SOOO Mad at my pony!!!?!?

Question

Okay well my pony is out of work for a couple weeks because he is lame we think it is in his buma nd he pulled his groin or something like thata. Well I went out to his field the one day to give him treat sand say I love you and cya tomorrow so i go out there and he came trotting up to me and nickered an dthen he was standing there and i was rubbing him then he bit me and then i smacked him on the shoulder and he put his ears back lunged at me with teeth bared then turned his but to me. I didnt want to take a chane because there were 14 other horses in the pasture and i didnt have a halter or anything on him. SO i took the rest of the treats and threw them at him. And then smack him sven harder then i left. So what should I do about this? because I have been gettiung complaints that he has tried biting others when they go to get their horses. have tried the "NO TREATS WHAT SO EVER IN THE FIELD" but that didnt work an dthen i did no treats ever and that didnt work.

Answer 1

ok dont hit him anymore. he might just be sore. Everytime he bites you just push his neck away.

And hand feeding doesnt teach him to bite, i hand feed my horse all the time and she doesnt bite so dont listen to that. its just a bad habbit he picked up.

I wouldnt give him treats in the feild anymore at all. Just when he is on the lead.

At least for a while until he behaves.

Hitting him hard wont help at all. just push him away and ignore him.

and make sure that he is healthy cause this could be some small medical issures.

or he just doesnt want to be messed with.

Take time to just brush him, and give him love.

He will stop biting as soon as you too have a good reletionship.

Answer 2

How about you stop hitting him and maybe he'll like you.

Would you like someone if they smacked you all the time?

Doooont think so.

Answer 3

stop hitting your horse. that just gets him more mad and makes him want to get you back more. they are like little kids. you hurt them so they hurt you. but you have to be the bigger person by stop hurting them. the field is also not a very good place to be socializing with the horse. exspecially when there are many other horses in the field at the same time. try giving him treats when he is alone. like in his stall or in the cross ties. dont let this nasty behaivor get you down. he still loves you. you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. try seperating him from the herd when you praise him. take him into the barn and put him in the cross ties. im sure he will act much better then :)

Answer 4

Oh, the little stinker! ;-)

Try not to get angry at your pony.  Believe it or not, he isn't purposefully trying to be mean to you.  He's just following the code of horse behavior, he does not respect you so he is treating you like a lower member of the heard.  In his mind, those treats belong to him because he's the boss of you.

Also take into account that he is laid up and possibly in pain, which can make anybody crabby.

Here's what I suggest:

1. No more treats.  He doesn't deserve them, and they are not helping matters.

2. No more hitting.  It's really hard for you to hurt him and really easy for him to hurt you, so why go there?

3. The next time you retrieve your pony from the pasture put a halter and lead rope on him and control is head so he won't bite.

4. Talk to a horse-experienced grown up about his behavior issues and see if they can't give you a hand.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Is it possible he's grumpy because he hurts? You said he's lame right now.    You said he bit when you were rubbing him...maybe you hit a sore spot or jostled his achey back?

Answer 6

I'm sorry, but I couldn't keep from laughing as I read this - but it's a good thing you didn't get kicked.  You should not handfeed treats to this little horse any more.  Sorry.  And if you go into the field without any gifts in hand for him, he may try to bite and kick you again.  He's a bit spoiled, I'm afraid.  Don't let anyone else hand feed him treats anymore either.  As a matter of fact, I'd cut the snacks altogether.   He'll be a nicer pony, in the long run.  Giving treats does not foster his love for you - he just sees you as a little vending machine with legs, and when you don't dispense treats, he throws a temper tantrum, much like some guy kicking the vending machine for eating his dollar and not giving him his candy bar.

Answer 7

Here is a great article. I used it when my horse aggressively bit at me one day. Did what she said and he has not tried again since and we are great friends. Good luck!

http://www.infohorse.com/hilton.asp

Also, stop hand feeding him. It can make a horse mouthy. if you want to give him treats, put them in a bucket or even on the ground in his pasture, but do not feed him from your hand.

Answer 8

i agree with the other posters.

no more treats, by hand, ever.  as soon as you start giving them to him again, it will make him get pushy, and mouthy. in the feed bucket or on the ground only.

do not attempt to disclipline your horse ever without having a halter and LEAD on him.  grabbing him by the mane or halter is a good way to loose your balance and fall underneath him when he spins to kick you.  you can also get your fingers caught up in the halter and break / sever you fingers or break an arm.

dont mess with him anymore without a lead a nd halter on.  if he trys to lunge and bite you, yank really good and hard on the lead shank and say quit it (no sounds like whoa to them).

if he does it again, repeat yanking him good and hard and back his little butt up ...back, back back and back some more fast .  this will teach him to respect your space.  i would avoid picking a fight with him, or lunging him til he is exhausted because it is pretty likely that of you do that you will not be able to catch him anymore.  besides that he wont even know why you are being so mean and working the dickens out him.  they are not that smart.  you have 30 seconds to reprimand a misbehaivior.  after that the window of opportunity is closed, and he will have no idea what it is that your ticked off about.  dont be mad at him, when you go see him tomorrwo.  he wont understand why.  good luck:)

Answer 9

Ponies are known to be very tempermental. I would take him and cross ty him and brush him. If he shakes, twiches, pins his ears, stomps his feet, or bares his teeth more than once he may have a slight injury that is irritating him. Try not to hit him, only in self defense. If he bites push his head away and walk away, when he behaves well give him a treat and pat him and talk to him happily. It sounds like he has an injury, if he didn't like you he wouldn't trot up unless u give him too many treats. Don't give him treats in the field only after rides or if your training him. Good luck.

Answer 10

First I would put the red ribbon on.  Regardless of being against violence I think there is a time for putting the law down with one or two WELL TIME taps on the muzzle. I wouldn't have thrown the treats at him or hit him after though. If you have a small yard I'd do a bit of Parelli work with him. Getting him to respect you. Once he behaves well for you both in and out of the paddock I'd get a few strangers to do it too, like family.

Answer 11

i think all the other posters have covered it well but theres one other thing i thought of in case the other suggestions didn't work. you said you were rubbing him when he bit you. we spend a lot of time scratching our horses kind of how they would groom each other. sometimes they're enjoying it so much that they'll turn around and try to groom me in return. most of the time they get caught up in the moment and when they realize what they've done they freak out. it sounded to me like your horse was friendly then got upset when you disciplined him. maybe he didn't bite you out of aggressivness but to groom you. its just a thought and its probably far fetched but watch his demeanor next time you go out there. other than that, definately stop feeding treats by hand. he was probably just looking for treats and got mad when he didn't find any. it may take him a while to figure out that youre not a human vending machine but eventually he'll get the idea. good luck

Answer 12

dude! pop the **** out of him if he turns his but to you move to his side and pop him agian and yell no! grab his mane so that he can't turn his back to you or his head. and teach him every time he trys to bite you or anyone els that he's gonna get it. use loud and warning tones so he knows whats comeing to him horses react on the tones of your voice.