SO GLAD TUESDAY IS TOMORROW!! COLT BEING GELDED

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I havent mentioned this on any posts as of yet, as to be honest been kind of ashamed, our yearling has turned into the most savage horrible creature ever recently beyond being a naughty colt, hes been having a decent smack on a daily basis, (i would of like to of turned him out with the other youngsters but we just dont have the room atm for horses to be out all winter,) i got to the point where i could of killed him literally which is such a shame as he was a sweet sole, sharp but not nasty and has got the most fabulous walk and his canter is developing fabulously!! well i was the only one who would handle him and he gave me a run for my money and plenty of brusies but THANK GOD he is being gelded tomorrow and i pray that this behavious stops or even just is less agressive because i honestly could not go on with him being like that!! Never ever have i come accross a colt who changed so quickly into a monster
 
I would stop smaking him as much as you can as they just get provoked by it. Try pushing the head away if nipping. Is the aggression stallion like (ie rearing, biting, kicking) or is it normal naughtiness because I have a yearling who started to act up but it wasn't stallion characteristics but just yearling lets see what I can get away with cheekiness which was quickly rectified by the occasional very quick tap on the bum (maybe as much as a dressage whip during a test) when he picked up a hind leg experimentally and I now I push away his head before he nips me if he even tries and if he does get me then a little tap on the nose immediately when or just after the nip, he has stopped doing both of these things at the moment, but I'm sure he'll try them again. The gelding should help in a few weeks if the characteristics were stallion hormones (they can kick in at about 18months) but won't necessarily if they are just naughtiness. The other thing that people have suggested to me (hopefully I'll be able to do it reasonably soon) is round penning as it can really help to develop a relationship that is on your terms not the horses.
good luck
If you want anymore help just PM me and I'd be happy to help.
 
no hes v.agressive going to bite my face rearing when i go to put a halter on rearing whilst leading turning his bum on me threatening to kick, he has always been very well behaved and we have handled alot of youngsters however he changed in to a horrible agressive youngster over night, i do try and refrain from smacking but some times he just goes to far, well hel be gelded tommorrow and then when the weather is ok prob end of feb early march hel go out with the colts and hopefully get rid of any tension
 
Im green with envy. My monster is booked in for gelding on 8th Jan and believe me it cant come quick enough. My colt also seemed to change overnight from an angelic little foaly to this huge hairy bolshy yearling who bites and rears throwing his legs within inches of my face, he also has had daily handling from birth.
Im sure the comments regarding not smacking yearlings is valid but ive got to say i do chastise mine as hes far too big to be this naughty its not stallion like its just down right rude, and i dont stand for it.
 
I do sympathise, I've been there too! It's awful when they change to Satan at the drop of a hat!
The trigger came for my yearling when he came out of the box shaking hands at me and reared up, pulled away and I got rope burns because he just kept going, the barsteward!! Before that, he had been cheeky but never nasty. The next day he tried it again but I was ready for him and he had a chain over the nose on the end of a long lead rein. He was most surprised when it didn't work and I gave him a yank! He tried it again but this time slipped as he went up and he came down in a heap; he was so cross he tried it again and did the same thing; both times I hadn't touched the lead rein apart from holding it. The next time he tried it, I pulled him over myself; he was furious and tried it again so I did it again. At the time, I didn't care if I had killed him to be honest, he was being dangerous and it was me or him; like you, I could have shot him myself, I didn't care if he hurt himself at my hands, if he couldn't be handled there was no future for him anyway. As it was, he was so shocked to have been floored twice by me, he stood up, shook himself and just stood there glaring at me, then sidled up to me as if to say "well, where do you want me to go, Mum?" and he honestly wasn't any trouble after that (although I always had a chain over his nose just in case) until he was broken when he was a real bad child. Luckily, he was persevered with and has turned out to be a cracking hunter and pony club eventing pony, so there is hope for your boy!

Good luck for tomorrow and start as you mean to go on as soon as he is round from the anaesthetic by being harsh but fair, don't give him an inch and hopefully he come out on the other side as a nice person again.
 
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Im sure the comments regarding not smacking yearlings is valid but ive got to say i do chastise mine as hes far too big to be this naughty its not stallion like its just down right rude, and i dont stand for it.

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I don't blame you at all and personally think you're doing the right thing, both for yourself and his later life. I cannot understand the mentality of someone saying don't chastise them; they are big strong animals, they don't reason with you, they don't know the consequences of hurting you; it's no good saying they don't mean to, they are trying to dominate you by their sheer strength and it needs to be curbed as soon as possible.

I'm by no way a horse beater, far from it but I won't tolerate bad manners like that, least of all a young horse that I hope eventually to go on and have a career whether it be happy hacker or a competition sort. They need to be taught firmly but fairly right from the start so that good manners becomes automatic; it shouldn't be left until they're older. I would be mortified if someone else had to sort out my mess.
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I think I've been misunderstood, I don't think that one should never chastise a horse if he is dangerous and it comes to a him or me situation (your boy sounds like he is being dangerous). I also won't stand bad manners in horses and my boy backs when asked stands tied up for hours if I ask him to (I was solo combing his mane), leads, halts, turns around gates when asked etc (though we have had small arguements about the feet being picked up thing (only with me which is REALLY annoying). It sounds as though your boy is feeling is stallion hormones and it should calm down when he's gelded (thank goodness for you). Some colts are like this which is why they are gelded, I'm lucky mine isn't.

