Losing your temper

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Gorgeous George

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I am ashamed to say that I lost my temper with George today
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and shouted some very unlady like language at him
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As the weather was pretty yuk I decided to lunge George so as to at least give him some exercise. Out we went into the school and it was like I had an baby horse that had never been lunged. He is usually a lamb to lunge but he was all over the shop and every bush, hedge and corner had a horse eating monster in it
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I ended up giving George a right earful (boy i hope no-one heard me), especially when he nearly pulled my arm out of his socket as he shot off.

I knew I needed to do something positive with him, so I walked round with him getting him stand when I asked etc. and praising him when he did right, he then managed to trot some smaller circles away from the terrifying hedge and I praised him for trying.

I just feel awful for shouting, and wish i was a more patient person, George's anxiousness will never improve if I keep giving him a hard time
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Surely I'm not the only one who gets frustrated like this?
 
you cruel evil women!! you are not the first and definatly won't be the last my horse get shouted at when it deserves it. i hold my patients for as long as i can. infact last night i shouted at him because he decided it would be fun to rub his head against mine and push it against the stable door, very painful!
 
Bless you!! Actaully I have found that shouting around Ellie has de-sensitised her to massive loud noises such as kids screaming, loudspeakers at show etc. But she still knows when I'm really mad... We atcually have a very good bond
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Im not a horse beater
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You are only human. We all do it sometimes. I've lost count of the number of times I've lost my temper with Beemer but he is an arse sometimes (like when he has ripped the rope out of my hands again while coming in from the field for the third time in less than a week). Sometimes I think it does them good to know that we refuse to be walked over & if they take the mick too much we will let them know!
 
I lunged Bear a couple of months ago for the 1st time in a while and he was an absolute plonker
It was really windy and drizzly, I couldn't get one decent circle in trot lol!
He was prancing and bouncing about, shooting off, dragging me around the paddock!
I wish I had the camera but he had a bloody ear full at the time
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I ride and if I have no time to ride he goes without lol!
 
I constantly loose my temper with my 2yo (horse!) because shes a little b1tch alot of the times... she just ignores me now which makes it worse.

For example, shes been having her feet trimmed since she was 6 months old- yet she deicides that the farrier has taken long enough and will lean on him until he moves and she will sit on her knees.. and will stay there until she deems it worth the effort to stand properly!
 
I ended shouting and getting frustrated with Bertie the other day. I was ill and felt so weak and he took the mick out of me and just kept getting faster and faster and stronger and stronger and i shouted and he really listened for the rest of the lesson. I felt so bad 'cos it obviously had an impact on him, and hes only just been bought back into work for a couple of weeks. But then i thought he shouldnt take the mick
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I know how bad you feel but im sure george will get over it! especially with the praise, i gave B a polo after and now he loves me for eternity
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I lose my temper with Kias antics nearly every week.

That horse is a wind up mearchant and a half he knows exactly when and how to do it.

He knws what I want but he just likes to wait until I am at boiling point before giving it to me. He loves to push the boundaries.

I have lost the plot and given him a wallop when his antics (bucking and bunny-hopping) ended up with me having a burst nose but mostly he gets sworn at in as nasty a term as I can think of at the time and then gets worked harder.

Horses lifes best wind up merchants
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Nikki xxxx
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Everyone loses their temper sometimes, we just show it in different ways, Im more of a gritter than a shouter, but horses aren't stupid and pick up on it whatever happens.
 
Don't worry - I'm sure he'll have forgotten it by tomorrow.

My most embarrassing moment was when I used to keep my horse in the field belonging to a wealthy, well spoken family.

Once particular day, I coudn't catch my horse - well that was normal, but this was taking longer than ever. So I ran up and down this 10 acre field, chasing sodding horse with a lunge whip telling her what I was going to do with her when I caught her, which included quite a few swear words and 'dog meat' !!!

Well, on my hundreth time walking past their back garden, one of the owners of the house came out and said 'WE WILL NOT HAVE LANGUAGE LIKE THAT HERE THANKYOU VERY MUCH YOUNG LADY'

!!!! I was mortified that they'd heard me. Made my apologies and scuttled off home !!!
 
