Horse Problem!!!?

Question

I have an 8 year old ottb mare. she is a pretty nice girl a little moody though. when u mount her she kicks her right back leg out 3 times and then shes fine. the kicking is kind of scary though. how do we get her to stop/ why does sh do it? shes had a full body vet check blood work and xrays and nothing can be found prblematic!?!?!??!?!

Answer 1

she might be a bit cinchy/ girthy. tulsa is that way too and my trainer just slaps her whenever she does that, and now she doesn't do it anymore. horses gt the idea pretty quickly.

follow jeff's idea too. there's this name for the thing i'm about to describe to you, i just can't remember it at the moment. there was an article in the AQHA mag this month. anyways, it's a strap that goes around the pastern with a 12 inch chain attached. when the horse paws or kicks, the chain will slap their leg, making it uncomfortable for them to kick or paw. the horse just trained itself to stop! how about that? when you are ready to ride, have someone take it off.

Answer 2

I don't think it is anything more than a protest...nothing dangerous...just a little tantrum that she's gotten into the habit of doing.  If a reprimand like "quit!" isn't enough, then use some of the ideas from other answerers to get her to stop.  Some horses will stop if you squirt the leg with cold water when they do it, but you need a kid's high power squirt gun to get a powerful enough stream of water for it to even be felt.

Answer 3

This sounds like a habit she picked up somewhere.  Otherwise it would not be just three times.  It would be depending on how much the problem bothered her that day or continuous (most likely) during the ride.  

For this I would bend a 000 horseshoe so that it slips on above the hoof if you slide it on from the side.  You will probably have to close it up a little to get it to do this is all.  Then rotate it so that the open end is toward the back.  This way it can not come off until rotated to the side again.  Do this a little before mounting.  Walk her around until she is used to it.  Then mount.  When she kicks the horseshoe will slap her fetlock area.  She will then no longer like the little adrenaline rush given by kicking (why such habits develop).  It really does not hurt (unless they are kicking in earnest to hurt something or someone) but the bump when they do not expect it is not liked.  Never the less I would not ride her with them on.  I do not want her to freak out.

I would then get back off and on until she stops the kicking.  Then take them off, get on and ride.

This same technique can also be used if your horse is a kicker in the field.  Just turn them out with these on.

Answer 4

Some of the horses that I ride do that too. You might want to just rub your hands on her back without a saddle && see if she has any reaction to the weight. Also, when you get on make sure you use a mounting block or something to decrease the amount of pressure you're putting on her back. And as stupid as this may sound, get a little three-pronged human back massager. Just use it on her back for about 5 minutes before/after you ride. You can get them for like 3 bucks. Good luck && hope I helped! :))

Answer 5

Sounds like a bad habit because of her former life.  You should not allow this as it is dangerous.  When she kicks, put her to work, ask her to move her feet - release her hindquarters - face you - several times.  Stay calm and don't make it a big deal.  Attempt to mount again.  I would not mount until she stopped the behavior because she will not learn unless she is rewarded with release at the proper time.  You should be able to resolve this pretty quickly.  It may take several mounting sessions but she can learn that this is not the correct response.  Be safe.