Do you ever lose temper with your horse?

E

el_Snowflakes

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 May 2009
Messages
3,318
Visit site
Before i start- i am not a horse beater or anything! my horse is very well cared for :D however, occasionally (like today) she can be an absolute pain in the arse and her bahaviour can be totally unacceptable. I have to admit i sometimes lose my temper and tonight i yelled at her and smacked her with the whip :( on occasions like this i end up really annoyed at myself but sometimes she pushes me over the edge! does anyone have any tips for staying calm? or do u think its sometimes a good thing to show your horse your annoyed when they are taking the mick?
 
Personally, I think if you're trying to teach a horse anything, you have to stay calm - even if you've reached the low growl and a sharp word phase of correcting them. That said, however hard it is to admit (to oneself as much as anyone), there are days when it's next to impossible to do so.

I know I once jumped off my Life Partner Mare midway through a schooling session where she was just in one of THOSE moods, looped her reins up out of the way, walked out of the school, around behind the barn, and just screamed. If I'd stayed another second, she'd have been in a can being fed to dogs!!! That was only a few years ago. I look back on a few incidents in my childhood and wince, though.

These days, if I think I might get pushed over the edge, I either change the plan for the day (e.g. hack instead of school) or don't ride/work them. It's amazing how effective the thought of doing nothing with them is at mellowing me out, even when I'm super-stressed and short-tempered!
 
I lost my temper once with a big fat waste of space riding school nappy cob. It still makes me annoyed to think about it now lol! The bugger would NOT move trying to get him in from the - about a mile and a half from yard - field and I was by myself, no mobile, ended up having to walk back to yard with the tack I'd been dropped off with and no horse.
I would have absolutely loved to beat the crap out of the ugly beast at the time but I don't imagine it would have achieved anything, wouldn't have even frightened him I bet! I just shouted at him a lot, had a little cry, let him go and never attempted to handle him again!! :D
 
I wouldn't say I'd lost my temper with one, but I have certainly yelled and smacked them...
 
Yes my old horse!! Lovely chap, a 16.2 be Ex national hunt racer,big built and been there seen it all type, very occasionally he would take the p out of me when trying to catch and I would end up losing my rag and throwing the headcollar at his arse as it galloped past! Achieved nothing, but made me feel better lol!
 
Yes.

Yesterday, my one miserable cretin of a mare got the other mare trapped next to the fence (post and wire, not barbed luckily), started laying into her and the poor girl just somersaulted over the fence to where I was standing.

Misery knows that we do not do that, and I'm afraid I saw red. I grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be some guttering and chased her with it shouting. She wasn't happy and just looked at me all indignant and miffed after she had farted her way up the field.

I can't stand bullying and she can be a bully, especially at feed times.
 
I've never lost it with mine but they do push me sometimes. My mare used to nip me when I first got her and she found her self on the end of some choice yellling a number of times :) :) Earlier this week she was determined to reach some 'better' grass on the way to her field and suddenly dived across me, catching my cheekbone with her head! I now have a very attractive black eye thanks to her.... for which she received a huge slap on the a*se and a piece of my mind. Apart from that we normally get on very well.......:D
 
I haven't lost my temper, I have been annoyed and/or yelled at them and also given them a whack. The one balled wonder got all of the above yesterday, he barged out of the field when I was getting our other youngster then started throwing his head around when I was trying to put on his head collar and whacked me in the face. So I gave him a whack on the neck, yelled at him and chased him off. He knew I was getting them in for feeding and was being bolshy. I then sorted out the other youngster all the while keeping him away, after I walked up to him and he stood as good as gold whilst I caught him.
 
Last edited:
I think there's a difference between telling a horse off (verbally or a little smack) and losing your temper... I have had to tell my horse off a few times (mainly for being bargy) but can count on one hand the number of times I have had to hit him (lightly), have never really lost my temper with him. He is only six and quite sensitive, and I don't have much of a temper, so we get on quite well most of the time!

Although I did give him a tap with the whip today as he was a bit nappy, think that is acceptable.
 
Very rarely!
Normally I get on with my horses very well

I got very annoyed (but not really lost temper) with Roo the other week when she started kicking out at Jimmy while I was attempting to lead them in. she got shouted at and I made her walk as far away as possible (end of rope)

I REALLY lost my temper a while back and I am not proud of it. The only time Ive really seen red! Jimmy was trotting circles round me and nipping me when I was trying to lead him across field. It had been going on for days, and Id tried being nice, and Id tried growling. And this particular day I just wasnt in the mood.
I smacked him a few times with the lead rope, and I kicked him (which Ive NEVER done before and dont plan on doing again!) and then I felt awful for it. But he didnt do it again
 
Ashamed to say it but yes, both my OH and myself lost it while trying to load the mare we were taking down to Southampton, 5.30 am she refuses to load, an hour later OH loses his temper after being dragged round yard several times, off he trots for a ciggie and to calm down, he is normally unflappable.
I take over, she goes so far, then reared, jumped off ramp or planted, each time jarring my arthritic hands, OH comes back, suggests putting her back in stable to calm down, by which time my blood is up, so I said she's going in dead or alive, by this time it's well daylight and rush hour traffic, 2.hrs 30 mins it took until she decided, oh well i've had my fun and on she walked.
This mare still has her stubborn moments with my daughter, she is still the only horse we would happily have shot
 
No. On occasion I've shouted, hit & kicked(back!) When I've felt it was needed, but not in temper. That said, it takes a lot for me to lose my temper, I'm always pretty relaxed & calm in general.
 
I do not lose my temper with the horses but will certainly tell them off or slap if necessary. IMO it is far better to do this, long before the temper losing stage, than put up with bad behaviour and then see red. I certainly would never hit a horse with a whip in temper, what on earth is that supposed to achieve?
But then, I'm a teacher and well-practised in the art of dealing with bad behaviour without losing my temper.
 
Not the one I have now. He is generally a good boy. I sometimes growl at him when he's thinking of having a buck and that's enough to stop him. If he's being cheeky it usually makes me laugh rather than getting angry :)
 
No, but used to witness this a lot at a previous yard. She used to cross tie her horse, shout at them an awful lot, swearing at him on the ground and when riding him. And still think she was the bees knees..
 
I haven't lost my temper to the degree of beating a horse or anything. I do recall several years back having to hand the reins of my pony to my mum as I was so mad I thought I woukd lose it with him! Lol

Mind you my horse quite often gets a bit of a shouting at an as had the odd rubber bucket thrown at him (for things sch as barging out of the stable!) To be honest though it doesn'tmake any difference in the long term as he still does it! This morning he got a rollocking off me (again) as, although he had 'tphis chain headcollar on, I wasn't paying full attention at the time and he decided he was off - cue me grass-skiing behind him!!! Thankfully the chain headcollar did assist but this is his favourite 'party trick' and he is a swine!!!
 
Temper no, but he did have a smack this morning as after riding I was rugging him to turn him out, pushed him back from the door to do up his front chest clips and he decided as he wanted to go out NOW, it would be a really good idea to strike out with his front leg in impatience!!!

One good smack on the chest and he decided actually that wasn't the best or fastest plan of action!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top