My horse is a nightmare to bring in

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LottieLou

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I have a 5yr old IDxTB who of late has been an absolute nightmare to bring in at the end of the day.

Until recently he was as good as gold, he would walk at my shoulder and stop at each gate, walking through sensibly before I closed it behind him.

This evening has really shaken me up, he was rearing and barging and had absolutely no consideration for me or fences or anything. This has gradually been getting worse over the past month or so. I discovered the other day that when a friendly livery has been bringing him in for me a couple if times a week, he has been messing around for her particularly through gateways (I was not aware). The YO told me last week that she had let him go in her adjoining paddock - again, I wasn't told. I have out a stop to her getting him in now but obviously unbeknown to me this behaviour has been allowed to take root and its got to a dangerous stage.

I am to the point where I'm scared to get him in, which, obviously won't help the situation.

Please help? What am I to do to discourage this behaviour and encourage him to walk sensibly beside me again? I couldn't even keep near to his shoulder today he was off. Please don't advise a chifney bit. Firstly I'm not experienced with them so I don't think it will do either of us any good and secondly I'd rather retrain rather than 'punish' for want of a better word.

Thankyou :)
 
Sorry its not what you want to hear but I would put a chiffney & a lunge line on him & make sure I was wearing gloves & a hat, IMO he has to shut up & behave himself before he hurts someone. No doubt I will be jumped on & you will be told to waft some wind chimes gently around whilst playing the pan pipes, but personally safety comes first.
 
merlinsquest said:
Sorry its not what you want to hear but I would put a chiffney & a lunge line on him & make sure I was wearing gloves & a hat, IMO he has to shut up & behave himself before he hurts someone. No doubt I will be jumped on & you will be told to waft some wind chimes gently around whilst playing the pan pipes, but personally safety comes first.
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Totally agree he has no respect, and he needs to get some! Good luck
 
I agree, my 5yo tbx also got to this stage, he had a couple of months of coming in on a bridle and going back if he misbehaved, he didn't take long to learn that the more he messed about the longer it took him to get in! You do have to be quite hard on them as it's too dangerous to left them get away with it
 
It sounds like he wants in desperately, maybe arrange for him to be brought in earlier so he's not so hyper? In the mean time, put a bridle on him. My mare can be a bit silly coming through the electric tape gate if it's windy and ended up getting tangled back at the start of winter, so I now make her stand whilst I open it and she is rewarded with a carrot. Maybe not the way of everyone, but she knows that stand means stand and she waits patiently with no trouble. I used the same method to teach her to stand when being mounted and she stands stock still. To be honest, the weather is not helping at all, they all seem to be getting the wind under their tails and I think if you get him in a bit earlier then he may be more relaxed. If there isn't any grass left in the field, he may be hungry and wanting his tea. Still no excuse for bad behaviour but may explain why he's doing it.
 
lhotse said:
It sounds like he wants in desperately, maybe arrange for him to be brought in earlier so he's not so hyper? In the mean time, put a bridle on him. My mare can be a bit silly coming through the electric tape gate if it's windy and ended up getting tangled back at the start of winter, so I now make her stand whilst I open it and she is rewarded with a carrot. Maybe not the way of everyone, but she knows that stand means stand and she waits patiently with no trouble. I used the same method to teach her to stand when being mounted and she stands stock still. To be honest, the weather is not helping at all, they all seem to be getting the wind under their tails and I think if you get him in a bit earlier then he may be more relaxed. If there isn't any grass left in the field, he may be hungry and wanting his tea. Still no excuse for bad behaviour but may explain why he's doing it.
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Good advice there.

My mare went through an awful stage when bringing in - she would rear, and on two occassions she broke loose onto the road. At that point I started leading in with bridle and lunge line daily - and doing a heck of a lot more groundwork in the school - exercises on the lunge and getting her listening to me more. Definately made a huge difference.
 
Use his usual bridle rather than a chifney .
Fatty was not well behaved in this respect when he arrived .
No one was allowed to turn him out or bring him in without a bridle .
I did lots of general work about leading and manners and if he misbehaved he was made to go in and out through the gate until he behaved if he was well behaved and stopped and stood when asked he got straight to the stable and was rewarded with something nice to eat .
 
