4 or 5 year olds with attitude – anyone else experience this?

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  • November 26, 2008 at 10:55 pm #39941
    cherprit
    Participant

    I’ve been reading the posts about how easy the babies are to start. My five year old mare was like that – By the time she was five, we had done parades, demonstrations, playdays, shows, sharing the road with the Hell’s Angels (not my choice), all with the best attitude.
    Then…………she turned 5 this year. We’re having blowups, got excused from a show arena, you get the picture. Has anyone else experienced this with their horse? I’ve had vet checks – ultrasounds, etc. Nothing.

    December 7, 2008 at 11:43 pm #48350
    Plowboy
    Participant

    Have you been working her at all or just playing with her. If there is nothing wrong I suspect she needs a job to do. I’m not sure why you would waste money with a vet for an attitude problem. Don’t get me wrong We use a vet when we have a physical problem that we can’t handle ourselves but explosive behavior usually isn’t caused by a health issue. Usually you can tell when something is wrong and they need a vet sick, lame beyong a foot problem, etc. You now have to make up your mind wether or not you want to take the initiative to get her through it. It will require daily work and discipline making her do everything she doesn’t want to do. The trick is to do this as subtle and none invasive as possible to keep her from having a spell. If she wants to go right turn her left even if you want to go right also you can make a circle to get there. If she wants to stop make her go a little farther. If she wants to go try to keep her stopped and tell her to go before she goes on her own. Resistence is also a valuable tool. Dragging a tractor tire in an inclosed area may do the trick. The hardest part will be for you to commit the time and effort it wil take to turn things around. Good luck.

    December 8, 2008 at 12:18 pm #48349
    Gabe Ayers
    Keymaster

    I agree with Plowboy, this mare needs a job or some work to bring her back to being a work horse first and all those other activities next. Maybe taking her to the point of actually being a work horse for the first time.

    Sometimes open unbreed mares can be somewhat moody and cyclical. This may be much stronger when she isn’t broke or trained well to start with.

    By that I mean that she has been worked long and hard enough that whoa will be a reward. Of course starting this reward system on the ground is the beginning, but if she is allowed to just get away with little things along the way she will take it all the way to running the entire exchange herself if allowed.

    I suspect the horse is just being a horse and now you have to step up to being a serious horseman. Make her mind you and spend time working her as Plowboy suggests. When she is doing everything just right….stop her, rest her and allow her to stand quietly. That is positive reinforcement. If she fidgets, say whoa give her a little signal with the bit and once she stands still, you start her or contact command and release simultaneously to start moving again on your command, not hers.

    You have to be the boss hoss or she will take that job from you and then it will just get worse from there on. Don’t be afraid to increase your signaling device on the ground, like using a chain lead under the chin for a couple of sessions, reasserting your dominance and then go back to a regular lead once she becomes responsive to you subtle signals. Always use as little signal as possible to gain the response you want and keep it calm and confident on your part. Don’t get mad, just get confident and back it up with your actions and signals toward the mare. Make her respect you and your space at all times. Don’t pet on her or be affectionate unless she responds to your signals. Then reward her with no signals and affection.

    Good luck, let us know how it goes with her after a little serious work, meaning moving against resistance and some sweat under the collar at least…

    December 8, 2008 at 2:20 pm #48352
    Lane Linnenkohl
    Participant

    Not to beat a dead horse on this topic, but I completely agree with the above two posts. Not knowing any more about your routine, my first guess as I was reading your post was “this horse needs more work!” My advise, find something heavy for her to drag and work her till she’s tired, then do it again tomorrow, then the next day….. After several days you should start seeing a change in her attitude. But don’t let up. As the other’s have said, my experience is that a bad attitude in a well broke horse is caused by lack of regular work more times than not.

    This of course assumes that you’ve checked the collar and harness fit and there’s not a discomfort issue.

    December 8, 2008 at 5:13 pm #48353
    cherprit
    Participant

    Thanks so much for all the reminders. She does need a job, and I need to make more of a commitment to her. Been working her on pulling arena drags, long wagon drives. The attitude is improving. I wanted the lazy way out, take a pill and fix it. But I do know darn well that it’s just hard work. No more excuses for me, and no more whining. I do appreciate and learn from everything I read here.

    December 11, 2008 at 2:19 am #48351
    Plowboy
    Participant

    Keep up the good work and you’ll have a horse that you’ll be proud to own and will probably shine in competition as well. An often worked horse is sharper than a hobby horse! We have more than we can work each day and you can tell a team that hasn’t worked in a month or so they aren’t on their toes like the one’s that have been working daily even though they are well broke.

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