I was trail riding over the weekend, and my horse took a dislike to the horse behind him. I saw the symptoms (making faces) and tried to get his attention on me, but he would have none of it! That awful equine behind him clearly needed to be taught a lesson (he must have been several feet back). So my horse (an appaloosa) RAN backwards!

I wasn't very effective in stopping him - just tried to kick & push him with my legs into forward, and he finally did stop without a catastrophe. But how could I have handled this? Pulling back - as one instinctively does to stop - is obviously counter-productive. It seems to me that pulling his head around with one rein might cause him to fall. Does clasping the rein tightly at the neck work in this instance?

Thanks! This situation might not arise again, but I like to be prepared.

Janet

Janet,

You’re right! Pulling back on the reins when your horse is running backwards is not a good idea and will probably make the horse backup faster or rear. While forward motion is what you’d like to ask for, in this instance, because the horse is threatening to kick someone, it is more important to stop the backward movement immediately by disengaging the hindquarters.

There is a lot of information about disengagement and rein aids on my website; it is executed with the indirect rein behind the withers (a rein of opposition), by lifting the rein up and back toward your belly button or opposite shoulder. It will move the hip away from the rein aid and cause the horse to cross his hind legs and stop his impulsion. Although you might not want to use this technique if a horse were running forward and bolting, it is unlikely to make him fall or even stumble while backing.

When a horse is threatening to kick, the best solution is to turn the horse’s head toward the horse he wants to kick. When you turn toward, it makes the horse’s hip move away from whatever he is aiming at. So your solution is to disengage the horse’s hindquarter, in order to stop the horse’s impulsion, while turning the horse toward his intended target. When two horses threaten to go butt to butt, always bring their noses together.

Your horse is extremely disobedient to act that way while being ridden. Horses need to be taught, in no uncertain terms, from day one of their interactions with humans, that when they are in-hand or under-saddle, they are absolutely forbidden from displaying any herd behaviors, especially acts of aggression. Toward this end, horses should never be allowed to fraternize or even move a nose in the direction of another horse when being ridden together. They are perfectly capable of understanding this rule, when it is strictly enforced.

In punishment for such a disobedient act, once I got him under control, I would have immediately taken him away from the group and tried to work the shoes right off his feet (hissing, spitting and growling at him all the while). My goal is for my horse to associate being ostracized from the herd and having to work hard with his aggressive actions. Like all training, timing is critical to get the horse to make the right association.

My guess is that you need to work on your horse’s manners both on the ground and in the saddle. Again, there are scores of articles on my website that will help you with all of these things.

Good luck!

Jule Goodnight, Clinician and Trainer, Horse Master with Julie Goodnight TV Host
www.juliegoodnight.com