Groundwork tips on horse scared of electric fencing...

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PaulnasherryRocky

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Under saddle my horse is so brave (far braver than me) and will do anything you ask of him without fuss; But on the ground, his in hand work is pretty hit and miss.

His new fields are electric fenced, which he had no problem with until he zapped himself a few times and now hes a pain to get in and out of the field because hes scared of the gate!

Does anyone have any tips on how to get him used to just going through the gate and waiting patiently on the other side while the handler does the gate back up (the electric fencing with those spring hook things being the gate).

At the moment you get within about 3m of the gate and he stops dead, if you spin him round once you may get one more step forward out of him. hes fine if there is someone walking behind him, but often the YO is at the yard on her own so is having problems with it.
Most horses you can just wave the lead rope at this side or give them a flick on the bum with it- for my horse he then just gets scared of the lead rope, the handler and the electric fencing all at the same time and he just walks backwards from you (very calmly walking backwards, no threats to rear or spin round, just walks backward away from the things he is scared of)

So from this I know I really need to work on his ground work- how can I get him used to the usual methods of driving him forward with the handler at his side, without him being scared of everything around him?
I guarantee if I rode him in and out of the field we would have no problems- just on the ground he isn't so trusting


Natural horsemanship/parelli will probably be recommended, and tbh- ive had nothing to do with it before but am all for "whatever works for your horse" so im willing to give anything a go to see how he feels with it.

I'm rubbish at writing on these posts and they all babble on but the bullet point questions here being:

-Best way to stop horse fearing the electric fence
-Tips on what to do to improve ground work
-Tips on how to teach him to lunge without panicking about the person at the end of the rope "might hit me" (even though they never have- though I've only had him since Feb and know little about his background- he was used as a hunting machine in Ireland so unlikely hes done much ground work at all)
 
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try long lining through it so he knows he has to be driven forward, as you say someone at the back usually gets him thruogh. Pulling a horse will never work and you can't be at the head and flicking at the bum all the time.
 
the problem is that electric fencing is designed to keep horses away - you can't really blame him. My horse has a melt down if it clicks when he is near it so much so he has run me over in the past and broken my foot. I would think you really need 2 people, one to open the gateway right up so he can safely go through and the other to lead him through.
 
In an ideal world this is great, the other technique ive got at the moment is opening the gate with me holding the very end of the lead rope, throwing the gate bit as far away on the floor as possibly, walking through, letting him go and then doing the gate up once hes walked away. This is great when there aren't any other horses in the field, but when there are others in there too it's a pain because i cant just leave the gate open as they will just decide to come in for dinner!
 
and then at the other side, might have to figure out a method of getting him tied up until the gates shut...like a loop on a tree or put in a post with a ring.
 
The other other option is to pay for a 5bar gate to be errected lol

I have had problems with a cob and hating the gate too so i can sympathise. It usually ended in having to do a massive cat leap with the cob at the gate. Not very safe.
 
He doesn't lunge yet either : ( he has been on the lunge twice, once for the vetting (he just galloped around the handler until the vet said to stop before he hurts himself) and the second time I paid my instructor to lunge him- he relaxed in the end but was tricky to lunge (quick to face you, had trouble keeping rhythm & got tetchy/scared of instructor whenever the rope was wiggled about a bit- cant use whip), and as I am not confident in my own lunging skills I didn't want to make any problems worse by being a rubbish handler! So lunging lessons for myself are starting either this week or next
 
calmgirl said:
Can you make the gate way wider so he doesn't rush through or notice it, and bring it in closer every few days?
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Can't do this as it goes through wooden fence posts as opposed to the plastic ones that are easy to move...luckily the electric fence is temporary as there are plans to make it post and rail, just those plans will probably take quite a while to put in to place as there are higher priorities at the moment (new yard set up)
 
It seems like you have two problems here: 1) being scared of the fence and 2) having poor groundwork skills in general. If you're confident riding him could you set up a mock gate (piece of tape between two posts) in the arena or corner of a field and ride him around / over / through the gateway doing lots of transitions etc over and around a piece of tape to teach him to walk through politely / not rush etc.
In terms of ground work I think I'd try doing a little bit each day - i.e whenever you're moving him around make sure he's walking out besides you, halting when you halt, moving back when you do etc. I found treats to be invaluable for keeping my horse's attention on me and not on the scary leaf /log etc. Make sure you use a lot of voice commands and keep relaxed yourself. Good luck!
 
Would try switching the electric off while you bring the horse out of field. Some horses are very sensative to electricity and electicity has been known to jump to horse. Many years ago I rode a horse down the side of sheep netting the horse totally lost the plot and I later found out it was due to the electric fencing. On another occassion was asked to help a lady with a horse who was having difficulty getting it through the gate. As soon as we switched the mains electric supply off the horse behaved the lady was in shock and couldn't understand why it hadn't come to her before, but if you have never seen or expereienced you wouldn't know !
 
