Bolshy Cob

olliethecob

olliethecob

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My cob has started becoming very bolshy when i lead him to the field, he used to plod so nicely at the side of me, now he pushes me and barges to get past me, any ideas much appreciated. I do lead him on a headcollar up to his field and i have thought that i may have to start using his bridle for more control but i would rather get him back to being good!
 
Mine have got very hungry as the grass started to come through but has now stopped. Could he be hungry and in a hurry? I know it still isn't acceptable but could you feed him before you lead him?

ETA I see its on his way out, maybe he is wanting the shiney new grass?
 
I have found a Monty Roberts 'dually' halter a god send for bargy/difficult to lead horses - they cost around £40 but may find a second hand one on ebay.
 
Cobs get bolshy very quickly - they have size on their side!

I would always switch to a bridle when Dorey got the bolsh on. I would also carry a whip. I know, I know, HHO will be in uproar but when you have 450kg of cob trying to get to food and you're an 80kg human, a whip evens the score.

I have had many compliments as to how polite my cobs have been and everyone knows they loved me so were hardly abused!
Don't take bolsh from them though, you HAVE to stand up for yourself!
 
I have a 4 year old cob who is usually very well behaved. Just recently it is if he has been invaded by gremlins. When I have brought him in from his paddock usually he is perfect the last two weeks he has been acting like a complete loon. Spooking, rearing, barging, you name it he has done it and although other horses kicking off in their paddocks is the cause it's not funny when you have a big horse doing this at the end of a short rope,

My solution has been to yank on the rope and growl at him, back him up, turn him around and around until he is listening to me not them. Yes I have carried a whip but not had to use it but he has been more respectful because he can see it but the other thing I have done purely because he is going up is to wear a riding hat.

I have found that the more respect I have on the ground the better he is under saddle.
 
Rope round the nose, made to walk right by my side and every so often told to stop and back up - Thats what I do with mine, as she will literally drag me across the field for grass!
 
Yep, this is typical cob mentality/behaviour.......mine will still do this from time to time at age 23ish!!!! Agree with the whole 'rope the nose, back up, wait for respect' post - this is not punishment, but just a reminder of the agreement between us, which has to be there as he is 525 kg of opinionated manliness!!!
 
My mare was initially very bargey and bolshy. had people on yard advocating use of a chiffney!! Not keen. Found a dually halter very effective at giving control and instilling respect. Hardly ever use the dually attachment now but handy on the rare occasions when she needs it again. Would really recommend the dually.

I've heard welshies can have a tendency to be a bit bolshy on the ground and as the others have pointed out, 500kg's of horse versus fragile little you is not an even contest, so definitely getting something sorted out for your own safety is a good idea!

Others at yard deal with bargey behaviour with their horses by taking a whip out with them, turning round in circles , backing up (tried this with mine and she reared) and some give an elbow in the shoulder. Not keen on this.

One point about a dually - if other people are bringing her / him in and tying up, make certain they know NOT to leave her tied up on the dually attachment. Very bad if horse pulls back on this!
 
Another vote for the Dually over here :D
My fat man is all neck & chest and when he spots a particularly tasty looking patch of grass I usually ended up in a ditch :o
He used to be a lazy b*****d too so he'd just stop and decide he wasn't moving an inch, the Dually stopped both of these problems.
I was lucky enough to have someone on my yard lend me theirs as they are pretty pricey as headcollars go but it was a godsend :)
 
I'd get a dually and do some ground work with him, make sure he walks next to you for a few paces, stop and if he doesnt stop when you do, you must back him up straight away. then when he stops at the exact same time as you, give him a nice rub on the neck and keep repeating this until he stops when you stop every time! the dually will help as it will pull tight when he's not doing what you ask of him!

but make sure you have it fitted properly and maybe even get a session with a trained person to show you how to use it correctly!

I use this on my youngster that likes to rear!!!
 
kerrieberry2 said:
I'd get a dually and do some ground work with him, make sure he walks next to you for a few paces, stop and if he doesnt stop when you do, you must back him up straight away. then when he stops at the exact same time as you, give him a nice rub on the neck and keep repeating this until he stops when you stop every time! the dually will help as it will pull tight when he's not doing what you ask of him!

but make sure you have it fitted properly and maybe even get a session with a trained person to show you how to use it correctly!

I use this on my youngster that likes to rear!!!
Click to expand...

I'd do similar but with a rope halter or a normal headcollar-I'm not keen on Dually's I don't think they release quickly enough.
 
He seems to be worse coming in at night back to his stable, but he does have hay in a morning before he goes out now and that seems to have slowed him down a bit.
 
Personally, I can't be bothered to use Duallys or Chifneys etc.
I just teach them manners in a normal headcollar, leadrope and carry a whip if they are seriously rude. I also carry treats as rewards.

If he starts to get onwards bound, ask him to halt, when he does reward him with a treat at first, plus your voice/pat.
You need to repeat this until he will halt on command, and only reinforce it sometimes with a treat.
If he seriously refuses to halt, first try little jerks on the headcollar, if that still fails, smack him across the chest with the whip (one with a leather flap for noise rather than pain).

Sounds harsh? Maybe - but there's nothing worse or more dangerous than a horse with no manners.
S :D
 
Similar advice to all of the above. I'd get a rope halter (chiffneys look scary and I don't want to have to haul on a horse with anything in their mouth, and I've never even seen a Dually so don't know what they do) and go on a walk with him. Whenever you feel like it, stop. If he continues to go, make him back up immediately. And he has to do it energetically. No shuffling half-heartedly backwards. You should, ideally, aim for a soft and pleasant back. When my horse was young, I'd back her up across half the yard if she had her head high and a grumpy expression on her face, and only let her stop when she started to make gestures indicating softening. Moving ears forwards, licking, lowering the head, any of the above would do. Horse soon learned groundwork (and by association, under saddle work) had to be done with a smile on her face. But I digress. To sort the bolshiness, he just has to go backwards. Softness is the next stage. Once he does so with suitable enthusiasm, stop, praise, walk forward again. Then stop. If horse runs through you, back again he goes. Rinse, repeat, until he's paying attention, which he will.

Your timing (as with anything else) is critical. If he runs through you and keeps going for even a few seconds and then you ask him to back, it isn't going to be very clear to him why you're making him run backwards. You have to read your horse and react the second he begins to push through your halt.

Food in the stall isn't an excuse. There is very little grass where my horse is out now and she and I both know a big pile of hay awaits in her stall. She has the odd day where she starts walking more enthusiastically than me and pushing past. She gets the halt-back correction but at this stage in her life, all she needs is a step or two backwards and she says, "Oh, right, sorry about that."
 
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My friend cob treats me like target practice - he's the first horse I've know since my first pony 40 years ago that hasn't respected my withering look and sharp voice commands. He's Parelli trained and respects his owner just not me; sometimes he actually scares me - he would go through me. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do some Parelli stuff just so I can handle hime safely. My mare's on my side, she's top of the herd and keeps him firmly in check :D
 
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