All though my many years of watching horses, I have seen my share of bad horse behavior. Always the first query I ask myself is, “What would cause that pony to behave in that way?” I have a look at the behavior of the men and women that are handling that particular animal. Next, I would pay attention to the physical condition of the horse, whether she or he is under or fat, what type of equipment is being used on the pony and precisely what it is that is being asked of this animal.

All horses cannot be all things. Thoroughbreds, although they're bred to do hence may not need to be a race horse. Not all horses can be pleasure horses or jumping horses or horses for young children. Just as we have different wishes, so do horses. They cannot sit and tell you what it is that they like to do but they can relate this to you by their actions. If you regularly ask a horse to leap over fences and they refuse or keep knocking down the fence, well it just might not be what they want to do. Hence a horse that continually either refuses or ducks out, or falls into fences is thought to be exhibiting naughty behavior. But , there may be other things concerned. Perhaps the horse is being schooled over fences too frequently or ridden too hard on a daily basis and is being pushed into this unpleasant behavior. Almost all of the time in my past experience, bad behavioral Problems in horses are usually due to human inaccuracy. Horses that have become what would be considered funny, by some individuals, weren't born that way. It's actually because of the wishes of human demands or laxity of understanding their wishes that are leading them to behave in unusual methods.

Let's assume that you are using a saddle that doesn't fit your pony correctly. Every time you ride, your horse’s withers are getting more and more sore each time. The muscles begin to become atrophied causing less cushion and, in turn, more soreness. Now when you go to put the saddle on your pony, he or she starts moving around a lot, or attempts to step on you, or when you go to tighten the girth, your horse seriously tries to bite you. This unpleasant behavior is in direct reply of having withers that are so sore that they cannot stand the concept of another day of agony. Or perhaps tightening up the girth too much and causing your horses ‘ girth area to become really sensitive and sore and every time you attempt to tighten the girth they want to rear up. This is their method of saying, please don't inflict this agony on me another day. They cannot turn around and say, pardon me, please don’t tighten that girth up as it really hurts[**]. Instead they rear up. This is there way of attempting to talk to you, and in their world, this body language would be accepted.

All I'm making an attempt to say is if a pony starts behaving badly, you need to take an especially close look at all sides of your actions with them. Or, ask what, if anything, has changed lately. Has there been a change of stalls, pastures or different horses turned out with your horse. Does your horse truly understand what it is that you are asking of them, or is it feasible that they could be confused? If you've a horse that starts flipping over backwards, inspect your saddle pad and your saddle. Perhaps the bit you are using is too severe, or maybe your horses back is actually sore. Maybe this actual animal needs a different rider. Ask about everything.

Sometimes the answer is not very easy to find but I believe that there's always a solution. Nonetheless the solution might not always fit into your kingdom of things and you'll have to take that under consideration. Studying how to talk pony language is not something which will come to you in a year or two. The more you have horses in your life, the more hours you spend with them, the more that you will understand their language and will most likely be able to talk with them on their level.

If you have got a horse that's turned out with certain horses and she or he is beating up all of the other horses, although this is naughty behavior, you will have to either turn this horse out with a different herd of horses or keep this horse away from other horses till you can find an acceptable friend. Sometimes when we have got a pony come into our life, specific behaviours have recently been developed and there is a fixed amount we will do.

This isn't to assert that some horses are not born in the correct mental state, but I do not think that the percentage is particularly high. How a pony is handled from birth makes a big difference in the individual that they become. In the course of breaking yearlings on Thoroughbred farms for 5 years, many times the yearlings that were the worst to start to break after they knew what was needed from them, with time. And patience, became the most coveted to ride. Put yourself in their shoes, look at the problem from another perspective using the realization that you have bought about horses and maybe you will be enlightened. Patience and understanding are your best tools in handling a difficult pony. Remember that horses are habitual creatures. Implanting correct behaviour into their lives, consistently, repeatedly may help them to adopt the better behaviour. Most horses will come around providing they are given a fair chance and the love that they actually need.

For more tips and tricks on Horse Handling visit KW Saddlery

Tagged with: • •

Filed under: Dog Supplies

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!