Cob bucking at me when trying to catch him

[Happy Trails]

Hi All,
I am a new member just joined..Could anyone give me any advice on how I can help my cob to stop running out of his stable, he then tosses his head and puffs at the ground and turns his back to me and bucks needless to say I have to move away! Once he is in I have his feed in there waiting and hay net etc and he seems fine. I have had him nearly a year now and have never felt he has seen me as a leader, he used to run at me when i was leaving his field and throw a buck too. When I bought him the lady who was selling him on behalf of her friend said he never reared bucked or kicked.

He has never kicked me while picking his feet out, he has back right hind lameness since march so can only try and excercise him in hand and ride him just walking around his pasture once a week.

I tried walking him around as part of his recovery but he does okay for 2 laps of the field then nips my hand and trys to run off!

He does not like to stand still whilst mounting so i circle him around his block and my oh helps to hold him while i get on with the block, he is 10 now and should be a bit more settled.
Any help or advice to help me stay in control would be so appreciated. I have had tack bought in from a saddler who came to fit it, had his teeth rasped, he just seems to have more interest in the horses in the neighbouring paddock than looking me in the eye lol

 

[spike123]

It sounds like your cob is lacking respect. You say he bucks when coming out of the stable, I presume you mean kicks out with both barrels. This is an absolute NO NO as you could easily be hurt but you then say once in his stable with food and hay he is fine. Do you mean he kicks going into the stable? Assuming you mean going into his stable then there are several things you need to look at. Firstly is he hungry? Does he have access to good grazing or hay in the field? Secondly do you always have his feed in the stable waiting for him, which if he is hungry it's no wonder he is over keen to get in there. Do you lead him in to the stable or just let him go in through the door alone? Do you lead him in just a standard headcollar?

The other issue is the mounting. Are you 100% certain that you are not unknowingly asking him to move while getting on? If so then I'd do some work on the mounting. Circling around the block can help but only if you do it properly so that he realises circling is harder than standing still. If not done right he could see it as just a way of avoiding you getting on board. I presume that you are not getting on at all at the moment if he is lame. The nipping when led needs stopping before it escalates into a bite but firstly you need to know why he is doing it. Could it be boredom from walking in circles or because you are doing it in his field which he sees as a place of relaxation and not for work. Could you not lead him out of the field elsewhere or is there an issue with this as well?

 

[be positive]

There are a whole lot of issues here, firstly he is lame, riding once a week seems an unusual recommendation for the vet to give, normally they are ridden gently each day to build up fitness or not at all and walked out in hand or totally rested until they are better.
He sounds very unruly and bargey but also bored and lonely if he is alone in the field, fair enough if that is to rest his leg but he may be much easier to deal with if he had company.
The fact that he bucks out in the field, or when messing about does not mean he was mis described when you bought him as the seller would be referring to not doing it when ridden, all horses can buck, rear etc when out in a field it does not mean they will do the same ridden.

You need to take control of him before he gets worse, going into winter can often cause even the quietest horses to feel cold and fresh, I would get an instructor or very experienced friend to come and give you some help, they should be able to give you a few ideas on how to deal with him more safely.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Where does the OP say she's riding him and he's alone in a field?! Living the assumptions!

 

[Happy Trails]

Thankyou very much for the great replies.

He has had contact with other horses over the gate but runs up and down the hedge line puffing himself up and running around and slipping when he turns right sometimes, so I have electric fenced the paddock and have kept him way from the other horses to help the healing with his leg. I fenced off smaller areas for him, he has plenty of grass available to him but not too much so as to aid laminitis. I have ridden him out and he stiffens up and spins around, he feels more like a ferrari of a horse than a cob x! I liked the fact he moves forward and not ploddy, he seems quite green and definitely hasn't settled with me yet.
The funny thing is he is happy being led to his fenced off areas in the day time - I put him in at night and picks his feet up fine when picking them out, he has ran off when coming back into his field from doing lameness tests and bucked around and charged at the fence last week, he seems strong and def thinks he is the leader, I say No in a strong voice but he seems to grow a few feet taller when he wants too and just looks stock still at the other hores over the fence, i am thinking hello i am here and i want to show him that i want to be his leader and respected so i can walk him properly, it is upsetting especially as its the last thing i want is a dangerous horse.

I have taken him out and he is spooky and doesn't like being shouted at, not that you want too or takes too kindly to the whip, he has bucked in canter but I manage to stay on, i have luckily being riding for a while but he is my first horse, some days are good each week but others he charges around and i know it is important to stand my ground when he runs around bucking but it's silly to not get out of the way. I would be afriad if honest to take him out in case he ran off (just walking him) my worry is he might try any stupid stunt when out in the future but at the same time appreciate when he is good and think it'll improve.

