Have you ever lost your temper or come close to it with your horse?

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Sunny08

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Now before anyone rips into me i must first state that I absolutely adore my horse, she is my pride and joy and I don't think I could put more effort in with her to always do the best by her.

However this morning she very nearly drove me to losing my temper - she is 4yrs old and hasn't been broken that long. I got up really early to ride because of the heat, I've had a frustrating time at work recently and was not looking forward to my day of meetings ahead so was a bit hot and bothered anyway. Anyhow she has recently moved yards and has fallen head over heels for a gelding there and is in season. I think my mood and her season was a bad combo!

Up to this morning she has been pretty much an angel most the time, but today all she did was yank at my arms, spook at nothing, leap forwards whenever i asked for a transition and was just really playing up. I got stroppy with her, and unsurprisingly she got even stroppier with me! I got to the point where I really felt like giving her a pull in the teeth and a smack with the whip. I hasten to add I didn't and have always been very softly, softly with her before but she really wound me up today! I ended up just walking on a loose rein till she settled into a nice walk (without leaping skyward every 5 seconds) and then called it a day.

Someone please make me feel less frustrated by this and tell me we all have our off days!!!
 
You know what its natural the same way your horse will or can loose their temper with you by bucking or piss assing about ect we all at one point loose it.
Anyone who knows me will tell you that I adored my little man (Rip) more than life its self he was my pride and joy and kept me going through everyting he was the reason I got up in the mornings and did a job I hated.but when he pissed me off (all be it, it took an awfull lot to do) he really pissed me off.
If there was no reason for him being a git or doing something to hurt me he got a slap and I made sure that when he did something good after even if it was the smallest of things I gave him a treat that way he knew and learnt the difference. Fair I think
Where as if we schooled Id give him 3 attempts to get something right and if it was something difficult then id do something simple and praise him them try again, should I get really annoyed Id get off cool down then get back on again and start with simple stuff but thats just me.everyone has their own ways of dealing with stuff
 
My horse tanked off with me (I was leading him) a few days ago and he hit my parked car and dented it. He got shouted at and yanked on the leadrope
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It doesn't sound to me as though you did anything wrong. All horses have their off days as do all people, and obviously when you both have an off day at same time, it makes things harder.
Don't worry about it too much, the horse will forgive and forget. And it sounds like you did the sensible thing by walking on a loose rein and calming her down.
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Nickie
 
Horses are great at pushing us arnt they
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But yes, your not the only one hun, my horse is an angel one day, but the next, he acts as though he has no idea what any of my legs mean! He couldnt possibly move sideways and for him to 'walk' past the bin is completley impossible lol.
 
Dont worry, so many people will know that feeling, you did really well not to loose your temper millions would have. I have a mare who on a good day will turn herself inside out for me, but if she's feeling that way out I may as well put her back out in the field or be prepared for a battle. Thats just the way she goes, usually coinsides with the time of the month too.
 
I can be quite brutel and it's still not enough. Horses are blimming strong, powerful and protentaily dangerous animals which need to learn manners and know when there pissing you off and crossing the line. I have been known to kick Jesse in the belly when he's getting to much because it's the only way to get his attention and let him no it's not acceptable. I tend to be quite vocial when riding if I'm frustrated with the horse and have given a jab in the mouth to say 'come on stop pissing me off and listen'.
 
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I can be quite brutel and it's still not enough. Horses are blimming strong, powerful and protentaily dangerous animals which need to learn manners and know when there pissing you off and crossing the line. I have been known to kick Jesse in the belly when he's getting to much because it's the only way to get his attention and let him no it's not acceptable. I tend to be quite vocial when riding if I'm frustrated with the horse and have given a jab in the mouth to say 'come on stop pissing me off and listen'.

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Am glad some one has said that. And I totally agree manners do need to be learnt.
 
I doubt there is a single person who can honestly say they have never lost their temper with their horse. I want to say well done though for not actually doing anything to your horse, you are so well disciplined and self controlled.
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Yes, but only once have I lost my temper badly... she pulled back and broke the bailer twine for the 4th time, and would not stand still, I smacked her round the neck with the leadrope and felt really really awful at the look in her face
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But we all lose our temper a little bit, in that manners need to be learnt etc Don't worry, they forget
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Star's best trick for driving me absolutely barmy used to be by not being caught
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When I first got her (emotional teenager
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) She used to have me in floods of tears of frustration.... Now, she still does it, but I just laugh about it.
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I was leading my young arab colt I had (a few years ago) down the field in the winter, out of the blue, he bit the top of my arm and it really hurt, really really hurt. (my arm was so bruised!) Straight away I got the end of his lead rope and wacked him round the head so hard...
I know that was harsh, but no horse of mine bites me. End of!!
He never did it again...
 
oh i have lost it a fair few times with the grey in my siggy but he was a nappy little sod
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not something i'm proud of but he had to realise that bucking/rearing/napping away from pole on ground was not going to wash with me...
my youngster has pushed me a couple of times to the point where i think about losing my temper but so far i've managed to stay calm and nice and have been rewarded by better pony behaviour....
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don't know how long i can be so restrained for mind!!!
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I have lost my temper a couple of times with each of mine over the years. I just shout and rage for a bit after giving them a hard smack on the shoulder.
 
