pushy horse

murphysmum123

murphysmum123

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Had my horse just over a week now, he is a lovely boy, just starting to be a bit pushy in the stable, has anyone got any tips on what i can do to stop him trying to push me out the way when he wants his own way etc, this is my first horse.

Thanks in advance.
 
kelly marks perfect manners book is brilliant, lots of exercises to work through to get your horse to respect you.
i also have "rules" for my horse, e.g cant go ahead when leading, has to back up whenever i enter stable etc, there all automatic to him now and he used to be bargy and v.rude! its important to set them right from the start if it is a new horse, if he is in your way HE must get out of it, not you go around him, if he pushes u push him back, and mean it! nice firm voice and point/hand on chest to get him out your space
 
Richard Maxwell groundwork with rope halter helped with a riggy bolshy 4 year old. Agree with other post to tie him up for time-being and be safe for now.
 
NIP IT IN THE BUD
Operate a Zero Tolerance policy for bad behaviour and rudeness. A stern voice and sharp elbows and definitely no barging. A clear hand signal and "Back" and do not enter his stable until he does. Then if he barges, turn him straight around & do it again (& again & again) until he does it nicely.

Put his bridle on or wrap the rope once round and through the headcollar to make sure you have absolute control if he does get pushy and make him do things over again till you are happy with his behaviour.

Do not be afraid to use your elbows if he is in your space and your Stern Mum voice when he needs it - he will still love you !
 
Even though tying him up would stop him being pushy it's not going to solve the problem.

I had the same problem, so i taught my pony to back up on command. I shook my finger in the air and flicked him back with my rope at the same time, and he gradually understood that shaking finger = back up. Now all i have to do is raise my finger and he will take a few steps backwards. :) don't forget to reward every time he goes backwards either!
 
Buy yourself a Dually or control headcollar and use it properly.

As someone else said - they are like kids - you have to set boundaries and stick to them. if you make the boundaries fluffy edged the horse will not understand.

Tell horse to stand - if he does not then get him to walk round in tight circle and back to original position and stay stand again - repeat until they get the message - if you let him walk over you he will.

In my book a good firm jerk on a headcollar combined with a shouty "stand" usually works wonders.
 
He is testing you and you have to step up and make him know you are in charge and that he has to respect that and also your own space. I had this with my previous loan, and she was a hefty 17.2 shire that thought she could bum nudge me out the way. She soon stopped that once I let her know that wasnt acceptable.
 
Your horse does not know appropriate behaviour around you. It's your job to teach him. When he understands and has learned, he will behave the way you want. Best approach is to learn - yourself - what you need to teach. Generally the basics are "move backwards please", "move sideways away from me please", "come towards me please". "lower your head please" is a very useful one for putting on bridles, and "raise your head please" is a useful one for doing up rugs etc. A book like the Kelly Marks one has most of these exercises.

However, you can safely leave aside all the ideas about "respect", "horse testing you" etc., as they're irrelevant and unnecessary, and are likely to make you pushier and less effective at teaching the horse (if you are thinking whenever they don't do what you want that they're testing you rather than that they're not sure exactly what you asked them to do). You can teach a horse to do all the basic groundwork without even thinking about these rather nebulous concepts and it stops the human from being over assertive and pushy too (don't forget courtesy goes both ways, you don't need to irritate your horse to teach him how you want him to behave).
 
FreddiesGal said:
No doubt they would get the message they can't be pushy when tied up, but what happens when you don't tie them up? He wouldn't have been taught it's not ok so he'd still be bargy
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No, my experience is that they do actually put two and two together and figure out if they're a pain in the butt, they get tied up.
 
Good advice given
Invest in a dually halter, be consistent but fair, repitition repitition, reward with a rub when the required reaction comes, my mare is still a work in progress, but we are getting there, animals (and kids) need groundrules
 
caroline23 said:
kelly marks perfect manners book is brilliant, lots of exercises to work through to get your horse to respect you.
i also have "rules" for my horse, e.g cant go ahead when leading, has to back up whenever i enter stable etc, there all automatic to him now and he used to be bargy and v.rude! its important to set them right from the start if it is a new horse, if he is in your way HE must get out of it, not you go around him, if he pushes u push him back, and mean it! nice firm voice and point/hand on chest to get him out your space
Click to expand...

Excellent advice. :)

The "Perfect Manners" book is an excellent starter book for stuff like this but with enough theory and explanation to carry on with. It's no good just saying "don't let him do it!", if someone is in that situation it helps to have step by step instructions on how to get out of it. Also, as mentioned, it takes the emotion and the "personal" out of it - you do the exercises, you get the result. There are other good books by other trainers as well - Richard Maxwell, Mark Rashid, Cherry Hill, Micheal Peace and a whole host if people, most of them perfectly fine for what you need. It IS just basic horsemanship and mostly common sense, up but it always helps to have a framework and a "how to".

If you're still struggling or want to move things along a bit faster, it's worth investing in a session, perhaps combined with ridden work, with someone who is interested in this area. Then you can ask whatever questions you have and fine tune your work.
 
