Gah! Any ideas for this problem horse? RDA, yes, I'm not off-topic.

KittySawrus

New Member
Sep 17, 2007
3
0
1
Co. Durham, North East, UK
Okies, where I volunteer we have this big drafty dude, and he's a devil. He uses all kinds of tricks to hurt you - he side-walks, he swings his head, he turns on you, all sorts of stuff.
I haven't led him for a while now but may soon have to. I need to be able to keep my cool whilst leading him so I don't affect the rider, but at the same time try not to panic as he tries to bite me/stand on me. Any tips?
much appreciated xx
 
is this horse like this with everyone or are you the only person to have a problem with him.He sounds like he hasn't been taught to respect your space on the ground.It is difficult to teach him manners if you are the only helping out unless you also put work in when he is not working.We had a young cob who was like this when he first came to us and when we went to view him it was obvious that his handler was afraid of him and therefore he hadn't been taught any manners.He was a bolshy 3 year old who would deliberately aim to stand on your toes and also would bite and headbutt.We used NH methods to teach him about what was acceptable and he picked it up quite quickly.
 
No, he's handled by lots of people
He isn't young...he must be at least 8...maybe 10. I haven't asked his age. I go up every sunday so I only see him once a week, but three, at most, other volunteers handle him as they are the only ones strong and confident enough to do so. I'm reaching the confidence stage (I'm strong enough) so they'll expect me to help out soon.
 
he is probably in the wrong job and frustrated. RDA horses have quite a hard life of it, they are subjected to a lot of noise - our charity will not loan horses for RDA as often the 'good' horses are very overworked.

He probably needs more stimulation, plus proper handling, retraining on ground manners. My cob mare would be quiet enough to RDA but she would make mincemeat out of everyone and be very sullen. A lot of horses just don't like the lifestyle as they get bounced on, kicked, unbalanced riders, and some of the more disturbed riders can make a lot of noise, all of which really upsets horses.

He may just be a big thug with no manners who needs teaching or he may be screaming let me out of here.

Please don't everyone jump on me for saying this as I know RDA does a lot of good work, but i have personal experience of a horse at one of their centres where the owner loaned it to them to use, and she had to take it back in six months as the horse was totally ruined, fed up, miserable at the amount of work and the type of work she had to do, she never got hacked out, she just went round and round in a school for hours on end.
 
No worries Big Ears, I know what you mean. He is one of our most worked horses, because he can carry weight. He suffers from COPD but not too badly, otherwise he wouldn't have as heavy a workload. He's a fave with some of our riders. On weekdays that aren't so busy the staff take him out for a hack, and he loves it, so it isn't solely customers that ride him, but I see your point. He will be having a two week holiday soon, perhaps we can ground train him then...
 
i would suggest putting a non disabled person on him and lead him while there on bored . while there on teach him about your space and have him respect it.
 
This isn't the most helpful of comments but...one of the main things i was taught at the beginning of my training was if there were any horses/ponies that i didn't like leading, for whatever reason, i did not have to lead them. Likewise any of the riders! The whole intention was to make the helpers as comfortable as possible so that they can encourage the riders and ponies. If you don't want to lead this big guy, do you really have to?
 
I agree with big ears, but also think, that because when you ride balance is of importance, then perhaps his disabled riders arent properly balanced on him, and over a long or short period of time, it has begun to hurt him... the stronger handlers maybe using thier strength to keep him going straight, but with you it could be that he's in pain, (or indeed not keeping out of your space) but i think it's probably more to do with his riders lack of balance, that's causing him to hold and use his body differently and this is what his problem is... esp if he's a bigger/chunkier horse.

Sorry, my reply is a bit random!
 
Rda can be very very boring for a horse, and hard work too. Some horses hate it. Sadly good safe RDA horses are hard to come by and therefore most RDA centres are very unwilling to let horses go, as long as they're safe for the rider.

There is really nothing you can do about him. You'd just be best saying you don't feel happy leading him. If you have any influence at the centre suggest having him checked over by a vet, or even just being allowed to do more non-RDA work - going for fast hacks, having jumping lessons, going to shows etc - it'll keep him interested.
 
newrider.com