Was I cruell??

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barnbrookaa

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Just spent the last hour catching my horse who has just got over laminitus as he broke the fence and got out on the long long lush grass.
I brought him into his stable thing (its make shift as dont have stables) and he rammed open the gate 3 times so the 4th and final time i caught him i put him on the lunge just to throw him round a few circles on each rein just to show whos boss i guess but hes staying in now i just feel slightly bad as he hasnt been worked in just under 4 years and suffers from slight arthritus in his hocks but he manages to gallop round the feild ok though.....

was i cruel????
 
Was he ramming the gate while oyu stood there> Personally I would have been smacking him on the chest and maybe putting a hatler on to teach him not to ram anything with his weight. Personally I wouldn't use lunging as a method of discipline, I wouldn't want my horse associating lunging with having done something naughty
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if you need to remind them who is boss, simple ground work is good. making them walk backwards two steps etc.

if you want to 'punish' them i'd recommend doing something 'instant'... eg a smack. they won''t connect your lunging with them being naughty... and if they did, as PS says, you don't want them to think of it as a punishment.

is there any way of making their stable more break-out-proof?

good luck!
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I put bucket of food and haynet in didint want them

I do send him backwards normally but this time he wasnt having any of it he would have gone over me if i hadnt squashed myslef against the wall and normally this horse does have manners just when he wants to do something he does it and he doesnt care how
 
I think galloping around the field freely is very different to being lunged on a tight circle. Most horses if there is any lameness issues then this will show up in trot on a lunge clearly but it is not always clear when you observe them galloping around a field- i also agree with previous post that i wouldnt want my horse associating lungeing with punishment. I think the fact that you dont think you acted fairly means you probably were unfair.
The horse didnt realise he had laminitis from grass he only knew he wanted that grass and didnt want you to take him away from it. Ramming the gate to get out is another issue which as previously mentioned should be addressed with properly secured door/gate and possibly a boredom breaker of some description. Did he have company at the stables? Or were all of his friends still in the field? If he was alone at the stables and desperate to get back out punishing him for what are his innate instincts is unfair. If he knows he can escape then of course he will keep doing it.
 
I don't think you were cruel by the true definition of the word, but you were unfair.

Why not strip graze your horse, rather thank keeping in??
 
I don't think lunging really helped anything and in reality was probably only a way of you venting anger (hence the concern that you were being cruel) however as a punishment it wouldn't have hurt him as much as some others might have so I wouldn't worry too much- if I were you I would invest in some electric tape and a decent battery to keep the naughty boy in
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He is allowed out onto a small area of grass with his feild mate who was right outside his stable so he wasnt on his own.

He brages electric fence and as things go we cant afford to put up a pernament fence atm even if the fence is on with pulses of 4000 volts in each strand u walks right on through it is an issue we have been battling but just letting him stay out but since him being ill with laminitus he has to stay on small paddocks which he doesnt do he wants it all!!
 
Your horse has no idea that you were lunging him as a punishment for getting out etc. If anything you reinforced the idea that if he comes to you and is brought in he will have to work hard.
 
Snaps clips on grazing muzzles i no this all sounds like something has to work but nothing does!!

Well i dont lunge him i dont do anything with him at all he is a field ornament so lungeing is a one off once in a blue moon thing
 
It seems that this might have been more about your venting your anger than teaching him a lesson. The only thing lunging will do is teach him to lunge. I think you must get your priorities in order and make sure you have a secure stable and a secure paddock for him.

Cruel? Not in the true sense.
 
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i caught him i put him on the lunge just to throw him round a few circles on each rein just to show whos boss i guess but hes staying in now i just feel slightly bad as he hasnt been worked in just under 4 years and suffers from slight arthritus in his hocks but he manages to gallop round the feild ok though.....

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You didn't show him who's boss, you showed him that if he allows himself to get caught he gets shut in and then worked (which might have been uncomfortable. I agree with everyone else, just make his boundaries secure. No point punishing a horse for being a horse.
 
I agree with every-one else.
Does he walk through several strands of electric tape/rope or just the one?
I'm afraid that unless you want him to have another bout of lami you will have to afford better fencing, or find him some secure very poor grazing.
 
wot size leci fence posts do u have? we had same prob keeping pony in and bought much taller fence posts, taller than him, seemed to work.
 
get a more powerful energizer-mine zaps out 8000!!!! My pony normally goes through fencing but not this lot! The posts are 4ft hight with 4 strands and posts quite close together to make it all more rigid.
As frustrating as it is (and ive had similar problems) lunging/shouting etc once caught will only make problems worse. Your horse does not associtae grass=lammi . He is probably very hungry and does not understand why he cannot eat the grass. I would try a different type of muzzle with a securely fitted headcoller over the top or stronger energizer or move grazing compeltely.
 
i'm afraid that i agree with the others...i think really you were just venting your anger rather than achieving anything...however, having said that you could have done much worse things and most people have vented at their horses at some time in their lives (even if they won't admit it)- its pointless but it somehow makes you feel better
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just try to be aware and avoid doing this in the future and i'm sure he'll forgive and forget
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good luck keeping him in
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