Need desperate help!!!

I

Ilovemyponyapril

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Ok, a couple of day's ago (after say many many times that i would) i decide to try join up with my 8yo NF mare. I was expecting it to run nice and smoothly and that this would really help our relationship. So i walked in to our lunge pen let her of the got her going round and......

SHE TURNED INTO A MAD BUCKING, REARING MANIAC!!!

She was terrible, she was:
Rolling
lashing out at me
Kicking
rearing
Bucking
Speeding
etc!

She actually properly made me scared and i'm not scared easliy! Doing join - up (or attempting to) made me realise how dominant she actually is! Everytime in would try to be the "dominate mare" she would do the listed! I'm really needing help.....

Any adivce or ways to deal with this would be helpfull

Thanks
Ilovemyponyapril
 
It sounds as though you need some help from a qualified instructor. Join-Up has many advantages, but you need to be sure you're doing it right. Your horse's actions sound extreme and unhappy. I've done it in an amateurish sort of way and it worked fine, but every horse is different - and you could end up getting hurt, and also mentally damaging your horse
 
did she have any tack on at all? how big is the pen? has she been in there before?
does she behave like that in the field when you go to catch her? most horses will join-up in the field, with a little patience. that does sound like extreme behaviour.
as above though, i would get some experienced, patient help with her, since you could get injured, and she could get worse.
 
Kerilli - She only had a headcoller on, that she wears everyday. Ummm, not sure, around 40m ish but i'm really not sure. Yes many times! No she never behaves like that in the field

Rose Folly - i am getting help!
 
You don't need to do it every week or you will confuse the mare. After you have established her trust you should only be sending her away if she is doing something really out of order, this is how it works in the wild.
 
Your mare may well be high spirited, but she would appear to have absolutely no respect for you. All the signs are there that she is trying to intimidate you and do what she wants.

Horses are always looking for an easy life, and most of them will choose to evade rather than work. They display subtle signs that they are challenging their handler and, if the handler fails to recognise and counter-challenge those early warnings, the horse will increase the frequency and extent of the challenges until it is totally in control. The handler becomes afraid and unsure how to put things back into perspective, and the horse learns the handler's weaknesses and limitations very quickly, resulting in the sort of scenario you describe.

In such cases, the handler must be prepared to take the horse on and counter every challenge from the horse. The horse must be left in no doubt that its life will be in danger if it tries to intimidate humans. That means that the handler must get after the horse in a predatory manner, and cause it to move swiftly and fluently around the pen. Any changes of direction must be orchestrated by the handler, not by the horse, and any attempts by the horse to kick or charge at the handler must be met with fierce opposition.

If the horse chooses to rip around the pen, bucking and farting and kicking out, the handler must keep it going, especially when the horse decides it's had enough and tries to slow down. If the horse tries to evade by showing aggressive, threatening tendencies, the handler must counter this and send the horse on, and cause it to make several sharp changes of direction. Any attempts by the horse to fall in off the circle must be met by the handler stepping in toward the horse and vigorously sending it out again.

When, and only when, the horse is trotting round the pen in a steady, fluent manner, and has given up all attempts to challenge the handler, should the handler then begin to take the pressure off and encourage the horse to make downward transitions to halt. If the horse throws out a challenge at this point, such as a toss of the head or any attempt to turn its quarters in toward the handler, it should be instantly sent on again, and the process repeated as necessary.

This is not 'Join-Up'...this is corrective training for a horse which has learned to intimidate and control its handler.

Now the handler can begin to move the horse round the pen using less aggressive tactics and, by refining the amount of pressure used and introducing passive body language, can control the horse in terms of its responses, gaits, and compliance.

The handler engaging in such work must wear all safety gear...hat, gloves, stout boots with good grip...and should carry a coiled rope or stout stick to use in defence in an emergency.

Not a job for the faint-hearted, so you may want to seek experienced help.
 
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badgermyers said:
I dont do join up, but if I lose my horse in a lunge pen they do all those things! Its pretty normal equine behaviour. They don't do it in the field, just in there.

I personally don't believe in join up and NH.
Click to expand...

Ooooh you are a braver person than I am :D

This post actually for me sums up all that is bad when someone goes and watches a demonstration and then goes home to try it for themselves. This poor mare is now saddled with the word 'dominant' when all she is is a horse, behaving like a horse does.

I am not against NH, most of it is common sense, but I really feel that unless you can read your horse properly, you need to have a professional in attendance when you attempt to use it.
 
Indeed, I do equine behaviour as part of my Uni course. I am looking to do vetmed after.

Although I dont believe in it myself, I have no issue with people who do. If it makes you and the horse happy then go for it. I just find using common sense, being firm and reward when needed communication tends to be just fine.

Im not sure the mare is being 'dominant', I think more happy to be out and feeling well!
 
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