Dear Monty and team.
I am the lucky owner of a 17 yo gelding. He is wonderful and contact seeking. When I stared with him it was another story: he was nervous buy kind while riding and sweet in the stable but a nightmare to handle from the ground. Within seconds of taking him out he would buck and rear for up to 15 minutes while in hand until he seemed exhaused. He was also afraid of my hans, the whip and swift movements. I took this to mean that he had been beaten for rearing before. That he has been hit after rearing and so kept rearing and jumping for a long as he could to avoid being beaten. He was never malicious.
I handled this by waiting the madness out and praising him when he returned. It worked.
He has gone from rearing and nearly hurting me every singLe day to doing it once in a while out of the blue. Last time was a few weeks ago.
I would like him to stop completely. He is very energetic and playful and somewhat nervous and I get the feeling he is boiling over when it happends. I have of course never beaten him and he trusts my hands even with a whip now.
In every other way he is now an absolute sweetheart who comes running to the gate when he sees me and likes all forms of handling and attention.
I worry he will hurt me or someone else one day or hurt himself.
I think maybe this all connects to something in his past, that there is a trigger but I would really like him to stop and find peace of mind.
What do you advise me to do?
Thank you.
Hi, it sounds as if you have done a lovely job with your horse and have been kind and patient with him. I agree, I fear he has been beaten before and that memory will always be with him. In order to support you as best we can I have a few questions please. I'm sorry if it's a bit of an interrogation but it's just to help us all get the full picture
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(1) Could you tell us how long you have had him so we can get an idea about his progress. (2) In what context/why do you carry a whip? (3) Do you have a Dually halter? (4) When you say he is "energetic and playful" - can you describe this in a lot more detail please - what does he do, how long for, what are the situations where this happens
Hi Kirstine. Firstly, well done you! You didn't give up on him. Clearly, he appreciates that - coz lots of others have & just gone back to beating him, which he never wanted. Clearly there is a communication gap here. Humans want from this horse something he's frightend to give & what has happened to him has only reinforced that fear - until you came along with a better attitude, but he still needs reassurance. He can't bring himself to believe in you, yet. However, whilst many people would say at 17 he's too old to bother with, I disagree. Clearly, you've made progress & I think you're new to the Uni. Study the lessons, set up a smaller place where you can try Join up & enjoy your horse - he's already shown you he wants to try & trust you. Get rid of the whip! Don't pat him, RUB! Rub his withers, his neck, his face. Try new stuff he's never seen before - plastic. Build trust & understanding. Keep posting & we will support you. Cheers, Jo.
Do you find there is a particular situation or trigger to him kicking?
Maybe try to expose or work him more in this kind of situation, and reward more when he is calm and not aggressive?
PS- definitely always work in a safe way! Only you know what he could do!
HI Kirstine, Welcome to the forum. You'll be glad to know that it is possible to help your gelding and we're all here to support you on your journey. What's his name so we can refer to him and not just your gelding ;)
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If you can answer some of the questions the team ask, then we can help even more as it helps us get a clear image of what's happening. If you can upload videos to YouTube and share even better, then we can see what the horse is saying.
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It is imperative that you cease carrying the whip at this stage, it will be the biggest trigger along with something you are doing that mimics his memory of possible past pain. Like an elephant a horse never forgets a movement and something that you might find totally normal is scaring him so much he has to defend himself by rearing and kicking.
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If you've been leading him on a bit in-case he rears, cease this also you are inflicting pain on him when he rears and bucks as you try to control it on the bit which will only make matters worse and reinforce in his mind that he is going to feel pain. If you do not have a dually head collar, then with a normal head collar clip the lead rein to the cheek ring when leading him and not the chin ring. If he tries to rear the imbalance of the cheek ring will make it more difficult for him to rear and give you more control. Not as good as the dually, but a better than the chin ring.
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Trust me when I say 'invest in a dually' once you've used one properly you won't go back to any other head collar and they last miles longer than any other head collar so well worth the money. I still have my original one from 4 years ago and use it on all my ponies and ponies I work with and apart from a bit of mud, lol, they're like brand new still. If you use the coupon on the right you can get 10% discount online, or if you're at one of Monty's demos get they'll be on sale there.
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I'll be at the UK events so if you can make it Uni Members get the private audience session and come and see me and I'll show you more.
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Your first stage is Join Up, I'm assuming you have access to a riding school and join up can be done in this area if there is no round pen. It doesn't always go to plan as in a round pen and with a horse that is showing defensive issues as rearing and bucking the chances are he won't go in circles at first, but it is possible to achieve join up and follow up in an arena. First you MUST learn the process fully yourself, go over and over the first lessons where Monty teaches join up. When you've learnt to recognise all the signs, breath and give it a go. Do not try before you have learnt to recongise the signs else it won't.
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Once you have achieved Join Up and follow up, which should happen the first time you do it, you'll start to notice a change in his behaviour. You'll be speaking his language to say trust me, I want to be your leader and help you.
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Please watch Monty's messages to you first, you might find answers in there before you start the lessons.
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The lessons are short and broken down into sections with a little challenge at the end of the video, you'll see a tab MONTY'S CHALLENGE on the video.
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Please keep us up to date what happens so we can support you through this.
Mel
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It's All About The Horse! ;)
Hello Kristine and welcome. You have come to the right place Yes, yes, yes your horse can be helped. Please try to answer as many of the above questions as you .
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. I can`t really add much to what my forum friends have already written above other than my congratulations of your attempt to go on the journey that you are about to take. To help a horse through an emotional storm speaks so very highly of you. Again WELCOME Bud USA