How to teach an oldie to stand still???

[chickeninabun]

As title really, I have a 27 year old, 13.2hh mare (chestnut btw!

) who just will not stand still.
Tacking up, putting rugs on, grooming, etc she just either walks around her stable if not tied up or if tied up she swings her bum from left to right nearly all the time. I keep getting really cross with her now and don't want to end up shouting at her all the time, as I have a 3 year old tot wandering around and am 7+ months pregnant it really just isn't helping having a disrespectful pony too!
She doesn't seem particually angry/upset/in pain, she just seems to want to see what's going on elsewhere or get on with being ridden/turned out etc.
Should I just give up and resign myself to the fact that you can't teach an old horse new tricks? Or is there some way of teaching her a few more manners?

 

[burgetahn]

i have the same problem with my 20 year old mare. I've owned her 15 years and she still doesn't stand still. I just end up using little tricks. when i rug her up i give her a morning feed and while shes eating i rug her up!! i suppose i have just go along with it and given up hope. She is slowly getting better with age. lol

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

7, 17 or 27 the answer is the same! Quiet insistence coupled with total consistency. If you work out a way to teach ned to respect your space but can only be bothered to enforce it say 75% of the time, you'll actually be teaching your horse NOT to respect your space! I'd tie her up every single time you need to do anything with her in the stable. And if she swings her bum round, have something unpleasant to hand that she can bump into. Lateral thinking. I'm not advocating a carving knife but hunt around for something that will ensure she gives herself a good, hard, uncomfortable prod. This is basic good manners and you and your family need this from her. She can look around to see what's going on the other 23 hours in the day! When mum or little 'uns are there, it must be respect. Re the morning feed/rugging up thing, you could change that if you wanted to by reducing and reducing the morning feed until it was just a polo as a thankyou. But again, you need total and utter consistency. If you let the rules slip even once, you are teaching your horse that there are no rules. NB: I'm better at explaining how to do this than I am at sticking to it myself!!!!