What is going on with my boy?? :(

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emmo1

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Over the last 20 odd years i have owned horses i have never come across one like this. And i bred him.
He is 2 on 20th May. I can't catch him. Getting a rug on and off is a nightmare, you'd swear i was puttin a lion on his back or something. He won't hold his feet for the farrier without a fight. He eats his feed then just goes, not interested in me in the slightest. There is no bond, no trust...........
He shares a fiels with my sisters 2yr old who came to us as a never been touched 8 month colt. He now has his rug thrown on and off without being held, holds his feet, enjoys a scratch, follows you round when your doing things in the field and is really nosy and inquisitive.

I just don't understand him. We were there when he was born and have been there everyday since. He has been rugged and led from a few days old but you'd swear somedays he's just been herded down off the mountain. If he sees you coming with a leadrope he's at the bottom of the field before you can blink and won't even come for hes feed. He permanently wears a field headcollar now as it took me 8 weeks to catch him the last time. He doesnt like me wearing a coat that rustles....... i could go on and on :(

We are moving them at the end of the month, slightly closer to home so i can hopefully spend more time with him but he's just not interested in me at all.
I posted on here previously about that too, how the hell do i safely travel a horse like this??
 
Sorry you're having trouble! :)

Might not be very helpful but it's my belief that with animals, like humans, some behave badly because they have issues/difficult pasts etc.
But some are just a***holes.

Maybe I'm wrong, but having also owned horses for a long time, this is just what I think :(

Has he suddenly started being like this? Or has he always been awkward?
 
Im not sure if it's relevant, but has he been gelded yet?
If not, maybe getting him done would help. If he's already done, Im not sure what to recommend! Naughty pony! Im sure someone else will be of more use! :)
 
No idea why he may be like this but maybe he's had rtoo much human interaction? What was his dam like?

To be honest if he doesn't need to be caught at the moment to come in then maybe just ignore him. Does he need a feed? I maybe wouldn't bother if he doesn't need it. I would give the other youngster a lot of fuss and attention, treats maybe and don't bother trying to get your to interact with you. You can't force a horse to want to be near humans really. Yes he needs to learn the basics but maybe he just needs to be ignored for a bit and not fussed at all. He may be more inclined to come to you if he thinks the other one's getting some attention/treats and he isn't.

Other than that i don't really know what to suggest I'm afraid.
 
Sounds like a bit of reverse psychology is in order! Do what he does to you, but less aggressively (if in any way that is how he behaves of course, I don't mean to cast assumptions). Every time he runs away from you, never look him in the eyes, turn your back to him for a change if it isn't a hazard and this should hopefully lead to him standing still for you, though many believe it's a bit of a myth. When you approach him, use the voice and move immediately to his side, obviously patting him as you go along. It's all the basic stuff that he should have known from early handling age - has he always been like this? I am sorry to hear about the trouble, he does seem an unusual case.

Also, what is he like in a stable? Maybe it would be easier to spend some time with him in there. Another concept to consider is separation anxiety - if he has ever been with a particular horse that he was separated from recently it has suprising effects on them. Good luck with him.
 
my 2 year old now 3 year old went through this kind of stage, she was terrified of her head collar... well any head collar except my geldings which wasnt much help as he is huge and she is small so it was far too big although it gave me the opportunity to get a head collar on! rugs were a night mare to get on she gets quite frightened by them and i still have to catch her to put them on but getting them off she is fine now. i found having a head collar on good but i would try while keeping the head collar on use a thin rope halter to catch him gets him used to the actual being caught bit and you can work your way up to a new head collar! make a routine like you catch him everyday at 5pm taking him out of the field hand graze groom feed whatever you like at the same time everyday to get a routine as that makes it easier! also makes a fuss of the other horse in the field - alot of fuss he will get interested in whats going on and will want to know whats going on then just give a scatch and carry on with the other and he will think hes missing out so will want more attention :) hope this helps!
 
He was gelded at 18 months, a bit later than i would have liked but he was only presenting 1 ball and as it was only the boys then it wasnt a problem to wait a bit.
He is in no way aggressive, no biting/kicking. We have owned his dam since she was 5 months, she's now 8 and her temperament is fab.
He hasn't always been like this though i can't out a finger on when he changed. He is quite stressy and does not carry much weight hence the feeding, though when/if we manage to move them they will be onto good grazing so the feed can be dropped.
They live out 24/7 but have come in a few times over the winter when the fields have been really wet just to dry off. They are on a private property and nobody bothers them other than us once a day so certainly not overly handled.

I am hoping it's a stage that he will grow out of. He did lose his aunty Posy whom he was weaned with to colic just over a year ago and that knocked him for 6 but since then there's been no change.

Thank you for the replies x
 
Re travelling mix some zylkene into his feed - not a sedative but enough to knock the edge off him and chill him out. Used it on a youngster to handle recently and it really worked. Is a bit expensive though but worth it for a short period. You might have to mix in some mollasses or apple juice to get him to eat it.

Other than that I'm not sure what to say really... On one hand ignoring him may work but he may think result! We had a filly that was so rude and opinionated from day 1, owners were at a loss, she would barge and kick out. Mum was a darling and so was full sister and dad. It took a while but she straightened out. It might just be a phase...?
 
