Bargy youngster - UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!

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lucky7

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Well yesterday i posted this:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=460508

And guess what arrived this morning? my rope halter. So, i went down this evening with that and my 12ft line and a pair of gloves and my hat. Managed to catch her and swop her head collar for the halter, made sure all was well fitted and proceeded to get the fly mask off the fence. Well she looked at it and immediately barged off and almost through me, madam - so i pulled on the rope TWICE HARD and a tell you what she immediately stopped. So pressure immediatley released, raised the fly mask again - (by raised i dont mean literally in her face, just picked it up) and off she went again, so cue another tug and yes another stop ;) so missy was beginning to get the message - the more she tried to pull me over and run through me the more the halter would pull. Now this time was different, i proceeded to touch and scratch her all over with the mask, and she actually seemed to be enjoying it :) so i raised it to her face as if to put it on and she stepped forward a few paces so i backed her up which she did IMMEDIATELY - previously she would try and walk through me, every time she stepped forward i backed her up by shaking the rope lightly and saying BACK until after a few attempts she was responding to a firm but calm *BACK* voice command. When she stepped back of her on accord i asked for a step forward and vice versa. So after 10 mins of waving it about (the mask) i managed to put it on and take it off again about 6 times whilst she just stood there totally chilled out and relaxed without moving her feet. She got plenty of scratches and strokes and praise everytime she did good and when she went to go through me i backed her up and as soon as she responded i released pressure immediately. I wanted to make it very clear what i wanted of her and the difference between good and bad behaviour - ie good when she stood quietly Bad - running through me, pulling off etc.
Planning on doing 10 mins everyday of general groundwork and learning that its not OK to barge me over and generally try boss me about. ;)

What a result!! now shes out grazing with her face fully protected from flies and the sun - shes going to need it since i have heard theres a heat wave starting tomorrow :D
 
great result.
I've just read your post from yesterday and sounds like she's understanding fast what you want from her. Continue like this and you'll be fine. I'm around the same stage with my 4 yr old.
 
Excellent news. Which halter did you buy out of interest? Sounds a good safe way of getting the message across to a bargy youngster.
 
JoBird said:
Excellent news. Which halter did you buy out of interest? Sounds a good safe way of getting the message across to a bargy youngster.
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Very pleased with it - its just a NH one off ebay - the rope type ones, does the job very well.
 
Day 2:
I have cordoned off a paddock for groundwork - my colt otherwise comes over (hes very nosey). Halter on and she did try and take off again but stopped immediately with a tug - not a hard one this time just a reminder. That was the only time i had to do it :) so a bit of BACK voice commands she did everything i asked, MUCH better than she has ever been :)
Now i feel i can start moving on again and carry on with the backing process :)

If anyone is having problems with bargy youngsters i would strongly recommend one of these pressure halters :) all done humanly and no need for *a rope with a clip on the end banging it around the horses face* as someone suggested earlier on another post :eek:
Just pressure on the halter and being Firm with voice commands and strong body language got the job done :) oh and plenty of praise for good behavior.
 
Well done you, keep it up!

What a lot of people do not realise is that when they allow a horse to become argy bargey and do not correct it firmly and fairly (as you have done) is that they are allowing the horse to become leader. Lead position carries a lot of responsibilities and those responsibilities are never towards the handler, in fact the less respect they have the more dangerous they can become.

Many people think that hitting a horse or reprimanding it will cause the horse not to 'love' them any more yet, from experience, the opposite is true.

You have to show a horse that you can cause it discomfort if it tries things on - I think it is Clinton Anderson an Australian trainer who sys misbehaviour should be corrected and when you do you make them think they are going to die. Doesn't mean a big stick and beating but going into attack mode and frightening the silliness out of them.

I tell all our horses that I own the air they breathe! Any misdemeanour is immediately corrected. when I walk in the stable they move back enough for me to get in there comfortably. they do not move to the door unless they are told to. It is the little things that count and the major things rarely happen.
After all, manners cost nothing!
 
good for you hun and carry it on - personally i dont agree with hitting a horse at all but working with the horse as you have done pressure on pressure off . well done and hey keep us posted hun xx
 
"Says misbehaviour should be corrected and when you do you make them think they are going to die. Doesn't mean a big stick and beating but going into attack mode and frightening the silliness out of them."

