Q: hi i keep my horse with my freinds 9 month old foal he is very sweet and lovable untill it comes to feed time if you go near him he just kicks out any advice ive been kicked twice now and dont fancy a 3rd time also when he does not want to do something he raises his front leg and then stamps it on the ground , other than this he is a very nice horse and progressing well but we dont have much experience with foals any advice would be grateful but would prefer not to hear from people who say beat him she is trying to teach him the kelly marks way , look forward to hearing from you
A: A little bit of equine psychology goes a looooong way -- by moving the horse's hooves where *I* want and when I want and how fast I want, I am automatically setting myself in a higher rank than the horse. If a horse, regardless of age, threatens me with any sort of aggressive behavior that horse has to M-O-V-E ... and move quickly and immediately! I don't hit and I don't strike but I WILL let the horse know in no uncertain terms that it made a huge mistake by aggressing me. !!! When one hits or strikes it does nothing except set up defensive behavior which, in a horse, means more aggressive behavior. When a horse is thinking about being defensive it cannot think about anything else. But, when we make the horse move its feet, it not only engages its body into movement, it engages the brain to thinking through the situation. I'd rather have a thinking horse than a defensive, aggressive horse who has switched into flight/fight mode. No, we don't stop and take the horse to the round pen to "join up" ... but I DO get the horse moving with as much pressure as it takes to get the hooves moving with respect AWAY from me. It may mean just a shout and waving of my arms while I'm flying towards the horse or it may mean grabbing a whip with a flag or bag on the end of it (I keep one handy most of the time "just in case") to let the horse know I mean b-u-s-i-n-e-s-s. It moves away from me and my "controlling" its feet, its direction and its speed automatically lets the horse know I'm higher ranking than he/she is. This is a natural behavior of the horse and is readily understood by horses of all ages, all breeds and all disciplines. Just as a note of interest you might like to know that its the horses who are lower ranking in the herds that do the most physical "fighting" for rank -- the higher uppers simply have a presence about them that says, "you *don't* wanna mess with me!" and the others respect that. Lead mares and alpha mares rarely get violent or physical. They may make themselves appear aggressive but its just their "air" about them that commands respect from the other horses. You can be sure if you have a horse that is constantly pushing your buttons that in a natural herd, that horse would most likely be around the bottom of the hierarchy. If a mare, then you might see her as the "alpha" mare but the lead mares rarely fight.
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