Advice wanted on bolshy old man!

[suziblue]

Hi ther-am new to forum and wonder if someone could give me some advice. Ive just got a 19 year old hanovarian gelding who is a bit "riggy". He was gelded at 7 and has not been handled/ridden much in the last 18 months. He is a dream to ride, but his stavle manners are atrocious. It is a fight to tack him up, groom him,etc. He gets really excited and tries to spin round, pull back from his headcollar and is generally a prat! The lady who had him for the last eight years says that this is a relatively new thing (coinciding with his lack of work.)I think that he has been allowed to get away with this and is now pushing his luck! I dont want to get into a battle with him as hes a big boy, but he has to realise that this is not acceptable. I know hes never going to be particularly easy in the yard, but advice would be gratefully received. thanks

[CityLights]

there is no reason why he shouldnt be well behaved in the yard my horse is very big and a little riggy and i think probably was gelded later on but he is a dream to handle, once you get the headcollar on he is great

spend alot of time on the ground with him moving him around getting him to back up out of your space move away from you and stand still when you want him to, remain calm with it and then it shouldnt be a big deal and keep him calm but under control

if he moves around when hes not meant to back him up or move him put him back where you want him and just carry on with what you were doing make where you want him to be a nice place and dont faff with him and where he isnt meant to be hardwork by moving him around

most importantly if he is hardwork to tack up and tall get it so that he gives to you touching behind his ears and puts his head down, so that you can get his bridle on easily

[Mobell]

We have a gelding who is very similar. He's taken us the last 18 months we have owned him to sort out. As S&W has said you have to establish yourself as the leader in the ways she has suggested. You could also do some inhand bridlework with him getting him to work on a circle with you creating the bend on the left rein with his right rein over his wither down on his flank holding it with your right hand. Using the left rein in your left to slow the speed down and vice versa. When he picks the outside foreleg up use your righthand index finger bent to nudge on his flank. If he refuses to walk on when you ask use a schooling whip to tap him with. This replicates you riding him on a circle from the ground reinforcing the on the ground control of him and his feet. You can do lots of exercises like this initially he will either not walk or rush it. We couldn't lead ours without a bridle he tanked off and he wouldn't stand still. He know leads in a halter and stands quietly whilst being seen by the farrier or tacked up. With some horses it takes time to create a bond, trust and leadership others will always challenge the leadership.

[Lorraine]

Sounds like he needs to learn some patience - one thing that you could try (provided he's not so bad that he would injure himself) is to tie him up in a stable and ignore him until he stands still, once he's stood still go to groom him and every time he's a prat walk away until he's settled again, then don't tack him up until he's stood still, once he's tacked up keep him tied up until he's settled before you take him out to ride him. If he breaks free from the tie he is confined to the stable, and you can just tie him back up again.

Often the tendency is to get it all over and done with as quickly as possible when they are a prat just to get past it, but all this teaches them is the more they are a prat the faster they get to do the fun things like being ridden. Teach him that being a prat just delays things and gets him nowhere. It can take an awful lot of patience for the first time (so make sure you have a coffee and a biscuit handy whilst you wait for him to settle) but they soon get the idea.

[suziblue]

Thanks for your advice above. We were making progress until the weekend there. The yard was busy and he was a nightmare! He broke free and galloped into his field where he decided to perform a rodeo before refusing to be caught. His last qwner said that he gets really stressed when the yard is busy,and that its better to tack him up in his field. While I agree he does get stressed(its not just naughtiness, you can see hes panicking) i think he has to learn that he cant get away with this behaviour. I eventually caught him, got his bridle on and lunged him, then stood beside his stable in the yard till he had cooled down then fed him. Hes not a nasty boy, just bolshy. any ideas?? :confused: