Should I be telling him off?

Marie1

Marie1

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I have recently taken a gelding on loan and for the past 11 years he has been on an eventing yard with no mares, and now suddenly he is in a field next to one, and he is smitten! He was very vocal before but now when I brought him in it was EXTREME! He has the loudest neigh I have ever heard. Even some of the other liveries said he has got some lungs on him, (may be a silly question but are bigger horses usually louder? he is 17.2hh). It got to the point where people were coming running thinking what on earth is going on! I am not at the moment, but should I be trying to stop him doing this? Or telling him off? Or assume it will die down once he settles in more?

He was also very very bolshy and rude, trying to drag me off and threatening to rear with it which I did not allow!! I'm maybe thinking the mare is in late season

Thanks for reading.
 
I wouldn't be telling off the calling, but would be handling him in a strong and confident manner and not allowing the rearing and bolshiness. Do you lead him in a bridle? It might just help for a little while. Is there any possibility of him being in a field away from the mare?

And regarding the volume of his neigh, I'm not sure where height affects it. My boy is 17hh, rarely calls but when he does it's quite deep but not overly loud, my sisters 14.1 is very vocal but it's high pitched and quite pathetic.
 
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There isn't really no, as we have just had a lot of new liveries join us (a livery yard down the road closed). I did have the leadrope around his nose to little effect, I was considering leading in his bridle but he has an american gag bit and I didn't want go overboard with it just to lead him in. If it continues I will try that though
 
He probably needs time to settle. Does he have some company in with him.

17.2, 11 years old and come from an experienced yard. He is taking the rise. Smack it and mean it.
 
I would be moving him away from the mare if possible. My gelding gets like this with mares (he was a stallion til he was 8yo) and he becomes a nightmare to handle, exactly the same as yours and no amount of firm handling works as it's like you're not even there. Take mares out of the equation and he is back to his usual laid back self.
 
Could you maybe pick up a second hand snaffle bit and attach it your bridle to bring him in. Or if you'd rather not deal with the faff of changing bits, buy a cheapie bridle too.

Also second what AA asked about whether he has company in his field?
 
Yeah I was considering that, I have a snaffle for him already but its quite a faff! May have a look on the sales websites! He does have another horse in his field, and two mares on one side, and a mare and a gelding on the other. He is 17yo! so even more so should know better!
 
I think he just needs time to settle in, especially if he's not used to you and being around mares! make sure you show him your the boss, theres nothing worse than a horse that rears in hand, so don't let him get that far! my boy reared in hand at 2, and struck out hitting me in the face, can safely say I was scared of him for a while but I had to get over it and now he leads fine! but im always cautious that he has it in him! he is only 3.5 now so it wasn't that long ago!!
 
I use a dually halter on anything that might be thinking of pulling me about. Obviously you do need to educate the horse in it, but I find it a useful bit of kit, as is a traditional rope halter.

Some of these older horses do take the mick but that does not allow them to be a menace or dangerous.
 
AdorableAlice said:
I use a dually halter on anything that might be thinking of pulling me about. Obviously you do need to educate the horse in it, but I find it a useful bit of kit, as is a traditional rope halter.

Some of these older horses do take the mick but that does not allow them to be a menace or dangerous.
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I keep the headcollar on him in the field as when turning hiim out if he gets excited you don't get time to take the whole thing off before he's gone (am over coming this and he is much better) could you leave a dually headcollar on in the field? I wouldn't have though so in case he steps on himself when grazing I suppose..
 
Marie1 said:
I keep the headcollar on him in the field as when turning hiim out if he gets excited you don't get time to take the whole thing off before he's gone (am over coming this and he is much better) could you leave a dually headcollar on in the field? I wouldn't have though so in case he steps on himself when grazing I suppose..
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No, don't even leave him unattended in either of the halters I mentioned.
 
Do Not leave a dually head collar on in the field. It is primarily a training aid, not a head collar. Leaving it on in the field is something you are told not to do. Do the training with it and he will stand and wait for you to take it off before he moves. Watch the video again and relearn how to use it. It works brilliantly on my horse.

My horse was turned out with 3 new horses last year and he took a fierce shine to them. He neglected his usual field companion and when I went to catch him, he would run away (not like him) and put the other horses between me and him. When I caught him, he would call to them from the arena. But making him work would get him to focus and he stopped calling while we worked. Persist and don't compromise and insist he does what he is told.
 
ZondaR said:
Do Not leave a dually head collar on in the field. It is primarily a training aid, not a head collar. Leaving it on in the field is something you are told not to do. Do the training with it and he will stand and wait for you to take it off before he moves. Watch the video again and relearn how to use it. It works brilliantly on my horse..
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I will definitely have a look into it, I will admit I am not familiar with this halter, have seen a photo once before and was thinking maybe the extra bit that goes around his nose could be detached. Yeah my boy runs off as well unless you have something with you to feed him with haha, but he has been like this for 17 years apparetly so I will allow him this.
 
