Help with Temper Tantrums!

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marley1708

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I have a 17.1 IDx 13 year old gelding. He is an absolute sweetie on the floor and is usually as good as gold when ridden, however over the last few months he has developed a habit of having temper tantrums when on a hack. I have had him checked over and all of his tack, but the tantrums are getting worse. He starts to throw his head around and then leaps, then usually turning into a buck or two! If I slap him down the shoulder this exacerbates the bucking even more. Any ideas on what to do next?? I am starting to lose my confidence with him!
 
I know you've had him checked over but his sudden and new behaviour at 13 (when I assume he's previously been fine to hack???) does ring of a discomfort problem somewhere. Have you owned him long? And does he do it at a specific spot on a hack? Is there a trigger for the behaviour you can think of? Does he do it in company or out hacking on his own, or doesn't it matter?
 
Does the head throwing usually start at the same place or time? Does it come from no-where or does he jog etc first? What does he do when he's finished bucking? Horses always have a reason for this behavior, sorry more questions but hard to say how to solve it without knowing why he does it.
 
Thanks for your responses, I got him on loan last April. I'm not 100% sure that this isn't behaviour that he has previously displayed and I wasn't made aware of it at the time. He was previously ridden by a novice rider, and I have a feeling that he was allowed to do as he pleased when he was being ridden. He is quite a greedy boy and last summer I had a battle with him on many a hack, whilst he wanted to constantly eat! I do think that he was allowed to get his own way and now I am saying different, he thinks he can throw his toys out of his pram as it were! There is no specific spot that he does it, he has napped as well a few times and tends to go backwards. He will go quite happily out on his own and has been ridden in company, and he has tantrums either way. He had been ridden for over an hour the other morning before he decided to do it 10 minutes from home?! After he has had his little tantrum, he is perfectly normally behaved again. It really as if the little devil has gone and he is back to being an angel! He doesn't jog, he has done it in trot but the other morning we were just walking and suddenly we got the head shake/neck wiggle followed by a leap and a couple of bucks, all over in about a minute and continued on his way??! The only thing that has changed in my managment, is that I am asking him to move on and go where I want to go not what he wants to do!
 
He was ridden twice a week until Mid summer (due to personal circumstances) then once a week from September onwards until Mid December. Behaviour started in September when he had a short break, which lost my confidence with him. He was okay on and off until January, when the behaviour is getting more and more regular.
 
My mare is teh queen of temper tantrums. I've just learnt to ignore them and leave her to throw her toys out of the pram. Eventually she gets the idea and gives in. Sometimes it means I can't do anything other than walk (explosions :p ) but I still make her work :) The more she's worked the less she has them.
 
Hard to say but I'd guess if pain/ lack of fitness ruled out it sounds like he's checking you out really. Is it possible you are perhaps holding him a lot to stop the grazing? Assuming he's not schooled from what you've said, it could also be he's trying to say he's uncomfortable with the restricted head movement a shorter rein gives him.
 
Mine has through phases of having tantrums out hacking if he hasn't been out for a while, for example after we had all the snow last winter. he chucks his head about and runs backwards. Smacking him gets him even more het up, he threatens to rear and kicks out.
I just sit there calmly, and every time he moves I turn him in tight circles. I don't let him go the way he wants to go, and then once he is facing the way I want to go, I relax but don't apply any pressure. I wait a few seconds then if he relaxes too then I calmly send him forward but if he is still tense I wait for him to prat about again and carry on circling. so he eventually gets bored of circling and does as he's told!!
You just have to gain control of the situation, by gaining control of his movement. It might take 20 mins of circling but he will give in in the end.
 
marley1708 said:
He was ridden twice a week until Mid summer (due to personal circumstances) then once a week from September onwards until Mid December. Behaviour started in September when he had a short break, which lost my confidence with him. He was okay on and off until January, when the behaviour is getting more and more regular.
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So he's not been in any sort of regular work then since you've had him, by the sounds of it - no wonder he's objecting.

I would ride him quietly every day - for no more than around 40 mins (hack not school). You need to get his fitness levels up (riding him every now and then for over an hour is not fair), and also get him in to a routine.
 
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