The Ozzy Diaries

Clodagh said:
Those suggesting he should be taken away to feed, this is a genuine question, how do you safely catch a very aggressive horse who knows dinner is en route and take him away to feed him out of sight of his field mates?
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I wasn’t aware of the lay out of not having stables or a field shelter.
The food aggressive pony we had came in for dinner and was fine to catch and deal with. I think he preferred having somewhere that was his own space due to his history of starvation and being bullied in the field.
He still went out with other ponies and was down the pecking order but happy.
Even super aggressive event horse was fine to bring in and eat in his stable.

Again purely my opinion but I would value my life above the horse in this situation. OP seems to be very capable and patient and the attack could have been a lot worse.
I have seen people have serious injuries- a girl having her eye socket and eye kicked in. Another girl being kicked in the chest and punctured lung.

I wouldn’t be feeding him a bucket feed in that situation.

I would also stick my head above the parapet and say that given all the chances, training, patience this horse has had and it’s still unpredictable I would have him PTS.
 
Clodagh said:
Those suggesting he should be taken away to feed, this is a genuine question, how do you safely catch a very aggressive horse who knows dinner is en route and take him away to feed him out of sight of his field mates?
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Routine. And the food isn't there Infront of them so they have nothing to defend.
Food isn't left in a stable so there's nothing to rush to.
Personally I'd not always bucket feed so it wasn't expected.
The mare I had really was savage and she would of bitten/kicked you in the head after body slamming you against the wall and leaving you for dead.


I think op tonight told Ozzy to back up after she gave food, in his mind he's probably thought she was sending him away from the food so as he would of his field mates he told her no.
It's a horse acting like a horse unfortunately poor op was in the firing line.
 
jhoward said:
Routine. And the food isn't there Infront of them so they have nothing to defend.
Food isn't left in a stable so there's nothing to rush to.
Personally I'd not always bucket feed so it wasn't expected.
The mare I had really was savage and she would of bitten/kicked you in the head after body slamming you against the wall and leaving you for dead.


I think op tonight told Ozzy to back up after she gave food, in his mind he's probably thought she was sending him away from the food so as he would of his field mates he told her no.
It's a horse acting like a horse unfortunately poor op was in the firing line.
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I think she clarified that she told him to back up before giving the food, not after.

All my horses back up before I put their food down, whether in the field or the stable. It comes from being fed in the stable where I always ask them to stand back from the door and wait nicely to come forward to eat. I wouldn't think twice about asking a horse to back up before I put food down.
 
OH will be feeding Ozzy for a while. I can deal with the other two.

I’m very dubious about going straight in with PTS. One of the reasons we wanted a third horse is because we have a cob who is nearly 27 and has a heart murmur. Plus a lively 17 year old. Obviously the 17 year old can’t be kept in his own, hence we’d planned to get a third horse - and then Ozzy came along.
If Ozzy is PTS we will be back to square one but with insufficient funds to buy a tried & tested no-quirks hack.

The worst case scenario is that he is kept, at least for now, as a companion. He will be fed and have teeth, feet etc done, but contact kept to a minimum.

I’m not feeling good about keeping horses at all at the moment. But it is what it is.
 
Sorry you are feeling so down about keeping horses. My friends on Skye also find it very hard going. It can look idyllic - we have spent a lot of time in the far northwest and have occasionally threatened to move there - but I know the reality is far from that. The Highlands are a tough place. Especially in winter. And summer, when the midges are lethal. My friend has said it's a struggle to get everything from the vet to the saddle fitter (the latter basically doesn't exist), nevermind physios and behaviourists and all that jazz. Forget it. So I know how useless and frustrating it is when people are like, "Have you talked to X professional?" Aye, right. You're not finding one unless you find a TARDIS first to transport them there.

I have no useful advice. I ask my horses to back up before I give them a feed pan (of Dengie Meadow Lite...super exciting stuff). It's a perfectly normal thing to do.

Ozzy was probably trigger stacked for one reason or another, but the problem with trigger stacking is that you'll never know every hole in the Swiss cheese that he fell through that day.
 
