SERIOUS HELP NEEDED

[suffolkenpuzzled]

Hello

I have a 2yo welshy gelding who has always been rather wild, but recently seems to have gone 5 miles backwards. He is verging on dangerous, nearly had the farrier in the face today with a front strike out, so bad that even with a bit of dope we had to leave him one foot trimmed one not.
Every one on the yard I am on has been telling me I should either sell him or shoot him which is really starting to trouble me. Yes he's a little s**t but I've had him since he was 5 months and I'm kind of fond of the little sod.
So, I need some seriously hardcore techniques to try to break him. I have NO idea what to do with him. I've broken horses before and never had this kind of issue, PLEASE Please help, as I'm at the end of my tether. I want to be able to handle him safely and for others to be able to go near him without getting pummelled. I'm going on honeymoon for 2 weeks soon and if anything happens they could get in a bit of btoher. (And I want to prove the tossers on my yard wrong)
Please help, I will try ANYTHING

 

[bungalowpickle]

Try natural horsemanship, I think it's wonderful. Have seen it work wonders with troubled horses. Good luck and enjoy your honeymoon.

 

[clairefeekerry1]

is he a welshie d by any chance????!!!!!!!!

 

[Damnation]

Is there a behaviourist in your area that can help you? Without seeing the horse it will be hard to help you to see where the behaviour is coming from. What is he like for you to handle? Does he get handled regularly, if so in what way and how does he behave? Is he gelded or entire?

 

[diggerbez]

how about sending him away somewhere to bootcamp?

 

[Bowen4Horses]

[ QUOTE ]
how about sending him away somewhere to bootcamp?

[/ QUOTE ]

horsey bootcamp whilst you're on honeymoon...

 

[Janetterose]

If you have some money send him to James Roberts (Parelli) took my friends horse from the verge of being shot to a bomb proof angel.

If not - even just lots of join up will do wonders

 

[LindaW]

Contact Janet George, and ask if she'll have him for bootcamp. She won't have his nonsense.

 

[suffolkenpuzzled]

yes he is a welsh D!
I handle him every day, sometimes in the field, giving him scratches (which he loves), sometimes bringing him to the yard to his stable or tied up and groom him then lead him around then back out. He's OK with me, he won't let anyone else near him. Apart from the farrier incident earlier, people had tried to catch him in my absence and have been struck at. Then I've arrived and caught him straight away. He's a s***t to lead most of the time, he seems to spook at everything, bronks a lot, he kicks out when I feed him, goes bonkers when horses are moved around etc. doesn't mind having his back and neck scratched but the rest seems to be off limits most of the time. He is gelded.

 

[Damnation]

I would get a behaviourist out and get some boundries set down. He is 2 and too old to be playing silly buggers. If this was my horse I would be doing this..
1) Get him used to being touched all over, get a nice soft goat hair brush or something and just keep doing it until he behaves. Don't get angry, little and often, praise him and talk to him when he is good and if he is silly just keep going until he gives in, but just quietly with minimal fuss.

2) Get the leading sorted out, I would do some groundwork like making him stop when you stop and if he doesn't stop, make him walk backwards out of "your space", he needs to learn to respect that. Remember that in the wild, if they got into another horses space and the other horse didn't like it, they would get a sour face and possibily a boot! This is the human equivalent. If he spooks at something, ignore him and keep walking, if he violently spooks or shoots forwards, walk him backwards. He will soon learn that walking nicely is alot easier then constantly walking backwards.

3) If he kicks out when you feed him I would be inclined not to feed him until you get everything else sorted, set up the boundries, build up the trust and respect as the "herd leader" then attempt feeding him, hopefully by this stage he will know how to behave.

Hope this makes sense

 

[jewel]

sounds like my boy who still has his off day and he is now a 4 year old.

 

[tabithakat64]

I agree with Damnation's advice.

I would also be tempted to contact an equine behaviourist or someone similar to Richard Maxwell as others have suggested

Welsh D's really do need firm boundaries to be set from the start, they are very intelligent and prone to being bolshy if not handled correctly.

If you give them an inch they take several miles

Saying that Welshies are fab (I wouldn't swap mine for the world) as long as you don't let them take the pee and be the 'one' in control.

 

[Azabache]

Just a thought, is there any chance it could be a gastric ulcer. My horse used to be v aggressive, but after 4 years he's turned into a nicer boy. He's always been sensitive about his sides and at the back of my mind I've often wondered if he had / had had an ulcer. Anyway recently he got very angry if I went within a foot of his sides and then he suddenly became very aggressive - ran straight at the YO, turned round and double barrelled her, luckily he missed. He then pinned me in the corner of the stable and really threatened me - v unpleasant. Anyway I've started giving him Gastrocare which is for ulcers and hey presto happy, nice pony is back. Not suggesting that you start treating him for ulcers, especially without advice, but I'm now certain that a lot of his early aggressive behaviour was down to ulcers and am kicking myself for not listening more to the little nagging voice I'd had at the back of my mind.

 

[spike123]

one thing that really stands out is why is he on hard feed? A 2 year old out at grass really doesn't need hard feed unless of course it is just a handful of chaff for some kind of supplement. This is of course assuming he is out on good grass.If not then ignore my question lol.
If he is just coming in to be groomed,fed and put back out it may well be time to start doing some ground work with him.I am not talking lunging but teaching him some basic manners like moving away and backing up,moving his feet where you want him to move them.To me he sounds like he is either getting more energy than he needs or else is bored and needs something to stimulate his mind.

 

[VictoriaEDT]

natural horsemanship all the way, he has to understand you before he knows what you are asking him to do and that way he will give you respect.

I thoroughly recommend Adam Goodfellow and Nicola Golding (they wrote the book whispering back) who come from Cirencester. My horse and I went to them (the piebald) I learnt loads, Charlie came back a different horse (and I had owned him for ten years as well!).

Some of the horses he had in were on the verge of being destroyed they were so dangerous and they were transformed to the point where he could vault onto them in the field without a headcollar and ride them away from the herd........amazing.

 

[suffolkenpuzzled]

he's not on hard feed, but he gets a bit in the winter as otherwise he shrivels to ntohing as we have no grass in winter.

 

[corinnematthews]

Chuck him out in the field for another year, ideally with a load of other horses, where the lead horse will sort him out - and put him well down the pecking order. Young horses need to be just that - interacting with the herd - not being someones baby that they soon learn that they can be boss of (ends up being horribly dangerous)

 

[Tankey]

JM07 says forget NH/parelli bollocks, she will have him if you want to get rid or will certain ly sort him for you ...

 

[DipseyDeb]

QR...blimey that's an extreme reaction from the people on your yard, he is only a baby after all. Ditto above, you don't want to turn this into a battle of strength at this age, try the Richard maxwell forum he has some really good, sensible advice for ground work. Good luck!!

 

[JanetGeorge]

Judging by the number of Welsh D's that have ended up here after Parelli/NH training, I would tend to think it doesn't work too well for your average Welsh D youngster!!

Welsh D's have a sense of humour - they ENJOY 'games' - THEIR sort!! They're 'in your face' types and practice 'advance and retreat' too - they advance and watch people retreat! YOU can handle him - so all is not lost - but you do need to keep people away from him who he can play with! He needs some 'firm but fair' discipline - and lots of - at a yard where he can be handled ONLY by people who can handle him consistently before this behaviour becomes so firmly entrenched that he DOES become dangerous.