No Respect
Hello! I need some advice on two horses and their behaviors.
First one is a mare named Sensation. I'm not sure about her age but she's still pretty young, maybe 4 or 5 now but for the first year of her life, she ran wild with her mother in a pasture. She is a difficult horse to understand. In a small pen she is easy to catch and will sometimes even come right up to you. Recently she was put out into a larger paddock with other ponies and is now near impossible to catch unless you run her into exhaustion which isn't really a method I enjoy. She is INCREDIBLY smart and is not afraid to bowl you over if you happen to be in the way when she makes a run for it. If cornered, she gets really flighty and forces her way through. It took us 5 people on foot and 1 on a cutting horse and about an hour and a half of trying to corner her putting her into exhaustion, to finally catch her.
Once you get a hand on her halter or manage to scratch her butt or something, you've got complete control but the hard part is getting within an inch of her.
We've tried aggressive force, the patience method and even bribery to get her to comply. Nothing really works.
My question is, Do you think that she will ever be easy to catch or will remain difficult for the rest of her life?
The other horses name is Dots. She's my yearling in my profile picture. This one is probably easier to understand and come up with a solution but the explanation might be a little lengthy. Anyway, She's a year and a half, was never handled once when she was born but she lived with horses that were so she was easy to approach. Her first owner never touched her so coming spring, I saw her in a paddock with huge mats of fur on her belly about an inch thick. I spent the next few days shedding it off with a blade. I believe this to be the time that we truly bonded.
Anyway, so I do a lot of groundwork with her. She's patient and brave in the arena but the main problem lies in...getting her out of the front pasture where the other horses are. She is halter broke and follows the lead VERY well...in the arena. You put that halter on her outside, she'll obviously step sideways when you go to lead her away but then she'll plant her feet and not move an inch. I've tried many ways to get her to move. She's very sassy and I believe her to be trying to teach me something when she rebels like this.
Some ways i've tried was just standing there and waiting till she gave to the pressure. Another was holding the leadshank in my right hand and holding the excess with my left and flipping it around behind me to spank her lightly in the butt to get her to move. Don't even mention taking a whip out. Just recently we had a HUGE fight in which we couldn't decide who was the leader. She got mad, swung her bum to me and nearly kicked me but I was standing more off to the side so I could dodge, I then sent her forward and tried to get her butt off me. After, like, a minute of this very serious fight (it felt like forever D:), we made up and we were good for the rest of the walk but honestly...
I don't want to be the leader per se. I want to be the partner. If she makes a decision, I want to approve and if I make a decision, I want her to approve. I don't want to be all 'this is how I want it done MY way and my way only, slave!' Ya know? I want to meet half way.
Do you think I'm being too much of a push over or do you think she just needs more training or perhaps she's just young and doesn't want to leave the herd? Got any suggestions on how to teach a horse to lead, new or altered suggestions are always welcome. =)
I can make videos too if you can't quite visualize what they do. It's hard for me to describe it without going overboard.
Thanks for the help! ^^
First one is a mare named Sensation. I'm not sure about her age but she's still pretty young, maybe 4 or 5 now but for the first year of her life, she ran wild with her mother in a pasture. She is a difficult horse to understand. In a small pen she is easy to catch and will sometimes even come right up to you. Recently she was put out into a larger paddock with other ponies and is now near impossible to catch unless you run her into exhaustion which isn't really a method I enjoy. She is INCREDIBLY smart and is not afraid to bowl you over if you happen to be in the way when she makes a run for it. If cornered, she gets really flighty and forces her way through. It took us 5 people on foot and 1 on a cutting horse and about an hour and a half of trying to corner her putting her into exhaustion, to finally catch her.
Once you get a hand on her halter or manage to scratch her butt or something, you've got complete control but the hard part is getting within an inch of her.
We've tried aggressive force, the patience method and even bribery to get her to comply. Nothing really works.
My question is, Do you think that she will ever be easy to catch or will remain difficult for the rest of her life?
The other horses name is Dots. She's my yearling in my profile picture. This one is probably easier to understand and come up with a solution but the explanation might be a little lengthy. Anyway, She's a year and a half, was never handled once when she was born but she lived with horses that were so she was easy to approach. Her first owner never touched her so coming spring, I saw her in a paddock with huge mats of fur on her belly about an inch thick. I spent the next few days shedding it off with a blade. I believe this to be the time that we truly bonded.
Anyway, so I do a lot of groundwork with her. She's patient and brave in the arena but the main problem lies in...getting her out of the front pasture where the other horses are. She is halter broke and follows the lead VERY well...in the arena. You put that halter on her outside, she'll obviously step sideways when you go to lead her away but then she'll plant her feet and not move an inch. I've tried many ways to get her to move. She's very sassy and I believe her to be trying to teach me something when she rebels like this.
Some ways i've tried was just standing there and waiting till she gave to the pressure. Another was holding the leadshank in my right hand and holding the excess with my left and flipping it around behind me to spank her lightly in the butt to get her to move. Don't even mention taking a whip out. Just recently we had a HUGE fight in which we couldn't decide who was the leader. She got mad, swung her bum to me and nearly kicked me but I was standing more off to the side so I could dodge, I then sent her forward and tried to get her butt off me. After, like, a minute of this very serious fight (it felt like forever D:), we made up and we were good for the rest of the walk but honestly...
I don't want to be the leader per se. I want to be the partner. If she makes a decision, I want to approve and if I make a decision, I want her to approve. I don't want to be all 'this is how I want it done MY way and my way only, slave!' Ya know? I want to meet half way.
Do you think I'm being too much of a push over or do you think she just needs more training or perhaps she's just young and doesn't want to leave the herd? Got any suggestions on how to teach a horse to lead, new or altered suggestions are always welcome. =)
I can make videos too if you can't quite visualize what they do. It's hard for me to describe it without going overboard.
Thanks for the help! ^^
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tiffany on -
Wow....
This input is really inspirational. I actually never thought of it like that before. I don't have a problem with getting dominant it's just that I have no real idea on how to go about it.
I'm going to take all of these opinions and think them through. I can tell that you are all just trying to tell me to stop being such a softie and harden up a bit haha.
Thanks so much everyone. ^^
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Lamm on
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Hello... I have a mustang. He's 4..... he used to rear, or strike, or whathaveyou, but he's always been easy to catch. I think what helped me the most was pushing through and insecurities I had that I could manage Oliver... and I still work in it. We go nice and slow, patience and consistency are our friend. I realized that I was going for respect, when I should have gone for trust. Now that he trusts me more, and I trust him more, we are doing much better.....
The younger horse that you are training.... she is just young.... I saw my Oliver grow out of that stuff, though he never ever tried to kick me.... when he was a baby, I rubbed him mostly and talked to him and groomed him while he was eating.....
I think they rebel when they are scared and need encouragement. Good luck!! My horse has stood planted before too... the second she even thinks about moving forward, praise praise praise.
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