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Question:
I have a pushy
horse. I no longer feel comfortable around him. Can you give me
some advice on how to get back in control?
Answer:
This is a
question that I hear often and something I see a lot. Probably 90%
of the horses brought in for training are pushy and do not respect
our space.
As owners, we
usually spend more time riding than dealing with ground issues.
There is nothing wrong with riding and having a good time. We buy a
horse so that we can go out on the trail, rope, sort cattle or do
any number of activities. However, believe it or not, more
accidents happen on the ground than while riding.
If you ever
watch horses out in pasture together, you see very quickly that
there is a definite pecking order. By the time they sort it out,
hooves may be flying and teeth bared but a leader is established.
What is interesting is that a couple of hours later these same
horses will be grooming each other as if nothing has happened. They
have determined who is going to be the leader and this is one of the
biggest things that we overlook in our relationship with our horse.
Our relationship from the human point of view is that if I bring my
horse a carrot or a cookie he will love me more. That is not true.
The only thing that will do is generate a whinny when you walk into
the barn and it is not because of you but because of what you bring
with you. Once the horse has had the treat, it will still be
disrespectful, putting the ears back, blocking the gate, turning to
present you with its hind quarters.
One of the most
common complaints I hear is that my horse bit me for the first
time. My answer to that is no, the horse didn’t bit you for the
first time he bit you a long time ago and the behavior just now
manifested. What I mean by that is what I mentioned earlier. You
approach the stall or pasture and the horse displays disrespectful
behaviors. This is not a good sign because eventually it will lead
to more violent behavior. This is not because the horse is mean, it
is just normal horse behavior. Sometimes horses may be labeled as
“rogue” and all that behavior shows is a lack of education from the
human handler. Our safety is most important when working with any
horse. Safety for the horse is secondary and in that way we take
the leadership role.
The difficult
part is our learning to accept that our reality is different from
that of the horse. Once we accept that, we must teach the horse to
behave differently. You may need help with this task.
Unfortunately, a lot of the barns are not keen on polite ground
manners. I see this in the hunter/jumper and dressage world. There
are a lot of good riders and the horses do well under saddle but
they do not have good ground manners. They are not polite and do
not respect the handler’s space. They are always in the handler’s
front or back pocket. Here, we start horses with ground work,
leading, stopping, backing, and standing as well as lunging and
concentrated circles. Videos of these lessons are good and I sell
videos that teach ground work and provide useful tools for teaching
ground manners. However, you really need to partner up with someone
you trust who can help you teach your horse in the correct way.
Sometimes when we watch a video or read a book we don’t correctly
interpret what we are seeing or reading. You need to find someone
and be willing to assert yourself and be the leader that your horse
wants you to be.
You only have
two options, either you or your horse is the leader. It can be like
a bad relationship where one partner is abusive. We tolerate the
behavior because we think the partner loves us. No partner who
abuses you mentally or physically, loves you and your horse will not
respect you if you don’t assert yourself. We always need to
remember that it is in the nature of the horse to be a leader or a
follower. You need a relationship with your horse where you are the
leader and the horse looks to you for leadership. Interestingly,
once you get in control of a horse’s feet, you will be in control of
his mind. You will be surprised how attentive the horse will be to
you. You will be surprise how much attention he will pay to you.
We just
finished a clinic here on ground work and handling human fear. The
horses in the clinic were totally disrespectful and the people were
way too concerned about the well being of the horses. We had to let
those horses know that there were new leaders in town. We didn’t
use a baseball bat or any chains but we did use a lead rope and a
dressage stick. It took a lot of perseverance and patience to get
these horses to respect their handler’s space. These lessons will
need to be repeated consistently until the horses have totally
learned respect.
If your horse
pushes into you, does not back up, does not move over when you ask
him to move over at the hitching post or in the cross ties, and does
not lunge correctly, he does not respect your space. You do not
have a broke horse. You need to deal with him before he hurts you.
I hope this helps.
Charles Wilhelm
It’s Never Ever the Horse’s Fault
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