I dont rant at them. I might shout, more of a loud growl though, and tell Dozzie off if she has a buck or wont go forward but it is a shortlived rant followed up by praise when she does the right thing. If I am in a bad mood and things are really beginning to escalate I stop. I would rather go back to it another day in a better mood!
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I find that losing it with a horse does far more harm than good. They just get more het up and frightened. I have been badly injured by a horse when I lost my temper so I know what can happen. Hence if i feel I am losing it I walk away, have a think about what to do and come back to it another day.
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You always sound so lovely from your posts that I think George is lucky to have you!! Don't worry, he'll be fine - they won't break with a few expletives and it's a difficult time of year to keep them exercised and sane - I'm finding it just the same and now I've got flu...
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Well, we are only human and I don't think anyone could put their hand on their heart and swear they had never lost their temper when dealing with a horse.
The most important thing is that you ended the session on a positive note.
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Bob knows he's in trouble if I shout at him. Last week he was being a complete tw@t in the stable and got a hefty smack (very brave of me as he's built like a proverbial brick building). He knew then he had been very naughty as he wouldn't look me in the eye. We walked to the field in stoney silence but I did give him a fuss when we got there and we had a kiss & cuddle and made friends.

They're like children - they see how far they can push you but know where the boundaries are (at least that's what I keep telling myself - LOL!!!)
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im always shouting at doug calling him every swear word imaginable. im sure inside he is chuckling away at me! *evil stares* he knows he can just take the p!ss, which is not good! haha! silly boy!
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My 2 get shouted at on a regular basis. Normally when I'm in a hurry and I can't catch one of them - it's a good job i don't have any close neighbours else I'm sure they'd have been horrified.
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I don't think either of them take me seriously though. Savannah has been abused in the past, and if any one else shouted at her she'd be a wreck for days, but with me she goes 'oh, you scared me mummy', looks offended, then carries on being a twit. Murphy is an expert at making me look like an evil horse abuser - he isn't scared of anything, yet if I shout at him when people are around he will cower in his stable until they leave, then come right back up to me, clearly laughing his a** off!
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He does know when not to push me though - I've been in the field with him before now when he was being an idiot chasing savannah round, and he happened to let fly both barrels dangerously close to me. I saw it just about to happen and screamed at him, and I swear it was like he snapped his legs back in, and he was oh so contrite after that - he obviously didn't realise I was so close when he kicked out, and was a little angel for a few days after that, until he realised I wasn't still mad at him and went back to being an idiot.
 
I wish everyone were like you georgeous_george - so your horse does some unpredicted bahaviour, you shout at him, realise its all going downhill and change the record to end the session on a positive note? Wow, that's a pretty textbook perfect "how to", so congratulate yourself, don't beat yourself up about it! And remember horses live in the moment - he won't be stewing on it like you are.

We do all (well, 99% of us because I do genuinely know one notable exception, and its not me) lose our temper sometimes with horses - we are only human, they are only horses, and mistakes happen! Dangerous situations sometimes do need a short sharp shock to correct, and its easy to resort to temper is a situation has worried you at all. The important thing is what happens then, which you appear to have handled brilliantly.

I'm a bit worried that quite a lot of people on here seem to shout at theirs regularly but it appears to have little or no effect - well yes, your horse will tune you out if you always shout, and where do you have to go from there to get them to listen to you? Like ridden aids, the higher levels (e.g. ponyclub kick or smack) are there for if you need to go there - and if you use them all the time sooner or later you have to find something even higher to get their attention. Not good, especially if you are training a youngster.
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I'm a bit worried that quite a lot of people on here seem to shout at theirs regularly but it appears to have little or no effect - well yes, your horse will tune you out if you always shout, and where do you have to go from there to get them to listen to you? Like ridden aids, the higher levels (e.g. ponyclub kick or smack) are there for if you need to go there - and if you use them all the time sooner or later you have to find something even higher to get their attention. Not good, especially if you are training a youngster.
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i think that may of been aimed at me. i dont constantly shout at him. he gets a lot more praise than me shouting at him. he does things to take the piss not because he doesnt understand, so a sharp "no" or "douglas" or occasionally "listen you f*cker" usually puts him back in line. i have lots of help bringing on my youngster.
 
Oh Madhossy that made me laugh!!

Reminds me so much of when i was trying to catch Barney (aka the little sh*t) a while back. Anyway, there I was with a scoop of delicious things murmering sweet nothings to him as I followed him round this massive field while he danced around me laughing
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. Sometimes he would get close enough to take a nibble out of the scoop, but then would leg it before I could put the headcollar on
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. This went on for maybe 45 minutes until it was dark. In the end I lost my temper and was running after him like a mad woman waving the headcollar and even threw the scoop at him, swearing at the top of my voice
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. Gave up finally and walked back the gate whereupon he appeared and said he would like to come in now. How I didnt whollop him I will never know, but I promise you I just patted him (with gritted teeth)

Goergeous George I really dont think you need to worry at all!!
 
I don't really shout, just tend to make him work harder so as to make the monster behind the fence "disspear"
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I just don't get people constantly screaming at their horses?
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