Dealing with difficult horses

Horses, man they are magnificent animals and need to be treated with magnificent care and understanding. If you have a problem horse in your pasture and do not know what to do, the first thing you should do is watch him or her. How does the horse react to others in the herd? If you have no herd or no other companion out in the pasture with the horse see how the horse reacts to you.

If the horse is in a big pasture it will be so much harder for you to watch a reaction to you or another companion. First bring the horse to a smaller area, it doesn't have to be a round pen. Once in a smaller area, approach the horse with your hands at your side and nothing in them. Move slowly towards them, about the pace you can walk with a 2 year old child. If the horse moves at all stop. Observe what the horse just did. Did the horse just bolt away? Well if the horse bolted, it has either no respect for you and while bolting will lift its tail, and or kick up friskily. If the horse just runs away then it most likely is scared of your presence.

You need to think of the horse as being in a bubble that it does not want popped. If you get close to the edge of that bubble you start actually pushing on the horse without knowing you are. Remember how close you got to the horse before it moved. Now try again, this time when approaching the horses bubble try to stop before the horse moves its feet. Watch the horse he or she will tell you a lot. As you are approaching the horse will look in a direction away from you, the horse is thinking of going that way. The horse may just twitch its ears or tail, it is thinking of moving when they do this.

If you can get to the edge of the bubble and get the horse to not move away, stop and watch, is the horse chewing? If so the horse is thinking, yes it sounds weird but the horse has a habit of chewing when it is thinking. Stay still, the horse may look to run but won't go if you do not pressure it to leave. It is in an instinctive mode and wants to evaluate you and the trust or fear it has towards you.

Do not move closer till the horse is looking at you and has stopped looking to other directions. The horse may go to grazing, if it does it has trust in you, take a step. This process can take a lot of time, so be patient. Once you get within a close distance (about 10 or 15 feet) the horse may start to approach you. This is giving you trust so stand tall and keep your chest puffed up. You need to show the horse that you are the alpha or boss. If the horse comes all the way to you do not pet or rub on him or her. Walk away from the horse to the left or right at a 90 degree from it. The horse should follow if you have proved to the horse that you are the alpha. Only walk a few steps though, the horse will not follow for long so keep the interest in you and stop. You now may pet or rub on the horse for a few seconds.

If the horse does not approach you or starts to looking for a place to get away step back a step or two. The horse will feel the relief off of the bubble. Sometimes I will flat turn 180 degrees and walk about 5 or 6 steps away. Repeat the process till you can get right up to the horse. Now that you are there try the walking at a 90 degree like if the horse came to you. Later I will write more about this process but doing this takes some practice so go and start practicing.

Also remember a horse can feel if you are scared or nervous or angry so stay calm and the horse will stay the same.

by Justin Faraoni