Exasperated said:
`

Please don’t start looking for more excuses for this cob - like, he is in pain, is hungry, we looked at him the wrong way - that level of inexcusable aggression was simply because he can.
Ozzy is merely treating you like another horse in the way of his food, and basically Ozzy already knows neither of you are going to do anything seriously deterrent.
In contrast, a dominant other horse would absolutely react, level him up sharpish, and kick him all round the field. Unfortunately Ozzy is uncontested top dog….
If you’re going to persist with Ozzy, he’d benefit most from some proper work. Suggest you do not hang around and delay access to his bucket; always take a schooling whip with you and make certain that Ozzy knows you:
a) have the whip
b) will forcibly use it.
Biting and lunging at humans is unutterably dangerous, utterly unacceptable, and certainly not in a pleasure-hack.
Warm bath and some witch hazel, meanwhile!
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I agree. I have had several like this, (quite deliberately as I have taken on quite a few rescues which go either the terribly nervous or the aggressive way) You have to watch and read them all the time to keep yourself safe. They are watching you and looking for chinks in the armour. Until the hierarchy is established then they are not sweet creatures to be patted, cuddled etc. There has to be no doubt in their minds of the power balance. .

why does he/did he do it because he can because what he should be seeing is a herd leader whom he respects and realises there is no leeway for bad behaviour. That is not what he is seeing. Please don't make excuses for him.There are no excuses. In your little herd of 2 there can only be one person in charge and that most definitely is not him. He may not get his herbs but he still has to behave and respect you as the herd leader. If you put the feed down and make a run for it what does it tell him. Simply that he is now definitely the herd leader and there is no reason whatsoever to respect you.

as above carry a whip. It is their to protect your space and he doesn't go into your space. Forget the pats and stroking him, make it very black and white for him so there is no misunderstanding. If he doesn't keep our of your space and go back swish the whip in the air, slap it against yourself to make a harsh noise. If he comes aggressively use it very hard against his chest with 'get back" "Big" yourself up.
It will be hard to start with to be harsh towards him but if you persist and read him all the time he will get the message. It really is a case of establishing the boundaries and the more he takes over the power the harder it gets to regain the situation.
Don't look for complicated behaviour. This is bog standard horse behaviour. If he did this to another horse then it would either turn round and run and he would have established his dominance or it would boot and bite him and he would have learnt his place.

If you don't then sadly I suspect you will be in the situation of getting badly hurt or having him PTS. This is not really his fault, That is not to make you feel bad but simply to explain that he requires you to understand horse rules and apply them. Put boundaries in place.

I'm sorry you got hurt.

 
Caol Ila said:
The Highlands are a tough place. Especially in winter. And summer, when the midges are lethal. My friend has said it's a struggle to get everything from the vet to the saddle fitter (the latter basically doesn't exist), nevermind physios and behaviourists and all that jazz. Forget it. So I know how useless and frustrating it is when people are like, "Have you talked to X professional?" Aye, right. You're not finding one unless you find a TARDIS first to transport them
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Oh absolutely! We are lucky in that we don’t get the midges too bad in the summer. Infact summer is fantastic up here. But the winters are brutal, especially the gales.
We have a great EP; the vet is good but it’s a long wait for non-urgent stuff. We can’t get a dentist (human or horse!) and there’s a physio that comes over once in a blue moon. Saddle fitting- forget it.
Lancs was a much easier place to keep horses and we’d have a different plan of action if any of this had happened there. But we couldn’t stay where we were. We lost Finn on the day he was supposed to travel to Scotland and it broke my heart. Predictably I keep thinking about him as he was the most sweet, kind & gentle horse ever.

But this reminiscing is not helpful. We will just have to make the best of things.
 
paddy555 said:
I agree. I have had several like this, (quite deliberately as I have taken on quite a few rescues which go either the terribly nervous or the aggressive way) You have to watch and read them all the time to keep yourself safe. They are watching you and looking for chinks in the armour. Until the hierarchy is established then they are not sweet creatures to be patted, cuddled etc. There has to be no doubt in their minds of the power balance. .

why does he/did he do it because he can because what he should be seeing is a herd leader whom he respects and realises there is no leeway for bad behaviour. That is not what he is seeing. Please don't make excuses for him.There are no excuses. In your little herd of 2 there can only be one person in charge and that most definitely is not him. He may not get his herbs but he still has to behave and respect you as the herd leader. If you put the feed down and make a run for it what does it tell him. Simply that he is now definitely the herd leader and there is no reason whatsoever to respect you.

as above carry a whip. It is their to protect your space and he doesn't go into your space. Forget the pats and stroking him, make it very black and white for him so there is no misunderstanding. If he doesn't keep our of your space and go back swish the whip in the air, slap it against yourself to make a harsh noise. If he comes aggressively use it very hard against his chest with 'get back" "Big" yourself up.
It will be hard to start with to be harsh towards him but if you persist and read him all the time he will get the message. It really is a case of establishing the boundaries and the more he takes over the power the harder it gets to regain the situation.
Don't look for complicated behaviour. This is bog standard horse behaviour. If he did this to another horse then it would either turn round and run and he would have established his dominance or it would boot and bite him and he would have learnt his place.