Firstly , I would ask myself why he is scared of the electric fencing , and , if you will excuse my bluntness , it is because it hurts , a lot , when you touch it . I am very sensitive to sound , nose , sensations (aspergirl ), and the sound of a clicking electric fence makes me feel very nervous too , and I know exactly what is going on - I am switching it on myself !
So I am assuming you have the electric off when you are asking him to come though the gate ? If not , you will find it a lot easier to have it off while to practice going though the gate , and then introduce the electric on , slowly afterwards ( I will give a suggestion how , if you are interested , but I wont now as I don't know if this is even a problem ) .

Secondly I would ask how I wanted the horse to go though the gate , a) Because he is pressurized ( I am not talking about huge pressure , but what you described in you first post - " tapping and flicking with the lead rope " , some people seem to take offense when I call it pressure , as they assume that I am assuming that they are beating there horse - I am not , I am just calling a spade a spade ) or b) , because he knows and understands that the gate won't hurt him , so he will see no reason to be scared .

You could start by showing him that the gate different from the rest of the electric fence field , in changing the color of the tape ( colouring it or buying an orange line of tape for the gate ) .

I will write more , if you are interested , but write now I need to go to supper ! :)
 
Turning the fence off if possible, when you are taking him in and out would be a good option - will also eliminate the risks of accidents.

What you are doing dosn't sound too bad, maybe just a much longer lead rope to give yourself a bit more room when opening and shutting the gate would help. Also means you don't need to let him go.

I'm lucky that I can turn the fence off when I am down there, and just flick it back on when I leave. However one of mine knows exactly when it is on and off - and when it is off just goes under the gate. My others have a healthy respect for it on or off - and the good thing is they treat all fences with the same respect.
 
In terms of his groundwork and walking with me at his shoulder, stopping when I ask and backing up- all of that he has brilliant manners for, it only becomes a problem when I try to get him to go past something he doesn't like the look of OR trying to get him to trot with me next to him(in hand showing at the moment would just be embarrassing!) - so basically anything that is me asking him to go forward when he might not particularly want to is where I have problems as he feels more comfortable with me walking in front of him but then I don't want to start dragging him everywhere either!(unless there is someone behind him).

As far as I'm aware I'm not allowed to turn the fencing off, probably because of the youngsters in the field next door that are likely to run through it the second it is switched off- but I will definitely ask if this is possible even just for a day while I work him through it.

I think for now I will use a lunge line and lots of treats and will try to just repetitively go through the gate until he is bored of doing it, he was alright(ish) this weekend for me to bring in but during the week the YO does this for me and he needs to learn to trust her- just of course she doesn't have the time to faff around at the gate with my horse every morning! changing the colour of the gate is a good idea, might see if I can give that one a go if poss.

Will update after "gate practice" this evening!
 
equi said:
The other other option is to pay for a 5bar gate to be errected lol
Click to expand...

I had to do this with mine as she is terrified, for a couple of the electric fence gates I am feeding her treats when she gets close to them and now as long as I do it really slowly I can now open them with her standing still as long as I keep talking to her quietly and making her feel safe but I am still working on closing them
 
Changing the colour of the gate will not help at all ,if you don't explain to him that this , different coloured but of electric wont hurt him , like the rest of the field .
What I would do is be very passive , and let the horse make the initiative . As you are using treat ( I always use treats :) ) I would ask the horse to come to the gate , and when he stops , at the point where he believes there is danger , I would stand passive . Looking off in a different direction and waiting for him to think this though . I would reward any slight movement of going forwards , and I would suggest this occasionally , and reward loads of he takes a step , or looks at me . When he walks backwards I would go with him , to show that no-one is going force him into something he believes ( and rightly so! ) will hurt him .
 
Feeling a fool today as he was absolutely fine to turn out and bring in yesterday, no doubt he will just find something else to be a pain about! still though- onward and upwards I have a lunging/groundwork lesson booked with him for next week!
 
this is what I do as well, I bring in 4 at a time as it is easier to do that than have to faff about putting the gate back up to contain the next 2. My horse is scared of electric fencing (as he blundered through some sheep fencing out on a hack one day when he spooked & when I got off to lead him back over it he managed to stand both front feet on it), but he copes with this perfectly well morning & evening
 
One of mine is like that. He now only goes in a field with a proper gate. Personally I am a huge fan of proper gates. Those bits of live electric wire leave you electrocuted and helpless in the face of a crowd at the gate! Well, if you're me anyway :D
 
PaulnasherryRocky said:
Under saddle my horse is so brave (far braver than me) and will do anything you ask of him without fuss; But on the ground, his in hand work is pretty hit and miss.

His new fields are electric fenced, which he had no problem with until he zapped himself a few times and now hes a pain to get in and out of the field because hes scared of the gate!

Does anyone have any tips on how to get him used to just going through the gate and waiting patiently on the other side while the handler does the gate back up (the electric fencing with those spring hook things being the gate).

