My filly is turning so horrible?

S

samual

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 January 2010
Messages
105
Location
SE KENT
Visit site
Hi me again my filly has decided to start biting and had my back in her mouth tonight and i had to smack her to get her off, i didn't even see it coming shes 18 months old and iv had her from foal she was really good respectful girl untill about a month ago when she started bucking at me in field and now this and shes bout 15hh too so not lil either well to me as im only 5'0ft. We moved about a month ago and there is a mare in the paddock next door who behaves also this way towards her owner but shes 17 wondered if its possible for my filly to pick this up? advice welcome
 
Is she turned out alone? If so I would say she needs a playmate. My friends young CB went through this stage, and stopped almost immediately that he got a field friend to play with!
 
Wouldnt surprise me at all if she has picked this up from the mare, is there anyway you can switch paddocks?

My youngster copied everything my old boy did, even down to stepping back when I entered the stable (i never taught her to do this, but she saw Charlie do it and copied). they are very impressionable as babies. The biting is something you really need to sort ASAP. I am lucky that mine never went through a biting phase but she did very briefly get a bit pushy and bolshy, which for a large friesian is not good!! I was quite tough with her, told her off and gave her a smack on the bum/shoulder if she was out of line and she soon got the hang of her ground manners by watching Charlie who has perfect manners.

Is there any chance you can have your filly in with, or near, an older well mannered horse?
 
its a question of age but it must be nipped in the bud now. She must learn to respect body space and the best person to teach her the basics is an older mare. You must assert yourself and make it quite clear to her that she will be 'put in her place' when needed. Mine is now in work so her energy has been diverted-she was a horrible monster who even drew blood!
 
Hmm, i've had a couple of homebred fillies who, having been lovely mannerly foals and yearlings, went through a 'terrible twos' phase of being quite sharp and nasty. With a few sharp reminders that I am NOT there to be bitten, kicked, or played with, they turned into model citizens again... one in particular would try to kick me at any opportunity, yet she's a saint again now.
I don't know if they learn things like that by watching, but it's worth trying to move her to see if it makes a difference. I'd be very strict with her if she does try to bite, kick out at you, etc again though.
 
thanks its nice to hear that there is a light at the end of this, its been such a worry i had my cob from foal and never had this so is all new to me lol may be its a mare thing. Im trying to hold my ground but is becoming quite scarey now :( and not fun any more.
 
If your cob is a lot older/more sedate she might well benefit from a playmate she /can/ mess around with to loose some of the energy. i.e. learn manners from her elders/you and let off steam with another youngster. You're too small and too much higher up in the 'herd' for her to be doing it with you!
 
we have a 2 yr old filly minature and she has gone through a phase of biting ,barging,rearing and generally trying it on .even though shes small shes a handful.she was in with my mare but i had to seperate as my horse is recovering from a torn tendon .i have now put the filly in with our other mare who is keeping her in line a bit .it definatley has been a case of the terrible 2s.
 
Sounds like the terrible twos. Mine is in this phase at the moment. I just make her know I mean no! We aren't bestest buddies at the moment but she'll come out the other side as I'm sure will yours :)
 
I also have a yearling, gelded colt, who is just over 15.2, who I bred and has been the most laid back, respectul foal ever, just over the last 2 weeks he's become rather a handful!! He ended up kicking out and catching me in the chest, ending with me in hospital with cracked ribs! Thankfully he's not doing anything nastily, his ears are not back, he's just testing his strength and trying to play with me! He's out with another baby and his mum again, so lots to play and be disciplined! I believe as this is his first year in a stable at night over winter alone, that there is some separation issues here (having to learn more independance), as he is far worse fist thing in the morning coming out of the stable than at night. Babies do from time to time test the limits, we just have to ensure that they don't get the better of us. My boy being so big, to lead was a nightmare, nipping etc, so I've bought a 'be nice' halter and fingers crossed since using this, he has shown some improvement. I lead him out wearing a riding hat incase he swings around etc. Good luck with your filly x
 
It's not a mare thing, I'm going through the same with my 19 month cob gelding. He's recently become disrespecful, bolshy and pushy. Sigh. He knocked my mum flying a few days ago, not out of aggression just he seemed to think she was a toy he could play with. So he's in naughty pony boot camp at the mo. All family members are under strict instructions not to let him get away with anything, and tell him off for even minor infractions.