Crikey. With a generalisation like this no wonder I have to deal with so many terrorised horses. It seems so many people who have and work around horses don't even LIKE them...
 
lucky7 said:
Day 2:
I have cordoned off a paddock for groundwork - my colt otherwise comes over (hes very nosey).
Click to expand...

Forgive me but am I correct in thinking you are now keeping your colt out with two mares (this youngster and your TB)? Does the colt have company? Or are you trying to breed?!?
 
Tickles said:
Forgive me but am I correct in thinking you are now keeping your colt out with two mares (this youngster and your TB)? Does the colt have company? Or are you trying to breed?!?
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The colt has not dropped yet, he is 13 months old, he has been fully checked by my vet and vet says he is highly unlikely that he will be fertile, he is showing no signs that he is interested in the mare even when she comes into season.

I am hoping he drops soon so i can have him gelded.

The TB is separate to these pair.
 
IHK said:
"Says misbehaviour should be corrected and when you do you make them think they are going to die. Doesn't mean a big stick and beating but going into attack mode and frightening the silliness out of them."

Crikey. With a generalisation like this no wonder I have to deal with so many terrorised horses. It seems so many people who have and work around horses don't even LIKE them...
Click to expand...

Quite the opposite! I have worked with horses all my life and I am past retirement age!
I have the patience of Job and will take all the time in the world when it is needed BUT if I have a horse that has no manners on it then I will NEVER be walked through or over. That horse will be given the chance to do so by opening the stable door, (for example) and as it goes to barge out, I will go into attack mode with arm waving, growling and chasing it backwards around the stable. When it shows the submission signs I will release the pressure and start over. Odds on, one of these sessions, which lasts less than a couple of minutes, and the horse has learned to respect me.
I am consistent, firm and fair.

I will also add that I have probably dealt with more problematic, traumatised horses and got them enjoying life, than most.
 
Foxhunter49 said:
… if I have a horse that has no manners on it then I will NEVER be walked through or over. That horse will be given the chance to do so by opening the stable door, (for example) and as it goes to barge out, I will go into attack mode with arm waving, growling and chasing it backwards around the stable. …
Click to expand...
While I agree with you on your first comment. Can I ask why, when the horse is in the stable, it ever gets the chance to barge out?

The first thing I do when I meet a new horse, is ask it to take just one step back. I will never enter a stable until the horse has moved back from the door.
 
Foxhunter49 said:
Quite the opposite! I have worked with horses all my life and I am past retirement age!
I have the patience of Job and will take all the time in the world when it is needed BUT if I have a horse that has no manners on it then I will NEVER be walked through or over. That horse will be given the chance to do so by opening the stable door, (for example) and as it goes to barge out, I will go into attack mode with arm waving, growling and chasing it backwards around the stable. When it shows the submission signs I will release the pressure and start over. Odds on, one of these sessions, which lasts less than a couple of minutes, and the horse has learned to respect me.
I am consistent, firm and fair.

I will also add that I have probably dealt with more problematic, traumatised horses and got them enjoying life, than most.
Click to expand...


Forgive me if I am reading this wrong but you are ''giving the horse a chance to barge'', so you can consequently tell it off? So your ASKING the horse to misbehave? And on top of this, going into ''attack'' mode in a stable does not reprimand the behaviour, it would frighten the life out of them in the stable! If I did that to my rescue horse in a stable, she would probably never stable again, or come anywhere near me for that matter! Horses react through instinct and fear, frightening them further is clarifying to them that there is a reason to be scared! I thought that was all common sense!

Everyone trains a horse in different ways, everyone sees certain things as right and wrong, but to me, frightening a horse in any sense of the word is unneccessary, we chose to domesticate them, so if they become frightened and follow their instinct, I think there has to be a little give (I am not saying allow aforementioned horse to become bargy, but some understanding goes a long way!)

-Edit- Can I also add that if I dared go into ''attack'' mode with my horses in a stable, I would get kicked in the face, and my thoroughbred would rear (his way of attacking), and possibly kill me?! In an open space is one thing.... stable something else altogether!

I am SO sorry for hijacking your post by the way OP.
 
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