Pawing the ground

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Any tips on how to stop this? My horse is driving me nuts at the moment. As soon as I turn my back when she is in the tie up bay she starts pawing and has woen a hole in the concrete! She is really impatient and only does it when she can't see me. I have tried everything, ignoring her, shouting at her, giving her a lick which keeps her occupied for a couple of minutes. I have even contemplated buying one of those dog collars where you can give them electric shocks but that seems a bit extreme.
 
Well; I certainly would advise AGAINST the dog shock collar!

First you have to determine WHY they are pawing. Sometimes, if they are used to being given attention when they are pawing, it does become a harder habit to break, as they are so used to eventually getting a response.

If the issue derives from attention, then simply totally remove yourself from site- make sure there are no potential safety hazards etc, and just entirely remove yourself. When it stops- wait a few seconds, go back and reward her. The more you encourage her to NOT paw, the less likely she wants to paw- as for her, not pawing receives a more desired response than pawing.

It's one of those things which it IS a tedious situation, but you have to persevere, but first you have to pinpoint the issue. There can be lots of reasons for pawing- frustration, is there something in their environment which is causing her to be angry? Hunger- is she hungry and saying Mum I'd like some food ( if she is just being greedy, perhaps review the situation), consider her diet- is she lacking something or does she have high quantities of a certain food ( high sugar), which is causing this extra 'fizziness' in her and causing her to become slightly more excitable. Is it her hormones? If she is coming into season or just come out, usually their hormones are all over the place. Again, there is little that punishment can do to resolve that issue. The only thing you can do, is totally remove yourself, persist with ignoring her ( don't even talk, make eye contact with her, do things near her), soon the behaviour becomes extinct, when it doesn't provoke the desired response.

It's like with children- any 'response'- whether it is negative or positive, is attention for them. So by totally ignoring it and rewarding for when she doesn't paw, she soon learns and understands that there is little benefit to pawing.

Good luck.
 
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My tb mare does this when she is tied up and left on her own, always has done..

I think most of it is anxiety, if you think about it horses are herd animals so quite understandable they don't like being out of sight of their herd - whether it be horse or human!

Not really anything you can do.. Can you not tie her up with another horse?
 
Just re-read your post, so she does it when she can't see you?

I'm pretty sure it's an attention thing- it's not so much ''naughty'' behaviour, it's a bit like the young child who doesn't like being separated from their Mum ( take it as a compliment ;)!).

In these kind of situations, you DO have to be empathetic. Perhaps your horse feels vulnerable? Perhaps she sees you as a security blanket when the other horses aren't around. She does have to understand that you will come back, but not when you paw. So try and ingrain this habit into her and encourage her to become more confident and independent. You could begin by tying her near other horses too?
 
I was only joking about the collar! I have always thought it was attention seeking or boredom because if you leave her tied up near anything like rugs on a wall she pulls them all off. I don't think it is becuse she is left on her own because she will do it if there is a horse next to her or people sat around. She isn't a stessy or nervous horse at all just very impatient.
 
Being tied up in itself can be a cause of anxiety. Yeah I know, they do HAVE to be tied up, but it can make them feel extra vulnerable because they know that they can't run fast if they have to. No idea how to cure it though - sorry!
 
my boy [aws the ground and rock the lorry when where sat having out breakfast in it at shoes, its dries us crazy but as soon as we go off ot look round he stops, its all quiet till he hears us then off he goes again
 
It's the same root cause as when a horse waves a foot about while it's eating a hard feed. It's a displacement activity, ie something that is hard wired into the horse's brain to do but circumstances prevent the horse from doing it. Thousands of years of evolution have made the horse an animal that moves, moves, moves forever. Tied up takes away that freedom to move and the horse becomes anxious and closer to his wild zebra cousins. Some horses are closer to their ancestry than others. But I wouldn't mind betting that your horse wasn't taught to tie up in an understanding way, as a youngster. I'd be tempted to go right back to the start and teach your horse to tie up calmly. But if you resort to violent methods to "cure" this, you'll make it worse.
 
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