Horse HATES me

A

Annalw123

New User
Joined
20 October 2016
Messages
4
Visit site
Bit of background- I look after my friends horse and ride her few times a week. She isn't a people horse she's not really a fan of being brushed or touched by anyone, not timid just uninterested and would prefer it if you didn't. After years now she's still awful with me, getting her in from the field takes me hours when sometimes she'll even come to call for others and if not she might just walk away a few times but then come in but it's taking me over an hour everytime. She spins on me in the stable if I try to brush her, she does the same with tack and head collar when trying to put them on. She can be a stubborn girl and got a bit of bad manners but overall she's pretty fine for everyone else it literally is just me. How can we overcome this? I don't want to give her up, I enjoy riding her and spending time with her and helping my friend, but my biggest issue is her in the field. It wouldn't be as bad if she was the same with everyone else but she isn't, just me!
 
So....what are you doing that is different from everyone else? She doesn't hate you, that is anthropomorphism but she might not trust you or respect you. There are ways to improve your relationship, so long as you want to and don't think it is all her
 
I do everything the same as everyone else, the only difference between me and the other people who handle her is I'm smaller. She definitely doesn't trust me or respect me. Ive reached of for help of several people on the farm for advice for bonding and relationship building and I constantly get 'oh she just must like you least' gee thanks!
 
First of all she does not hate you, horses dislike, distrust but rarely hate anything or anyone, secondly forget about bonding and her liking you and work on her trusting and respecting you instead, do you reward good behaviour or ever go to just say hi and give her a pat or a treat? horses are not stupid and if every time you go to bring them in it means work then a few will decide not to play ball.

With the spinning on you in the stable, you know she does not like being groomed so you are encouraging bad behaviour by not tying her up to prevent it, always tie her up before doing anything, she will start to respect you more if you do and with that respect will come trust.
When she is good, whether it is a minor thing such as standing quietly to groom, pick up feet or mount, or more major such as being caught even if it has taken longer than desired, reward her in some way, minor a quick pat if she likes it or a "good girl" in a cheerful way if she doesn't enjoy a pat, this will make it clear that she is being cooperative and the behaviour is desirable, for being caught use a treat once the headcollar is on, never before, and she should learn that you bring nice things and become easier.
There are many other methods to help with catching difficult horses but I find rewarding them usually is the simplest solution if you are unsure of the horse, just make sure the reward is for being caught and not a bribe otherwise they learn to snatch and run off, a tiny feed when they come in is often best if there are other horses about and they soon learn coming into the stable means a tasty treat in a bowl.

If she dislikes being patted don't do it, she will not appreciate it so learn how to use you voice to give praise, don't take her behaviour personally, she sounds as if she is not a very happy horse and that she has just learned you are an easy "target" if you react to her she is training you to back off whereas everyone else probably just ignores her.

Spend time doing some groundwork with her, it is a great way of building a trusting relationship and can be fun for both of you.
 
First of all she does not hate you, horses dislike, distrust but rarely hate anything or anyone, secondly forget about bonding and her liking you and work on her trusting and respecting you instead, do you reward good behaviour or ever go to just say hi and give her a pat or a treat? horses are not stupid and if every time you go to bring them in it means work then a few will decide not to play ball.

With the spinning on you in the stable, you know she does not like being groomed so you are encouraging bad behaviour by not tying her up to prevent it, always tie her up before doing anything, she will start to respect you more if you do and with that respect will come trust.
When she is good, whether it is a minor thing such as standing quietly to groom, pick up feet or mount, or more major such as being caught even if it has taken longer than desired, reward her in some way, minor a quick pat if she likes it or a "good girl" in a cheerful way if she doesn't enjoy a pat, this will make it clear that she is being cooperative and the behaviour is desirable, for being caught use a treat once the headcollar is on, never before, and she should learn that you bring nice things and become easier.
There are many other methods to help with catching difficult horses but I find rewarding them usually is the simplest solution if you are unsure of the horse, just make sure the reward is for being caught and not a bribe otherwise they learn to snatch and run off, a tiny feed when they come in is often best if there are other horses about and they soon learn coming into the stable means a tasty treat in a bowl.

If she dislikes being patted don't do it, she will not appreciate it so learn how to use you voice to give praise, don't take her behaviour personally, she sounds as if she is not a very happy horse and that she has just learned you are an easy "target" if you react to her she is training you to back off whereas everyone else probably just ignores her.

Spend time doing some groundwork with her, it is a great way of building a trusting relationship and can be fun for both of you.
 
Annalw123 said:
I do everything the same as everyone else, the only difference between me and the other people who handle her is I'm smaller. She definitely doesn't trust me or respect me. Ive reached of for help of several people on the farm for advice for bonding and relationship building and I constantly get 'oh she just must like you least' gee thanks!
Click to expand...

How rude of your fellow liveries! If you only catch to ride, she may be anticipating that and doesn't fancy it.
 
Thankyou all, I will take ideas on board and give them a go. I love her to bits I do, I think it's the people around me making it worse with their comments. Thanks again 😊
 
I agree with everyone above who says she doesn't hate you.

After you catch her, what do you do? Do the others catch her to ride her? Could she be uncomfortable under saddle and associating you with being worked? If you can rule out any physical discomfort, then I'd look at what it is that you are asking from her.

Some horses just don't particularly want 'relationships' and far prefer to be left in peace and to do their job when ridden. It may be better to view it as working on your communication, rather than on your relationship. A relationship infers you're asking for a connection from the horse in return, whereas communication is a necessary skill between all horses and riders.

One I'm riding at the moment is like that. She doesn't want to be bothered on the ground but comes to life when she's asked to work. I've used our ridden sessions to work on our communication and focussed on absolute consistency in my responses to her. As a result, she has begun to trust me on the ground and is generally more pleasant to be around.

Ground work could also be really useful for yours. I find long-reining is a good way to get them listening to you and to remind them that their attention to you shouldn't just be limited to when you're in the saddle.
 
As others have said, she doesn't hate you but doesn't appear to have trust or respect for you.

Some horses just don't like being fussed over so you just have to live with that. With this type of horse I tend to leave them well alone in their stable and would take them out and tie them up outside to groom, tack up, change rugs, etc. In fact I very rarely do anything other than change rugs in the stable with any of my horses.

It may be that you are unaware that you are a little nervous of this horse and she may be picking up on this. Be confident, take things slowly but be in command and reward any positive behaviour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top