If you don't then sadly I suspect you will be in the situation of getting badly hurt or having him PTS. This is not really his fault, That is not to make you feel bad but simply to explain that he requires you to understand horse rules and apply them. Put boundaries in place.

I'm sorry you got hurt.
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I kind of agree with paddy here. My own have never been aggressive but I’ve had to deal with aggressive gate police in the field. This is similar to my approach. I’m pretty no nonsense with horses whose one job is to get out of my f***king way and leave the horse on the end of my rope alone.
 
Nancykitt said:
Apologies, I hadn't made things clear in my original post.
I think dropping the feed and moving away will solve the problem.
I'm just really scared because I've never been bitten this badly by a horse.
I've been kicked, but the horse doing the kicking was actually aiming for another horse, not for me. This is
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Ah ok, yeah that’s a bigger concern and I can see why it’s worried you as that’s a harder situation to avoid day to day xxx

Hope you’re feeling less sore soon
 
Caol Ila said:
I kind of agree with paddy here. My own have never been aggressive but I’ve had to deal with aggressive gate police in the field. This is similar to my approach. I’m pretty no nonsense with horses whose one job is to get out of my f***king way and leave the horse on the end of my rope alone.
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I hate to say this but sometimes a piece of blue pipe does have its place.
 
Gloi said:
I hate to say this but sometimes a piece of blue pipe does have its place.
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Or indeed a carrot stick - greater range.

But he would now have crossed a red line for me with what he did to NK. I always allow horses to feed undisturbed, but swinging the head round to bite if you had been fiddling with his rugs as he ate would be one thing, but lunging forwards at his human to bite is way worse and more dangerous.

Normal horses don’t do that, even if they are bit bored in the field.
 
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In my experience, if you feed loose with other horses present, it will cause great anxiety to a food aggressive horse.

I had an old broodmare that we bought at the end of her breeding career and she was very dominant and would double barrel around food and hay, in her mind to keep the others away. It was ingrained into her and she was a shetland, had lived in a herd and I guess had been kept short of food in the past. The red mist went down and so I fed her cautiously and we managed her. She was a lovely child's pony to ride. She did get better over time but would be more hangry in the winter.

I am so sorry this has happened to you. I was once bitten by a young anxious horse, straight through my top and had teeth marks on my chest - pretty awful. He grew up to be a lovely horse. My current young horse who I have had for 2 years, has multiple orthopaedic issues and would nip my arm if anxious, not great in the summer. They were not full on lunges, once we worked out his problems both emotionally and then later physically and made him more comfortable, this went away.

I guess I am saying, he has obviously had a rough time in the past. Watch and read his body language. Reading body language and being aware when he is disregulated is really important. I would have a vet check when you can.

Keeping yourself safe is paramount.
 
Caol Ila said:
Sorry you are feeling so down about keeping horses. My friends on Skye also find it very hard going. It can look idyllic - we have spent a lot of time in the far northwest and have occasionally threatened to move there - but I know the reality is far from that. The Highlands are a tough place. Especially in winter. And summer, when the midges are lethal. My friend has said it's a struggle to get everything from the vet to the saddle fitter (the latter basically doesn't exist), nevermind physios and behaviourists and all that jazz. Forget it. So I know how useless and frustrating it is when people are like, "Have you talked to X professional?" Aye, right. You're not finding one unless you find a TARDIS first to transport them there.

I have no useful advice. I ask my horses to back up before I give them a feed pan (of Dengie Meadow Lite...super exciting stuff). It's a perfectly normal thing to do.

Ozzy was probably trigger stacked for one reason or another, but the problem with trigger stacking is that you'll never know every hole in the Swiss cheese that he fell through that day.
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I’m on the northern isles and I’m in the same boat (although our vets are good here. We did have to travel to Inverness though to see a equine vet for a work up for Tali)
We get an EDT come up a couple of times a year, same with saddle fitters and one horse behaviourist comes up and he won’t be coming anywhere near my horses again, which is a shame as I’d like to have the support.

