Bossy horse!
May 14th, 2008 by Carolyn Resnick Method
Hello again. Today’s question comes from Melissa in Indiana and is typical of ones like this that I receive on a regular basis. Her situation involves a horse that is just too bossy! Perhaps this sounds familiar to you too? Melissa writes:
I have a 4.5 year old gelding quarter mix I’ve had since he was 7 months old. He has had 45 days professional (natural horsemanship) training and that’s been almost 2 years ago. I know that’s not much and I’m at fault for him being so pushy because I do not put enough time in saddle!
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Hello Carolyn,
I have always loved horses, in fact it runs in my family and has affected all the women, both my sister and my mother are horse owners as well. My sister is up here in Canada with me, she has a Lusitano mare 3 years old and a little pony. My mother is actually currently living in Temecula California not too far from you with a Peruvian mare, 12 years old. We have always been around horses and have always leaned towards a more natural approach.
I personally have always been drawn to black horses with white markings, so that is exactly what I ended up getting.
A month ago I bought a 2 year old Quarter horse mare, black with white markings standing 13.3hands. She is for the first time ever, away from the only place she’s ever known and the only people and horses she’s ever known. Her previous owners treated her more like a dog rather than a horse, and were not strong leaders. This has caused her to be very pushy, invading your space frequently, and very treat focused. She is not fearful of humans, nor is she aggresive, just not respectful.
I’ve been watching Stina’s and your videos and I have just ordered you Waterhole Rituals DVD, and can’t wait to see them.
I have just very slowly started the excercises as you mention above, as well as walking together at liberty abd stopping and backing. She comes to me freely out of the herd, always the first to greet me, or follow me into unknown places. She does not spook easy, will walk right onto blue tarps, or through heavy woods or even marshes, but if she can no longer see the herd she becomes more nervous and clingy/pushy.
I started training her last week at liberty, hiding treats in my pockets, and giving them to her as rewards after stopping beside me through body language, or backing perfectly when i backed beside her, or trotting beside me, or just coming to me when her attention drifts by me using bosy language. I hadn’t then realized that she was only doing all these things only for the treats. One thing she would not do is stop away from me when coming at me, she always has to come right up to me and then stop, nor can she stand still once she knows I have treats. But she never puts her ears back when approaching you or when you give her a treat. She also doesn’t lead from behind very well, she constantly tries to turn around and meet you face to face, and on occasion she will even try to back up towards me, neither of which i let slide, i just continue in the excercise. She has a very “Hey you, do you have a treat? Where is my treat?” attitude.
She is now the first in her new herd to come and greet me (expecting treats). I tried to limit the amount of treats I give her during the training, but this has resulted in a pushier behavior from her, and of course a quicker lack of interest.
When we feed the horses carrots and apples each evening she usually gobbles it down as quick as possible and will invade the dishes of the other lower ranking horses. When I try to ask her to move away, she is like a brick wall. when i halter her and try to make her stand still before letting her go to the dish, she becomes completely impatient and won’t stand still. I try to catch her in a moment of calm and then allow her to go the the bucket pointing at it and moving towards it.
It is clear to me that we are still lacking a connection. But I am not sure how to proceed from here. Should I just spend time with her alone away from the herd in another paddock, as the other horses are mostly all dominant over her and none really know me that well (as this is a boarding facility), or should I spend time with her amongst the herd and a having a reed?
I go over every single night, to help feed and take care of all the horses there, and I have been doing the connection rituals, where i just spend time with them, then slowly start moving around them, and then I ask each horse to move 5 steps away from me and then i turn away and move around them again and approach another horse and ask the same. Some hardly move at all and other move away with the slightest request. My horse falls kind of in the middle, moving sway after i have queed her several times. Every week I also spend time just with my horse, brushing her and cleaning her feet (not as willing with this), or just scratching her. On the weekends and on Thursdays I try to work with her for 30-40min using your methods of liberty training.
I try to remember that she is only 2, and that she has been pulled away from all that she knows, and that a connection will take a lot of time and commitment, but I also don’t want her to think that she is the leader of me now.
Sorry for the lengthy comment…
Thank you