Teaching a bargey youngster to stay back when opening the stable door

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mariond

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As the title says how does everyone teach their horse to stand back when you enter the stable. I push my youngsters chest and she goes back but walks on again as I go in. Should I keep pushing her back (a bit difficult when carrying water/haynet etc ) or use a whip. The most obedient horse I have ever seen was her sire. If his owners opened the stable door he would not step out until he was told to walk on ! amazing ! Whereas I am not aiming for that I would like her to stay back to let me in. She has only just started coming in a nights due to the bad weather and I would normally do haynets water etc before she came in but still feel that she should go and stay back when told. Many thanks
 
A bit of 'Parelli' ish pressure should do the trick. Rhythmic motion of a stick or your hands or whatever you're holding to get her to back off out of your space, not just when you go into the stable, but all the time. She should respect your space unless invited in, anything else is bad manners.

I don't go the whole hog with Parelli, but I do think the ground work is useful in establishing old fashioned good manners.
 
put a bar up nose hieght and create an illusion
of the door being bigger than him
then get you matey the broom turn it upside down
and tap the floor and sat back and wait

only needs to be done a coulpe of times horse will step backwards

if he dont then arm outstretch with broom in hand and repeat
back and wait


it will work does as i have done many
in creating an illusion of iam bigger than he is and iam alpha
 
It's all body language, which horses read and understand in the blink of an eye. So, as you approach the stable door you need to be thinking This is MY stable and I ALLOW you to stand in it. I AM THE LEADER. I AM THE GREATEST. Your head should come up, shoulders back and a steely glint should come in your eye. As you open the door, maintain all this and poke horsey firmly in the chest and say BACK. No nonsense. Its gonna happen. 1st time he will probably step back in surprise! That's good. Next time he may only give you half a step or just the ghost of a shift in weight. That's ok, you can be generous and accept the tiniest try. But stay standing there. Tell him he's good (don't go overboard about it) then ask for it again. Then again. Repeat until you get a decent step back and get it every single time. May take 10 mins day 1, 7 day 2, 5 day 3 etc. The absolutely crucial thing is to ALWAYS insist. If you start sometimes allowing moving forwards, he'll think you aren't serious. At the riding school I used to go to, they had a great "consequence" that completely cured a very rude and dangerous barger. If he barged through someone at his stable or the field gate, they caught him and put his tack on and made him work for 2 hours. It stopped him over night.
 
I have a bargy Welshie and he is cured in 2 visits by using a water spray from a household plant waterer. I ask him to move back in a firm voice and if he does not on the second request I spray him on the chest with a little water. He tends to shoot back looking mortified that I could do such a thing but he is praised for moving back. I find he moves back on voice request from then on! I like this method because it cannot make him 'shy' of anything like whips and does not hurt him in any way. It is simple, easy and effective.
 
I have rubber covered chains across the doorways in all my boxes. The horses never learn top barge as there is no reward of escape. Also it's great that you can leave the door open and pop in and out, great too in summer as it increases airflow in the box, if you leave the door open.
 
I have two youngsters who move 'back' and 'over' to voice commands and respect my space.
Initially I push gently on their chest, saying 'back', and when they do step back, I praise them a lot, and give them a (very small) treat. I gradually teach them to go back from just a touch, then by pointing at their chest, always using the word 'back' and now they will automatically back up to get out of my way if I walk towards them, or open the stable door.
Feed time can be good for training - don't feed the horse until it backs up politely into its stable. If it refuses, don't feed it, walk away and try again 10 mins later.
If they get too big for their boots (and my 3yo would be naturally quite dominant in a herd) I deliberately walk towards them and they have to make way for me...because I'm the herd leader.
If your horse barges you physically then you need to re establish your personal space as herd leader...try to mimic a nip by grabbing a handful of skin on chest or neck and twisting...releasing immediately the horse moves away...or try elbowing her (on shoulder, neck or chest muscles) or take a short whip and smack her...you have to do whatever it takes to make her respect the 'bubble' of space around you.
The good news is that once you've made the point, they don't challenge you too often
grin.gif

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Also great in the fact that with enough pressure these chains do break and said horsey can then be found trotting around the yard, having eaten all the breakfasts and anything else he can get his teeth into whilst unsupervised!!! Odie is now an expert in escapism and has already broken two chains!
 
