Do you hit your horse?

[Rookiehorseowner]

As a first time horse owner at a livery yard I am surrounded by people with many many years of horse ownership behind them.
My new horse is lovely but currently not great to lead on the ground.
I’m surprised that some say I should hit him or pull his Headcollar up and down quite hard to show him who is boss.

Do you hit your horses, and if so under what circumstances? Or does a gentler approach work for you?

I would never hit a horse near the head or pull the headcollar up and down. However you can't let your horse think he can boss you around on the ground. It's potentially dangerous. For that reason if a horse was difficult to lead I would carry a whip and or lead in a bridle or loop the leadrope through both sides of the headcollar and make sure I stay in front of his shoulder. I would also recommend teaching verbal commands such as halt, back up, or walk on so your horse knows what is expected.

Absolutely not. Never.

Those that need to have failed in their handling / training earlier down the line.

I'll give them a smack on the shoulder if they start trying to barge me about or a firm tug on the headcollar if they're being pully and generally a knob to lead. I'd never hurt them of course but you can't let an animal that large get the idea that they can push you around. They get away with it once, they'll try it again and that shit gets dangerous. They're too big to be allowed to behave like that.

You have to be firm. If you aren't, they'll walk all over you, they aren't daft. My instructor tells us never to let them move our feet. Make them move. If they're trying to push past you or pull you of generally invade your personal space, plant your feet and push them back until they take a step back. If you move for them, you concede control. They need to move out of YOUR space.

For leading, hitting doesn’t work. Keep him behind you & don’t face. If he plants himself, circle & try again. Horses are generally inclined to follow, so this can be sorted.
I have a bargy one, so I walk at or in front of his shoulder. Horse should always be slightly behind you. Hitting has its place, but should be v limited.

What does he do when you are trying to lead him?

No I certainly do not and it’s simply not necessary if you do a lot of work on the ground before you lead them anywhere.
There are lots of training methods available now but I loosely practice natural horsemanship (yes I know 😀 I’m a hag with a flag 😂).

I’ve hired an arena with a friend before now and we’ve worked on leading our horses through poles and around obstacles when it’s been necessary. It’s a really important skill. And as others have said, it can be quite dangerous when it goes wrong.

A friend of mine acquired a serious leg injury a couple of months back from being rushed at a field gate and her knee was banged in to the upright as a young, eager, horse barged past her into the field and she got slammed sideways. She ended up wearing her kneecap backwards.

Once they get the hang of the repeated groundwork patterns, all you have to do then is lightly shake the lead rope from side to side under their chin and they stop immediately. And they back up if you go on shaking it.

Another tip if having trouble leading, is to let an unconfident lead in a safe area and you “drive” it from the rear, which is how other horses sometimes interact. And then you take control.

Obviously I would very calmly and firmly stand my ground and block a horse with my raised elbow parallel to its head if a horse tried to run me over but most times you don’t need to make contact and as I say, they won’t do that in the first place if you put the ground work in first from a young age.

The problem is that he tries to walk ahead of me more quickly than I want to go and is strong to slow down or pull back.
I have tried circling him away when he does this, but with limited success.

His seller didn’t have this problem, but he’s only been at the yard, which is busier than his old one, a couple of days.

So in this circumstances you describe I would back the horse up a couple
Of steps every single time he went in front of me. By allowing him to continue walking and circling he is entering your space. In the wild whoever offers their space to the other herd mate is the weaker and not to be followed.

By backing him up you are pushing him back out of your space and claiming it for yourself. You are firmly putting him back in his place as his beard would do.

Agree. Stop him and push him back. Every time. Reward good behaviour and keep setting the boundary. He doesn't walk in front, ever, he isn't the leader of this little herd, you are.

of no help, but i found it really cute when my grand daughter (8-9 years) was checking hooves/shoes and the horse was not co-operating she smacked his butt with attitude.

I'd be concerned that if you get too into shoving etc you are establishing a dynamic where the strongest one "shows the other who is boss" (as they said), whilst you are very much not the stronger one...

