How to handle a wee strop

[Olliepoppy]

My 6 year old cob got a field companion a month ago. When I bring him in to be groomed (leaving her in the field) he takes a 5 minute strop when I tie him up. He swings his bum round and stomps about. I have raised a whip and waved it in the air as a threat and he does a wee bunny hop at me then goes 'ok I guess I'll put up with it' and stands nicely. My question is - am I dealing with it correctly? Should I just ignore the strop and wait for him to stand or is telling him off the best way? Any thoughts appreciated

 

[SpringArising]

IMO waving a crop around isn't going to help - he's just going to learn to be scared of them. Horses don't think like people - we can't give them warnings or 'chances' and have them understand that there may be a repercussion afterwards.

You understand that waving a crop means 'Do it again, and you'll get a smack', but to him you're just flapping something around which may or may not hurt him.

Ignore the behaviour and he'll eventually settle. He just sounds anxious and smacking him or threatening to smack him will put him more on edge - it'll be a vicious cycle!

 

[Princess Rosie]

Firstly well done for asking for advice as waving a crop around is definitely the wrong approach. Spring arising has given sound advice above.

Just ignore the behaviour and carry on with what you need to do and don't loose your temper with him, praise him when he stands still and lets you do what you need to do, if he gets very attached to his new field companion (which he sounds like he is starting to) then work on bringing him in for short periods and occupy him (don't just bring him in and leave him tied up alone etc) and lengthen the time he is away from his field companion, you have to remember that he is still young and horses are herd animals, so he will naturally want to be with other horses, do you do any groundwork with him or play natural horsemanship games? You can increase your bond with him and make yourself more interesting for him to spend time with.

 

[9tails]

Agree with above, I've found those that get yelled at, slapped, scared etc are a lot bolshier than those that don't.

 

[Olliepoppy]

Thanks all for your very helpful advice! Yes I do groundwork with him which he responds to well when he is not tied. I don't leave him alone when he is tied up, I am always there. I give him lots of praise for standing still. I find it hard to carry on grooming him when he's swinging about as he no longer responds to the groundwork. If he is untied and I have him by the leadrope/headcollar I can just point to his flank and he will move over but if he is tied he will swing my way and does not respond to pressure to move out of the way even if I stick my finger in his side and 'lean' on him or pulse the prod he either stands there or swings more into me. I don't want him thinking if he swings about I move away and stop grooming, but I don't want to get squished either!

I have been working on short periods away from his companion, he is not too bad but she calls for him constantly. As I said he does settle down after a while and so long as I am leading him he is ok, it just starts when I tie him up.

 

[9tails]

Annoy him when you want him to move. Tap-tap-tap with your fingers in a gentle flick until he takes a step in the direction you want to go then stop. Mine also doesn't move if I push or dig at her.

 

[Clodagh]

A mare and a gelding turned out alone together is not great news, they tend to bond very strongly - give it a month or two and she will be hormonal as well. Can any others be with them aswell, or can they see others over a fence?

 

[Olliepoppy]

A mare and a gelding turned out alone together is not great news, they tend to bond very strongly - give it a month or two and she will be hormonal as well. Can any others be with them aswell, or can they see others over a fence?

Sigh.... Clodagh, I can't win! He was on his own from May until December which wasn't ideal. The owner of the field I rent has put her mare in with him as she is now retired from eventing due to injury and there are no other horses around, just sheep!

 

[Jazzy B]

Echoing what others have said re whip. My gelding is out with my friends mare.. Just the two of them. We have to bring them both in together as the other one has a hissy but then the other one is quite happy to stand in while the other goes out - we have now got to the stage where they are both happy to go back out individually and wait for the other... I guess soon enough they will be happy for one another to be taken away. But these things take time and IMO there is no point bullying them.

 

[Princess Rosie]

Thanks all for your very helpful advice! Yes I do groundwork with him which he responds to well when he is not tied. I don't leave him alone when he is tied up, I am always there. I give him lots of praise for standing still. I find it hard to carry on grooming him when he's swinging about as he no longer responds to the groundwork. If he is untied and I have him by the leadrope/headcollar I can just point to his flank and he will move over but if he is tied he will swing my way and does not respond to pressure to move out of the way even if I stick my finger in his side and 'lean' on him or pulse the prod he either stands there or swings more into me. I don't want him thinking if he swings about I move away and stop grooming, but I don't want to get squished either!

I have been working on short periods away from his companion, he is not too bad but she calls for him constantly. As I said he does settle down after a while and so long as I am leading him he is ok, it just starts when I tie him up.

You sound as though you are doing everything absolutely right and just continue with what you are doing and it will take time and things will improve. We have a mare turned out with 4 geldings and find that they are all clingy when one comes out but they do learn that their friend is coming back and all of ours are now settled when one comes out of the field.

 

[Olliepoppy]

Thanks JazzyB and PrincessRosie, I will persevere with patience and no more threats It's such a shame they don't understand their pal is coming back, if only they could talk!!