Spoilt Rotten - Are they the most dangerous types?

littleshetland

littleshetland

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I was reminiscing with a friend about a particular TB youngster that came through the yard, that was unusual in the fact that she had been so spoilt. The owner had had her from a weanling and had proceeded to treat her like she was (quite literally) a human child. Every nip, bite, kick and barge (playful and otherwise) was treated with gails of laughter and cries of 'good girl'! I could go on, but I'm sure you get the picture. Needless to say, by the time she arrived at my place aged rising 2 she was one of the most dangerous horses I'd ever met. Long story short, she got broken in but continued to be a complete nightmare. A pro rider got her going ok (ish) and she was eventually sold- her saving grace being she could jump well and was a looker.

I just wonders if other posters have experiences of horrendously spoilt horses, and do you think they're the worst kind?
 
Definitley!!! Without a doubt. Being on a livery yard you do see all sorts come and go and the worst horses may it be nipping, being bolshy or just plain rude where the ones whos owners treated them like a child. Remember turning one out and she sqeezed me so hard against the fence I felt the breath forced out of my lungs.

That said though the most mollicoddled one I've seen was actually a real sweetheart but then he was too dopey to realise his own strength.
 
Oh yes! When I was training horses for a living the one thing that struck fear into all our hearts was any horse named "Baby".
 
Whilst i agree they havent been taught space, bethant i believe horses do not think like people so the squeezing you against a fence would not have been a thought action, it just happened.
 
putasocinit said:
Whilst i agree they havent been taught space, bethant i believe horses do not think like people so the squeezing you against a fence would not have been a thought action, it just happened.
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Well, it wouldn't have happened if the horse had been taught to stay out of the human's space - one of the very first lessons a foal should learn.
 
putasocinit said:
Whilst i agree they havent been taught space, bethant i believe horses do not think like people so the squeezing you against a fence would not have been a thought action, it just happened.
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Oh I didnt mean that she did it on purpose, just that she was so rude and bolshy and disrespectful of human space she just barged me into the fence
 
We have a spoilt one on our yard - apparently he has a "special character". He is lethal! It rears, bucks and naps. the owner has fallen off so many times, she just doesn't register the fall anymore. If he gets free after she's come off, he goes for whatever is in the school at the same time - having been on the receiving end (luckily my horse wasn't injured), I don't ride in the school at the same time as her.

She never reprimands him - even when he lashed out at a lady on our yard and kicked her hard on the thigh resulting in a haematoma the size of an orange - the owner was like, oh dear, you got a bit close.

The scary thing is she is planning to sell him as she wants a mortgage/babies - I just hope she is honest with buyers about his character, otherwise it is a disaster waiting to happen.
 
Yes, no doubt! A friend once got a young Fell mare that had been badly spoilt as a baby and had learned how to bully people. I've never seen anything like it. She asked me to look at it as she said she had trouble with it biting. I just thought it might need a bit of squaring up but I was shocked. it was in a small paddock grazing when I saw it, it took a look at us, ran towards us ears back and teeth bared and slammed into the gate rather like a guard dog on the end of a chain. She was covered in bruises where it had bitten her. It was broken to drive and the strange thing was that once you got the blinkers on the pony she became manageable and actually drove reasonably well. She was getting the bridle on by getting the pony in the stable and then putting the bridle on over the stable door so it couldn't get to her.
I said to my friend to get rid of the pony before it killed her. She was a really good looking pony and a dealer bought her and exported her to Germany. I say it was as revenge for the war.
 
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Gloi said:
Yes, no doubt! A friend once got a young Fell mare that had been badly spoilt as a baby and had learned how to bully people. I've never seen anything like it. She asked me to look at it as she said she had trouble with it biting. I just thought it might need a bit of squaring up but I was shocked. it was in a small paddock grazing when I saw it, it took a look at us, ran towards us ears back and teeth bared and slammed into the gate rather like a guard dog on the end of a chain. She was covered in bruises where it had bitten her. It was broken to drive and the strange thing was that once you got the blinkers on the pony she became manageable and actually drove reasonably well. She was getting the bridle on by getting the pony in the stable and then putting the bridle on over the stable door so it couldn't get to her.
I said to my friend to get rid of the pony before it killed her. She was a really good looking pony and a dealer bought her and exported her to Germany. I say it was as revenge for the war.
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Gloi - laughing out loud!
 
The most dangerous horse I ever had for an owner was one that had been badly spoilt by her owner. I eventually got her to a point where she trusted me and working well to the extent of getting placed at national dressage champs but I could never warm her up near other horses and I wouldn't let a stranger near her. Whenever the owner was around she would revert to her old tricks. Mare had the most dangerous and accurate kick I've ever seen and was always the type to kick first ask questions later. Poor horse, she was just never shown how to behave appropriately and was very distrustful as a result
 
It's a toss up between those that are spoilt and those who's owners tread on egg shells.
I think it's the latter....as they know what they do is wrong, but take the opportunity.
With one that has been spoilt it known no different.
 