I've never given my horse a proper wack but she galloped off down quite a steep hill with me once and I of course didn't want her or myself to get injured and I did come close to losing my temper with her but the girl I was hacking with offered to take her off me. I honestly wouldn't have hit her but I was very angry with her.
 
Yes. Generally I keep calm but I can be pushed... a horse I used to share had a spoilt and naughty fieldmate that I used to feed as a favour to his owner. Can't remember what it was he did but it must have been bad because I chased him round the field waving a leadrope and headcollar at him cursing like a lunatic
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He was much better behaved from that point on!

This was an early morning incident though... I am not a morning person
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I was there tonight, George pushed me to the end of my tether, he kept peeing off in the school with his head in the air and then did a big sidestep and I fell off......he got called many bad things that rhyme with buck (thank goodness no one around!). I got back on and got him to do something well, stopped praised him got off and burst into tears!
 
Hope you're okay GG.

I have lost my temper with various neds over the years - I was not put on the earth to be bitten, kicked, squidged or otherwise abused. I'll do nothing more than another horse would do and in more cases, due to being a weeny human, a lot less.

I did once lose it big time with LL when he worked hard to get both daughters off, one after the other. That wasn't good. Then he just stood and looked at me with a totally bored air about him, but since then, I'm the one he'll behave most for.

I had a good grump at Dizzy the other day when she decided I was a barge post
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I asked her to walk round me on the end of a long lead rope, she told me to faff off and fly
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. I insisted that she do as she was told, which required the use of the end of the lead rope - the net effect of which was her looking at me as though to say "You fly thing you". We got there in the end, but I was kn*ckered.
 
I think to be honest we all feel like it at times and at some point it happens, i tend to be very calm and shout NO very loud and wag my finger at them from a young age, most learn but kicking and bitting is a big NO NO and and will get a slap very hard back which i say all of us do as a pain reaction thing.
Have to say when one of the mare kicked me bang in the hand the other day 3 times i did kick her back not hard but on the leg she kept kicking me with she got such a shock the i actually hit her she stock and has not done it agina for a week
 
Yes plenty! But have disciplined myself not to take it out on neddie. Apart from the other week when he kicked me so I kicked him back in the belly and swore at him like a trooper cos it bloody hurt! Posted about it and most were on-side, but also quite a few who felt I shouldn't have kicked him - he's not tried it since though and hopefully never again!
 
When my boy was young and used to take 2 hrs to catch (even at tea time) I used to loose it regularly.

Forunately all I could do was jump up and down in the field and shout a lot! Used to give up for 5 mins at that point and count to 10.
 
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I was leading my young arab colt I had (a few years ago) down the field in the winter, out of the blue, he bit the top of my arm and it really hurt, really really hurt. (my arm was so bruised!) Straight away I got the end of his lead rope and wacked him round the head so hard...
I know that was harsh, but no horse of mine bites me. End of!!
He never did it again...

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Oh....I had that with our youngster.....I WILL NOT have biting, especially in a childs pony.....a few good slaps on his neck/nose and a shout and he's never done it again, bless him.
 
I lost my temper really badly with my mare & gave her a right hiding, she was being a cow but I totally over reacted.
I've had her since she was 3 & she's now 29, it only happened once but even now (about 15 years later) I still feel really bad about it.
I actually loose sleep over it sometimes I'm that mortified by my behaviour. It taugth me a lesson though; I now walk away if I know I'm going to get angry as I know what I'm capable of.
Animals live in the moment so (as it was a one off) she didn't suffer any lasting effects but I did!
 
I've lost my temper with a few of my horses, some have been god and others a night mare and they always get a smack they must learn to respect me as theyre 10 times my size. D the one i have now when i first had him decided to test me to see how far he could push me, used to run off when he saw the headcollar. Once i got it on he'd buck and rear not nasty but again just trying it on. I gave him a stinging crack across the shoulder with the end of the lead rope with a knot in it and he's never done it since. I had to show him whos boss as i have arthritis and cant afford for him to mess me about. He know walks himself in with the lead rope hanging round his neck. Oh and the midget got a smack this morning too as he dragged me all around the yard, over moms garden and round the cars as he didnt want to go back out after coming in for brekkie. He may only come upto my thighs but he's a little git when he wants to be.
 
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