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Also great in the fact that with enough pressure these chains do break and said horsey can then be found trotting around the yard, having eaten all the breakfasts and anything else he can get his teeth into whilst unsupervised!!! Odie is now an expert in escapism and has already broken two chains!

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I never leave the door open when I am not on the yard.

Initially had them when kids were small so they could go it to their ponies without said ponies escaping.

My fat cob has broken a few chains too, hence why doos are not left open if I'm not there.
 
Many thanks to all who have answered with advice & tips I don't think she respects my " personal space " at all so I will have to toughen up on her a bit. She is very bold & friendly but a bit too much in my face sometimes.
 
You just have to be positive with your signals , Missy whos a yearling and a big yearling at that (16hhs) ...Im not big Im 5ft 3 and if she really wanted to get by me she could .

I have more or less just taught her to " go back " using hand signals and pushing her back , she now goes back just before I open the door by saying to her " go back " , she will go to the back of the stable and stay there until I put her feed into the corner unit .

Its all about clear, positive signals and voice commands .
 
[ QUOTE ]
Feed time can be good for training - don't feed the horse until it backs up politely into its stable. If it refuses, don't feed it, walk away and try again 10 mins later.
If they get too big for their boots (and my 3yo would be naturally quite dominant in a herd) I deliberately walk towards them and they have to make way for me...because I'm the herd leader.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm with Shilasdair on this one. Daisy had no ground manners at all when I got her so don't assume that this only works on "easy" horses or that you wouldn't be able to do it with yours. I did it in two ways with Daisy. I use a kissing noise to ask her to move back/over/away. It keeps it much more simple than using different words for different things. She understands that it means move away from me and my space. I started by giving the kissing noise and prodding her gently, if she didn't move she got a firmer prod until she did. As soon as she moved a little I rewarded by stopping the noise and prodding and giving her a good girl and then built it up gradually. If you ask for too much movement too soon you'll confuse them. Make sure that you are confident with moving them around a stable with a closed door before you try it for coming in. If you establish the commands in a safe space when they can't go anywhere you'll be confident to do it with an open door.

The food things works really well. D is not allowed to reach over the door for her haynet or feed. I will stand with it out of reach, make the kissing noise and wait for her to move back at least two steps before I open the door. I can't stand that mad scramble to get in the door before they come out and mug you for the feed that you get with some horses. You'd be amazed how quickly they learn if you are really consistent and only move forwards once they have gone back politely.

let us know how you get on
 
Honestly? Carry a short crop with you and if the horse ignores your hand/body when you ask it to step back give it a firm tap across the front of the chest with it. Sounds harsh but I have seen some nasty injuries where people have been knocked/shoved/trampled on from rude, bargy horses - its so important for a youngster to learn to respect your commands and space otherwise you will have problems later on.
 
My boy used to barge, my mum spent a while with him teaching him not to. Not 100% sure what she did but she told me to put my arm out palm flat and say in a strong voice 'BACK' and would do it. He does need re educating every so often, so what she said to do it do what U usually do, but if he doesnt go back to push him/put pressure on the nose, and order him back, of that doesnt work I am then to push him/put pressure on his shoulder whilst saying BACK until he does it.

When she first did it he was soo good, you would jsut say BACK and he would step back and stand at the back of the stable and you could even put his bucket down and he would wait until you left the stable before he got it. Especially handy if you were dragging in a water bucket as he would wait at the back until you had finished.

I really wish she would tell me what she did!! But she used to spend HOURS with him talking to him and whispering to him and she was convinced he talked back to her and would tell her stuff !!
 
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