Its also very easy to say to work your horse harder but the reality of living here is it’s often not safe to take them out and the fields are so deep and soft it’s completely unfair to ask a horse to work on them.

Same as you @Nancykitt our summers are pretty great for horses. We rarely see 25 degrees and even then there’s usually a breeze and I don’t own fly rugs/masks.

Winters are long and dark but I break it up with looking forward to Christmas and then after Christmas the nights get lighter and spring will come.
 
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I hope your not to sore this morning OP.

I think @paddy555 has put it perfectly how he needs to be treated to establish the hierarchy. You and your OH are the herd leaders and the rest fall inline. Ozzy has already established himself as above the other horses but it sounds like he needs to be reminded (likely repeatedly) that he is most definitely not above you in the dynamics of the field.

I have young 'now' geldings but one is particularly riggy and he constantly needs firm handling. He looks like butter wouldn't melt but it's a very different story when your handling him. We have constant nipping and at times bolshy behaviour. He's not top dog in the field but doesn't seem to respect the hierarchy of the little herd - it's a bit like he doesn't understand how to 'horse'. He's been with us since he was 9 months old so no history to speak (2 or 3 homes between breeder and us) of before us. He will always be one that needs constant monitoring I think and I think your Ozzy will be the same.
 
This horse has learned from humans, humans owe him

The lad that had him first, poor jasmine who got him thinking he was suitable and ended up terrified of him, her reactions to him confirmed in his mind that humans are scared of him, a horse needs firm boundaries and routine that includes real work, nc s environment is the big issue here

You need a surface, small arena 15 x 30 would do and would serve multiple uses, mainly riding, lunging, jumping small jumps on lunge, ground work, ridden schooling, loose lunging , loose jumping, take away the energy give them some fun, use it as hard standing

Horses get bored and frustrated doing nothing

You need a digger, dumper and driver dig down, loads of big stone, well rolled, 2 inch down stone well rolled, suitable sand not too deep, in a suitable spot where it can drain

It would be life changing for your circumstances and horses

And put the lead rope over the top of his nose like a curb chain with his headcoller so if makes a cheeky move he is controllable

Try not to be down we have all had moments of disappointment to balance the glory, but somewhere to work, properly work this horse will turn it all around
 
Huge thanks to everyone for the responses - I'm really grateful that you've all taken the time to share your views and experiences.

I have a bad headache and feel nauseous this morning so I'm trying to avoid too much screen time!

Unfortunately we know little of Ozzy's history before his 'trauma' with the dealer and his subsequent mistrust of people. However, it seems very likely that Ozzy was kept on his own in a field for a considerable period of time. In my limited experience, 'solo' horses can develop some serious issues (never had one myself but I know of several). His food aggression might be linked to scarcity of resources; this is different to Snoopy, whose food aggression was as a result of living in quite a large mixed herd and being constantly bullied at feed times. (He was covered in bites when we had him vetted all those years ago!) As a result, Snoopy would kick out even if no-one was anywhere near him when eating.

Those who say that Ozzy needs assertive behaviour and to understand that we are herd leaders - absolutely. This was coming along nicely with groundwork but as explained, the weather here and the limited daylight in the winter has meant that the good work OH had done couldn't continue in the same way.

This is what happened at feedtime this morning:
Horses moved to their 'feeding stations' on the other side of the fence. OH had a schooling whip and approached Ozzy. As soon as this happened, Ozzy took a step back. Because of this, OH gently asked for another step and Ozzy calmly co-operated. Ozzy was then given his feed and ate without fuss. I fed the other two, who can sometimes have a very slight 'handbags at 20 paces' but it was all absolutely fine.
After eating their feeds they congregated at the haybell, but are now all having a rest.

As much as I would love an arena, there is no way on earth we'd ever get permission. The situation with the council and the Crofting Commission is complicated to say the least; I may have to fight for the right to put up a field shelter, but it's impossible to have an arena on a croft, they just won't allow it. If money was no object I might look at getting a de-crofted piece of land and then apply for permission, but there's no guarantee and it would cost at least £50k which I simply don't have. (It also wouldn't be anywhere near our house and croft, which is less than ideal!)

