How to reprimand weanling - kicking out at dogs

[snowstormII]

My weanling has been out on many dog walks with my husband leading the other pony and me leading weanling, while our 2-3 dogs are off lead buzzing about with us. The weanling has put his ears back, or looked at the dogs several times and on 2 or 3 occasions actually lifted a foot and today properly kicked out at one coming up behind him.

My plans for this boy include hunting and I am aware that he has warned and followed through several times. Each time within a nano-second (so there is no chance to misinterpret) I have growled at him and made him walk backwards, out of my space with my arms flapping, shaking rope at him and made him wait until I invite him in again.

He is generally a very sweet and amenable character, not pushy at all. How can I now stamp on this behaviour as I am worried it is already becoming a habit. He does tolerate them more now than in the very beginning.

On the hunting field we would yell and smack with the whip to make it abundantly clear it was unacceptable, but is that appropriate with a 7 month old!?

 

[emma.is]

Re-introduce dogs slowly and carefully and work up to loose dogs 'buzzing' around him. And no shouting and smacking isn't acceptable anywhere.

 

[flirtygerty]

Having a dog hating horse ( much better now) I would introduce a calm dog over a fence or at the stable door, treat both, if your weanling just meets calm dogs for now, what is there to react to, little steps for babies, mine threw a terrier accross the field, then went after her, it was only my OH throwing a headcollar at him that stopped him, he also cornered my very aggressive GSD, not a good senario, dogs were barred from the stables, but the GSD kept coming looking for me, so it was something my horse just got used to, but I always kept the dog to heel, growled at the horse if he went to bite or put ears back and growled at the dog if he showed his teeth