My two year old tries to kick and bite me!!! Help!!?

Question

Please help me ...a year and a half ago i bought an Arab X Cob ( Chestnut) He was already halter broken at 6months and was used to all his feet being picked up and touched .. he would let u do anything to him !! Nothing scares him!.. Anyway wen i bought him he was stable kept so as winter was approching i decided to continue to stable keep him .. Between his ages of 6 months and 10 months he was an absulute ANGEL i couldnt hav wished for any better.. wen he became a yearling i decided to turn him out with other horses in the felid and since he has been practically uncontrolable! By the way he was castrated at 14 months and he is naw a 2 year old.. wen eva i go to lead him he jogs, rears and bites and belive me iv had many youngsters and he is NOT PLAYING. When eva i go into the feild he trots up 2 me swaying his head and then trys to bite me whilst trying to kick me the same time its TERRIFYING! Iv tried disciplin and he just comes back twice as hard !! IM not goin 2 sell him. HELP!

Answer 1

Get him assessed by someone who has lots of experience with young horses and quickly. It is true that they can be really dangerous and could seriously injure/kill you or even someone else trying to catch their horse.

Don't try anything else in the meantime -  you may make him worse. If you must go near him, make sure you are wearing a hat and body protector and take someone with you who is dressed safely too.

Answer 2

He's thinking he can take over you!Well I think you should just get on with it act like there is no panic or pain when he rears up or bites you soon he'll get tired and you'll be able to touch him or lead him without getting bitten!I think you should ask someone to hold him while you do his feet and if he rears up just say to him "it's okay" every time he doesn't give him a polo or a slice of apple/carrot.

Answer 3

He views himself as above you in the pecking order.  He is probaby at the bottom in the rest of the herd so he over compensates when it comes to you.  He needs to learn respect and that within the herd dynamics you are the boss mare.  Carry a whip with you when he turns his rear to you give a good hard whack.  If you don't already have one get a rope halter, one of those with the knots on the nose.  When he acts up while you are leading him give a couple good hard yanks on the lead rope.  Carry a crop with you too.  If he tries to bite you give him a good smack with the crop.  I'm not kidding and this is not being cruel...watch how horses interact within the herd, he is using what he learned from the herd on you and it is time to turn the tables back on him.

Good luck.

Answer 4

It sounds like he may have been proud cut.  This is when either part of the 'bean' (actually it is the epididymus which is attached to the t******e) is left, or more often it is when one of the testicles is left because it had not dropped far enough for the vet to reach (many vets will then just sew them back up).  Occassionally a cryptorchid horse (one with three testicles) will have dropped two and left one up.  Most proud cut horses act EXTREMELY studdish like this.  My advice is get this horse tranqed and examined to find out.  Since he has already learned to charge and has not been disiplined for it to the degree neccessary to stop it (I don't blame you this time since he is simply too dangerous to handle) then he may never be safe.

If the vet check shows he is not proud cut then I would not waste your time with him.  I recommend putting him down.  I already know too many people seriously hurt by studs.  Unfortunately it is not always the owner of these horses that get hurt.  where we ride we go by an arab stud.  He never acted extrememly aggressive but would pace the fence as we went by.  One day though a teenage (I think she was 15) girl was riding by and he went through the fence and bit her in the leg, tearing muscle and laying her thigh open to the bone.  Sad thing is the same man now has two more studs (the original stud was ordered put down) in the same pen and still has them in with the same few strands of barbed wire.  The above is a perfect example of why I say that it is unethical to sell, trade, give away, or even own a dangerous horse.

In case you haven't realized it he has shown that he is quite will to kill you.  Get rid of the horse before he suceeds.

Advice given here on how to handle him will simply get you killed.  This horse has already figured out that he can take you if he wants to so don't try.  That is the best advice anyone can give.  Get rid of the horse!

Answer 5

He is big enough and bad enough to know better.  First of all if he comes at you with his teeth give him a punch on the nose and growl and him.  Also try not to feed him titbits untill the biting issue is solved.

For leading I suggest a control halter which exerts pressure when the horse resists - ie jogging, running off etc, but is then released when the horse conforms.

He may need a chiffney bit - which is an antirearing bit most often used on stallions but also on other animals who much around.  

Wear gloves and a hat when leading him and a short whip that if he tries getting past you you can give him a sharp slap on the chest.

When he tries to bite just thump his nose.  Every time you need to correct him growl at him.  Praise him when he does well though.

It might be as well to have his hormones tested in case he is a rig - ie the gelding did not come right.  This can give rise to stallion behavior.

Just be firm in everything you do.  Do not  put up with nonsense.

