From: Mary Lou Steines
Hi!
I just recently found the horse-sense page and have found some very interesting information already.
First let me say that I am a first time horse owener and really know very little about training except what I have read. I have purchased a 6 mo weanling filly from a neighbor. I have handled her since she was born. ( groomed, halter on/off, fly spray, picking up feet etc) I have not had a lot of opportunity to lead her as she and her mother were put out to pasture with several other mares and colts shortly after birth. Her mother was very protective.
The problem I am having is this. The few times she was led, she would attempt to rear. The neighbor I bought her from said that this was just because she was a baby and had not been led enough. He also said I should pull her over backwards when she reared and that would discourage her. She has gone over backwards several times, but not because I have intentionally pulled her over. However, now that she is weaned I have led her several times and she seems to be getting worse, not better. So far she just goes up, and does not attempt to strike. The last two times I led her she did not go up, but only because as soon as I sensed her tensing and shifting her weight I turned her and circled. Is this appropriate? Also, from some of my reading I have been given to understand that striking her on the chest with a crop when she goes up might be a way to discourage her.
She is not mean. Up until recently she would come right up to me from across the pasture and whinny when she heard my voice. However, since she was weaned she is kept in her stall and only put out in a pen when weather is good. I should mention that I am not her main care giver at this time. The neighbor (whose barn she is in) feeds and gives daily care. I do try to spend 1/2 to 1 hour a day with her, however do not know what happens when I am not there. She does seem to be somewhat head shy now, whereas she was not before.
I will be moving her to my daughters barn (she also has purchased a weanling from same barn) in 3-4 weeks. Do you have any suggestions for me? I would appreciate any help you can give. Sorry this is so long.
The first thing I'll tell you is that you need help. But you need GOOD help from a sensible person who understands horses! You don't need the kind of advice you've been getting from the people you mention. What they're telling you to do is wrong, and dangerous.
Before I address the specific problem of rearing, let's talk about horse management for a minute. This filly needs to be OUTDOORS in a field, not in a stall. Keeping a weanling in a stall is a lose-lose proposition.
In the short run, she will be unmanageable -- as you are finding out. She isn't a bad or mean filly -- you are right about that -- but she is a normal baby horse, and she needs to be out with other horses, exercising freely, around the clock, in a big field, and she needs to be there for the next year or so. Right now, she is going crazy from isolation and confinement and lack of exercise. Punishment is not appropriate -- she's unhappy, she's being set up to behave badly, and it would be quite unfair to punish her.
In the long term, you won't have a good horse if she is kept like this. Nothing you do with her later will compensate for the physical and mental development that she needs NOW, in her first year -- and she can't develop normally in a stall. In neuromuscular terms and in psychological terms, it just won't work. If you want an athletic horse with a good mind, or even a sound horse without a damaged mind, TURN HER OUT. A field to run in, a shelter against snow and rain, and the company of other horses is what she needs, now and for the next year or more. She has to learn to be a horse.
There's almost no sense in trying to teach her anything until her life is more normal; she simply won't have the balance or the attention span to do what you want her to do. After a few weeks out with other horses, you'll be able to start bringing her in for fifteen or twenty minutes each day -- or working with her in the field for the same amount of time -- and teaching her small lessons. In these lessons, there is no place for punishment unless she either nips or kicks, in which case a smart slap to the shoulder and a shouted "NO!" will suffice. With those particular behaviours, there is only ONE thing you want her to learn: NEVER do them. But the rearing is another story -- you don't want her just not to rear, you want her to come along with you nicely at a walk or trot. Striking her with a crop won't teach her anything useful at this point -- it won't discourage her from rearing, but it WILL discourage her from moving forward (which you don't want). And it will teach her that you are someone who hits for no apparent reason, which is something else you don't want her to learn.
Your instinct is very good -- taking her a little bit sideways and forward is exactly what you SHOULD do, and you should do it as soon as she hesitates, so that you correct the rear before it occurs. You're 100% right on what you've been doing! Don't listen to anyone who says that you should beat her, trip her, or pull her over -- these are not training methods, these are just ways to cause permanent damage to your filly. Keep doing what you are doing, and remember that your filly is under stress, and reacting accordingly. You wouldn't take an active, energetic kindergarten child, lock it in a closet all day, and then expect it to be calm and mannerly when you take it out for half an hour... and yet this is what we do to foals when we try to raise them in stalls. It's no wonder they explode when we finally take them out -- they're desperate to move, run, and play! Rearing is part of foal play -- it's not something you can allow her to do with you, but you should be aware that it's part of her normal behaviour as a baby.
I think that you may already have the solution to your problem -- the move to another barn. If your daughter can keep the two weanlings together in a field, preferably with other horses, or at least a "babysitter" mare or gelding, they will have a chance to grow up more normally.
Talk to your veterinarian about horse management, and about making your daughter's field (or fields) safe for babies -- you may need to modify the fences or the gates, but it will be worth the effort. If it can't be made safe, you may both need to send the foals to grow up somewhere else where they CAN be outdoors and safe. Talk to your veterinarian about what happens when babies are raised in stalls.... I'm sure he'll have some stories to tell you! There has to be some way to bring those babies up normally -- even if you see your foals once a week instead of once a day, they'll do better in the short AND in the long term.
In the meantime, it would be a good idea for you to wear your safety helmet when you handle your filly. She doesn't want to hurt you, or anyone, but accidents can happen, especially under the current circumstances. Everything will be MUCH better when she's outdoors with a buddy or two.
Good luck!
Jessica
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