Youngster Getting Naughty

[cadmus]

Jack is finding his feet lately...what with new spring grass, new horses arriving and getting fitter.

He has started shaking his head when I try and get his headcollar on, then he is pushing me over to the side when walking and shaking his head and leaping about at me...arrgh.

I wrapped the leadrope over his nose but that seemed to just irritate him.

Thinking of getting him a halter or a dually headcollar..if he gets worse.

It is only the last couple of days so he will be excited but dont want him getting in a bad habit of this behaviour.

Any youngster handling advice is welcome. ;D

[misstickle]

Are his teeth coming through? He may also have a pollen allergy. Then there's the spring grass and magnesium imbalance
I'd look at the physical route first.

[cadmus]

Nope its not an allergy, he only does it when I try to flip the headcollar over his head to fasten it.

Its sheer naughtiness ...I suppose it is down to perseverance on my part.

Simba used to do it too when he didnt want his headcollar on and he was the same age, then he started striking out when turning him out...I just dont want Jack going down that road.

[bingbong]

och poor you its so anoying when one min they go so well and the next they are so naughty isnt it
its a hard slog with youngsters some times but i must say that you learn a lot from them and sometimes its a case of learn as you go, something that cant be taught can only be gained with experience.

main thing id say is be patient (bite your tounge) if something goes wrong go back a step and explaine your self again. try to make sure you are front of him one step ahead and ready and waiting for anything thats going to happen.

with youngsters you cant sit back and enjoy the veiw lol its not a walk in the park and not an easy ride but it will all be worth it in the end.

also rope halters are great things but id be carefull about using stronger headcollers and bits etc they may have a quick fix effect but wont solve things in the long term and may make things worse

good luck huni i know youl get through this

[cadmus]

Thanks

He was a lot better today, I was putting his headcollar on and he started waving his head about, so I just stopped what I was doing, said STAND, then quietly tried again, I did this twice then praised him for standng still. He walked to the field a bit better too, although he is still trying to walk on top of me and shaking his head when I ask him to slow down, so I just stop and say NO then try again a few more steps.

Dont know why he has started it, but hopefully he will get out of it as quick as he got into it!

[bingbong]

good on you i think your doing the right thing
i know they are soo quick to find our weaknesses and test the water

[lorna]

Hi there, we have a TB X Trek, who does exactly the same thing, wont let you put her head colar on, barges when leading, if you shout at her she panics, so I advised getting the physio out, and right enough she has a problem with her poll and has to keep getting the physio, may be worth having it checked out just in case it is pain in the poll.
I never like to give my horses wrong if they are or there is a chance that they are in pain.
Worth checking??
Good luck, maybe it is just a naughty youngster

[lorna]

I have just read your other post about Jack also snatching the reins,
This is another thing that the horse does, before I started teaching the lass, she was taught to pin down the horses head to stop her pulling, and now she rides from her seat so that she doesnt have to touch the reins, this has also been helped with visits from the physio, I really cant urge you enough to get this checked, this sort of problem can be caused from a meare slip in the field or can also be from rearing and twisting, anything could cause it.
But again, this scenario is exactly the same as what we are dealing with at the moment, the more we fix it the better the horse is getting, she is even going to her first show this weekend, fingers crossed she will be ok.

[cadmus]

Ok thanks, better get him checked out then, at least I can eliminate pain issues.

[bingbong]

just read the post that lorna put up there funny i was just thinking maybe he had a stiff poll too, its worth a try anyway isnt it?