Training Tips

QUESTION: Hi. I have a 17-year-old thoroughbred gelding who is becoming increasingly aggressive. He tries to bite and attack the horse (which is also a gelding) in the pipe corral next to him, until that other horse cowers on the other side. Also he is becoming very aggressive in the community cross ties. He has always had an aggression problem and it has been part of his personality, but now it's getting out of hand and dangerous. Recently when I was unhooking him to take him out of the cross ties, he lunged at the horse next to him and tried to bite her. His ears were pinned back and it took quite a bit of walking to calm him down. I need a way to make him safer in the cross ties and around other horses.

REPLY: Hi. This is a toughy because some of it is happening when the horses are alone in their pipe corrals, and there's not much you can do about that part. I have to say, though, that I'm not a big proponent of stalling or small-corralling horses, as that's a very unnatural way to keep a horse, pasturing always being the ideal and what nature intended. And especially in the case of thoroughbreds who are high-energy horses, keeping them too confined turns them neurotic and often aggressive/defensive. And when kept alone too much like that, they become non-socialized, meaning, they forget how to properly socialize with other horses. Read this link on my site to understand a little more about stalling or confining horses: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrainingTips54.html (by the way, the folks who wrote me that particular problem letter immediately followed my advice and instantly they had no further problems there, they wrote back to tell me. Fixed itself overnight when they followed my instructions there.)

Try pasturing your horse 24/7 with other horses and I think you will see a change in his overall demeanor and behavior after a time, after he's past the adjustment period. I have yet to find a thoroughbred, in particular, who does well being too confined as their "housing." They do much, much better being pastured in more wide open spaces, plenty of room. They need that acreage room to move around, socialize freely within a herd, and burn off their excess energy. The rule of thumb for natural horsekeeping: each horse should have about an acre. Anything less is just not the ideal and is when problems come that are manmade problems.

Now, that said, you still have a disciplinary problem when he acts up like that with other horses when you are around, and when you can do something about it. I would suggest this: first...do this exercise to plant this cue in his foundation: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/TrainingTips31.html

Next time he acts up, showing aggression toward another horse in your presence, instantly take the lead rope (I recommend working only in a natural horsemanship halter with 12' lead rope tied to the halter, not clipped on), jerk it assertively downward as you walk into your horse, making a loud "shhhh" sound and back him up assertively, many, many steps. Be strong, insistent, quite assertive there. I had you plant that back up cue above first so that it will make this now easier for you to facilitate the back up and have far better control of your horse on the ground. Horses don't like to back up all that much and they really don't like to be backed up fast and for a lot of steps. So you're having him do something that is uncomfortable for him when he shows that negative behavior. Do that to reassert your lead mare status at those aggressive times as you show him his behavior is unacceptable to you, the lead mare, and he'll stop in his tracks and think twice about ever going there again. If it's happening in the cross ties, try to set him up to do it, but when he's not actually hooked up there, so that you are afforded the opportunity to move his feet back fast, assertively, jerking the lead repeatedly and walking into him while "shhhhing" him loudly (that's a very effective sound we've found, that translates to "stop it" in horse's brains). Do this consistently every time he shows that behavior and he will stop. Don't hesitate to set him up to do it either so that it affords you the opportunity to school him there. Never avoid a problem like that, tip-toeing around it. Do the opposite and set him up to flush it out but be ready for your disciplinary steps there like I described and it will stop being appealing to him to "go there."

Make the right thing easy, the wrong thing hard. Move his feet at those times, but move them BACKWARDS and fast and move them far. Make a big deal of it, faux-exaggeratingly so that he gets the message this is unacceptable behavior in "our herd" and he will stop it. Maybe get a good enough friend to volunteer her horse as the guinea pig, her just holding her horse on lead rope, and set your horse up to flush out the behavior and school him as I've shown.

But do think about perhaps letting your horse live outdoors in a pasture with other horses, lots of room 24/7 and I think this will help his overall disposition for the long run.