|
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
 
Location: Cookeville TN | I have "acquired" a 2 year old grade QH filly. She is extremely aggressive. I have tried to begin some round pen work, she is actually living in the round pen due to her behavior. I have held her feed from her and it just doesn't phase her. During ground work she will lounge toward me bearing teeth and it doesn't matter if i whack her neck with the rope or I've even elbowed her in the jaw a few times. Also, when I get her going in a good lope in the pen she bucks and rears, and when she bucks, her hips come up above the panels.. I'm just at a loss as to what to do with her. I'm considering starting completely over with her, just as if she knows NOTHING.. but even then, with her aggressiveness idk what to do or where to start. I've never dealt with one with an attitude like this.
 |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 253
Location: SoCal | I've never dealt with that aggressive of horse before but I have heard that if you lay them down sometimes it helps. Sounds like you need to be extra careful if you try it though. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
Location: Cookeville TN | I want to add that she stands for the farrier, is okay with picking up hooves, but ONLY if someone is holding her at her halter. If you attempt to lift her hooves with her tied to trailer/tree/hitching post, etc., she will not cooperate.
This morning, since there is some extreme weather coming in (for our area, it's extreme) I was getting her out of the round pen to let her out to pasture where the round bale is, I reached for her halter and she tried to bite me, when I touched her shoulder, just to pet her, hoping to calm her a little, she immediately spun around to kick me. She just has such a nasty attitude.. I'm at a loss, I was hoping to have her riding this spring and starting her on a "job", but I've got to get this attitude straightened out! |
|
| |
|
 IMA No Hair Style Gal
Posts: 2594
| I started a two year old last year for someone, and he was the most aggressive horse I had ever worked with. For starters, on the ground he would try and swing his butt and kick at you....OR he would rear up and try and swipe at your head.
Totally dangerous....so that is when I got my husband (he needed a stronger hand than what I could give) to work with him.
We put him in the round pen and worked the CRAP out of him. Anytime he showed aggression my husband sent him flying around that pen. This went on for over an hour, and at one point this horse tried to jump the gate.
But, after that-we got it out of him. All it took was one dose of truly hard work.
He also got a little humbled when we hauled him for the first time. He somehow managed to flip over the stall divider on the ride to our house and was sitting almost on his head with his feet sticking straight up in the air.
Once we got him out he was a lot more respectful.
I would see if you could get a second person to help you get after this horse in the round pen-and work that horse until she doesn't do anything disrespectful to you in that pen anymore.
I stayed on the side lines to make sure he didn't try and jump the gate again. |
|
| |
|
The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
 
| Too many good horses, since you guys can can them, get someone to shoot her. You life is worth more then a cranky grade horse. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
Location: Cookeville TN | Thank you, Magic. I will try that, I've worked her for hours at a time, and wore her out only for the next time I go out for her to act the same, aggressive way. I have even left her tied for hours, even over-night. She would bang her head on whatever I have her tied to. She can also untie most anything, and even chews lead ropes.. |
|
| |
|
I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | Don't breed her she may pass the same junk. I would haul her to an auction and be done with it. Too many super nice horses to mess with a psycho! |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
Location: Cookeville TN | Cheryl, while I respect your opinion and agree that yes, my life is more important than ANiY horse. Grade or not. This is not a matter of reg/unreg. I've seen plenty of well-bred horses have sour attitudes, that would hurt, if not kill someone. I feel that this filly is young enough, that with enough time and maybe a different point of view or a change in direction as far as training that she has hope. Now, if she is 5-6 years old and still acting like this, sure she may need a bullet/euthanized, so that nobody's life is in danger.
I also want to add (not that it matters, because it is irrelevant to my problem) she is a fairly well bred foundation QH. Due to the circumstances her paperwork was not available at the time she became mine, not to say that it won't potentially be available eventually, nor do I care either way. |
|
| |
|
Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | did the attitude start suddenly or recently? it may be hormone related if it started after she went through "horse puberty" lol |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
Location: Cookeville TN | I do not plan on breeding her. |
|
| |
|
 The BHW Book Worm
Posts: 1768
| I have a filly that is showing aggressive tendency ....I can already tell she is going to be the type of horse u have to do something with everyday to keep sain... If she isn't in the mood for something she will kick and come at you with teeth... for example she had a small cut on her shoulder n I went to look at it and she came after me I blocked her and then with the other hand clocked her in the face with the back of a brush. ...she chilled out right away and would let me touch all over the cut not even looking at me.....she is going to be a monster. But she is super athletic and does want to work that is when she is most happy.she is just going to be one you can't turn your back on to long. And she will always have to be reminded who alpha is. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
Location: Cookeville TN | barrelracr131 - 2014-01-21 9:53 AM
did the attitude start suddenly or recently? it may be hormone related if it started after she went through "horse puberty" lolÂ
131: It's been gradually progressing. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
Location: Cookeville TN | Thistle2011 - 2014-01-21 9:53 AM
I have a filly that is showing aggressive tendency ....I can already tell she is going to be the type of horse u have to do something with everyday to keep sain... If she isn't in the mood for something she will kick and come at you with teeth... for example she had a small cut on her shoulder n I went to look at it and she came after me I blocked her and then with the other hand clocked her in the face with the back of a brush. ...she chilled out right away and would let me touch all over the cut not even looking at me.....she is going to be a monster. But she is super athletic and does want to work that is when she is most happy.she is just going to be one you can't turn your back on to long. And she will always have to be reminded who alpha is.
