Naughty Yearling

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merlcharl

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Hi I am new to the Forum so would be grateful for any advice on the following we have just brought a showjumping yearling after successfully producing a 3 year old.
We used professional help for the backing and all turned out well.
The yearling however is already, rearing when led and turning her backside and kicking out when being caught although we are able to manage this we are worried that this might be a sign of things to come.
Is this normal yearling behaviour or is it, as we think a bad sign.
The breeding is Sire : Lordanos, Dam Sire, Haarlem out of Voltaire.
Any advice welcome as we have 2 months in which to return her for an exchange.
 
im no expert... have only bred one foal for myself... and she never did any of these things.

she had a huge fight with me (tantrum) about picking up her back feet nicely one day which meant me going 5 rounds with her in the box hanging onto her foot untill she held it nicely and put it back down nicely. (she had been doing so since days old, and was just trying it on)

it is different though, as i have had willow since she was born, so we have a close bond, and we know what to expect from each other.

i have had experience with a friends many yearlings... most are perfect, and a couple have been "challenging"

i wouldn't immediately return, but see how she goes. she is new to you and her surroundings she may just be testing the water to see what she can get away with. i'd start as you mean to go on, taking no nonsense- and hopefully she will chill out!

with regards turning her bum to you in the field... if it was willow she'd be chased away until she approached me in an acceptable manner!

good luck, ;)

vicki. x
 
Sorry meant produced for showjumping as in quite highly strung warmblood which we had from 3 now 7 but he never showed any signs of aggression towards us, although was not entirely easy to back even though we were helped by a proffessional.
I can't work out whether we are being tried out by said yearling we have had her now 3 weeks, or its because its a mare or because this is general exuberance from a youngster. The intention was to turn her out with mature mare for a year or so before doing anything but given the awful weather plans have had to change and because she is in and out we are seeing this side of her.
Not having had anything quite as young before we are not sure what is acceptable behaviour from a yearling and also whether it is an overall sign of her temperament.
 
I have a yearling and a 2 year old, they are expected to behave themselves, of course I make allowances for their age but I don't allow rearing, kicking and biting.
 
At the moment she goes out in the morning at 7am with a mature mare and comes in at 5.30pm overnight, however due to the dreadful weather she has come in earlier on some days and has stayed in 2 whole days as paddocks were flooded. She has been a challenge to catch and this has shown in the attempting to kick you when you get close but with perserverance we get her eventually.
Of course by this time it is non productive to administer punishment as then there would be no reason for her to want to be caught anyway. The rearing and striking out is while leading her to her paddock and we have used voice to let her know that this is not acceptable but initially tried just ignoring it whilst keeping close eye as to not get injuries.
 
No, she is always walked out with her companion, if behind she throws a tantrum and jumps about so it seems safer for her to go in front but she does the rearing thing, two of us are doing it for safety and whilst the in front person is trying to keep her straight and looking where she is going the person behind can give a warning if she goes up, it sounds dramatic but she is really quick so you need to have your wits about you but luckily she is only about 14hands at the moment so manageable, my concern is obviously if this follows through to adulthood, not so easy when she is 16.2 and 500kg
 
I have bred from my mare and when my boy was a yearling he went through a 'naughty' stage whereas he didnt want to go in his stable he would try and nip me at every occassion and was a bl**dy pain in the bum! I am not mardy with my horses nor am I nasty and so I perservered until he understood that it wasnt acceptable and that he wasnt going to get away with it and that he would behave and do as I asked in the end. He has grown up to be very well mannered and a pleasure to own so my suggestion would be to perservere and repeat what you do with her until she does it in an acceptable manner and let her know that this is the only sort of behavior you will accept - nip it in the bud now whilst you can! Good luck ;)
 
She sounds like a relatively normal exhuberant yearling who is testing her boundaries with her new people. I wouldn't be trading her in as you can't blame her... she just may not have had the groundwork she should have and you should have been aware of that when you bought her... She's completely normal. Just needs work. Saying that, if you don't feel up to the job, maybe it is best that she goes back... or that you get some experienced help.

She needs regular turnout - wet ground or not, being couped up in a stable 2 days in a row will not be helping her and will make the whole experience of going out so much more exciting and making being in much less appealing! If possible I would have her at a yard where she can go out 24/7 with access to a stable if required. Also, she needs other younger horses to play with. Does the older mare discipline her? Is she 'boring'? Imagine only having adults to play with as a child....

I'm sorry but if she was turning her bum on me and kicking at me as I aproached, she would be getting 'the agressive stance' from me(grow big and tall and stomp your feet in her direction and chase HER away before trying again after RELAXING your stance) and if this failed, a sharp one on the bum with a schooling whip. I am not condoning beating her. Just ONE short sharp reprimand. Good behaviour should be rewarded with a nice scratch on the whithers before walking away and ignoring for a minute or two... then go back and repeat. you shouldn't always be approaching her to catch her, just spend time with her. Sounds like she's got very wise to you very quickly - canny things foals!!
 
led, have tried one of those head collars that is supposed to help keep control of a youngster without causing any discomfort but her behaviour is the same.
 
