i just cant get along with him

missponymad

missponymad

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I have a 9yo appaloosa, section A/B, that i am paid to look after. The only problem is i just cant get along with him :( he kicks the stable door so hard and he scrapes the stable floor so hard that poeple just give him haylage to shut him up and once he has had his haylage he will get put out in the feild, which has ended up in him being 150kilos overwieght, i have tried a muzzle, he is constantly on a diet i have had him for a year and he hasnt come off his diet at all :O he is also bargy and he pulls, and he is meant for a three year old child to ride but even when he has a bridle on and somebody on his back he still pulls, and im scared something is going to happen :/ . dont get me wrong i love him but he is just so hard to get on with :'( please help me because i dont want to stop looking after him :'( thank you :) xx
 
Hi im sorry to hear about the problems maybe you need to put a sign on the door saying not to feed and lunge him as often as possible to get him to loose weight, he is behaving like this to get more human attention so make sure u spend time with him when you are ready to not just because he demands it.
 
Why dont you leave him out. My horse kicks the door when stabled and is an absolute delight out in the field to catch etc! Hates being stabled basically.

Stop feeding him(or use a very double small holed haynet that will take him ages to finish Feed to shut him up is a reward to keep kicking. If you can turn him out on restricted grazing etc just bring him in for feet pick out every day thats it.

If he is out he will be hopefully using some calories up as well?
 
Indie lives on fresh air, and he can go out (only at night) because he is 150 kilos over wieght so he can only go out at night when the grass sugar levels have gone down (vet gave me that advice) he even has a muzzle on but he always, always gets it off. in the day he gets half a small haynet of soaked hay to get all the sugar out. of course i am worried about his weight but i am more worried about his behaviour he is not really naught just when the little girl i talked about comes up (shes only 3) he pulls and pulls me and i get worried because i dont want to knock the little girls confidence when shes so young :/ . i have tried lunging him but he is incredibly lazy i think it might be his weight. i love him so much though but it annoys me when i try sooo hard with him
 
Could you swap the hayledge for soaked hayledge can be very fattening, I also found when my pony had hayledge he became very lively as well so perhaps being on hay he might be calmer.
 
Sorry to hear that. I think advice to keep him out 24/7 is a good one. I know he is 150kilos overweight but he won't get it off kicking the stable door and eating haylage.

I suggest a different muzzle type. There are several on the market. I have a clever appaloosa too and only the Shires one worked on him. Put it on in the morning and take it off at night. Get a size bigger. It needs to be snug from poll to muzzle but roomy enough nose to chin so he can yawn etc.

Then work him in hand and get him to respect you by teaching basics and praising him - you need to press the reset button on basic handling manners.

He's lazy - nothing to do with weight. Make a stand and make him work on the lunge. Appy's are notorious at evading work and can be really clever at the doe-eyed feel-sorry for me look! Don't buy it!!!!

don't expect weight-loss miracle. You'll be lucky to get 50kgs by end of July if you follow what I just said - but at least it's in the right direction...
 
thanks for all your tips hes starting to improve very slightly :) i am going to move him to a feild where it is basically mud and a small patch of grass fingers crossed he will loose some wheight :D because he doesnt like lungeing i am longreining him and making him pull a tyre (it what my dad does when he teaches horses to drive) and he seems to really enjoy it :) he can be driven so once he is fitter i am going to drive him and see what he is like, because when the lady that brought him went to get him he was driving and he looked happy, but my carriage is quite heavy so he will have to get fitter. thank you so much for your help, any more tips are welcome :D xxxx
 
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