How to Stop Pawing?

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mcnaughty

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I have a Welsh A gelding (2yo) that gets very figety when tied up and paws at the ground. Not that much of a problem until my 4yo daughter tries to "paint his toenails" and gets his leg over her back!

He has not been handled that much and we have only had him a week and he is already much more settled but he is a bit of a fidget pants.

When you go to take his headcollar off he shakes his head with impatience - but again I am making him stand still until his headcollar is off and stop shaking his head to try to teach him the correct behaviour.

Fi
 
I can't wait to see some responses to this. My 4yo section A paws almost constantly with either of his fronts when tied up outside, but never inside his stable. It doesn't matter if he is tied up for 2 mins or longer. He also does it occasionally in the show ring.

Anyway over the last three years I have gone through various methods to try and stop him: -

- Slapping his shoulder

- Telling him off vocally

- Ignoring him

- Putting my foot under his when he lifts it for five or ten seconds or so, stopping him from putting it down again - keeping your balance can be difficult with this one!!

I am currently nudging him sideways so he has to put his foot down to stop himself losing balance, but this doesn't seem to be working either!

So you can try some of the above, I hope you pony responds better than mine and you find a solution soon.

Good luck!
 
BTW he doesn't usually paw quite as much if he has a haynet, depends on his mood, sometimes he ignores the haynet and paws as much as ever.
Please note I have tried the above consistently for months at a time before moving onto another method, I haven't flitted around from one to the other.
I've also moved back to a previous method as he's got older to see if he has responded better, but again I've had no luck so far.
 
cant help but interested in responses.our impatient 14 yr old mare did this all last winter out in the field digging holes despite ad lib hay feed rugs company etc .i tried everything but now just ignore her .
 
He doesn't do it continually - just sort of randomly - also, I am not that bothered but as I said hew as standing perfectly still and my daughter started to paint is front toenails and he just brought his leg up and over her - I had turned away for a second but Rebecca squealed and I turned back to see her sort of pinned between his front legs with one leg over he shoulder. He didn't panic or anything, just stood there until I dragged her out!

Anyway, she wasn't hurt so she has probably learnt a good lesson about where not to stand when applying hoof oil....
 
How short or long are you tying him up, some are more likely to paw if they are not tied up as shortly as you could (within reason of course) as they will bend down or look at the ground and paw, of course though it's typical juvenile behaviour so it could be a bit of both, perhaps bob a net up to keep him a little more occupied while he's used to being groomed etc.
 
My youngster used to do this, and I would give him a very clear vocal warning like "AHH" "NOO" very short and snappy, and I would praise him vocally when he was standing still :). Remember to praise when they are being good :). He soon grew out of it :).

But I say praising is the key, otherwise they don't know when they are being good :).
 
My cob used to do this when I was bringing food back after i rode him - every time he did it i stopped and turned my back on him untill he was quiet for more than 5 seconds and then carried on - he got the message VERY quickly
 
I just ignored it. He'll probably grow out of it.
Mason did it when I got him, I think it was stress and impatience - he's never particularly liked standing still, but as he's grown up, he's a lot better now.
 
I stopped it by adjusting my routines to avoid leaving a horse tied up for long periods of time without pleasant grooming etc. Too boring for some of any age. A 'haynet' (actually a bucket, I don't like nets) worked well for us until we were banned from using them on the yard due to the mess. Sounds almost like what is happening with your daughter is miss communication, if pony isn't used to being hoof-oiled he/she might well associate a person around their feet with being asked to pick them up and so is being too helpful for anyone's good. That will just take time and good training (of daughter!).
 
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