Hi CBfan
It is my intention to turn out 24/7 as soon as possible, I was aware that she is a bit quick was how it was described by the breeder, I have brought from the same breeder before. The yearling has been barn kept throughout the winter with another yearling, the other yearling has gone to purchaser now and so it seemed appropriate to bring my yearling home rather than pay livery.
Coming to me is the first time she has had turn out on grass, since last year.
I keep my showjumpers out 24/7 in the summer months and never keep them in in the winter unless I really have to of course the weather would be a complete shock to her having been in the barn all winter and of course cannot as yet be rugged she has stayed in 2 separate days out of 3 weeks because of the sheer volume of rain sitting on the paddocks.
It is however not something I envisaged doing it has taken a while to get any of the older horses to accept her and they seem intent on attacking her whichever one i tried her with which led to me bringing her in with the mare she is now with so they could be in adjoining stables and adjoining paddocks until I could finally put them together without injury, which I have done the older mare is quite matronly and I was hoping she would instil some of her good traits in the youngster. We are able to manage her but what I am trying to ascertain as our first yearling as to whether this is fairly normal behaviour for a yearling and also whether to ignore or punish, I hope this clarifies a little.
 
Agree with CBFan.

I think its normal behaviour, just like children have phases so do young horses. If you let her carry on like this then yes it when shes older she will be like this. That's why you need to nip it in the bud now.
 
We are able to manage her but what I am trying to ascertain as our first yearling as to whether this is fairly normal behaviour for a yearling and also whether to ignore or punish, I hope this clarifies a little.
Click to expand...

Most yearlings will try to push the boundries.

RE the question - ignore or punish? I like to reward good behaviour and correct undesirable behaviour. This must be done quickly, you have three seconds to reward/correct. After this time, they will not associate the behaviour they were doing with your response.

My grey went through a rearing period when she was a yearling. She loves to be scratched so I would often give her neck a little rub as we walked along and she was walking nicely. I would also say 'walk on' every time that she moved from halt to walk.

When she reared, I would say 'walk on' sternly and get her to circle around me. I always led her with a leather headcollar, long leadrope, gloves and a dressage whip. As soon as her hooves were moving, she couldn't rear. I also learnt to recognise when she was *thinking* about rearing. I would get her to circle around me and stop the rear from happening at all. We started off doing several circles on the way to the field, but this quickly reduced to none. :)

Once you have corrected any behaviour (eg, you have made the yearling circle because she tried to rear) you must carry on as if nothing has happened. So go back to walking to the field, if that is where you were going. If the yearling is now walking nicely, say 'good girl' and give them a little rub on the neck.
 
merlcharl said:
Hi CBfan
It is my intention to turn out 24/7 as soon as possible, I was aware that she is a bit quick was how it was described by the breeder, I have brought from the same breeder before. The yearling has been barn kept throughout the winter with another yearling, the other yearling has gone to purchaser now and so it seemed appropriate to bring my yearling home rather than pay livery.
Coming to me is the first time she has had turn out on grass, since last year.
I keep my showjumpers out 24/7 in the summer months and never keep them in in the winter unless I really have to of course the weather would be a complete shock to her having been in the barn all winter and of course cannot as yet be rugged she has stayed in 2 separate days out of 3 weeks because of the sheer volume of rain sitting on the paddocks.
It is however not something I envisaged doing it has taken a while to get any of the older horses to accept her and they seem intent on attacking her whichever one i tried her with which led to me bringing her in with the mare she is now with so they could be in adjoining stables and adjoining paddocks until I could finally put them together without injury, which I have done the older mare is quite matronly and I was hoping she would instil some of her good traits in the youngster. We are able to manage her but what I am trying to ascertain as our first yearling as to whether this is fairly normal behaviour for a yearling and also whether to ignore or punish, I hope this clarifies a little.
Click to expand...

I do appreciate the amount of rain we have had recently has been somewhat extreme but all I wanted to point out is that being couped up in a stable on your own is somewhat different to being in a large barn with a playmate ;) Subtle differences in management can make huge differences to behaviour.

I am seeing this very thing with my 4 year old (who I have had since he was 16 months old)who has gone from being out 24 hours a day to being in for 20hours a day due to very early signs of laminits... he is like a completely different horse and I'm not sure I like him!!

While 'matrons' are good for discipline, they can be terribly boring so if there is any way you could get another youngster (a livery pehaps?) to keep yours company she will have the best of both worlds - a kid to play with and a mother figure to tell her off if she gets too unruly!!
 
Yes I think total turnout as soon as possible would be the best way forward plus more handling with appropriate discipline and reward for good behaviour.
I am reassured to know that although we need to correct her, this is fairly normal behaviour for a yearling.
I will investigate perhaps loaning something of a similar age.
Thanks everyone this has been really helpful.
 
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it may also be an idea to look at her diet, hard feed is often a cause of behavioural problems, i have had a couple of yearlings that have nearly turned themselves inside out on any stud / yougstock mix at recomended levals, try cutting down any feed she has, especially if she is in, you never know, it may help
 
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