Colt trouble!! HELP!

I've been showing over 15 years shown all sorts of horses and ponies, I've even been at a dressage yard and handled/cared for young fit dressage horses and stallions and also worked with show horses and ponies with hoys winners, I have come on here to ask for some tips how to improve him this particular colt as it seems everyone is telling us different! Please do not come on here and say I'm too young or not experienced I manage well with him acting like he does
Please do not say he is too young to show you get broad mares with foals at foot show!? If it's too young to show then why do they have youngstock classes? Even foal classes now days!?
It's being made out to sound like our pony is an almost wild stallion and he isn't, he doesn't kick and comes running up to you in the field to greet you, he ties up fine, is groomed everyday and rugged feet trimmed regularly which he is brilliant for has the vet out for vaccinations and is brilliant he doesn't do nothing that is totally uncontrolable we have obviously just used the excuse that his behaviour is down to him being a baby which we now know its him being bad mannered I've spoke to owner, cancelled any immediate shows we got planned and will be focusing on getting him better handled, he I turned out on his own as the yard as 3 mares and 3 colts one colt is poorly and they all end up getting to rough with each other, plus started to mount the mares
 
Yes, I'm aware of youngstock classes.
I however said, if a horse is not ready, then it is by no means a justifiable thing to enter one just because there's a class for it.
The best horses are saved and bought out when they're spot on...not overshown too early.


even at home he is constantly bitting me I always come away with a million cuts and bruises,
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e gets handled every day but even walking him to and from the field can be a struggle he either jogs next to you with his head turned in at you trying to bite or arch his neck and pull and run circles round you.
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Unless you have the horse in a consistent spot on form at home, then I wouldn't even consider taking him out to a show. You have no groundwork to fall back on when things start going wrong outside his comfort zone. So, until you have him 100% mannered and reliable at home and out of the yard etc walking, don't even think about shows. When you finally feel you have this at home, THEN take him out to an event. Don't enter him. Just take him out for a no stress day of learning, till again, he is reliable and mannerly. Then when you have this, then think about entering some low-key classes till again he's spot on. Then when he's reliable and mannerly in them, then go for your big shows with him...THEN start hopefully getting the results he's felt capable of.

He has his whole life ahead of him to win ribbons, not to have such a short term aim as a 10 month old. Winning things at that younger age really is not as important as manners - as you're finding, the lack of them is getting him no-where hence the post on here.

I cannot stress enough personally that any baby really needs the first year to just be a baby and get a herd mentality. Fix his home set-up so at least he's got some social life! Whether it's getting a quieter colt as a companion or even an older gelding...anything just to teach him some social skills and manners!

I'm glad you've put any shows on hold and I wish you all the best.
 
They have young stock classes as there are some that are ready for showing!! Yours isn't! There a world of difference taking a mare and foal to a show and taking a out of control colt!
I'm sorry but you are beginning to sound really inexperienced. I thought you said you were 19? So I'm not sure how you can really have that much experience of showing horses and particularly difficult colts. Please accept that not all horses (particularly youngsters) are right and ready to be in the show ring. Maybe in a few months he will but for the moment he is not.
 
PGF said:
And this seems (maybe I'm wrong :rolleyes:) like evidence of why not everyone is cut out for owning youngsters. It sounds to me like no one has ever shown any disciple, and he's just been allowed to be boss all the time.
1) Beg the owners to geld it. What happens if one day you can't hold onto him and there are mares around? Also, it won't make him a saint over night, but it may improve his rowdiness and belief that he's better than you.
2) Square up. On the rare occasions horses have gone for me, squaring up (making myself as big as possible, tensing shoulders, arms slightly out) and stepping firmly into their personal space and using my own body language to drive them back tends to work. This way you teach what your own space is, and that they down get to be in it. Likewise with the biting, the moment is head moves towards you in a threatening way, get up and drive him back.
3) what are you leading in? A pressure halter may be useful for practicing at home, it allows you to reinforce the aids mentioned above, but there are many makes that are gentle enough for me not to worry about using them on a baby.
Whilst I personally don't agree with the amount of showing being done (ours do 3 shows as foals->yearlings - a small one where they just go look around and watch the other horses, another small one where they actually do a class, and then their keur. That's it.) stopping now won't help matters. Nip his behavior in the bud before he gets bigger and stronger.
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This is the way to go, my friend breeds ponies that she also shows, but they only do about 2 or 3 shows as foals, anymore and they very quickly become sour. A baby should be out playing with other babies not expected to go to show after show, its a lot for a baby of that age to cope with. As to teaching him some manners it comes with practice, take some lessons from someone more exprienced, that colt is taking the p. I have owned colts and never had a problem like yours, they turned into nice easy to handle horses, its all about being the leader but never be harsh.
 