I wouldn't be to concerned about nay'ing in hand ATM.... However I can't stand horses that nay when working and I would certainly be trying to limit this...

With pushy behaviour this must be stamped out..... You don't want a horse of that size pushing anything! Bridle is a good idea, or chain over the nose

On the loudness of nay'ing....my 17.3 sounds like a dinosaur!!!!! We joke that it doesn't nay it roars instead. You really don't want be standing next to her when she nays as your ear drums will be no more!!!
 
Sounds like he needs a little time to settle in. His environment has changed quite dramatically and he is clinging to this mare as a kind of comfort blanket. The older ones are sometimes more easily upset by this than the younger ones. Although I am not a fan of strict routine with horses I would get this horse into a routine as soon as possible, he needs to realise that although he has to come away from his new girlfriend from time to time, he will go back to her after he's done a little work. I would start off with a short amount of time, maybe just a lunge for 10 mins and then back out and build up from there.

Most important for now is for you to keep yourself safe. I would agree that you should use a snaffle bridle for now or a dually (it might be a faff to change the bits over but probably worth the extra few mins for your own safety)
 
I have stallions and they like to shout a lot which is A. annoying, B. rude, C. deafening. We tell them off, not for the shouting but for the lack of attention to the handler. If you don't keep the horse listening to you they will escalate the behaviour and quickly become ill mannered, possibly dangerous.
 
I would put a snaffle on a slip and put the lead rope through the hole of the snaffle and clip to the other side, would have small treats to make him stand when its take off.

I also like the Richard maxwell head collar, there is a seller on ebay where they are £9.99.

A friends horse used to take off on the way in so when I brought her in we would stop , treat, rub her, tell her she was good girl and walk on. She soon learnt that it was better to stay with me than leave me , she wasn't treated at any other time and would then scream and come galloping over if I went to the gate because I brought treats.

Just because he is older doesnt mean he can't or shouldn't learn some manners. Have you tried some ground work in the school.
 
i'm sure he will calm down with time. but agree trying the halters for a bit of pressure control, as bolshy behaviour isn't ever exceptable however busy he is flirting! by boy is 15'2 but with a huge rib cage (tb ex-racer) and he calls like crazy if left alone for a minute or when a friend gets turned out to say hi. you can hear him across the farm. i think they all vary in noise levels and pitches, i can normally recognize which horse is calling out from a distance because they all have different 'accents'
when he returns from a hack he also calls out really loud to announce his return! but i cant really tell him off for it!
 
Well update on yesterday he really is playing the stallion today, charging at the adjoining fence between him and the mares, has brought both of them into season, striking out at them when they come close, hooleying around the field, incessant calling!! Watching them intensely every second and the minute the moved going mental, not even bothered about grazing just standing at fence, calling showing off and being a little s***.

Got a call at work explaining the above (was fine when I put him out), and that he has gone so mad that he has even managed to pull his rug off.. Luckily one of the girls brought him in for me as didn't want him to hurt himself, or the mares over the fence who were fighting each other for him.

Also turns out when the owner brought the mare onto the yard he was kicking the stable door and calling for a solid hour and a half, to the point where they thought he was going to go up over the stable door so they put her back out. Totally unacceptable but not sure what to do.

Going to try and electric fence off the top half (not adjoining the mares) and put him in there, with Jay (gelding) in the half of the field in the middle and hope he is better and maybe gets used to them over time.
 
I have the other problem a mare for some reason has gone into season in hyper drive the second year on the run. Did do a blood test 1st time out showed nothing and put her regumate which was of no use and this is the autumn?
 
I had a gelding who had been with a herd of only geldings for many years, i then took him to a mixed herd. He was a flippin nightmare, he was like a naughty teenage boy! However he did soon calm down and got bored once the excitement had worn off.

Also i have just moved my mare from that same mixed yard to a mare only yard, she has got on fine, until we met a gelding out the other day. She nearly turned herself inside out with excitement, panting, heart racing, flaring nostrils. I'm surprised she didnt come back into season there and then!
 
No way leave a dually halter on, be firm with him, there are various strategies like using a short piece of rope over nose of a head-collar, which will never touch the ground if he should get away from you.
When putting out with a bridle there is a serious danger of it getting caught in the teeth as he takes off, so that is no use.
Sounds as though wearing a hat and body protector would be wise, make sure you do lots of training in hand with the dually, regular work every day in-hand is required I think.
 
In the UK there is generally low magnesium, so apart from the cost of some of these supplements there is no reason to avoid it.
I would cut back hard feed and introduce a regular work pattern, making sure you are setting the boundaries, not him!
 
If you're allowed to I'd say move him into a paddock/field further away from the mares, some geldings just don't seem to be able to cope with it when they're near and in season and when they're taken away. Just to prevent him hurting himself or anyone that has to handle him.
 
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