agression /occasionily

2012paddy2012

Irish sports horse /gelding. 11 /12 years old. good health, ridden a few times a week. vet checked not that long ago..no issues. owned 3 years.

on occasions for apparently no particular reason this horse which is for the majority of the time of good temperament , gets somewhat angry.

This shows itself by:
he tries to bite , makes poor attempts at kicking. Refuses to be tacked.
For example today as we lead him from a field , we had a lead rope/head collar on him , he just stopped , and looked stubborn , to the point where you would have to let him go ,before something happened, he runs off.

I was holding him he took off dragging me along...!

He tried to buck young lad off, when being ridden...plunges and takes off...

Spoke to livery yard owner who tells me that others at the yard had mentioned this aggression to her last week , also.

Plan is she said keep him in for a week and watch him. He will be ridden this week subject to his behaviour. I don't want him hurt or hurting anyone else.

My plan...see what owner of yard thinks after a week (very experienced).

arrange for vet to give him once over to ensure its not medical issue.

any advice appreciated. to say 70/80% of the time he is fine......

Thks Paddy

TheFarrier

Sounds to me like the horse reckons he has the upper hand. Like someone has been letting him get away with the odd nip here and there and he thinks he won't be reprimanded for it now.

Or else he's after copping on that his bad behaviour leads to him not being ridden. Like he knows if I try and buck this lad off I might get a few days off out of it.

In my opinion keeping him in won't help, I've never seen a horse to get quieter through confinement, most of the time they tend to get sour and bad tempered if they're locked up, and settle down a bit with turnout/excercise.

2012paddy2012

TheFarrier wrote: »

Sounds to me like the horse reckons he has the upper hand. Like someone has been letting him get away with the odd nip here and there and he thinks he won't be reprimanded for it now.

Or else he's after copping on that his bad behaviour leads to him not being ridden. Like he knows if I try and buck this lad off I might get a few days off out of it.

In my opinion keeping him in won't help, I've never seen a horse to get quieter through confinement, most of the time they tend to get sour and bad tempered if they're locked up, and settle down a bit with turnout/excercise.

I think your right. When I mentioned it to the owner she said well he wouldn't dare do that to me .. I started thinking along those lines. I got a fright as well I fell trying to hold him! He dragged me a few feet.... problem is how to get young lad to be more assertive I. Suppose ....we were away for few days . No riding...

2012paddy2012

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

I think your right. When I mentioned it to the owner she said well he wouldn't dare do that to me .. I started thinking along those lines. I got a fright as well I fell trying to hold him! He dragged me a few feet.... problem is how to get young lad to be more assertive I. Suppose ....we were away for few days . No riding...

Aside from this I'm told his canter on one side is not correct and is causing problems ..when riding ..is this an easy to remedy issue thks paddy

Ave Sodalis

2012paddy2012 wrote:

Aside from this I'm told his canter on one side is not correct and is causing problems ..when riding ..is this an easy to remedy issue thks paddy

Could be a schooling issue, but coupled with the bad behaviour, I would rule out other options first. You say you have him checked by a vet, but has he seen a dentist? Was the vet aware of the behaviours and one sided canter when assessing him? A physio generally can't work unless under advice from a vet, but I think it would definitely be worth asking your vet about a physio session. Check tack too, be sure it's all fitting properly.

If you can definitely rule out pain, the length of time and ease of schooling him straight is entirely dependent on the horse. Can it be done? Absolutely! It may take a week, a month, or even a year and beyond though, depending on a huge number of factors.

2012paddy2012

sup_dude wrote: »

Could be a schooling issue, but coupled with the bad behaviour, I would rule out other options first. You say you have him checked by a vet, but has he seen a dentist? Was the vet aware of the behaviours and one sided canter when assessing him? A physio generally can't work unless under advice from a vet, but I think it would definitely be worth asking your vet about a physio session. Check tack too, be sure it's all fitting properly.

If you can definitely rule out pain, the length of time and ease of schooling him straight is entirely dependent on the horse. Can it be done? Absolutely! It may take a week, a month, or even a year and beyond though, depending on a huge number of factors.

Thks. He was checked by a dentist. It's a while back tho. He was bareback when he started acting up. He was being brought from the field to the yard.As regards a " schooling issue" that's interesting ..can you expand on that ,please.
Yard is professional run with excellent teachers..whether that is relevant I don't know.
This horse over the last 3 years has a nice temperament but has on occasions become what you could describe as " independent" and decides to do his own thing ...for no identifiable reason. I have little knowledge of horses but if as you say pain etc is not an issue ..I suspect when he is used to do his own thing as he has while kid had been studying...and now holidays are here . It doesn't suit the horse to do a bit of work. So I mentioned it to yard owner who will watch things for the week .camps are on now ...I will get dentist and vet to have a look...and see.
There is a guy around area that fixed the horses issue with heavy machinery ..some time back did a fab job .....young lad wants me to bring horse back to him to " fix canter" can this be done? Thks again paddy

Ah_Yeah

As others have said, could be pain, and a lot of people will tell you get the vet, dentist out etc. Honestly, the quickest way to find out if he is genuinely in pain or just taking the p**s is to get a very experienced rider to get up on him/experienced person to handle him on the ground for a few days, and see if the behaviour stops. If it does, he very likely is just taking the proverbial.

If it doesn't, I would then start with dentist - vet - physio. In that order. Horses are rarely aggressive for no reason. Did you say his saddle fitted OK?

2012paddy2012

Ah_Yeah wrote: »

As others have said, could be pain, and a lot of people will tell you get the vet, dentist out etc. Honestly, the quickest way to find out if he is genuinely in pain or just taking the p**s is to get a very experienced rider to get up on him/experienced person to handle him on the ground for a few days, and see if the behaviour stops. If it does, he very likely is just taking the proverbial.

If it doesn't, I would then start with dentist - vet - physio. In that order. Horses are rarely aggressive for no reason. Did you say his saddle fitted OK?

Excellent advice. It now seems after a few days back at work he is a treasure again!!! I'm delighted for young lad. I think he was just used to do doing his own thing ...it seems all ok at mo .. cheers

Ah_Yeah

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

Excellent advice. It now seems after a few days back at work he is a treasure again!!! I'm delighted for young lad. I think he was just used to do doing his own thing ...it seems all ok at mo .. cheers

Glad to hear it! Spring grass can make them full of beans this time of year, keep an eye on him and it's great you have someone experienced to help you out.

lyoness

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057541967

Same thing happening again? Did you get him checked out the last time ie back, teeth, saddle fit?

2012paddy2012

lyoness wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057541967

Same thing happening again? Did you get him checked out the last time ie back, teeth, saddle fit?

He is grand now back in work last few days. I'm happy it was a "my way or the highhway' attitude due to not been rode. Did get dentist and vet had a quick look over some time back.
Thks.