How do you stop a horse taking the proverbial?

M

margaretb

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 October 2009
Messages
291
Visit site
Basically Poppy is taking the p**s with me and who can blame her! Now I am suffering the consequences of being a wuss. This afternoon a friend dealt with her for me when the vet took a blood sample from her to see if she is in foal,( but that's another story). Suffice to say she was as good as gold (friend v experienced) yet when I attempted this a few weeks ago it was a right shambles. I know I only have myself to blame but how do I tell Poppy who's boss again without resorting to shouting at her or giving her a sharp smack to bring her back into line, or is that what I have to do? I am not riding her but would like some respect when she is tied up for grooming and when I pick out her feet. I do try to remain calm, but when she swings round I move rather than standing my ground.

I think I owe you all mega bags of sweeties for answering all my numpty questions over the past few months! And although nothing back on the blood tests, the vet (different one to last time) is fairly confident by looking at her ladyship that she is in foal. If she is I guess it is due in July sometime.
 
If your horse is barging you out of the way then there is nothing wrong with a growl backed up with a smack if necessary.

I have a 6yo WB who was very bargy and disrespectful when she came to me but she's lovely and calm now as she understands her place in the herd.
 
heidirusso said:
What does she do?

x
Click to expand...

Nothing too horrible, she used to stand quite happily for me to groom her, now when tied up, she backs away or swings around. She does allow me to groom her in the field when untied and will stand quite happily grazing whilst I brush her. When I go to pick her feet she shuffles away from me.
 
Got timmed out - we did have problem with her and a dislike to flyspray so am not using it any more, but would now like to try to get her to behave like she used to do. How do I de-sensitise??!!
 
Hmm... Not sure really. If she used to behave and now is a bit bargy maybe she is a bit stressed out or something with some outside stimuli.

All i can recommend is, when grooming if she moves around quietly pop her back in her place (i.e the spot you want her to stand in) and everytime she moves put her back there. She will soon get the idea, so to speak.

As with the feet, just ask her to stand once stood pick out her feet, if she moved put her back in her place and again proceed to pick out her feet. I should imagine quiet conistance will work very well, but it's one of those things you have to put the work in the see the results, (i.e not going to be instant)

Always be aware of her body language and what she is telling you.
 
You need to do some in hand work by the sounds of it, getting her to listen to you.
To be honest if my girl goes to crowd me and I will growl at her to get back, and if she goes to barge, I simply barge her back.
You have to be sure of yourself and firm but fair with her, so she knows you are boss, good luck :)
 
You need to learn to move her rather than her move you. Basic groundwork will go a long way to help you, also check your body language when handling her, make sure you dont stare her in the eye or she will move away from you. Keep your shoulders relaxed and watch your hand signals try and keep them down by yourself and raise them when you want to push her away. Remember to breath, a good breath out when you are getting uptight or upset drops and relaxs your body language and helps an awful lot more than people realise.

Teach her to respect your space, back her up out of your space and be consistant with it. You dont need to teach her that you are the boss, but that you are the leader and need to be followed, trusted, listened too and given respect.

Good luck it will all come right.
 
You've got to remember that she's a lot less fragile than you think! She has more muscles from ears to withers than you have in your whole body, so if she's barging and walking all over you, don't be afraid to growl at her and give a quick smack. Horses in the wild beat the **** out of each other - there's a pecking order, and if someone steps out of line the dominant mare (or stallion depending on time of year) will bite and kick them and drive them away from the herd. They soon learn that bad behaviour makes them vulnerable - they're herd animals and being pushed out of the herd (almost like being made to sit on the naughty step!) is NOT fun for them!
I work with young TBs a lot, and I am driven insane by people who drop off a yearling who has been plopped in a field since birth, and not touched, or worse still, handled by someone who allowed them to get away with murder. This makes my job of handling and starting them so much more difficult as they know they're bigger than me, and they think that showing me their belly buttons and waving their legs around will make me freak out and put them back in their nice field. They soon learn that actually, I'll just stand there and politely ask them to sort themselves out once, if they ignore me they get growled at, and if they ignore that, they get a *** on the neck. Not hard, just enough to make them jump and focus on something other than being an arse. I also find that when we have youngsters in with food issues (ie: snapping/kicking out at people when they have a bowl of feed in front of them) standing my ground and almost squaring up to them makes them say "ooh...ok... you're in charge, sorry!". Puff your chest out, look them in the eye, an stand tall, try to imagine you're a very powerful stallion, and think "I will NOT put up with this behaviour thank you very much". Nine times out of ten, this works.

