Does smacking horses actually work?

Doormouse

Doormouse

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Now before anyone thinks I am a fluffy bunny hugger, I'm not! I have ridden and worked and owned horses all my life from youngsters to geriatrics and all the ones in between and have many a time resorted to a swift smack when they are being naughty.

However, just lately I seem to have had quite a few horses who get worse when they are smacked and it lead me to reflex on previous horses and whether when I smacked them they did improve or if it simply made me feel better at the time.

I was always taught that many horse will go better for a pat than a smack and certainly the last few I have dealt with have been infinitely more silly and stressed if I have smacked them.

I am bored at work so thought I would just throw this to you guys and hear your thoughts.
 
Toast said:
I will give mine a smack if theyve been naughty, i feel on occasion it has worked.
But i think this thread has the potential to be a 'can of worms' type of thread myself.
x
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In what way? I'm not suggesting it is either right or wrong, simply interested to know how other people find their horses react.
 
my youngsters i give a smack with a raised voice, eventually the raised voice does it on most occassions, but i would always back up with a smack if necessary.
I have found it works but i do it so infrequently that is prob more shock than anything else when they do actually get a smack
 
I think it depends on the horse. I've certainly seen it generate more confrontation than there was before the smack and when it does work I hate to see it do so through fear (espec. in horses that have been abused in the past, can totally shut them down so they 'withdraw' from interaction.)

I don't foresee myself doing it a lot in the future...
 
Depends on the horse. However if a horse nipped me I wouldnt be backing it up with a pat, they get a slap or a pinch back!
Two of mine are fine with smacks, the youngster though goes nuts and rears on you so if he nips he gets a punch, if he p****s about he gets growled at :D grrrrrr.
 
I suspect it depends on the individuals involved. Flynn yesterday absolutely could NOT (would not!) leg yield from the three quarter line to the track. He could leg yield from the track to the three quarter line on either rein, just not back the other way. He'd love to be given a pat and told he was a good boy. What actually happened was that my daughter picked up a "noisy" whip and the next time she asked she tapped him lightly but so that the whip made a noise. All of a sudden leg yielding back the track just wasn't an issue. He was just being bolshy because he could, a pat would have done absolutely nothing, the tap made him sit up and take notice.

On one of my other horses it would have been down to her not understanding what was being asked and she'd start to get stressy - in her case picking up a stick would be liable to get you on the way to be deposited on the floor, whilst a neck rub or pat would give her the confidence to try again.
 
How did the cat kick go?

As for the smack, surely it is like anything, works for some and not for others. It does nothing to my horse apart from make him behave worse but then he was beaten from 0years to 6years by the gypos that had him so bad memories. So no patting, no whip, no lunge whip and no smacks for him. It makes him anxious and sweaty and neurotic. I growl at him in a deep voice when he is naughty which seems to work or give him evils. But I am sure this is not for everyone!

I am also bored at work!
 
I too am longing to hear the cat result, sadly Shils is clearly still looking for the cat - sure they will report shortly!

Interesting to hear that so far most of the posters have said they growl at their horses first which demonstrates that voice is often effective enough.
 
I sadly also sing to him to calm him down when he gets really anxious as that seems to work, probably more to shut me up!

"god she is singing again, if i just chill out and behave she will finally stop!!"
 
Depends on the horse. Mine hasn't done anything to warrant a smack for years but it, for example, she nipped me, then she'd get a smack on the nose with the flat of my hand and that would be that.

A fellow livery's horse, however, is very confrontational and if smacked in any situation would be most likely to turn around and give you both barrels to the face. :rolleyes:
 
Snow Tiddely Pom said:
Now before anyone thinks I am a fluffy bunny hugger, I'm not! I have ridden and worked and owned horses all my life from youngsters to geriatrics and all the ones in between and have many a time resorted to a swift smack when they are being naughty.

However, just lately I seem to have had quite a few horses who get worse when they are smacked and it lead me to reflex on previous horses and whether when I smacked them they did improve or if it simply made me feel better at the time.

I was always taught that many horse will go better for a pat than a smack and certainly the last few I have dealt with have been infinitely more silly and stressed if I have smacked them.

I am bored at work so thought I would just throw this to you guys and hear your thoughts.
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I like to remember when I was smacked at school (many years ago) and I don't know whether I deserved it or not it was infants but I know I always hated that teacher with a passion.

It's so difficult with horses to know for certain why they aren't cooperating, I like to try and stop and look through their eyes at why they're objecting and see if I can make things clearer or if there's a reason, physical or mental such as pain or fear. I wonder if we expect horses to read our minds sometimes? All I know is smacking didn't do me any good and I didn't like the person who smacked me. :(

jemima_too, those cats in your signature are hypnotizing me! :D
 
I've always been taught that the whip isn't ever to be used as a punishment, but as a reminder or wake up call...

So if my horse stopped at a fence, I growl. Then on the second approach I'd give him a smack on the arse, reminding him that he was meant to be listening to me and doing what I said.

ETA: I used to sing when I went XC- I swear that after 5 years of this, my poor horse must have known his alphabet as that's all I ever sang!
 
The lady we are getting to help us bring on our youngster says there is never a need to smack a horse in anger. She uses a whip to make the horse go forwards and stand still (by tapping his legs if they move) and thats it.

Have to say I agree with her, rarely (if ever) are things made better by smacking a horse. I think it just makes us feel better, as a teenager, I smacked my horse far more than I should have (despite him being a nappy rearing a*se, I now know better :o

I do far more with body language and my voice, which can be v loud ;)
 
I have 2 totally opposite horses 1 of them will get a smack in her stable now and again as she is very very dominant and can be aggressive - she is absolutely fine but you must be the boss of her and she has to be put in her place when needed or she would become dangerous.