I wonder if he is hungry? My 5 yr old has also become difficult to bring in over the last few weeks, but I am now getting him in at lunchtime for a net and is back to his normal self. Like us, I think they are all fed up of the weather - mine are certainly happier standing in atm.

Before I worked out why he was being difficult, I used a dually halter and at least gave me half a chance to hold onto him.
 
We started using a dually with our TBxID who was behaving like this last year. Along with join up and lunging, she is now generally OK, but it was scary at times! When she did play up, she's be taken straight into the school for groundwork, until she behaved herself. Hunger was part - though not all - of the issue - as soon as we gave them adlib hay in the field, she became easier.
 
If you don't fancy a chifney then get a chain to put on his headcollar that can go over his nose. Does he have hay in the field? He might be hungry, but that is no excuse.
 
mine gets like this when we have had rain and wind during the day, she is very impatient and cant wait to come in....i use an attachment that i put on her headcollar, its basically a cord with a couple of clips to attach to the headcollar so its round her nose just under the noseband and its like a dog slip collar under the chin..sorry not explaining very well, but it works for my nutty mare in the winter....i hqave to use it for a coupleof days and she then gets her manners back...i will try and find out who makes it...it was under £10..
 
Thing is with a chifney, if used correctly they're a life saver. My boss had a similar problem with one of hers- used a chifney to turn him out 3/4 times and that was all he needed.

He's probably picking up on your anxiety as well which won't help matters xx
 
found it.......shires kemp controller...its now £18.95!!!!!!! i def paid £9.50 about 5 years ago.... it works on mine and you can put it in your pocket and just attach if they are being stupid....
 
merlinsquest said:
Sorry its not what you want to hear but I would put a chiffney & a lunge line on him & make sure I was wearing gloves & a hat, IMO he has to shut up & behave himself before he hurts someone. No doubt I will be jumped on & you will be told to waft some wind chimes gently around whilst playing the pan pipes, but personally safety comes first.
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also completely agree with this
you need to get back in control , if you don't feel experienced enough to use a chifney , its time to get some experience now he is being rude and down right dangerous and you need to get tough before someone gets hurt
 
chiffney worked for me, tried everything else, ground work, control halters, lead rope over nose (it was a job enough to get it round his nose most days), nothing worked so I reluctantly used a chiffney and it worked great. Id advise to use with a slip rope though, mine did get away once and luckily the slip rope came away else you could have a nasty jaw accident, it was my fault though, I was lazy leading and not paying attention to the erruption that was brewing behind me!!
 
I would usually be a chifney advocate, but given our recent weather, I would suggest that he is hungry and THAT IS an excuse for his poor behaviour. We have closed our paddocks as there is nothing for them to eat and they are fed up of being cold, wet and hungry. It turned even the nicest of old plods into a nightmare, my friend's ex racer was a complete a***ehole unless he came in a midday. I know we all want to turn out 24/7 but if there is nothing to eat and they associate the stable with feed and warmth then I cannot blame a horse for rather being in than out.
 
I would make sure he has a good supply of hay in the field and nothing to eat in the stable for the first half hour or so that he is in, also pop a normal snaffle bridle on with a long lead rope/lunge line, gloves whip (to keep him out of your space if he really gets above himself) and a hat for you and possibly someone to open the gates for a few days whilst you concentrate on teaching him to stand still and wait. someone else doing the gates until you regain control will keep you both a lot safer.

personally I think chifneys have a place amongst breeding animals and those that have really got out of hand and that they should only be used by experienced hands
 
Totally agree with the chifney. I understand your hesitation so maybe get someone happy to use one to bring him in a few nights in it, maybe go with them to do gates so they can concentrate on the horse.
I bet if you get him in a couple if days later in it he won't even try and mess round.
I find 99% of horses just don't bother being barge or naughty once they know about wearing a chifney.
I have no qualms in using one on my tb when he's been stuck in (box rest or just no turn out) it's safer.
 
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