Can't help with his behaviour, but I would be tempted to keep him alone for a while so he has to look to you for companionship, our mare was best behaved when she was the only horse, not deliberate, just circumstances.
Travelling him should be fun, I would put a trailer in the field now, put his feed/hay in it and leave, leaving day get his friend in first then bribe him in if needbe. How vlong before you need to move him
Good luck, you may need it
 
They are moving at the end of the month. His friend is very food orientated and i dont think he will be much of a problem. I'm hoping we can load them both together as will be less stressful for them. I'll order that calmer that someone has suggested to hopefully take the edge off him. Once moved i'll leave them in for a few days and spend as much time as possible with him, headcollar on/off, rugging and just pottering about before they go out. It is just so disheartening when an animal you think so much of cant even be bothered to give you the time of day!!
 
No expert by far :) but here goes, are you treating like all the others? I know sounds strange but I do train dogs, and they are all different, even down to the breed.

I treat each dog like an individual , are you doing that ? Throwing a sheet on may scare some and nit bother others !!!!
 
i don't know if its the way you described it but it make me liken your situation to every parent of a teenage child, parents are just not cool to hang out with anymore, which is probably why your boy is acting aloof you are just not cool, you have been there from minute one! you are the uncool parent! I think perhaps you need to put the mystery back in the relationship and make yourself the coolest most interesting person in that horses life, you never know it might just work! good luck
 
Snopuma - lol how the hell do i become cool mum? I know what you mean as i have i 9yr old going on 19 who's attitude also stinks!!

Mulledwhine - Not really sure what you mean, i own 5 of differing breeds and they all like/dont like tings done certain ways. You get to know that and do things to their liking but there are certain things thet he must have done e.g be caught!! I cant see any other way of doing this - when he sees me with a rope or anything other than a brush he's gone. As for rugging, i do this slowly and carefully as possible. I never try to throw it on him just cos the others dont mind.

What i should do is remove him from the field to be fed, if he wont be caught he has no feed but with 2 youngsters together and only 1 of us (sister or I) there at a time it's just not possible.

Thanks to those that have replied xxx
 
Sorry Emmo but I think that's just his personality! He may mellow as he gets older but some horses are outgoing, affectionate and/or friendly by nature and others just aren't - just like people.

I had a close friend with a mare just the same. She dispaired just like you and we all scratched our head because she'd had the mare from a weanling and had never mistreated her or stopped trying to win her mare over.

Then one day she was talking about when she'd chosen her mare at the stud she was bred at as an unweaned 5 month old foal. She told me the foal and her dam had stood out from the large herd because they were the only ones who hadn't come forward with the rest of the broodmare/foal herd to investigate when the stud person and she had gone down to their field to view them. Apparently this mare and foal had kept their distance the whole time, skulking by the hedgeline out of the way and not approaching. This wasn't the mare's first foal and the foal wasn't shy or nervous. They were simply being antisocial. Further investigation by my friend years later turned up several owners of this broodmare's other offspring - all of which had turned out to be tricky, willfull and unaffectionate characters as well. It's hard to say whether it was inherited personality or the dams influence on her young - but there was a definite behavioural trait in these horses.

Ideally you would like to be doing to groundwork to get him ready for loading and travelling. If I were you I'd just ignore him when you visit the field for a few days. There's quite a bit of grass coming through now so he's probably not particularly hungry and doesn't see the point in approaching you ATM. Visit, but fuss your sisters horse. Yours may or may not pay attention to you but he'll note that he's being left out. If he continues to be difficult to catch you could reduce the size of his paddock with a portable electric fence. If he's a tad hungry he may be more approachable with feed. In fact, if he's hungry he's bound not to ignore you.

Once you are able to catch him, I'd work on teaching him to lead properly (maybe with your sister helping?) and learn to tie up (if you haven't done so already). Even if he already leads well, I'd still spend some time working with him to build up his training in readiness for loading. Perhaps teach him to walk over a tarpaulin on the ground and fuss him when he trusts you. This will all help in getting him to accept your instruction and build his co-operation.

Good luck :)
 
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Maybe you'd have more chance of bonding with him if you stable him for a bit?

I had similar issues with an older horse that did not seem to want or need human attention. He definitely had trust issues and was a pig to catch and made it hard to catch any of the others. He wouldnt even come over for food unless every other horse in sight had been removed and you left out on his own for a bit.

I moved him somewhere where he had to live in for a good month - not in isolation as he was surrounded by other horses all the time but obviously he couldnt interact directly with them. He was suddenly totally reliant on humans for food, water and interaction. I am sure he got very bored just being stood in, but his face started to light up when he saw me because I was the person who groomed him, found his itchy spots and took him out for inhand grazing. We played about with join up which he seemed to enjoy too. Suddenly having his head collar put on started to have positive connotations for him.

Obviously all horses are different but personally I think taking him out of his comfort zone gave us an opportunity to forge a strong initial bond which we wouldnt have had otherwise as he started to see me in a different light. He is out nearly all the time again now, we have a good relationship and no catching issues.
 
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