We will have a good think over the next few days/weeks. Part of it depends on Ozzy's behaviour from now on, but he is certainly calm this morning. We have an EP visit on Saturday so we'll see how he is then.
I have to admit that I am scared of him and he probably knows this - so I'm keeping away for now.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
I'm so sorry to hear that @Nancykitt I hope you're not too sore.

I hope it's not unhelpful but I'm afraid I wouldn't have a horse that I was afraid of on the yard. Unless I could quite quickly assure myself that it wouldn't happen again (or to anyone else) then I'm afraid it would be a red line.

We've had defensive horses who have acted aggressively because they have felt threatened or insecure but I've understood where it was coming from and I had something to work with. To persevere with a horse showing that much aggression, I would have to be able to quickly get to grips with what underlying causes were and have a plan to work through them rather than hope to avoid triggers. I couldn't live with walking on egg shells around a horse.

Sorry if that's not terribly positive x
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He needs work. He needs a strong personality who knows what they are doing, to give him a good shake, not back off.

then enough work, and he will see that life is worth living, not just a wind swept exisistance, humans owe this horse.

I had a huge learning curve with my cob, could have strangled him at times, now he just fills my heart in a very special way

Sometimes the effort is so big but so are the rewards

The biggest rewards come from the most seemingly impossible horses, is what I have found
Because what will happen to him? Is the bottom line

Not disagreeing with you just worried about the ultimate destination!
 
tristars said:
The biggest rewards come from the most seemingly impossible horses, is what I have found
Because what will happen to him? Is the bottom line

Not disagreeing with you just worried about the ultimate destination!
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On her last visit the EP said 'You never learn so much from the easy ones'.

Very true!

Just wish that my most recent 'lesson' wasn't so painful!

OH is very, very good with Ozzy but lack of facilities and the Scottish winter does slow down the progress.

I'm not in any way making excuses for Ozzy's behaviour because ultimately, no matter what, he cannot be allowed to treat a human in that way.
But I do have to take some responsibility for not reading the situation well enough last night. He's been so calm recently and I let my guard down.
I won't be doing that again.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
I hope it's not unhelpful but I'm afraid I wouldn't have a horse that I was afraid of on the yard. Unless I could quite quickly assure myself that it wouldn't happen again (or to anyone else) then I'm afraid it would be a red line.

We've had defensive horses who have acted aggressively because they have felt threatened or insecure but I've understood where it was coming from and I had something to work with. To persevere with a horse showing that much aggression, I would have to be able to quickly get to grips with what underlying causes were and have a plan to work through them rather than hope to avoid triggers. I couldn't live with walking on egg shells around a horse.

Sorry if that's not terribly positive x
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he didn't show "that much aggression" he simply behaved as a horse. What he did was predictable.. We know he had a possibly poor history, has been moved several times, have no idea what or how much he was taught as a youngster if anything very much, we know he is food aggressive, possibly he has gone hungry in the past and is a nervous sort of cob. Definitely not a leader but a follower needing firm guidelines and a lot of help and an awful lot of support both out riding and in his living arrangements.

what he actually got was food in an area with 2 other horses. No doubt humans knew them as lovely kind horses who would never take Ozzy's food but he didn't know that. He is a horse and that is what horses do to each other and Ozzy in fact is at the bottom of the pecking order trying to defend himself and his food .
Added to that when feeding this sort of horse it is asked to step back and be patted just adds to his problem. In his mind is he going to get his food, when he is patted is it going to be taken away. He gave a warning putting his ears back. Feeding in a communal situation just adds to stress in this sort of horse. Fine for well socialised horses who have had lots of early training but he hasn't.

I've had several like this and it is far from a case of walking on egg shells. Simply a case of understanding horse behaviour and using my superior human brain to make sure they and I are not put in a position which could be problematical.

Unfortunately humans cause many horse problems and the horses are left to pay the price of PTS when they are totally not at fault.

I appreciate all the problems of planning, wet fields, long wet winters etc but can he not be taken out on the roads? If not ridden could he be led and the hard road surface used as a training area. You can do a lot with a horse on a road.. All in hand work and lots of ridden work, turns, changes direction, back, walk to trot etc etc. ie getting them to listen and to use their brains. I have done this many times.
 
Nancykitt said:
I'm not in any way making excuses for Ozzy's behaviour because ultimately, no matter what, he cannot be allowed to treat a human in that way.
But I do have to take some responsibility for not reading the situation well enough last night. He's been so calm recently and I let my guard down.
I won't be doing that again.
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Yes, looking for possible reasons for a sudden behaviour change isn't "making excuses", it's investigating!! I don't know how you can keep posting updates NK and have people posting 8 different "solutions" at you and not lose your mind.
 
Nancykitt said:
I didn't pat him today and I don't ever 'mess around'. Ozzy is asked to step back, he's been happily doing this, he gets his feed, he gets a single pat. The whole process takes about 10 seconds.
We've been feeding him every day for months and months. If we asked him to step back, he always did.

Ozzy had very little respect for humans - and other horses - when he arrived. Having had a very food aggressive horse for (who is now 27) for many years, we wanted to get some things into place to establish respect. It has worked very well with the other horses, it didn't work with Ozzy.

And he's really not hungry. He has 24/7 ad-lib access to hay as we have a haybell. He does love his bucket feeds, but he's not starving and hasn't been for some time.

Sorry but this response has made me feel utter rubbish. I accept that I should probably just drop the bucket and run but we've had success with establishing a routine around feeding with other horses and it did seem to be working OK until today. So I probably deserved the injury. Fair enough.
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You don't deserve the injury. We're human, not robots and sometimes yes, we get complacent because things have worked for so long. Perhaps he had a headache, the weather had been extra crappy, something had kept him awake, whatever...and that's why he reacted like this on this occasion. Or maybe he's just bottled it up for so long because he's sensed that he could trust you - you'll never know.

Don't dwell on it too much. Learn from it, move forward. Hope the shoulder isn't too sore and you don't feel so crap today. Every horse teaches us something. Frankly we're all nuts for just entertaining the idea of keeping these beasts. Cut yourself some slack.
 
paddy555 said:
I appreciate all the problems of planning, wet fields, long wet winters etc but can he not be taken out on the roads? If not ridden could he be led and the hard road surface used as a training area. You can do a lot with a horse on a road.. All in hand work and lots of ridden work, turns, changes direction, back, walk to trot etc etc. ie getting them to listen and to use their brains. I have done this many times.
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NK isn’t exaggerating when she says the weathers been terrible. When it’s 60mph winds and driving rain it isn’t safe to walk a horse out, no. And that’s what we’ve been getting frequently, especially at the weekends.

I don’t know what NK’s working hours/situation is but for the last few months it’s been dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home. It’s bad enough taking horses on the roads in daylight, I wouldn’t be chancing it in the dark here. Especially if I had a horse that might want to attack me if he’s slightly displeased.
 
I'm just popping in here to say that I am sending lots of hugs your way - you've been doing fab with Ozzy, and I totally get why you're so disheartened at his recent display of aggression towards you with the feed bucket x

We all make mistakes/get complacent with our horses - heck I'm yet to find someone who has had a perfect journey with horses from start to finish - but the important thing is that you've put a plan in place in order to retrain this behaviour (OH feeding Ozzy and you keeping out the picture for the moment) and I totally understand and get you being nervous around Ozzy x

I went through a phase with my first horse Baggs (he didn't have the best start in life, inconsistent work load and was kinda semi feral when I got him) where I honestly thought it would be better for him to go to someone else x

He displayed behaviours like Ozzy, but on a smaller scale (being possessive over feed bucket, not wanting to move when asked, being defensive when rugged etc) - it's taken nearly 10 years (3 of those were the years where we had near constant issues) and has become my heart horse. There were days where I'd have to force myself to go to the yard cause I was that nervous about riding or doing anything with him, and after one day, I turned to my Mum and said "Something's gotta change - not for me but for Baggs. He needs to be shown that not all humans are horrible, it's only a certain few that have caused this issue. I owe it to him to at least try". I worked with a friend who had experience, and she trained me up, whilst she worked with Baggs and then joined us back together when we were ready x

In a weird way, I think all the issues we had were a blessing in disguise as it helped me become a much better horsewoman and really strengthened our bond x

Sending so much love and hugs your way ❤️
 
smolmaus said:
Yes, looking for possible reasons for a sudden behaviour change isn't "making excuses", it's investigating!! I don't know how you can keep posting updates NK and have people posting 8 different "solutions" at you and not lose your mind.
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I appreciate that people are trying to be helpful, I really do. I know that if we were still in Lancs it would be a lot easier to deal with - but we're not.
When the EP was last here and we were discussing Ozzy, we agreed that he was '8 going on 4.' He wasn't backed until he was 6; I know that some people will say better late than early, but we don't know the circumstances leading up to this - including why he wasn't started at 4 or 5. Whatever the reason, he's very green with a ton of baggage. He's made great progress in all sorts of ways, but I became complacent and didn't realise how quickly he could switch to a very negative behaviour.