My other horse has never been smacked in his life and would never need to be - he is a sweet sensitive boy and if he ever does anything out of line which is rare a slight raise in voice is more than sufficient.

I dont disagree with smacking them but it has to be instant and for bad behaviour not for someones loss of temper or frustration or for the horse being frightened. I think the grey area appears when people smack horses when they dont understand the behaviour they are displaying correctly.
 
if a horse is being really bargy and rude, i'll give it a shove or a smack, but something that happened 2 nights ago got me thinking about exactly this.
while i was doing the 10pm skip-out, 1 of my mares, the naughty bright one, shoved the door open and scarpered onto the yard. she shot out of the door, which to me shows that she knew she shouldn't do it. i've told her off for it before...
this time i just ignored her (she was in a safe area, nowhere to go really) and finished tidying the stable, got a headcollar, went and found her (grazing happily), calmly put the headcollar on (if i'd chased her initially, she'd have played the can't-catch-me game for a little while, i think), gave her a pat and led her quietly back to the stable. i didn't tell her off at all.
since then she's been better about it, not worse. the door's been ajar a couple of times as i top up water or hay, and she hasn't gone out once, although she knew she could have. she's actually been more respectful because i didn't tell her off or smack her.
interesting imho...
 
People are too quick to do it IMO. Yes they might think 'oh I must not do that again' but it doesn't let them know what they are supposed to be doing. Horses do everything for a reason. And I am no bunny hugger.
 
blackcob said:
A fellow livery's horse, however, is very confrontational and if smacked in any situation would be most likely to turn around and give you both barrels to the face. :rolleyes:
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My friend's horse is like that, you get the feeling he is looking for confrontation when he misbehaves and when you ignore him he looks disappointed! It's the only way to deal with him is to ignore him, he is usually acting up to something you are doing (plaiting, tacking up etc) so you just have to get on with it and after trying a few different tactics to annoy you, he gives up.

My gelding is a chancer, given the oppurtunity he will walk all over you, a growl or a smack is all it takes to make him tow the line again. It's rare he needs telling off these days though.
My mare on the other hand is the epitomy of polite, to tell her off would a) be unecessary as she rarely puts a foot wrong, and b) result in her having a breakdown!
 
This is really interesting. After the first few people scoffed at it and dismissed it as a fluffy thread people have come up with some really good points. I would never say if it is right or wrong but it is interesting that when you don't necessarily react with a smack, to what you consider to be bad behaviour, the different reactions you get from individual horses.
 
I think it totally depends on the horse. My old gelding got a smack at times when he was arsing about and clearly knew what he was doing. It worked instantly and we had a fabulous relationship.

My last horse on the other hand was a very sensitive KWPN mare who I had serious problems with (looking back we never really clicked and she erroded my confidence quite a lot). I tried smacking her when she was messing about (after trying other things first - unsuccessfully) and it was a very bad idea. She was so sensitive and neurotic that she would just go into a blind panic. Needless to say I never tried it with her again!!
 
Snow Tiddely Pom said:
This is really interesting. After the first few people scoffed at it and dismissed it as a fluffy thread people have come up with some really good points. I would never say if it is right or wrong but it is interesting that when you don't necessarily react with a smack, to what you consider to be bad behaviour, the different reactions you get from individual horses.
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I think it is interesting too, everyone thinks I am a loon at my yard for asking them not to pat denzil or yank on his lead rope. They have got used to it now but at first i tink I was viewed as this bunny huggy hippy horse lady but the fact is when I first got my boy he wouldnt even stand still to have his mane brushed, he was always dancing about and worried and so when he was genuinely naughty it was really hard to know how to react to it.

I really do think they are like people, they are bright and some like mine come slightly bruised from the past. If someone smacked me i would cry and hide from them until the went away, but that doesnt mean that i have not been brought up to know right from wrong, it is the same thing surely?

Good thread and thank you for brightening my dull afternoon at work!!
 
AS others say all depends on the horse.

Micah is very sensitive and to shout and smack him now is not needed and would spoil the relationship we have.
However when I first got him he had a couple of BIG smacks when he kicked out at me for no reason. He hasn't done it since! Kicking and nasty biting are the ONLY things I smack for and depending on how serious the kick/bite was aimed depends on how hard the smack and growl!

WC I had once needed a strong hand, not necessarily smacking but pushing back into his space a lot
 
kirstyhen said:
My friend's horse is like that, you get the feeling he is looking for confrontation when he misbehaves and when you ignore him he looks disappointed!
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That is exactly it! For the mare I know it is not her fault at all, she hasn't been turned out or ridden since they came in in October (:mad:) and consequently goes out of her way to get into trouble on the yard just for something to occupy herself. She is a typically scatty chestnut TB mare and fly-kicks at the slightest provocation at the best of times, you can imagine how dangerous she is becoming after a winter in... :rolleyes:
 
Still bored, so another point to this .....

I turned a very aggressive youngster out with a pack of older horses once (all unshod I add). He predictably started kicking at everyone and generally causing chaos. As I was about to intervene before he really hurt one, the senior of the herd arrived, walked straight up to the youngster and pushed him over with his shoulder. Youngster landed splat on the floor, picked himself up, looked very surprised and a bit shook and never caused a moments problem from then on. Needless to say the senior horse was then his hero and he followed him everywhere! That is how horses deal with discipline with each other.
A friend of mine had a horse who bit everyone. One day when he bit her she grabbed his ear and bit him back really hard! A little extreme perhaps but he never bit anyone again!
 
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