The behaviour you describe is not unusual for a young colt who is pushing the boundaries. Some are very precocious. Can you get someone who is experienced at groundwork to come in and give you some pointers? T'interweb is not going to help too much, as the solution is all in body language, timing and consistency, and that's something you really need to be shown first hand. Oh and absolutely no kisses on the nose as with a bitey colt that is bliddy dangerous.

Nb I took Wolf to three shows in his yearling year so as not to over cook him. Our Spud was seriously overshown as a youngster, and by the time he was 6 he had had a complete mental breakdown. He was reserve national champion foal and British National Futurity Champion at 3, but at what cost to his long term wellbeing? He never had a childhood.
 
Apologies if I've misunderstood but if he's turned out alone his behaviour will be very unlikely to improve.
He really needs to be out 24/7 (weather permitting :o ) with company to play with and, ideally, an older one to put him in his place and keep him there. All my youngsters at weaning, go out with 2 of my ex stallions that are now grumpy old geldings, any bolshiness is sorted within days.
Is he the same with whoever handles him? What breed is he?
 
cassiejames600 said:
Please do not come on here and say I'm too young or not experienced I manage well with him acting like he does
Please do not say he is too young to show you get broad mares with foals at foot show!? If it's too young to show then why do they have youngstock classes? Even foal classes now days!?
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Sorry but i DO think you are not experienced enough if you struggle to handle what sounds like your every day typical colt!
Some colts ARE rough and ready and want to play and rough house with thier field mates. Its what colts do!
And whether you want to hear it or not it does appear its too much for him.
Some foals/youngstock cope quite well.....yours it appears by his behaviour does not.
He needs another youngster and ideally an older steadier pony to chaperone them in the field. That way he can burn off some of that excess energy and the older pony is there to instill some manners.
AFWIW foals are generally accompanied by mum....which calms them and reassures them everything is alright.
Your lad is obviously less than reassured right now.


ETA....and if you were that experienced you certainly would not be kissing a colt on the nose!
 
A yearling really only needs to be shown a handful of times on the season.

There are a couple of reasons he may not have done very well in your four times out; behaviour, conformation, condition, turnout, handler.
 
joeanne said:
Sorry but i DO think you are not experienced enough if you struggle to handle what sounds like your every day typical colt!
Some colts ARE rough and ready and want to play and rough house with thier field mates. Its what colts do!
And whether you want to hear it or not it does appear its too much for him.
Some foals/youngstock cope quite well.....yours it appears by his behaviour does not.
He needs another youngster and ideally an older steadier pony to chaperone them in the field. That way he can burn off some of that excess energy and the older pony is there to instill some manners.
AFWIW foals are generally accompanied by mum....which calms them and reassures them everything is alright.
Your lad is obviously less than reassured right now.


ETA....and if you were that experienced you certainly would not be kissing a colt on the nose!
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Took the words out of my mouth.
Said colt is the Welsh B from previous posts I'm guessing also?

ETA - as not really to do with the post
 
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cassiejames600 said:
I've been showing over 15 years shown all sorts of horses and ponies,
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All due respect but showing at the age of four or 10 is hardly going to be experience for 'solo handling'... And I believe you said this is only the second colt you have shown/dealt with? That isn't experienced in showing colts...

You don't need a school...and it's not playtime if he knows it's 'work time'... Bearing in mind he is still a total baby... We've got a Sec D just turning 12 months and only recently gelded... He's been a typical bolshy baby but when the head collar goes on - it's 'work' in baby terms of learning manners... Just walking in the field, too and from the field, going through the gate, in and out of the stable - it's all 'work' in that he has learned to move with all four feet underneath him, without crowding, at the person's speed, forward or back, side to side, or standing still for a few minutes... And that reciprocal nibbling isn't welcome when he's being scratched by hands... Of course he's a baby so sometimes he'll try it on or bounce or get excited and that's to be expected, but there's no punishment - just getting back on track... He can do what he wants when he's turned out and with his four legged friends - but he has learned (and is still learning) that his behaviour should change once the head collar goes on... And it needs daily reinforcement, lots of fun and rewards... If your colt is turned out on his own (not good), it's perfectly understandable that he is going to more than a bit wired when a human playmate/chewtoy arrives...