Peglo said:
NK isn’t exaggerating when she says the weathers been terrible. When it’s 60mph winds and driving rain it isn’t safe to walk a horse out, no. And that’s what we’ve been getting frequently, especially at the weekends.

I don’t know what NK’s working hours/situation is but for the last few months it’s been dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home. It’s bad enough taking horses on the roads in daylight, I wouldn’t be chancing it in the dark here. Especially if I had a horse that might want to attack me if he’s slightly displeased.
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Oh my goodness, I can really identify with this!
And yes - a huge part of the problem is that although we are both semi-retired with just one year to go, there are times when the day job seriously gets in the way.
We had a whole week of gale force winds and torrential rain. I literally got blown over, right onto my bottom, walking up to let the chickens out of the coop one day. At times we are clinging to the side of the house as we go out to organise the feeds. We have a teak garden bench that is extremely heavy; it got blown over and shifted up the garden! There are branches coming off trees and being blown around Horses are well-rugged and happy, but it's not safe to take them out when the weather is like this.
Although there isn't a massive amount of traffic around here, big lorries, oil wagons and pickups with noisy trailers are very common.

When I look back to summer and autumn, Ozzy was doing well and we'll have to do whatever we can while we wait for spring and summer to arrive. It's grim. But it's not forever.
 
Nancykitt said:
OH will be feeding Ozzy for a while. I can deal with the other two.

I’m very dubious about going straight in with PTS. One of the reasons we wanted a third horse is because we have a cob who is nearly 27 and has a heart murmur. Plus a lively 17 year old. Obviously the 17 year old can’t be kept in his own, hence we’d planned to get a third horse - and then Ozzy came along.
If Ozzy is PTS we will be back to square one but with insufficient funds to buy a tried & tested no-quirks hack.

The worst case scenario is that he is kept, at least for now, as a companion. He will be fed and have teeth, feet etc done, but contact kept to a minimum.

I’m not feeling good about keeping horses at all at the moment. But it is what it is.
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This is terrible.

You moved here to enjoy retirement with your horses, tootling about a lovely landscape, not to be miserably imprisoned by them!

Probably immediate shock and disillusion talking, but this vision of one 17 yr old you can’t ride because Ozzy can’t be left; Ozzy becoming semi-feral because safety dictates your contact with him be minimal; plus a thoroughly-bored Ozzy possibly starts bullying the 17 yr old around anyway - is insane.

Firstly, Ozzy should be a perfectly useful riding animal - a while since I looked at this forum, but seem to recall he is excellent with traffic and shows nice, forward paces? - although possibly not for you two.

Plenty of good advice here on taking apex control, keeping safe, and occupying Ozzy, but it rather sounds as though neither you nor your husband are temperamentally suited to dealing with him appropriately, and are (understandably) now scared.
If you now feel you haven’t the opportunities, confidence or inclination to tackle this, then all credit for recognising that and for efforts thus far, and call time - whichever option.

As for Ozzy being ‘untransportable’, believe me, if a professional needs to load him into a wagon, he’ll be loaded up.
If you do prefer finality and destruction, a non-judgemental local hunt or knacker service likely to be your best bet.

The two remaining: horses can live single, settled lives, they often do, stallions particularly, altho it’s not ideal and a solitary horse is much better alongside other herbivores.
If you do decide to exit Ozzy (one way or another), try acquiring a couple of sheep asap, so if the 27yr old suddenly dies, the 17 yr old already has trusted companions, possibly older ewes from a local farm. (In your shoes, l’d be looking to either foster or loan a riding pony, or maybe a couple of mini shetlands with a view to driving and enjoying them later on; any such options would be both less stressful and safer than continuing with an undisciplined Ozzy!)

To be clear, he wasn’t ‘savaging’ you, he just treated you like any other horse he knew he could boss around.

He bit your shoulder, inches away from your cheek / nose / eye / ear and a permanent re arrangement of your face.
That’s a minor distinction of distance which won’t really matter to an ill-mannered horse, and you must make some serious decisions.

Good luck, and hope you’re a bit less raw today.
 
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