Depends what sort of relationship you want to achieve with your horse.
Any Natural Horsemanship techniques are my recommendation, except Intelligent Horsemanship, I think its too much pressure all the time.
Avoid the Dually or Be nice head collars, they are too harsh and mechanical for me, if you over do it with them as a beginner it spoils the lightness you want.
 
Agree with most of the above . . . just wanted to add, I found that having a stall chain at his stable door has helped hugely . . . it means I can use my whole body language to move him away from the stable door and out of my space before I go in rather than just my face/shoulders over the stable door. I hope that makes sense. Interestingly, I find that just having a headcollar on - either sort - regular and/or rope - makes Kal much more cooperative in his stable - like he's in "work" or "listening" mode.

Good luck with your new friend :).

P
 
Concur with zero tolerance policy, though you don't need to be shouty, just consistent and firm but calm.

Brightbay said:
Your horse does not know appropriate behaviour around you. It's your job to teach him. When he understands and has learned, he will behave the way you want. Best approach is to learn - yourself - what you need to teach. Generally the basics are "move backwards please", "move sideways away from me please", "come towards me please". "lower your head please" is a very useful one for putting on bridles, and "raise your head please" is a useful one for doing up rugs etc. A book like the Kelly Marks one has most of these exercises.

However, you can safely leave aside all the ideas about "respect", "horse testing you" etc., as they're irrelevant and unnecessary, and are likely to make you pushier and less effective at teaching the horse (if you are thinking whenever they don't do what you want that they're testing you rather than that they're not sure exactly what you asked them to do). You can teach a horse to do all the basic groundwork without even thinking about these rather nebulous concepts and it stops the human from being over assertive and pushy too (don't forget courtesy goes both ways, you don't need to irritate your horse to teach him how you want him to behave).
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I couldn't agree more - a superb post.
 
Pale Rider said:
Any Natural Horsemanship techniques are my recommendation, except Intelligent Horsemanship, I think its too much pressure all the time.
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Hmmm, I'm not sure where you got that impression from - one could say the same about much of NH, especially the P form of it! I don't think IH is necessarily any more or less pressuring - probably less so if you take Join-Up (which I'm not fond of, and which is in any case done only occasionally and sometimes not at all) out of the picture. I agree with your caveats about pressure halters in inexperienced hands though. Anyway, maybe this should be debated in a separate thread.
 
Brightbay said:
Your horse does not know appropriate behaviour around you. It's your job to teach him. When he understands and has learned, he will behave the way you want. Best approach is to learn - yourself - what you need to teach. Generally the basics are "move backwards please", "move sideways away from me please", "come towards me please". "lower your head please" is a very useful one for putting on bridles, and "raise your head please" is a useful one for doing up rugs etc. A book like the Kelly Marks one has most of these exercises.

However, you can safely leave aside all the ideas about "respect", "horse testing you" etc., as they're irrelevant and unnecessary, and are likely to make you pushier and less effective at teaching the horse (if you are thinking whenever they don't do what you want that they're testing you rather than that they're not sure exactly what you asked them to do). You can teach a horse to do all the basic groundwork without even thinking about these rather nebulous concepts and it stops the human from being over assertive and pushy too (don't forget courtesy goes both ways, you don't need to irritate your horse to teach him how you want him to behave).
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This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ spot on

And don't forget to reward your horse with lip curling scratches and praise when he is doing what you want. Teaching a horse to stand calmly is important and over-looked - you don't have to get bolshy or pushy, just start with small steps and reward your horse for getting it right. I too would avoid pressure-type halters.

Personally I prefer Ben Hart's style of working to Kelly Marks as he does not get hung up on the leadership/respect terminology - he has excellent shaping plans for teaching horses to do all sorts of useful things, downloadable from his website "Hart's Horsemanship".
 
Brightbay - what a superb way to put it!

I have always treated my mare with respect and patience and I do not need to shout, wave around or be at all aggressive with her...my youngster started out bargy (only had him since feb)...its early days but I am simply working very hard with him, being consistant, not expecting too much too soon and lots of gentle repetition...like gently asking him to move back from the stable door (he is huge and strong) but the lightest pressure is now required. He has to stand for a few seconds...then he gets a stratch and fuss.

I am using a rope halter...but I find that I do not have to 'use it' much...whereas if I put on a normal headcollar he drags me everywhere!

Good luck with your new horse...do you have any pics you would like to share?

ps...if you do decide to go down any of the NH routes then just be mindful of how easily these methods can be done incorrectly..... there are LOADS of threads about them on HHO
 
xxMozlarxx said:
Quite....so why advise against them? They are a very useful tool indeed.
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When I read the initial post from the OP she states that this is her first horse. She then goes on to talk about her horse becoming pushy, and asking advice.

My conclusion is that the OP is not that experienced.

I think that these types of headcollar like the Dually and Be Nice, are a powerful piece of kit, capable of putting a massive amount of pressure on the head of the horse. The skill in using something like this is in the release which should be as soon as the horse 'tries' to comply with what is desired. To effectively train a horse with one of these headcollars takes a lot of skill and timing, to be a useful training tool, they should only be used by an experienced person who understands their use.

All too often they are used to force or bully the horse. To put something like this in the hands of a person asking this sort of question will spoil both of them.
 
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