pepperedpickles
New User
Hey all
My 7 y/o half-leased ISH has a tendency when being led (especially in the indoor with other horses around) to try to grab anything within reach with his mouth and chew it. This includes (but is not limited to) his reins, the cheeks on his full-cheek bit, the straps on his tendon boots, the buckles on his rug, the leadrope and whatever unfortunate is leading him. He gets very anxious when he can't manage to have anything in his mouth, and will push you around until he succeeds.
Today, I was walking him in-hand as I had already ridden that morning, didn't have my jodhpurs and wanted to make sure that he got out a third time (as he's stabled full time with an hour either in the walker or the paddock. these days, as the paddock is mucky and he is prone to mud fever, he's been confined to the pasture).
So as I was walking him (at first in a headcollar) he started getting more and more agitated. A couple times, he pushed in front of me, tried to lean on me and when I asked him to stop, kept going instead (which is quite unlike him!)
He then snatched at my arm, at which point I asked him to walk backwards until he stopped (which is what I normally do as it gives him something to focus on, keeps him moving and he doesn't like doing it). Today however, he reared a couple times, then settled down.
I walked him for another 30 mins and tried letting him chew the leadrope to try and help him de-stress. To no avail, as if it fell out of his mouth he would get even worse. When I stopped letting him have the rope, he turned around and tried to nip me!
He isn't normally this bad, even with other horses around. Could the lack of pasture time be causing his bonkerness, or is it related to the amount of people around? What should I do if it happens again? Everyone at my yard told me to whack him on the nose but that hasn't ever helped me... if anything, it makes him more worried.
It is worth noting that he can be a mischievous little blighter, and does take advantage of people when he can. I honestly don't think this was one of those situations though, as he had his head held very high, the whites of his eyes were showing and overall he just felt very tense.
Thanks for any suggestions people might have, I would really like him to develop some manners but don't have a clue how to go about teaching him.
My 7 y/o half-leased ISH has a tendency when being led (especially in the indoor with other horses around) to try to grab anything within reach with his mouth and chew it. This includes (but is not limited to) his reins, the cheeks on his full-cheek bit, the straps on his tendon boots, the buckles on his rug, the leadrope and whatever unfortunate is leading him. He gets very anxious when he can't manage to have anything in his mouth, and will push you around until he succeeds.
Today, I was walking him in-hand as I had already ridden that morning, didn't have my jodhpurs and wanted to make sure that he got out a third time (as he's stabled full time with an hour either in the walker or the paddock. these days, as the paddock is mucky and he is prone to mud fever, he's been confined to the pasture).
So as I was walking him (at first in a headcollar) he started getting more and more agitated. A couple times, he pushed in front of me, tried to lean on me and when I asked him to stop, kept going instead (which is quite unlike him!)
He then snatched at my arm, at which point I asked him to walk backwards until he stopped (which is what I normally do as it gives him something to focus on, keeps him moving and he doesn't like doing it). Today however, he reared a couple times, then settled down.
I walked him for another 30 mins and tried letting him chew the leadrope to try and help him de-stress. To no avail, as if it fell out of his mouth he would get even worse. When I stopped letting him have the rope, he turned around and tried to nip me!
He isn't normally this bad, even with other horses around. Could the lack of pasture time be causing his bonkerness, or is it related to the amount of people around? What should I do if it happens again? Everyone at my yard told me to whack him on the nose but that hasn't ever helped me... if anything, it makes him more worried.
It is worth noting that he can be a mischievous little blighter, and does take advantage of people when he can. I honestly don't think this was one of those situations though, as he had his head held very high, the whites of his eyes were showing and overall he just felt very tense.
Thanks for any suggestions people might have, I would really like him to develop some manners but don't have a clue how to go about teaching him.