I agree, but I think it's mostly when they are very young and learn no boundaries - especially if they are orphan foals - that they can become most dangerous. That's why it's so important to try and foster a foal who's dam has died. I don't think it's a good idea to spoil an older horse but babies imo is reckless, they seem to turn very sour and aggressive towards humans. A foal raised naturally seems to be able to relate to humans better than one that has actually been raised by humans!
 
putasocinit said:
Whilst i agree they havent been taught space, bethant i believe horses do not think like people so the squeezing you against a fence would not have been a thought action, it just happened.
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Hmm, I was picking out a spoilt youngsters feet, asked her to move over - which she had been taught - so she squished me against the stable wall. Far too clever and far too spoilt.
 
Oh, I never blame the horse; it's not their fault the owners are idiots! And the worst, the very, very worst are the orphan foals! Now, I've raised a few orphans myself and have made extra sure they got a proper bullying from the herd mares - it's us humans who do the worst service to these foals by thinking "aww, poor mites....". The only time I have actually been attacked by a horse was a 4 year old orphan which had been reared "in the kitchen" by his doting owners. I advised PTS & was vilified for it. Fair enough; wasn't my problem - the horse put 2 people in the hospital, and was PTS year later. Poor horse.
 
I'd take a wild youngster over an overhandled youngster every day of the week. Molly was a homebred and that was the first thing I asked when I viewed her..."how much handling has she had". The answer was, "enough that I can bring her in when the weather is really bad, turn her out and pick her feet up". I was happy with that.

I strongly believe youngsters need to be able to grow up without too much human interference.
 
Gloi said:
I just thought it might need a bit of squaring up but I was shocked. it was in a small paddock grazing when I saw it, it took a look at us, ran towards us ears back and teeth bared and slammed into the gate rather like a guard dog on the end of a chain.
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My 12h first pony used to do this, run at me when I went to catch him, then turn and try and kick me. I learnt to run away pretty quick! He was polite for adults and great to ride, he didn't take any prisoners and as a veteran it was like riding a piece of wood, but he jumped etc. He never stopped trying to swing round and kick you if you got too close when he was eating. He had at least a 10 years retirement (dread to think how ancient he was by then) and the week he started being polite and not kicking was when we knew the time had come to pts (amongst other ailments) as he wasn't himself.

I do mollycoddle and feed my horse treats, but he is incredibly polite, although sometimes is a bit of a pocket mugger, but I don't mind that and would not take long to train out of him :)
 
ridefast said:
Hmm, I was picking out a spoilt youngsters feet, asked her to move over - which she had been taught - so she squished me against the stable wall. Far too clever and far too spoilt.
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I agree, a horse doesn't need to bite or kick (none of which are usually accidental) to show their displeasure.
 
Cortez, i agree wasnt taught space as a foal, not put in a herd with older mares to sort it out, so owners fault not the horses intention to squeeze
 
I spoil Ned like mad :P he's my baby and the love of my life!
However, he's not been spoilt. I can do almost anything with him loose in the field, the only naughty thing he really does is once in a while, he'll say "no thanks" to coming up to the top of the field to get tacked up, but a "C'mon Ned!!" and a click often does the trick.

There was one at an old yard I used to ride at. I was only about 7 or 8 and it scared me!! Thankfully I didn't have to go near it much, but it would charge at the stable door with teeth bared! Who knows how it got that way, but reading all the stories on here, it wouldn't surprise me if it was spoilt rotten!
 
The pony I mentioned before had been through the sale ring as a very young foal and bought by a very novice couple who had totally let her rule the roost and learn to bully humans, especially women. She had then gone to a trader who broke her to harness and sold her to my unsuspecting, fairly novice friend who only saw her when she was harnessed up, and when she was harnessed up she was a lot less feisty so my friend hadn't realised what she was like until she had her at home. She would have made a good guard pony!
 
The piebald in my sig is two and did not know space when he came at 6 months. He was from a one foal yard and thought cuddling into you was the norm. He is still very affectionate and I guess will always love human company but needed a lot of work to learn about space and boundaries. I won't let anyone inexperienced handle him while he's still growing up, and it's strictly no hand feeding which visitors really don't understand! Being 16.2 and still growing, he could easily have ended up a complete nightmare.
 
Not much worse than a spoilt horse! My 2 year old was an orphan and he's my pudding but he's far from spoilt and never puts a foot wrong he walks away from cuddles with humans and is less loving than the others so I got lucky with him.
 
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