Just because a baby can be entered in a show, it doesn't mean that this baby is ready for it...

:)
 
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cassiejames600 said:
Anything he does doesn't scare me but at shows I get really annoyed and impatient with him,
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I think this may be the crux of the matter. The colt seems to have had little or no formal training and, when he acts as some colts will, you get annoyed and frustrated. This will not fill him with confidence and a desire to be with you, so he will try to bite and will be inclined to rear if you attempt to control him by force.

Regardless of your experience/age/ideas, you have not got what it takes to deal with this particular animal. Fair play to you for seeking advice, but I think you need more help than you can find on a forum.

Basically this colt needs to be taught how pressure and release work for him, and he needs to be sensibly handled by a handler who is able to teach him without using force or making him afraid, yet firm enough to let him know he can't intimidate them.

I suspect the owners are not helping as much as they might either, and your input is just not enough to swing things in your favour. You may wish to direct your enthusiasm and efforts in a direction which will be less frustrating and more rewarding for you.
 
My friend does the mare and foal class, the foals are not expected to go into the ring alone as yours does. By the time they go to shows later on its not so scary because they have seen it before.
If you get annoyed and impatient with him that will make him alot worse, you need to be patient but firm.
You need to get him doing what he will do in the ring, properly at home before you even think of going to a show. Most people of your age (i have two teenage daughters) dont like taking advice, but it does seem you need some help with this colt.
 
I knew you would react badly to being told that you don't have the experience to be dealing with this youngster. Unfortunately, nearly every time you post you are proving that. If you had enough experience you wouldn't be asking what to do on this forum. I really think in this situation the colt needs some experienced hands-on help (rather than various good and maybe bad ideas from the internet that may or may not be applied well by yourself). You need experienced hands-on guidance as well. If you didn't you wouldn't be having these problems and you wouldn't be posting here in the way you are.
 
Colt needs gelding now ; perfect time of the year , and plenty of time for him to recover. Geldings in general have a much better quality of life than a stallion. Why does this colt have to remain entire? In this climate breeding horses is a non starter, unless you realy know what you re doing.[ And we have stood stallions, but have seen plenty of colts ruined by inexperienced owners, who end up isolating them ,beating them up ,or passing them on ]
Geld.It. Now.
 
Unless you can get his handling unto scratch there is noway that he should be out showing. Most youngsters behavour will become worse in the first few shows , so unless the groundwork/handling is upto scratch he should not be going anywere.

There are so many colts out there, why does he need to be a stallion? You say he has good breeding? Unless you get this sorted with experienced help then sadly this colt will end up even more rude and will be no good as a stallion.

I have a yearling, she wasn't handled until 9weeks ago. She now leads inhand walt+trot, stand square patiently, voice commands. She did test the boundaries with rearing but nipped it in the bud straight away and taught her pressure/release.

She will go inhand 2 or 3 times this year max. They do not need to be out anymore then that.
If you only have a field to practice in which is his his behaviour will def change at a show and keep on the same, he will have other horses, different exciting/scary sites.
My mare is meeting new horses in a relaxed environment and getting use to haveing them trotting with her/around her, taking her for inhand hacks so she can see different sites and getting as many people to come up and run there hands along her so desensitise her.
 
I have a 16 month old yearling; he was gelded when he was 10 months. He has excellent breeding, but I didn’t want a stallion & he has spent his last 8 months I have had him hanging out with all the (older) boys being taught manners by them and spending time with me. I have taught him to tie up, pick his feet, get them rinsed and he’s handled by the farrier without a problem. We walk over poles occasionally and sometimes have a little wander down the road together with my OH & the dog. He walks and stops when I ask, he almost never barges out the stable (except the one day my YO had a hangover!) and I would consider him a fairly well-mannered little chap.
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I am really proud of him; I have never had a baby before and only have 1 other horse. Don’t get me wrong, we still have our challenges – he was really naughty on Sunday, but it is all part of him growing up and learning what is and is not acceptable. Biting, kicking, barging and pawing are not accepted and he knows it.
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Sometimes we Novices do an OK job, but I have never over-faced him and understand that he can only do little sessions at a time before he gets bored and naughty.
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I think your colt needs some time out with some big boys and he needs his balls cut off as the hormones surging round his body doesn’t help at all. Showing clearly isn’t his thing and I think his owners (and you) need to accept it. Maybe re-introduce in a year, but I think it is clearly all too much for him IMHO.
 
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