Answer 6

It may be how you act when you discipline him. You must show confidence and be the dominate one, but you may be showing anger in your manner and posture after you discipline him. If you do this the horse will assume it is a fight and get aggressive towards you. It will be a fight that you can't win. I had this problem with a yearling colt and I discovered that I was staying mad after I would push him away or do any other form of discipline. If you watch horses interact you will notice that a horse will will show aggression if another horse gets too close. It will pin its ears, shake its head and sometimes kick. The aggression grows until the other horse backs off. When this happens the horse doesn't stay in an aggressive posture. It calmly goes back to what it was doing. You have to be like that. When he charges at you shaking his head, throw your arms up. Make yourself look big and speak loudly. When he stops, lose the aggressive posture. If he bites you, act like you want to kill him for 3 seconds. Then return to calm. If he attempts to bite you again do it again. You will teach him that if he behaves you won't be mad at him. When you get really frustrated with him and feel like hitting him, instead give him a hug. Believe me you will see a change in him. A good tip, I use a lot, from John Lyons.

Rearing is dangerous. You can fix this by lunging him. I stopped my errant stud colt from doing this with a rope halter and chain. I found a safe place where I could tie him. For me it was a large heavy tree branch.  I put the chain over the branch. The branch was strong and big enough that he couldn't break it. It was also far enough from the tree that he couldn't get wrapped around the tree. The chain was long enough that he could hang his head naturally but not long enough for him to get his legs over it. When he would rear or act up, i would put him on the chain. At first he would paw the ground and fight it. When he would stand still and calm, I would take him off. If I took him off and he acted up, back he went. It took me one afternoon to teach him to behave. No pain to him and none to me.

Here he is 3 years later just before I rode him in a parade:

http://spotted.horsecity.com/pages/photo...

Answer 7

Well done for keeping at it. It sounds to me like Parelli is calling!

www.parelli.com

Sounds like he's got a taste of the proper pecking order in horses, and he does NOT see you as the leader.  Have a good look through the parelli website, and watch a few of their programmes on horse and country. It is amazing.

Have you tried Join-Up? Its all about getting respect from the horse in a way they understand.

Google that, or infact see it on Parelli, or google it and get the best technique.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

=]

Answer 8

Everytime he tries to bite/kick you show him that is not ok! Yank down on the leadrope and get mad...show him whos boss! Don't hurt him but just yank down

Answer 9

You need to have a crop and use it on him.  Just swat his shoulder with it.  You can't let him do this to you,  you're gonna get hurt.  Here is an article that shows some ways to get some respect from your horse.  If he is out with the other horse and feels inferior to them and is taking it out on you maybe you can seperate him and work on getting him to see you as the leader.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Four-Ways-to-T...

Answer 10

As others have said, he needs to understand that you are the boss, not him. But you need to tell him using horse language, not human language. For example if you shout at him and take a step backwards, he will see that as retreat (ignoring the shouting and reading the body language).

I would recommend taking him to a confident and experienced professional trainer who can assess the situation and tell you what to do. An hour of their time would be well worth the cost.

Answer 11

There are many things that would help the situation, but your question makes me wonder if you should just hire a trainer to help you, for your own safety.

Some things I would try would be:

--take a crop with you to defend yourself

--use a rope halter and if he attempts to bite, play, etc. while you are leading him, give a sharp jerk downward on the lead rope, which will have more effect with a rope halter than a flat woven nylon one

--put him in a round pen and free-longe him, work him at a fast trot/canter...if he only bucks and kicks the air, fine, keep him moving....if he comes at you, get really aggressive right back in his face--DON'T GIVE GROUND!!!--wave your arms at him and smack him hard with the longe whip...he has learned that he scares you, and is having a great time showing his aggression....reverse that situation any time he acts up.  

You said you've tried discipline, but there's a lot to knowing when and how to act with a horse like this.  Timing is EVERYTHING, and that's why I think you may need help.  You have to smack him immediately as his bad action is still happening.  If you wait two seconds later, it doesn't have the same effect.  Also, you may be "afraid" of hurting him...a lot of people today won't smack their horse or use a whip at all.  A whip is simply an extension of your arm, and unless you are extremely strong, a good hard smack with it will just give the horse a sting, which is exactly what he needs--it won't injure him at all.  

He needs to re-evaluate who you are.  Right now he has you figured as his toy and personal slave....not a good viewpoint.  You may be afraid that he won't like you if you smack him or jerk his lead rope when he is misbehaving.  Actually the opposite is true.  If you get his attention and make him obey you, he will show a lot more respect and attention and affection to you.  You've got to get control of him, and ANYTIME he acts up, put some consequences on him that he really doesn't like.  That's the only way to stop this type of behavior.

Again, for your own safety, hire a GOOD trainer....ask a lot of questions, get some help on how to handle this colt before you get hurt.