Funnily enough he doesn't try it on with my dad and OH half as much as me and my mum. I'm sure he knows that they're male, stronger and generally take less crap!

Doing my best to teach him some manners, but he so stubborn and unafraid it's hard, I take heart from all those who say it can be done!
 
How awful for you they do go through phases but is anyone feeding her or giving her titbits ,bread, polos feed, carrots ?Other liveries, passers by ? This can make a big difference i always know when my youngster is given titbits as he gets nasty and bites he changes so quickly im always quick to shout no and elbow him back he went through a phase for a good few weeks he was given carrots etc not good i managed to track down who it was eventually ask around and tell everyone no titbits and watch you might be suprised !And, are you feeding her titbits ?Even for good behaviour ?she might be demanding more it works for some and not others , i have one horse you can give titbits and one you cant
 
One of ours is going through this at the minute, compounded by the hideous weather limiting turnout dramatically. Hes in baby pony boot camp and will remain there until he remembers that he is actually a nice well mannered pony!
 
My filly is going through the same thing and I'm finding it really fustrating. I think alots of it is down to the snow and boredom. My previous "dope on a rope" has turned into a bucking bronto in about 4 weeks.
At the moment she's not too pushing, just fizzy and likes to throw in the odd rearing and bounces about abit. But she has started to kick out when she's having her funny 5 minutes in the field and managed to catch me the other day. To say the least, I was not inpressed. I am not sure yet how I'm going to deal with this yet.
I am hoping she will out grow out of this behaviour soon, but until then I always wear a hard hat, and use a lunging rein to lead her (which i fed through her nose band if she gets too strong). I have turned her out with a grumpy, bossy old pony, who will hopefully teacher her a few manners.
Before the snow I used to walk her around the road 3 times a week, but with her becoming more of a handful, I worried about leading her out now.
Even with the snow I have now decided to spend 10 minutes 3-4 times a day leading her up and down the drive, slowly making the distance longer, this allows me to correcting her everytime she get too close, nippy or bolshy in a safe environment.
Fingers crossed thing's will sort themselved out and I'll have my lovely dope on a rope back. I think I might have jinxed myself, by saying how quite she was.

I wish you all the best with your filly and I hope she settles down. I am a firm believer that if you put the effort and time in, most thing can be sorted out. It is devasting when a youngester turners nasty, but there is lots of people going through the same thing. If you do find anything that works well with your filly, please let us know.... it might help with my little minx
 
She's a baby/stroppy youngster. My advice would be to find somewhere you can turn her out with a group of other youngsters (maybe put her on livery at a stud), and leave her out.

That way youngstock get to learn manners from each other and in a couple of years when she's ready to back she'll have been through that horrid stage and learnt it's not nice to get a kick in the bum for biting something else. I know this can sometimes be more expensive, but it takes the stress away and means you don't end up with a major problem in the future.
 
It's normal bolshy youngster behaviour and not limited to filly's i'm afraid. My gelding broke my arm when he was 18 months old being over exhuberant and downright disrespectfull towards me.

PLEASE be careful. Wear a hat, gloves and decent boots at all times when in her proximity - even a body protector is a good idea if you have one. AND carry a schooling whip - a sharp, well timed crack can be all that is required but I would also sugest that she would improve vastly in a large herd environment. She is old enough now to be in an all adult herd and would benefit from some grumpy old mares telling her off when she's naughty - they are far more effective than us! In fact I really wanted to put my gelding in with the mares after he broke my arm (he was seperated due to medical issues at the time) but I had to make do with the boys... thankfully they did sort him out... It is hard to watch them get sorted out but i wouldn't hesitate to do it again if I were in the same boat!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top