The equestrian community for horse people everywhere
Behavior....
simple and easy let me just ask....
What do you think is the reason why a horse is bullyish towards strangers?
What are your suggestions to do something about it?
Have you seen any good training videos or tools used to properly introduce a bully horse to new people...
Short background. My horse, Oliver, he is very docile with me..... and anyone he knows he's sweet... but new people, borderline kind of dangerous... it saddens me to have a horse that I love that I cannot trust with my friends or family and I would love some easy steps to start with as this problem has got to be resolved or Oliver will not ever be able to leave my yard without my trainer. I'm not sure if I trigger it or not... he is an orphaned horse, I raised him.. I just wonder what is going on with him... he is sweet/scary.....
Views: 807
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Jennifer Lamm on
-
Thanks Jan...... you are doing alot of traveling... :) Let's see how we do with this clicker thing... I love the sentence you wrote that he has to want to be with me for more than just controlling me... I did see us turn the corner there.... every day it is getting a teensy bit better..... my other horse Toby got sort of scared though so I had to separate them to work with Oliver.... it was way too much assertiveness for my super shy horse... :) have a fun trip.....
-
-
Hey Shai..... isn't it fantastic when a horse makes his own good decisions from training? When Oliver and I are together I see his brain thinking to stay at least 4 to 5 feet away on his own....... he's also looking at me whenever I'm near and paying great attention...... only if he gets in trouble am I assertive now..... with the clicker I can tell him he is doing a good job and he gets so happy.. his energy is way interesting instead of his feet being stuck and his attitude being so "make me"...... i'm inspired!! Thanks for the encouragement....
-
Permalink Reply by Shaiarabs on
-
aww so glad its going well mate, sounds like you are finding your balance!! keep it up and please do keep letting us know how you are all going
-
-
My plan is to halter him and start walking him around in a small pen. That way if he's a jerk off I'm not afraid anymore to correct him and I can practice clicker training and see if I can move him forward on line, to driving, to lunging..... when I can lunge him and do direction changes and stuff with him on a loose line and he's soft and connected and collected and all gaits and I have speed control I will ride him..... but that could take me all summer.... so bear with me and I'll be back soon.... practice ain't pretty so I hope I don't end up with my face in the dirt... I think he and I have a good enough relationship to at least start trying.... he usually gets bratty on the line and drags me so I'm going to work up to hopefully that NOT happening this time with my new technique I'm going to try. :) pushing him into the rail with no way to make an outside turn and run the other way on his own.
-
-
-
One of the things I think is important with training if you are a newbie to training your own horse is that the end is not where you start..... my whole goal when I started training my horse was to walk around him in a circle and have his attention the whole time..... looking at me with ears forward and paying attention.....
he went from scratching bugs and blowing me off to now he does look at me and give his attention.. OMG what I went through to get there..... now it looks easy to call his name and get his attention.... but it didn't start out like that and the middle was ugly. :)
Today, whenever I asked he gave me his attention with the nicest look on his face and in a backwards mode not so pushy and forward..... of course you click when you get the right response.... he was salivating and the whole bit..... bratty he got nothing.. the wheels in his head are turning too... I also chased him around in a small area with my hose and roundpenned him...
what a fun way to play... clicking and giving water lessons.. it's like 90 here today...
:) me and Oliver are gonna do this guys.... be a nice and responsible horse and rider..... and have good manners. He softened and yawned and rolled with me in his pen too.... :) the balance is coming... you are right Shai.... -
-
-
well done mate!!! sounds like its getting there!! remember if you feel food is becoming expected or a demand that you can transfer it to rub between the forehead and scratch at the whither.. it helps you bring the touch you and he need into it and ends up being alot more powerful then food... hugs you are doing great!!
-
-
And with the long whip..... I can rub between his forehead and his withers with no treat but he also isn't close to me..... we can practice staying at a distance and he still gets the reward... I do not want a horse that is looking for a treat all the time.... yuck... those make for bratty spoiled horses..... :) so far I've only given him a treat when he was thinking "back"..... if he came forward when I asked for "backup Oliver" then I patiently waited until he gave me what I asked for like the clicker book suggests...... poor guy though, his fly spray must have given him hives..... that I'm not too happy about.... :) well today I shall sit in the shade, read the book and practice some more.. it's going to be 90 out.... and the flies are attrocious but my trainer is out of town and Oliver needs the attention so it's on me... :)
-
-
frick man he is finally starting to believe me.... I feel like I've been in a boxing match.... :) finally this lazy assed horse of mine is moving his butt.... geezo....
-
Permalink Reply by Shirley on
-
HI Jen, I'm curious which fly spray Oliver had trouble with. My horse has had problems with oil based rather then water based sprays. We can use natural (like CLAC) even though it does have lots of oils in it, it is diluted 7 times with water.
-
-
Pirahna.... spray and wipe... I didn't wipe good I guess... it went away the next day... god the flies are awful here... and it's real hot already...
clicker training is an interesting system... firstly it must be confusing for the horse if you cluck to ask for something and then click to reward..... Oliver got very very very pushy at first, almost acting out... but I stayed real consistent... even got him to back away from the fence instead of pawing it to get attention. I'm at a loss for if he understands the reward as well as he does the punishment..... but I hope he does.... training is not easy.. the only thing I've noticed since I got the clicker was he's very noisy now.. he whinnies and calls me and nickers and gets very expressive.... making him be good has cut out some of his goofiness which i was sad about..... he still looks bored and I'm not sure if he's happy or not, but it's easier on me to ask him to be good and reward his behavior than forever running after him or being mean to get him ..... I have the clicker tied around my neck and whenever he's being good I click it and tell him good boy.....we are in day 3..... yesterday was ugly in parts... but I did get him to understand being out of the bubble and respecting ... ugh, he's relentless in his testing and trying.. :( Sometimes he seems so retarded..... :( I took my other horse Toby for a walk today.... he is so much easier than Oliver..... :) and he likes the clicker... he got more expressive and more energetic today.. he seemed to be having a good time.
The Rider Marketplace
International Horse News
© 2024 Created by Barnmice Admin.
Powered by