I will try your advice and thank you to all of you who were kind to take the time out to reply, its great to hear your advice. I hope he calms down esp as i have a young child and he was sold as a kind horse in and out of the stable!

 

[Happy Trails]

thank you spike for your kind message

 

[Happy Trails]

thank you too to be positive

 

[Happy Trails]

for the old nag cinnamon toast! not sure what your trying to achieve by your insulting message, ah well there is always one and you must be it, what a shame you can't respond in an appropriate manner!!!!

 

[lhotse]

I think you will find that Cinnamon Toast was pointing her post at the other posters, not you, so you may like to take that comment back.
Have you really only just joined?

 

[Littlelegs]

Firstly, never heard of a vet recommending a lame horse is ridden round its field once a week. So I suggest you get a vet to treat the lameness, if he's in pain, that explains most of his behavior.
Secondly, if he's fenced off from other horses it explains why he's racing up & down. He isn't happy on his own. Unless he has to go out alone on vets orders, he needs company.
Thirdly, as well as the likely pain, being on his own probably explains the spooking. On their own, a horse has to be on guard 24/7 because they have nobody to take over while they rest. He isn't going to switch that off for you because you want to ride.
Fourthly, you need help on hand to show you what to do, so either find a decent yard with experienced help available, or get a decent instructor or trainer out to help.
Main priority is the lameness, get a vet out. I'd be interested to know what the diagnosis was originally for his lameness too.

 

[Rose Folly]

I think there is nothing that can't be ironed out with help from someone experienced. I would be quite worried at the moment as he has got into some bad behaviour patterns, but I also feel you are expecting rather a lot of him - though I may be misunderstanding what you say.

At one point you seem to say that he is staring at the horses in the next field and not paying attention to you? This is quite normal behaviour, and I don't think there are many horses that would give you their undivided attention when something (to them) really interesting is happening nearby.

There are a lot of issues to address,; you seem to be swinging between being rather frightened of him, then shouting at him, then using the whip - it's all sending out very very mixed messages, and I think you really need to find an instructor or experienced friend to help you out on this. and of course he's lame, which doesn't help matters.

Re Cinnamon Toast> I think in para 2 you refer to leading the horse in hand, and then riding round the pasture once a week - at walk??

 

[spike123]

From your post it sounds like you don't have alot of experience at all. Do you have help? I would certainly suggest that perhaps you need some help from an experienced horse owner or instructor. It's easy to give advice on here but I think that you would get better help from someone who can see how the horse is behaving with you rather than us advising you how to tackle these issues on here. If you are relatively new to horses then you could easily misread what is happening with your horse and end up getting yourself hurt. I don't know how old your horse is but he/she sounds relatively young and if that is the case it is all to easy for things to go wrong and fast without the right help. What area do you come from? It maybe that someone could recommend the right person to help you or who may be willing to come and see and help.

 

[indie999]

Without stating the obvious get someone with experience to see what is going on so they can teach you what is the best thing to do to rectify the situation.
Your horse does need some manners. I had a bargey horse and it was pretty much food related. Clearly you need your horse to come up to you but again you do need to have a horse that knows you are the boss and its on your terms(not theirs) but you will need to work with your horse.

I definitely would get someone in to show you what you can do exactly. Its probably something really simple.

I got some good advice but not saying its what will be good for yours. As mine was food related it was easy to use this to my advantage. But please wear a hat around your horse, just in case he catches you.

 

[devonlass]

I could be way off the mark here but i have this niggle that this is somewhat of a wind up and there is something about it that reminds me of queenbee's controversial post regarding a rude horse that needed a 'pasting'..............................................................................................

Possibly just a coincidence but my gut tells me not

In case it is a genuine post.OP perhaps get an experienced person on the yard to help you with this cob,or maybe just don't stable him for now and chuck him out with some friends so he doesn't get so stressed trying to get them over the fence.

If you can't manage his behaviours then alter your set up to eliminate the triggers until you feel more confident around him,good luck

 

[rockysmum]

I would personally recommend that you try Parelli.

You can buy lots of boxed sets of DVDs which show you in great detail how to handle problems like this.

In addition they sell lots of equipment which will help you to handle your horse. In one of their wonderful headcollars control is not a problem, they also have carrot stick which can be used either to tie bribes onto the end of, or if all else fails to thrash your horse into submission.