However, when I wrote my original post I couldn't tell how bad he was being. Personally l use my body language and voice followed by a small smack (dressage whip in competition level) if he/ she doesn't behave rather than a big smack (though I have to admit I lost my temper with him once when he WOULD NOT pick up his feet and then tried to kick me when I asked him to move over and I did smack his bum fairly hard with my hand). Of course in the short run they do listen but you may have damaged the relationship (and I don't mean being "friends", I mean being respected but the horse knowing that you respect him too). My boy is clever and if I tell him off (verbally or with a tap) for something that he knows he shouldn't be doing then he behaves impecably afterwards (at least for a while) but if I tell him off when he doesn't understand what I'm doing/ what he's doing wrong then he gets very annoyed with me and stops listening to me. The other side is that if he does something that he knows is wrong and I don't tell him off then he loses repect in me as well (it's a fine line) and sometimes that includes chastising him (such as the feet episode).

I used to tell horses off by smacking them (never hard) on whatever area is being bad (ie bum etc) (though never the head) but I've seen too many quiet withrawn horses that shy away when they do something even slightly wrong preparing themselves for a smack that I stopped and tried to find other ways of getting my views across to them. (with the rearing try swinging a rope under his tummy when he rears (I read it somewhere and some other people have told me that is works). These horses had "perfect" manners but never really wanted to please the rider/handler/be horses. There is a mare where I ride who scowls at everyone but a couple of people when they come past her stall but she doesn't scowl at me, infact she follows me round and yes she has bitten me but I just pushed her face away until she looked sufficiently lonely and then let her join in with me again, she hasn't bitten me again. I'm not saying that you should never use force as they do against us and sometimes it is the only thing that they will listen too but I am saying that there are other ways of dealing with issues and also that listening to the horse, especially when they are young, is extremelly important.

I hope that he calms down soon but try some of the other ways of dealing with it before hitting and see if they work (you can always smack him if they don't).

Sorry that this is a long post but I just wanted to clear up any misunderstandings.
 
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I havent mentioned this on any posts as of yet, as to be honest been kind of ashamed, our yearling has turned into the most savage horrible creature ever recently beyond being a naughty colt,

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Don't feel bad - we all have the ratbag colt from time to time. I hope you're having a 'knock down' gelding rather than standing. I find it SO much more effective for sorting out behaviour. The last thing they see is you - standing there holding them - then they wake up with a great pain between their legs and NO idea about how you did it!
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Works well! For at least 6-8 weeks. That's the time to really enforce the discipline because coltish behaviour IS learned behaviour (fuelled by testosterone, of course.) But taking away the testosterone won't stop them remembering that they used to be little sh*ts and trying again! So use the period when he's shell-shocked to drill manners into him bigtime!

I have one that was gelded late (I had hoped to keep him as a potential stallion but he got just TOO evil!) He was a lamb for 8 weeks - then started trying it on. We stomp on him - he behaves for a bit - then tries it on some more - and that's been going on for 8 months. I wish we could geld him again! But persistent firm handling WILL work eventually!
 
at the end of the day its down to safety. no matter how big or small the horse is . remember it take about 3 weeks for the hormones to settle down. good luck
 
I read this post yesterday and didnt comment, but went into work today to find our normally good as gold little colt had turned into the spawn of the devil. I was shocked at the change in him! We think it may be because his friend (normally the dominant one) was gelded a couple of weeks ago and is no longer bossing him around.
 
well he has been gelded today all went well, im trying to be optimistic and thinks a fresh start, hes the most lovely horse type wise and movement and could be the most fantastic horse for some one as long as he behaves now lol

i do smack all my horses when necessary but this is only for my own safety and i would hate to sell a rude ill mannered horse which could put some one elses life in danger. plus if they are allowed to terrorify ppl as youngsters what are they going to be like when there fully grown

MFH - my three year old loves his chain accross his nose he shows off walking past the other colts he is impeccably behaved with it on but i wouldnt trust him without it on as i know he would push to see how far he would get
 
i not looking forward to the day i have to do my boy, he is only 8 months old atm, and is as quite as a lamb, i know come spring he is going to change and it will be bye bye for mr balls.
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My colt hasnt been gelded yet he is 3 next year and he has always been impecible to handle - he is so laid back to !! AFter reading this post i feel very lucky to have him - he is still out with the Geldings to !!

I cant wait to break him !!

Now by 6 month old filly she is a complete different kettle of fish and is very sharp !!! - different daddy of course !!!
 
My 2 yr old gelding was EXACTLY as you describe. I really wanted to keep him entire as long as I could and he was the sweetest, cuddliest most well mannered foal you could ask for. THEN.....just after he turned 1 and full spring/early summer kicked in and the mare's around the place started coming into season well he turned overnight into a horrible monster. I couldn't lead him anywhere without him walking on hind legs/biting me/started kicking out and being very territorial about food/his space.
So as much as it pained me to do I called the vet and had him gelded. The effect was almost instantaneous and within days I had my cuddly foal back again. He just didn't cope well with the hormone surge bless him. He is now rising 3 and remains the sweetest and cuddliest, well mannered GELDING I know and I wouldn't swap him for the world!!!
 
How much is the thuggish behaviour the result of being male, and how much is the result of being young? Do they come through it if you persevere? I have had a filly who was so horrible to handle from year 2 to 3 that I heard my daughter (much the same age herself) telling someone that we had 4 horses, but one of them wasn't really a horse, it was a cow; mummy said so! (as if this was a biological fact. I was mortified). The filly was well disciplined as a foal and didn't mean to be nasty now; she was just overflowing with high spirits, and if you told her off, thought you were playing too. She was always on her hindlegs and trying to wrestle you. She had learnt earlier not to kick and didn't nip like a colt, but I still thought I'd bred a monster. She calmed down over the following year and became the really nice animal she is now. Does the same happen with bolshie males? Has anyone survived long enough to find out?
 
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