Can you explain my horse's odd behaviour?

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horsegirl

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He was being very difficult about standing still to be mounted so I had his back checked and all OK. Vet did a bute test just to be sure and there was no improvement but by consistantly standing on the mounting block and rewarding no movement on to pickinh up the reins, laying across the saddle and putting a foot in the stirrup and rewarding only when there is no reaction he is now quite good when I get on but it is a different matter when my daughter gets on the mounting block. He moves backwards, sideways, he stamps his hind feet, twitches his skin, thrashes his tail around, turns his head and tried to shove her off the block, puts his ears back and pulls faces but as soon as I get up on the block again he is fine. Eventually we get him to a point where he does not react and then he gets a treat and she can get on him and he is getting better but I can't understand why he behaves like this. Once she is on he is fine. Any ideas?
 
Do you ride better than your daughter, ie softer hands, seat etc or is it in fact the other way, does she ask more of him?

Is there much difference in weight of you and daughter?

Anything at all on these lines?
 
I am a lot heavier, that's what makes it so strange. I would think he would object to me getting on as I weight more.

She doesn't really ask him to much other than walk and trot with a bit of leg yielding although she does ride without stirrups which I never do.

She says she doesn't jab him with her toes.
 
Does your daughter wear perfume /scented deodrant? Might seem like an odd question but we had a pony that one lady could not catch at all because of the deodrant she was wearing. The pony was fine with everyone else. Or perhaps she is wearing some item of clothing that could cause static? My OH has had 2 horses- both of which object to him putting their rugs off as he seems to wear clothes that give off static.Both horses are fine with me!
 
This is how i can to buy my horse, she was at an equestrian center and after a year and a half wouldnt let anyone on her, doing the same things as you have described!
I decided to buy her and it took some time to let her get used to me and wouldnt let me get on from the ground, i have to use a mounting block. I am the only one that rides her at the moment but i do want to see how she will go with someone else.
I think that she had a bad experience with someone trying to get on her from the ground in the past and it has stuck in her head.
I think after a bit of time and good experiences your horse will be fine.
I do the same thing as you, i get on and if she has been a good girl she gets a polo, she lets me get on first time now (as long as i use a mounting block) and she turns her head round as soon as i sit in the saddle waiting for her polo.
 
My horse was a sod to get on so in the end I just threw myself on and once on board he was find. Then I decided that I wasn't putting up with it anymore
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.

Basically I set aside a day to start and my aim was to get on without him moving. It took 40mins, but I would just walk him around in a circle everytime he moved an inch. I didn't tell him off, but just kept circling. In the end he got fed up and stood still
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. Each day after that I did the same and gradually we got to 3 or 4 attempts to get on.

2yrs later he still has ants in his pants, but stands still on the 2nd or 3rd attempt. He's a Welsh Cob and I think his bolshyness means he can't seem to do what he's told 1st time. He's just like a teenager
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have u tried him with a different rider aside from urself or ure daughter? would be interesting to know if its just ure daughter or just u i.e if he stands for the stranger i'd look into ure daughters way of getting on etc.
does seem odd, as it really sounds like a pain issue but then he'd react that way no matter who it was getting on. maybe he just loves his mummy but has some sibling rivalry with his sister lol
 
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He's a Welsh Cob and I think his bolshyness means he can't seem to do what he's told 1st time. He's just like a teenager
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That sounds very familiar!!! And funnily enough...my boy is a Welsh Cob too!
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He sounds like he knows your daughter is smaller and easier to take the mickey out of.

And you probably dont want to know how I would deal with it (as it would involve a smack and a growl etc)
 
He does know she is more nervous than me. The moving, twitching & thrashing is ignored but I'm afraid to say the ears back and back leg waving gets a firm " NO" and sometimes a slap on the shoulder or under the belly if he persists.
 
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