Overhandled as youngsters, now bratty – what to do about them!?

I bought daughter a homebred pony - will think twice about doing it again - he was all the things you post - bargey - no manners - bitey and bucked if asked to do something he didn't want to do or stopped and zoned out. Its been a year and he has better manners on the ground - doesn't bite as doesn't get fed from the hand - he is hacked out and if stops the rider jiggles around and makes it uncomfortable and we use a tassle on rope "encourager" on his shoulder (a stick behind the girth = buck). He will join pony club next year with daughter for schooling in outdoor arenas as he hates or indoor one (but gets lunged and worked in hand in there). Time and persistence....
 
I agree that it's not over handling it's bad/incorrect handling.

The only horses I've come across that have been tricky and didn't respond well to "correct" handling, at a later date, were orphan foals.

My 2yr old arrived in June with minimal handling. He's handled daily as he's in at night. His feet are picked out and he's groomed daily. He's been taught to lead in hand correctly, over poles and tarps, around cones and for short walks into the woods. The EDT has checked his teeth and he's worn a gag plus his feet are trimmed regularly.

It's the polar opposite to other youngsters I've started who were all ferals and their only previous handling was branding, castrating and weaning- so not the best!

Consistent handling with clear boundaries seems to do the trick
 
Iv had plenty of foals and all are well handled and makes backing so much easier but they have good manners and knows right from wrong and in fact have perfect manners and I wouldn't put up with anything less. If a foal or youngster is bargy and rude it says more about the owners in my mind I'm afraid
 
Oh sorry forgot to put, the so called " lazy" horses iv had dealings with before in the past again aren't really lazy, its that they again haven't been started properly and not backed right, lack of understanding so to speak.

Honestly Iv worked with many so called problem horse, lazy horse, bargy youngsters and all but 1 was owners faults. There are genuine horses who can be more differcult but I would say a high percentage is owners fault
 
stormox said:
And yes- its incorrect handling, not lots of handling, that make a horse get disrespectful. The more correct handling you can do with youngsters the better. But with handreared foals, it is quite difficult- not impossible, but difficult- to get the foal to learn the same respect from you as it would have done if it had had a mother teaching it the boundaries.
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Thank goodness for a sensible reply! You can't really over handle a youngster (beyond weaning), you can however handle it incorrectly and inconsistently which can be terrible for it! I also agree hand reared from birth is a very different thing and very difficult to get right.
 
Morgan123 said:
I'm not normally a massive fan of all the dominance stuff in IH but think it could be useful in this instance and have suggested that to her.
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What did you actually suggest she do (if you don't mind me asking)?

My approach would always be to deal with behaviours - avoid, redirect, ignore or (if necessary) punish the unwanted behaviour; facilitate, encourage and reward the wanted behaviours - clearly, calmly, consistently. Fighting an attitude rarely yields lasting good results.
 
I know exactly what you mean, I bred my first foal 21 years ago and I treated her like a baby which was fine until she reached about two when she decided that she was obviously the boss of not only her mother and our other mare but every human she came into contact with. She was aggressive if she couldn't get her own way and would barge anything that got in her way. It took years to correct and I would never treat a youngster like that again. Lesson learned.
 
Wagtail said:
OP, whilst I agree that overhandled youngsters can become bargey, I have never heard of them being lazy to ride. I have encountered a few overhandled youngsters and none of them have had this habit. I have also known plenty of horses that have not been overhandled that are 'lazy' to ride. However, I would stress, that in the majority of cases where a horse is very reluctant to go forward and gets labelled as 'lazy', there is a very real physical cause. I would be doing a full work up and veterinary investigation before labelling any horse 'lazy.
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This. One of my two four year olds appeared to be extremely lazy and he changed completely on a selenium and vitamin a supplement. He was selenium deficient, not over handled.
 
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