I bought a horse last fall that had been mistreated. She was way underweight and very distrustful, especially with men. (the main thing we have in common!:) ) At any rate, as we wintered together, she has turned into one very nice horse. However, the one bad habit that I have discovered is she seems to want to kick other horses in the arena. I think she has been hobbled in the past and wonder if there is a different way I may be able to break her of this? Anyone have any ideas?
I bought a horse last fall that had been mistreated. She was way underweight and very distrustful, especially with men. (the main thing we have in common!:) ) At any rate, as we wintered together, she has turned into one very nice horse. However, the one bad habit that I have discovered is she seems to want to kick other horses in the arena. I think she has been hobbled in the past and wonder if there is a different way I may be able to break her of this? Anyone have any ideas?
Seems this little lady has stopped her kicking. I believe due to mistreatment, she was kicking out of fear. I have a wonderful ferrier, and he spent some time with her. Very gentle and understanding and she relaxed. One thing I do understand with this horse, if I approach her with even a slight aggressive attitude, she really reacts in a fearful manner. She responds best to kindness and patience. Gaining her trust so that she knows she is not going to be threatened is the best way to work with her. I have made great strides with this horse. She knows I am in charge, and she knows I will not put her in harms way. (And I would not box her between the ears.)
Seems this little lady has stopped her kicking. I believe due to mistreatment, she was kicking out of fear. I have a wonderful ferrier, and he spent some time with her. Very gentle and understanding and she relaxed. One thing I do understand with this horse, if I approach her with even a slight aggressive attitude, she really reacts in a fearful manner. She responds best to kindness and patience. Gaining her trust so that she knows she is not going to be threatened is the best way to work with her. I have made great strides with this horse. She knows I am in charge, and she knows I will not put her in harms way. (And I would not box her between the ears.)
oh yes you can, it might take a while, trust me, mu horse i had gotten him off the race trace, and everytime i would try to get on him he would kick me, start slowling getting him use to traffic, walk with the horse daily, pick up his leg,and sounds cruel but smake him between the ears, while a big man holds it;s kicking leg, do this every couple of days for about 2 weeks, a horse will listen to a strong person that can actually control the horse, someone the horse is scared of, and before you know it he'll forget about the kicking and just give up, aso reward him and give lots of love too
oh yes you can, it might take a while, trust me, mu horse i had gotten him off the race trace, and everytime i would try to get on him he would kick me, start slowling getting him use to traffic, walk with the horse daily, pick up his leg,and sounds cruel but smake him between the ears, while a big man holds it;s kicking leg, do this every couple of days for about 2 weeks, a horse will listen to a strong person that can actually control the horse, someone the horse is scared of, and before you know it he'll forget about the kicking and just give up, aso reward him and give lots of love too
Yes it can, If you are mounted at the time and in tune with your horse you should be able to feel just before it will kick by the horse becoming tense and possibly laying back its ears or twitching its tail or just maybe bending in the wrong direction readying itself to kick at another horse coming near, if you can feel and anticipate this behaviour you can get your horses attention back on you and the work you are doing but you have to do this BEFORE the kick not punish afterwards, its too late then and truly the horse doesn't realise why it is in trouble and will continue to kick out at other horses and then jump away anticipating the punishment.
Yes it can, If you are mounted at the time and in tune with your horse you should be able to feel just before it will kick by the horse becoming tense and possibly laying back its ears or twitching its tail or just maybe bending in the wrong direction readying itself to kick at another horse coming near, if you can feel and anticipate this behaviour you can get your horses attention back on you and the work you are doing but you have to do this BEFORE the kick not punish afterwards, its too late then and truly the horse doesn't realise why it is in trouble and will continue to kick out at other horses and then jump away anticipating the punishment.
I'm assuming that if the horse is in the arena you are mounted on her? It is your responsibility to be vigilant and ward off this behavior before it happens. When you feel the horse hunching up do something to distract her attention before it comes to pass. It really doesn't matter what the cause of the kicking behavior is, aggressiveness, defensiveness, etc. If you aren't in a position to effect a change from the saddle you're going to be out of luck I'm afraid.
Or do you mean if the horse is turned loose in pasture, corral, or arena with a herd of horses? even then you'd have to be well mounted on a saddle horse skilled in moving the horses as a band and able to discipline the horse at the moment of aggression. I've seen one of the greats take the studly behavior out of a stud colt by drawing blood on his nose with the handle of a flag "at the precise correct moment when running twenty or so of them in a sixty foot round pen.
There are a lot of horses that you will probably not be able to rid of this behavior once it gets started.
I'm assuming that if the horse is in the arena you are mounted on her? It is your responsibility to be vigilant and ward off this behavior before it happens. When you feel the horse hunching up do something to distract her attention before it comes to pass. It really doesn't matter what the cause of the kicking behavior is, aggressiveness, defensiveness, etc. If you aren't in a position to effect a change from the saddle you're going to be out of luck I'm afraid.
Or do you mean if the horse is turned loose in pasture, corral, or arena with a herd of horses? even then you'd have to be well mounted on a saddle horse skilled in moving the horses as a band and able to discipline the horse at the moment of aggression. I've seen one of the greats take the studly behavior out of a stud colt by drawing blood on his nose with the handle of a flag "at the precise correct moment when running twenty or so of them in a sixty foot round pen.
There are a lot of horses that you will probably not be able to rid of this behavior once it gets started.
