Training Horse Profile: Flicka #2

Training Goals:

• Picking up feet
• Trailer loading
• More comfortable with regular activities

Meet Flicka!

Flicka must be a popular name for bay mares, as this is the second one I have had for training 😊  This Flicka is approximately 10 years old.  Her owner has had her since she was a year old.  She had been sitting for a few years and developed some behavioral issues that the owner wanted to address.  Most of her behavioral issues stemmed from her resistance to submit to the handler and instead trying to assert her dominance. A video from a particularly challenging day:

Behavioral Issues:

• Invades handler's space
• Often kicks or rears when trying to work with her feet.  Issues with farrier.
• Pulling back when tied.
• Rearing on the lead line. Resists forward pressure.
• Bites when she doesn't want to do something.
• Kicks when you ask her to move her hindquarters away.
• Tries to bite when saddling.  Also may rear, strike, etc.
• Sometimes rears when riding.
• Trailer loading issues

This was a lot of issues to tackle in a relatively short amount of time but she made great progress in a lot of areas.

The owner remarked when he visited her the first time that she seemed like a different horse and "sleepy".  That's exactly what we want to see: a calm and relaxed horse!  We shouldn't have to fear being bitten, kicked, or run over when we turn our backs to the horse.

So, lets tackle some of these behavioral issues and what worked for her:

Invading the Handler's Space

Flicka had a serious problem with invading the handler's space, often dangerously so.  She pushed back if you tried to move her shoulder away and would kick out if you asked her to move her hip away. While leading, she would nip and sometimes would practically run you over.  Teaching her to yield her forehand and hindquarters really helped her to respect my space.  By the end of the 30 days, she was very responsive to cues to yield both her forehand and hindquarters and no longer tried to nip at me.

This is one of the most common problems I see with horses that are well loved by their owners.  We want our horses to be close to us and love on us!  The problem with allowing our horses to invade our space and push us around is that it creates behaviors that can quickly become very dangerous in situations where the horse is stressed or nervous, or gets spooked.  While Flicka really improved in this area, it is something that her owner will have to continue to reinforce to keep her respect.

It took four days to get her to walk across the bridge.

Feet Issues

Her owner was having difficulty picking up her feet without her rearing up or kicking.  Getting her feet trimmed was a huge hassle, sometimes even requiring the use of sedatives to get the job done. She made great strides with standing quietly while her front feet were lifted.  Her hind feet were harder to work with because she sometimes would kick, especially on the right side.  To keep myself safe, I started working with her hind legs using a dummy hand.  Once she was comfortable with that, I used a soft rope around her ankle to ask her to lift her leg while I stood at her shoulder (similar to a Scotch Hobble, but I do not tie the leg up).  This really helped her to get better at lifting the leg without kicking.

Using the Dummy Hand

Pulling Back When Tied/ Halter Pressure Resistance

Flicka has a history of pulling back and breaking halters and lead ropes.  A few times she has hurt herself in the process and, understandably, being tied up produces anxiety in her.  The fact that she pulls back is not super surprising as she is very resistant to halter pressure when leading and too much pressure causes her to back up or rear.  She has not learned to give to the halter pressure.

Old school method of correcting this problem is to tie the horse to something secure and let them tug and fight until they give up.  The idea is that they will eventually learn that they can't get away and the easiest thing to do is to stand there.  While this can work for some horses, but other horses won't give up and the result is an injured (or in worst-case scenario, dead) horse.  The "blocker tie ring" was developed for those exact reasons.  Teaching the horse to come towards the pressure is the first step in solving this issue safely.

While leading, if she backs away from the forward pressure of the halter or rears, I send her out and work her in a circle before applying forward pressure again.  This also works if the horse simply refuses to move.  By applying pressure on their hindquarters, they are unable to remain frozen or move backward and after some repetition, they will start to get the idea of coming forward to release the pressure on the poll.

Over the 30-days, she became less resistant to halter pressure, and her first instinct was no longer to rear or back up most of the time.  Continued practice with slow-release tying (such as using the blocker tie ring) will help her to build confidence about being tied.

Biting

When I first started working with her, I never took my eye off her or turned my back.  She would bite while haltering, leading, picking up feet, saddling, etc.  Biting is one vice I do not tolerate.  The key here is to make an immediate consequence, and then continue on with what you are doing.  A very effective deterrent is an elbow to the nose while she is in the process of trying to bite.  By the third week she rarely tried to bite me anymore.

Ground Driving

Hindquarters

If you asked her to move her hindquarters she would push into you and sometimes try to kick.  To work on this issue, I use the handle end of a lunge whip as an extension of my arm to apply the pressure on the hip.  This gives me a few extra feet and allows me to stay in a safer position.  After she was doing well while using the whip, I could use my hand, and kicking was no longer an issue.

Saddling Issues

I expect horses to stand while they are being saddled, regardless of whether they are tied.  Flicka would stand okay when putting on the pad and saddle, but as soon as you were ready for the girth she would try to run away.  If you stopped her forward movement, she would rear.  Try to grab the girth and watch out for those teeth!  I did an experiment by using a rope around her girth area and applying tightening pressure that way.  Interestingly, she stood still for that and had almost no response to the rope, even though I was cinching it just as tight as the saddle.  So, her reactions really weren't about the cinch, she just didn't want to be saddled.  

To fix this, any time she want to move while I was saddling, I made her work.  Lunge her for a couple of minutes and then try saddling again.  After a couple days of this, she figured it was just easier to stand there and get saddled.  She still would give me "the look" while cinching, but she didn't dare try to bite!

Round Penning- Great Respect Building Exercise

Trailer

When Flicka arrived, she had only been on a trailer twice in her life: once as a baby, and to bring her to me.  I suggested that her owner put her food and water on the trailer, and when she got in to eat, he shut the door and brought her to me.  Feeding on the trailer is one of my favorite ways to get horses comfortable with trailers (read more, here) but once she was here she wouldn't get on the trailer to eat her food.  After a few days, we had to move on to plan B.  First she would lead up the the trailer and stop when she couldn't move forward any further without stepping up.  We built a bridge to simulate the height of stepping into the trailer for her to get comfortable with.  At first, she would just jump OVER the bridge, but after four days of work, she crossed over in any direction without any hesitation.

Back to the trailer, now that we knew she was confident in stepping up, we knew she could do the trailer.  Any further pressure on the halter would cause her to back away, but having a second person behind tapping a whip on the ground was very effective motivation for her to get on the trailer.  As the days went by, she needed less and less motivation from behind to get into the trailer.

At first she had a habit of backing out very quickly and sometimes throwing her head up (hit her head a couple of times).  Repetition helped her to relax about backing up and not rush out.

Trying to entice her with food!

Flicka learned that she could eat if she was in the trailer!

Ways to Show Your Horse Leadership

A large cause of most of her issues is the lack of trust in human leadership.  She wanted to be dominant and a lot of her behaviors were her asserting that dominance.  By regaining personal space for the handler and cultivating respect, a lot of her problems went away.  Ways to regain your horse's respect:

• Maintain your personal space.  YOU move the horse, the horse doesn't move you.
• Teach the horse to yield the forehand, hindquarters, and back up.  The better they are at this, the more respectful they are of your space AND the easier it is to move them out of your space.
• Try round penning.  It is a great way to exercise your horse, teach them to respond to your body language, and reinforce your leadership.  You tell the horse when to switch directions and use your body presence to enforce it.
• Try obstacles! Bridges, tarps, water, jumps, etc. can be a great way to build trust with your horse.  As a bonus, the more your horse is exposed to, the more confident they will be in new situations.