This sounds like her EXACTLY. I feel like once she has a JOB she will be happier and more willing. She's smart and has figured out that aggressiveness=no work. She also protects the other horses from work, when in the pasture she will get between me and whichever horse I'm trying to catch.. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 2122
Location: The Great Northwest | Sounds possibly confused and fighting back in the pen. Yes, I would start over but have a plan. I suggest getting a Clinton Anderson student to help. You can go to Clinton's site Downunder Horsemanship and get video's of ground work. You may also find videos on ground work on ebay too. Diffinatly seek help she is dangerous now. |
|
| |
|
The BHW Book Worm
Posts: 1768
| bringinithome - 2014-01-21 9:56 AM
Thistle2011 - 2014-01-21 9:53 AM
I have a filly that is showing aggressive tendency ....I can already tell she is going to be the type of horse u have to do something with everyday to keep sain... If she isn't in the mood for something she will kick and come at you with teeth... for example she had a small cut on her shoulder n I went to look at it and she came after me I blocked her and then with the other hand clocked her in the face with the back of a brush. ...she chilled out right away and would let me touch all over the cut not even looking at me.....she is going to be a monster. But she is super athletic and does want to work that is when she is most happy.she is just going to be one you can't turn your back on to long. And she will always have to be reminded who alpha is.
This sounds like her EXACTLY. I feel like once she has a JOB she will be happier and more willing. She's smart and has figured out that aggressiveness=no work. She also protects the other horses from work, when in the pasture she will get between me and whichever horse I'm trying to catch..
Sounds like u need a couple mares that will teach her a lesson. I would start over with her. If she is being nasty moving forward is to easy. if she is being rude ...I mean even taking one step to u with her shoulder back her as fast as possible away from u till u See her soften her face and mouth or ...just move the witch away from u laterally I mean run smack her hard in the shoulder if she just tries to bolt forward.. sounds like she has no respect for you or other horses. I am not sure withholding feed is going to do anything but make her sick. Horses don't have a thought process of going to bed hungry for bad behavior |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
Location: Cookeville TN | skye - 2014-01-21 9:59 AM
Sounds possibly confused and fighting back in the pen. Yes, I would start over but have a plan. I suggest getting a Clinton Anderson student to help. You can go to Clinton's site Downunder Horsemanship and get video's of ground work. You may also find videos on ground work on ebay too. Diffinatly seek help she is dangerous now.Â
I am quite familiar with Clinton Anderson's method and have applied his foundation work, she is neither scared, nor confused. She KNOWS what she is doing. I have actually planned on going back and re-watching some of Clinton Anderson's videos.. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1218
Location: Great NW | If she thinks that agression = no work - you need to change her thought process. aggression = WORK. when she is bad - work her butt hard. make her move and turn and just plain wear her out. when she wants to stop - make her keep moving until you tell her to stop. I would keep her in a seperate pasture from the other horses. there are several techniques to lay her down. She is a very strong alpha - sounds like her moma (horse) did not repremand her very well. She needs to learn that you are Alpha. if you can get thru to her she should make you an amazing horse. Be careful and work safe. |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 222
Location: Texas | First Be careful!!! Aggressiveness can be very hard to deal with and you must have the correct timing with the displine. Even a second off won't work. Laying one down does work but it must be done correctly or you can actually cause more damage. (We discipline IMMEDIATeLY and make them think they are going to die for three seconds) also this is VERY important as soon as the discipline is over forget about it don't hold it against the horse or stay mad. If you're mad or frustrated go tie her up and get recentered Were all human and sometimes need a break. You will help her more by doing that then staying mad and trying to work through it. disclaimer out of the way. With an aggressive horse you must gain respect on the ground. Make her move her feet, always keep her on a line 1 so you can pull her head around if she tries to leave, 2 to help communicate your requests. Work her in a thin rope halter that has some bite to it. The bucking right now I would ignore. Just send her forward. You need to fix the biting and lunging at you first. First exercise I would do with her is lunge in round pen one direction. Using your body weight step toward her hip and WHOA! Sit her down ( whoa on her hock and turn to face you.)Send her in the next direction. Same thing step toward hip and WHOA. Don't give her a ton of time to plan on evading you only one to two laps around at a trot or easy lope. Not Mach 10. You become the dominate mare deciding what direction she goes and when. Work on this for about 20 min. Tie her up let her think on it. Hour later take a bucket of water and offer it to her. She drinks great she doesn't oh well. You now control every aspect of her life. Same exercise again see how much was retained. The lunging and biting would have her running into the butt end of a whip. Then chased backwards for 10 or so steps then sent to work lunging. There is no leyway here. If she does that and gets you down you're toast. The smack in the neck or elbow isn't working it sounds like it's escalated to far. My guess and I'm sry if I'm wrong. Is that when she goes to bite and lunge you move out of the way then smack her. Or you just smack her and don't move her feet If you move and/or don't make her move she becomes dominate mare. She made you move which is what she wanted. Again sry if I'm reading it wrong. We have had a couple that came for training bc of that. I would keep her in the round pen and take away grain only feed hay and water. She has plenty of spice so she doesn't need any grain lol. There's a lot more exercises you can do and I'm sure you will get plenty of great advice here. Please just be careful and have a buddy there when you work with her and if you lay her down have someone who has done it before helping you so you don't get in a wreak. Our way is not always rainbows and butterflies but it works for us and has worked for some pretty hopeless cases. Good luck! |
|
| |
|
 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Put her on some supplement like Mare Magic for a while and see if it might help with her moods. It's would worth a shot 
Edited by Southtxponygirl 2014-01-21 10:18 AM
|
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 604
Location: Cookeville TN | Well the ONLY reason I have held her feed is because she has come after me at feeding time, and I feel like if I go ahead and give her her grain, she will be rewarded for her behavior. |
|
| |
Folks on-line