At the moment you get within about 3m of the gate and he stops dead, if you spin him round once you may get one more step forward out of him. hes fine if there is someone walking behind him, but often the YO is at the yard on her own so is having problems with it.
Most horses you can just wave the lead rope at this side or give them a flick on the bum with it- for my horse he then just gets scared of the lead rope, the handler and the electric fencing all at the same time and he just walks backwards from you (very calmly walking backwards, no threats to rear or spin round, just walks backward away from the things he is scared of)

So from this I know I really need to work on his ground work- how can I get him used to the usual methods of driving him forward with the handler at his side, without him being scared of everything around him?
I guarantee if I rode him in and out of the field we would have no problems- just on the ground he isn't so trusting


Natural horsemanship/parelli will probably be recommended, and tbh- ive had nothing to do with it before but am all for "whatever works for your horse" so im willing to give anything a go to see how he feels with it.

I'm rubbish at writing on these posts and they all babble on but the bullet point questions here being:

-Best way to stop horse fearing the electric fence
-Tips on what to do to improve ground work
-Tips on how to teach him to lunge without panicking about the person at the end of the rope "might hit me" (even though they never have- though I've only had him since Feb and know little about his background- he was used as a hunting machine in Ireland so unlikely hes done much ground work at all)
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Hi there.. Just read your post.. Several years ago so don't know if you'll get this.!.. My new horse is afraid of elec fence.. Its a large livery yard and horses turned out into individual elec fenced paddocks.. Its exactly your scenario.. Walking backwards etc.. He's fine in every other way, but like your horse, nevet had groundwork and he's SO wary with that too..
Wondering how you got on with your horse.? I'm a relatively inexperienced rider and this is my 1st horse.. Thanks.. M
 
Hi! Wow i'd forgotten i'd written this post haha!

I'm at a different yard now which doesn't have elextric fencing - which I fully understand doesn't help you at the moment!

I THINK to help the situation I ended up leading two horses in together and he kind of used the other horse as a barrier between the electric fence and him - also, taking my hat up to the field and riding him through worked. After quite a bit of time he just got used to it, as long as they dont ever accidentally get zapped when you walk through, each time he goes through he will grow in confidence about it. Not sure wether your horse bites or not, but giving a treat every time he goes through might work too.

Have a look at some TRT training as well, I can't post a link as you have to be a member to get the videos - but there is a couple of videos that might be able to help where he is showing a horse that is scared of going in and out of its stable, and a horse thats a bit of a livewire on the way to the field - mxiing the tichniques of those two videos together might help your horse understand that it is safe? Let me know if you sort it, good luck!
 
PaulnasherryRocky said:
Hi! Wow i'd forgotten i'd written this post haha!

I'm at a different yard now which doesn't have elextric fencing - which I fully understand doesn't help you at the moment!

I THINK to help the situation I ended up leading two horses in together and he kind of used the other horse as a barrier between the electric fence and him - also, taking my hat up to the field and riding him through worked. After quite a bit of time he just got used to it, as long as they dont ever accidentally get zapped when you walk through, each time he goes through he will grow in confidence about it. Not sure wether your horse bites or not, but giving a treat every time he goes through might work too.

Have a look at some TRT training as well, I can't post a link as you have to be a member to get the videos - but there is a couple of videos that might be able to help where he is showing a horse that is scared of going in and out of its stable, and a horse thats a bit of a livewire on the way to the field - mxiing the tichniques of those two videos together might help your horse understand that it is safe? Let me know if you sort it, good luck!
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Thanks so much for your response.!
I'll have a look @ that.. My YO helped me out yesterday, Ace was taking the p*** as well as being obviously scared.. He, of course allowed YO to lead him out with a lot less fuss than w me.! He said he'd change his paddock today, s ill ser later what hell be like.!
It's all new to him, a huge change from a peaceful life in a big field w 1 or 2 horses and no electricity to a yard w loads of horses and wires that bite.!
I'm new to horse ownership too, so between the 2 of us the last 8 weeks we've overcome challenges bit by bit.
He's a willing horse, likes being ridden but very wary of all groundwork.. Slow work trying to help him.. .
Thanks again for your message.. Good luck w your horses.. M
 
MazzMara said:
Thanks so much for your response.!
I'll have a look @ that.. My YO helped me out yesterday, Ace was taking the p*** as well as being obviously scared.. He, of course allowed YO to lead him out with a lot less fuss than w me.! He said he'd change his paddock today, s ill ser later what hell be like.!
It's all new to him, a huge change from a peaceful life in a big field w 1 or 2 horses and no electricity to a yard w loads of horses and wires that bite.!
I'm new to horse ownership too, so between the 2 of us the last 8 weeks we've overcome challenges bit by bit.
He's a willing horse, likes being ridden but very wary of all groundwork.. Slow work trying to help him.. .
Thanks again for your message.. Good luck w your horses.. M
Click to expand...

Welcome to ownership then! When i wrote this post originally i'd have been a new horse owner - now I have that horse and a yearling! I've never had a youngster before so i'm sure I will have plenty of challenges too! Good luck with your horse, it sounds like you are doing everything right to make a good partnership
 
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