Horse protective of back end

FlyingCircus

FlyingCircus

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Curious as to outcomes if anyone has ever faced this before. My 4yr old mare is v protective of her back end to the point she will kick out at things that touch her accidentally. For example, tonight I backed her up over some hay which touched her back leg and she kicked out at it. The other day I watched her kick out at her wet tail touching her leg...

Not ever met a horse this sensitive about it before. She is inconsistent with picking up her hinds, sometimes kicking out (straight back, never at me).

She's sound, vet has seen her, next step is physio to see if she is sore in any other way which is causing the reactiveness.
 
Should add, the inconsistency when picking up her hinds seems to stem largely from when I don't "prepare" her enough for lifting her foot. E.g. I run my hand from her hock down = not ok but if I place a hand on her bum, run my other all the way down her leg from the top and then pick up her foot she is usually ok!
 
I have a mare a bit like this (except she will aim at you too if picking her hind leg up at that moment displeases her) It seems to just be her character- she's got a less dramatic about it now aged 6, she was awful to initially rug, put boots on etc
 
perhaps she has not been handled much as she is so sensitive..how long have you owned her and is she welsh....i have come across this before with welsh cobs and they have improved with kind consistant handling...but it took a while
 
TheMule said:
I have a mare a bit like this (except she will aim at you too if picking her hind leg up at that moment displeases her) It seems to just be her character- she's got a less dramatic about it now aged 6, she was awful to initially rug, put boots on etc
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Uh-oh! Haha. She does have a tendency to get very frustrated if she doesn't understand something or is asked to do something she doesn't want to (standing still!). So maybe she will always be reactive too and will just lessen with maturity...fingers crossed!
 
splashgirl45 said:
perhaps she has not been handled much as she is so sensitive..how long have you owned her and is she welsh....i have come across this before with welsh cobs and they have improved with kind consistant handling...but it took a while
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I've had her 3 months, she is Welsh and she has been handled for around 4 months (only lead in/out of field and trims before she came to me). She's finding the whole "boundaries" thing a v difficult lesson and will escalate her behaviour pretty quickly if you're not quiet and consistent..but perks of a welsh I suppose!
 
When I bought my Welsh d at nearly 2yo, I couldn’t touch her back end at all. She would leap away or kick out. Farrier couldn’t trim her hinds. I spent a long time touching her with a stuffed glove on a stick. She came ok slowly and now at 9 the only thing that remains is that she will not tolerate hind travel boots.
 
teddypops said:
When I bought my Welsh d at nearly 2yo, I couldn’t touch her back end at all. She would leap away or kick out. Farrier couldn’t trim her hinds. I spent a long time touching her with a stuffed glove on a stick. She came ok slowly and now at 9 the only thing that remains is that she will not tolerate hind travel boots.
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I Thought of this method when I read the OP. Timing is crucial so have a google about it.
 
Long time ago i rode a youngster who was as reactive as you describe. I rode him through a stream, his tail got wet and he came out broncing. Broke ribs in the fall.

Turned out when he'd been weaned at around 6 months the then owner had separated him from his mum by electric tape. He'd run through the tape and got completely tangled in it.

I lost touch with him and heard later he'd been PTS for a non related reason. Apparently never lost the reactivity though - but no idea how much work was put in to sort it.
 
meleeka said:
I Thought of this method when I read the OP. Timing is crucial so have a google about it.
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She's totally fine with this. I have no real problem with her back feet other than her kicking out backwards if I've not gone through the longer process of warning her what I'm about to do.

I'm more curious as to if people have ever found a specific cause for horses to act this way previously. So far seems to be a temperament thing!
 
SEL said:
Long time ago i rode a youngster who was as reactive as you describe. I rode him through a stream, his tail got wet and he came out broncing. Broke ribs in the fall.

Turned out when he'd been weaned at around 6 months the then owner had separated him from his mum by electric tape. He'd run through the tape and got completely tangled in it.

I lost touch with him and heard later he'd been PTS for a non related reason. Apparently never lost the reactivity though - but no idea how much work was put in to sort it.
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Yikes! It's one of the reasons I'm not even contemplating getting on her yet. I just don't think it's safe whilst she's so reactive to things that surprise her.

To add, she doesn't give a hoot when I do desensitisation work with her. Had tarp under her, over her, umbrellas, balls thrown at her etc. She's solid when she's paying attention. It's just when she's caught off guard
 
FlyingCircus said:
I've had her 3 months, she is Welsh and she has been handled for around 4 months (only lead in/out of field and trims before she came to me). She's finding the whole "boundaries" thing a v difficult lesson and will escalate her behaviour pretty quickly if you're not quiet and consistent..but perks of a welsh I suppose!
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I had a Welsh xTB who had extremely sensitive skin and was difficult to rug etc. She did improve with practice and age but I have a cob now who needs to have your hand run down her leg from her bum, if you just touch the leg, it literally makes her jump and then she is difficult about picking up her foot afaik, she has no welsh blood.
 
I have a half Welsh mare who was very sensitive to touch on her back legs. Luckily she would snatch her foot up rather than kick out. I found that just touching one finger to her leg was enough to get her pick up a foot for me to pick it out, and I did it several times a day until she got used to it. She will now have bandages on for travelling and is a lot less reactive, but still jumps if I'm skipping out around her and the straw touches a back leg. If she is stressed (at a new competition venue for example) she gets worse again.
 
Thought I'd update. I've had mare in question 7 months now (yikes, gone fast!) and she is a lot better. She no longer kicks out when picking up hinds and I can do whatever around her back end without fear of her taking my head off! Boots, ropes, flinging rugs about, hugging her from behind etc!

She still kicks out at her wet tail touching her, so i think she's just being abit of a princess!

But hopefully this might make some people feel abit reassured not everything is a physical issue :)
 
Glad she's improved. One of my mares is very sensitive (not specifically back end), and can turn into an instant banshee if you surprise her with a touch that she thinks was out of place, particularly if it is one of the other horses that does it. I have to say, I do understand her point - i have very sensitive skin and find physical touch unbearable at times.

We have developed lots of little routines for necessary touching, which she's much more comfortable with. I hardly notice that she has that tendency these days...until I see her tear a strip off one of the horses for annoying her.
 
I work with one like this, if you react (tell her off or get scared) she starts to do it more frequently, if you ignore it she stops. She no longer kicks out being rugged and I can now brush her back legs and pick her feet up no problem. Kicks were never ever aimed at me.
 
Is she in season when this happens. Could be a hormonal problem. Has she been out with a stallion or riggy gelding. Could be concerned about being mounted by a stallion/gelding that has made her sensitive. Also she has not been handled much previously, so still early days.
 
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