I think you need to be firm in voice and be pulling hard on a halter but I wouldn't hit a horse. My mum had a mad ex race horse who had a bad reputation on the yard and who started rearing up when I was walking him, I growled at him in a loud, low and assertive voice and pulled him down and he changed his tune- because he was a thoroughbred he was actually quite sensitive to tone and body language. Perhaps you could use a bridle with a bit with him for greater control around the yard too.

Why the fuck would anyone hit any animal if it wasn’t self-defence?

I really hope that you’re not actually considering taking the advice of these nasty bastards?

CurlsnSunshinetime4tea · Today 00:22
of no help, but i found it really cute when my grand daughter (8-9 years) was checking hooves/shoes and the horse was not co-operating she smacked his butt with attitude”

Would you find it really cute if someone smacked your grandchild’s “butt” with attitude?

No, didn’t think so.

Animal abuse is cute? Your moral compass is in the gutter

Maybe find a new ' hobby ' that doesn't involve animal abuse? Maybe macrame or jogging? Just a thought 🤷‍♀️

Unfortunately the horse world
is light years behind other animal training in this regard. You’ll hear euphemisms like “tap/tickle” and similar to describe hitting a horse with a whip. Strong bits being used. Spurs. It’s disgusting.

Spurs shouldn't be used for punishment, they're to refine leg aids and the same with whips and never used in anger
I wore smooth roller ball ones (as it says, it's a ball)
The difference between using your whole leg for an aid vs using the small ball on a spur to ask for a specific movement

If you're just asking for canter then it's easy but if you're asking for things at a higher level it often needs more refinement than a general leg aid

Also disabled riders often need spurs or a whip to replace a leg aid which is also why I used them and a whip to replace my right leg aid

Spurs shouldn't be used for punishment, they're to refine leg aids and the same with whips and never used in anger”

Yeah, right. Alternatively, if this dumb beast isn’t doing what I want I’ll just stick a metal spike into its side until it does. Seriously, @buffyslayer , would you do that to your dog /cat/child?

“Refine leg aids”? Jesus, listen to yourself. It’s brutal.

Never used in anger? Oh well, that’s fine, then, because a whip across the flank feels so much more lovely when it’s used with love.

Disgusting.

Try using clicker training.

I've many years of experience, been down both the traditional and the natural horsemanship route. Still use a mix of both today. Have worked as a remedial trainer.

But the method I am working more and more with is clicker training. I found Connection Training really helpful to remind me how to get started, and am finding clicker even more effective than other methods. Not only for tackling issues or training new behaviours and exercises, but also creating a horse that actively wants to work with you, and enjoys learning.

It's not a spike! And yes there's a huge difference between whacking with a whip and using it to replace a leg aid
How do you think paralysed riders give aids? With a whip...
It's like the difference between tapping/patting your arm and smacking it full force
Or are we banning riders who can't use their legs from riding given the only way they can is by using whips to replace leg aids

And yes spurs are for refining leg aids. You can't be as accurate using your leg as you can with a tiny ball like this when you're asking for advanced movements

Why would I want to hurt a horse? I've seen horses with whip and spur marks and I would never want that. My horse was perfectly happy with a whip waved around her head to get rid of flies because she wasn't scared of me or the whip

A fabulous way for your granddaughter to get seriously injured with a kick to the head, it’s not cute or funny and I most certainly wouldn’t be gloating about it on MN. She is obviously not yet mature or educated enough to be left to her own devices around horses.

Do they train differently in France? All the kids were bent over cleaning hooves with tools and brushes and certainly not the only child to whack the horses butts. The instructors did so as well to get them trotting at the speed she expected.
I’ll keep my eyes open to future heath and safety issues.

Jesus why would anyone hit an animal? You are sick.

Picking out hooves = normal
Smacking horse whilst doing so = unacceptable and asking for somebody to get hurt

Not all instructors are created equally, this one sounds shit.