses and why?

just a general nosy post as i'm too soft!:p
 
Hmm second thread on smacking horses tonight?

If my horse did that to me he would get a sharp smack on the shoulder but then I would be asking why did he do that? Is it out of the norm for your horse to be grumpy when doing her girth up? Maybe she is uncomfortable.
 
Positivity nothing wrong with her! she just does not like her girth being done up so breaths out (clever pony!) making it difficult and a constant battle eventually she gives in and then a fab ride!
 
No I would not smack a horse for that. Although the horse may have gone to bite you it sounds like it was provocation, albeit unintentional. A horse reacting to pinching or whatever you did is not the same as a horse striking out to bite someone when the person did nothing to provoke such a response. Instead of smacking the horse I'd PDQ figure out why he reacted in such a manner so it did not happen again.
 
Chloefoxy said:
Positivity nothing wrong with her! she just does not like her girth being done up so breaths out (clever pony!) making it difficult and a constant battle eventually she gives in and then a fab ride!
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So you do the girth up loosely at first, go off and do something or walk the horse around, and then gradually tighten surely :confused:
 
We had a pony who used to bite when his girth was done up, or his rugs were being done. He had always done it with his previous owner and it wouldn't have made an ounce of difference to reprimand him for it. We just used to avoid and get on with it. He was well into his 20's and set in his ways. If he has started doing it with us, then that would have been different, and he would have been corrected. He started doing it apparently in response to aggressive girthing from a lad that used to ride him. He used to blow himself up, so we would just go and do something else until you could get on and do the girth whilst in the saddle.
 
Spring Feather said:
So you do the girth up loosely at first, go off and do something or walk the horse around, and then gradually tighten surely :confused:
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Agree with this. My elderly ex racer has never got used to having his girth done up. I have to do it so loosely that it's barely fastened and then do it up slowly as he's walking. There is nothing wrong with him - it's something he remembers from his racing days - possibly the cinch being done up really tightly.....
 
Yes, I would give a sharp smack on the neck for biting, and actually making contact. They can threaten all they like, but actually making contact warrents a smack. Some of my horses just hate having their girths done up and make snakey faces. As it doesn't hurt me they can do it, but if they ever bit me they would get a smack.
 
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