Having some behaviour issues...help!!

joey_olop

joey_olop

I Love My Olops!!!!!
Jul 15, 2003
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Why is it that my horse wont do something I ask until I raise my voice or have to use my crop.

I will give you a few examples...........he will only jump fillers on fences after he has refused it once and I have to turn him around, raise my voice & give him a smack. I dont like doing it & I know he can do it in the 1st place so why try his luck??

Also when I take him back into his field there is a scrummy patch of grass that he always has to have a bit of. He will literally pull me over until he has got what he wants but if I raise my voice and give him a smack with the lead rope he wont do it.

Why cant he just take the easy route & do as he is told in the 1st place?? Why do I keep having to raise my voice at him, I dont like doing it cos I must sound really horrible!!

Any ideas??
 
Have you tried exploring the joys of the 3 minute ride ? I have a horse who is so full of try - anything I ask him for, old things, new things, he's just all out to try figure out what I want. He got this way by keeping the '3 minute ride' uppermost in our minds throughout his training. Every time out, if he put in a super-excellent effort at something - anything - even putting the bit in his mouth, I'd stop the ride right there, reward him and turn him out - even if it was only 3 minutes into the ride.

I see a lot of everyday riding horses being just ok, you know, not amazing, not difficult, but just OK. There's definitely a link here (IMHO). We warm them up at a walk, they do so... good. Next they trot and we work on trot for a while. When that's going good, then we start working them in canter ... and then jumping ... and if you look back on their whole 'training' over the months it seems that their reward for doing what we ask is ... a bit more work !

How about it ? How about dropping all goals, all ideas of keeping him fit ... and just go all out to recognise his real big 'tries' for you. When he does something good .... hug him til he's embarrassed and turn him out. Give it a week, and see if you can see a difference in his 'can do' attitude.

Kate
 
Thats a good idea Kate! Hopefully I'll be able to do a bit of work like that with my mare when we move her home with us soon - she is being a bit full of herself - joey alop's post is quite familiar! Only last night she refused to stand close enough to the mounting block for me - and (blushes with shame and remorse) until I shouted at her (and used a couple of rude words) that she could come and stand by it. I know she ain't scared of it - just "trying it on".....! oh dear, they always surprise you don't they?! Just when I thought we had made progress....must be the bad weather!
 
Why do they have to be awkward for??!!
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because your goals are not their goals.

Mounting blocks are fun. What's your cue for 'scooch your butt over here while leaving your head in the same place' ? If you haven't taught it yet, then no suprise if the horse doesn't know it yet ! Stand on the mounting block (or a chair, a random pile of bricks, the tailgate of your truck etc) and make your 'cue' for scooch. He'll look blank. Start tapping high up on his butt, tap tap tap, with a stick. Sooner or later, he'll shift his weight just a touch towards you - so you instantly stop. I swear, 3 minutes and you can easily sidepass the horse into position anywhere.

I think sidepass scooch to the mounting block is about my all-time favourite exercise. Good party trick too.
 
Kate, that's really good advice. Yesterday after my trail ride, which my horse loves, I thought well, I'll just pop into the arena and let him trot or canter. We just walked on the ride because the person I was with did not want to go faster. The arena gate was open and as we walked towards it, my horse just swerved away. So I thought - why end up with something he hates when he had such a good time on the ride? I got off, brushed him, gave him some carrots and let him back in the paddock.

edited- never mind that I'm teaching him that he can avoid the arena!
 
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Does he have a "make me" attitude maybe? It's bit disrespectful when you think about him dragging you for his favorite patch. Or on the flip side: he genuinly is clueless & when you finally insist it's like: "Oh I'm suposed to do that? Ok I guess..."

You probably need to be blatantly to the point 1rst time around until he does begin to respond better to a lighter cue. And big fusses when the lightbulb does turn on.;)
 
you are seeing things from a very human perspective
- horses never do anything without good reason. try to think like a horse. instead of smacking him - which is lowering his confidence and self esteem and is, really and honestly, only a very 'human' method used to make yourself feel beter, rather than making your horse do what you want.
your horse does not 'yale the easy route' because that is not how he thinks. he is living in the now, thinking logically and instinctively.
if he has never been taught what is the correct way to jump a filler, then he of course is not going to jump it that way.

er, and may i just add non-arguementatively (phew!) that smacking and shouting gets you absaloutely nowhere.
:)
good luck
 
anyway, so maybe in his eyes you set him at a jump, he hesitates or seems about to refuse (or you expect him to), so you may put the pressure on) make him go faster, use your legs/voice/seat more, etc, determindly, and he panic, thinks "oh s**t, i can't do this" and stops.

loads of horses find fillers daunting, it's common. humans tend to find it a bit scary too - are you ecrtain yuo are not the cause for his behaviour, not even partially?

is he perfect on the lunge doing small jumps (and i really mean small) leading up to a small filler, or whilst being loose schooled without the possible interference of a rider?

srat small and work your way up - when he gets something right, like a coupele of small cross poles, praise himwith your voice and a stroke, etc, and move on to something he enjoys or finds easy.
build up gradually to small filers ridden, and let him take his time; be there for him, but non-interfereing.

also, if you don't trust yourself with a whip, don't use it. it's really not worth the trust you ill lose from him.

good luck - perhaps opme lessons may help yuo both to work with each other?
xxx
:)
 
Brilliant comments Kate :)

joey olop - think about it from a different perspective. He's finally doing what you ask because you 'make' him do it. How happy is that making him to do it again? It can be difficult to think of it from the horse's perspective rather than your own but give it a try, it's tough at first but it's actually quite fun.

Saffy is a monster going down to the field, she sees the lane down to the field as an extended buffet table put out specifically for her to munch her way through. If I allowed her to eat all the way down we'd take hours just to get into the field. I do allow her to eat but on my terms, she has to walk nicely and not pull and THEN she can stop for a nosh. Not strictly BHS but she's a very 'herby' horse and likes to mooch in the hedgerows for goodies. If she pulls then I just stand still, holding the lead rope with a little pressure on it until she walks on again. She always walks on and doesn't fight though she does do the petulant teenager act for a nanosecond first! I have to confess that I talk to her like a child and tell her that IF she walks on nicely she can stop at the bit where the path bends a bit. I'm not sure that she understands the words but she certainly seems to 'get' the meaning! She always gets to the spot that I've picked out, stops and goes "hey, you promised". :rolleyes:
 
KateWooten said:
Mounting blocks are fun.
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Hmmm, my little minx isn't awkward with ALL mounting blocks, in fact, she used to stand and lick the one on the old yard (she now pretends to be scared of them:rolleyes: ) if I bring the block to her (if its lightweight enough) then she stands, and she will stand happily for me to get on from the ground.... I think its just the big heavy one in the school that she knows I cannot lift easily.........:p I have tried sitting on it and "killing" it for her to show that its not nasty to no avail..... Will have to try your suggestions Kate:)
 
You'll do fine ... make it about the sidestepping and not about the mounting block :) Teach the cue somewhere easy - facing a fence for example (helps to block the forward movement) ... then when it's solid, take it to the mounting block. Most likely her 'fear' of it is just a useful diversion tactic she's found... she'll find it more difficult to ignore a direct cue to step towards you, than to simply play at spooking.
 
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