Good luck, I know how hard it is to be frightened. (PM me if you'd like to feel better about yourself having a good old laugh at how much of a plonker I was after my accident!)
 
Thank you everyone; I've just had her up to groom and did assert my authority when she started dancing around when I wanted to do her feet. She did then stand, even offering me the hoof she normally resists to give the most. She was fidgity, but the flies were about, and I do think they are a lot to do with the problem. I managed to get some fly cream on her in a fashion and then walked her around for 1/4 hr or so, rewarding her with some fresh grass.

I just have to persevere! She is lovely!
 
Whatever she does, you just make her do the opposite straight away, however difficult it might be, or however small a gesture it is.

For example, if she walks forward toward you (too close) you make sure she walks straight back. A couple of fingers in the chest usually works if all else fails. If she turns her quarters toward you, push her back over again. Again, a couple of fingers in a sensitive place e.g. her flank usually does the trick. If she turns her quarters away from you, then turn her head in the same direction - she'll find it very difficult to walk crab-like away from you! She'll be forced to balance herself by turning her quarters towardx you!

It's all about psychology. Whatever she does (that you don't want her to do) ensure she does the opposite STRAIGHT AWAY!!!

Good luck!
 
Lots of good advice :)

Looks like you have another on the way!!

Agree with making her move and not you, it's about body language, watch them in the field and how the dominant horse will make the other one move etc - I'm just starting to learn more about it and it's fascinating.

I've been doing a bit of Parelli while I couldn't ride Toby (but there are lots of others groundwork systems out there) which breaks it down in to small pieces to help you understand them a bit more, perhaps look at something like that, if she is in foal I'm guessing you will be doing a lot more handling of her for vets etc?

I've learnt very quickly how to get Toby out of my space if he is having a spooky moment and threatening to trample my toes etc, it really does work. Plus I've found because I more confident I don't lose my temper with him so I'm more in control but calmer if that makes sense? I've realised that the people I admire around horses are all firm but calm and horses behave beautifully for them.

With regards to the grooming, they are all a bit fed up with the flies at the moment which can make them a bit fidgety tied up plus don't know whether she would be more sensitive being in foal?
 
When I got my TB last year he was a little s**t in every respect !! Now he is like a completly different horse.

One tip if they barge into you is to just give them a little pinch with your fingers and push them back gently.

Seems to work for mine and he is now more aware of my space and his. He still swings his bum round and swishes his tail but raising my voice seems to work. The tricky bit is not letting them intimidate you or letting them knwo they have.

Time, patience and repetition

Good luck
 
Another question if I may - If when I go to her she moves away, in her eyes I am doing or about to do something to her she does not like - I go behind her (carefully) and put her back to where I want her. I am sure it all stems from wretched fly spray, which I don't know use - but how, apart from with patience, do I get her not to move away from me!
 
margaretb said:
Another question if I may - If when I go to her she moves away, in her eyes I am doing or about to do something to her she does not like - I go behind her (carefully) and put her back to where I want her. I am sure it all stems from wretched fly spray, which I don't know use - but how, apart from with patience, do I get her not to move away from me!
Click to expand...

If she moves away from you, then turn her head in the same direction, or have a friend standing the other side so that as soon as she does turn away then the friend pushes her back.

If she is sensitive about fly spray then you need to take things one step at a time. Start by spraying fly spray on a sponge/cloth, so that she gets used to the noise, but realises it's not going to touch/hurt her. Then, when she is happy with this (i.e. doesn't move away from you) then use the same sponge/cloth on her face/neck, but spray a very small amount on her shoulders (as these are the least likely part of her body to move much), then use the sponge/cloth on the rest of the body. Once she is happy with the shoulders being sprayed, then increase the amount of spray applied, and decrease the amount that is being applied with the sponge/cloth. Eventually she should be happy with being sprayed all over (although I would still use a sponge/cloth for her head and face).

Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top