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Discussion on IMPATIENT PAWING..
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Member:
dres
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Posted on Saturday, Sep 18, 2010 - 6:16 pm:
All righty, Dr. O and others.. I have a immature 4 year old gelding that HATES to stand still , he will paw thru to China , he has pawed thru my mats in the horse trailer ..
Question; do you think if i tied him to a tree or other safe place for a very long time, he will tire of pawing? Will this break the habit? OR will it make the behavior worse...
This gelding is a challenge to say the least, his evasions are so different then any of the other young horses i have brought up .. BUT then again , this one is the one that i pan fed for almost 3 months as his swallow was slightly paralyzed at birth .. so a orphan like foal only with mom at his side.. * he was muzzled..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them spots..
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Sep 18, 2010 - 10:53 pm:
Ann do you have yourself a Hank horse (the master of evasion) . That's what we all caled him as a 3-7 year old.
He had a terrible pawing habit, he WOULD dig to china when tied given the opportunity..really
The Parelli guy I took him to tied him up to a sturdy hitchin post and let him have at it...for 2 days . The first day he had to get the bobcat out and fill in the paw hole..not kidding! By the end of the second day he was cured. He still will paw on a very rare occasion, but nothing like he used to and not with much enthusiasm....that's what worked for my "master of evasion" I tried everything else.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Sep 18, 2010 - 11:59 pm:
My sister-in-law's horse had a terrible pawing habit, but in her case it was a bid for attention; and, as with a spoiled child, negative attention was better than no attention. She was totally ignored every time she pawed, and eventually she quit. I know a lot of trainers that do tie to what they call a "patience pole." Like you say, a safe place for a horse to stand tied for a long time. Lou uses a wall built of rail-road ties with mats over ties on the floor. He also always has someone watching nearby that can untie immediately. The lead is run through a tie ring and then behind the wall where one quick tug releases it. (hard to explain without seeing it.) I've seen others that were made from a telephone pole set in the ground with deep sand for footing, and set where the horse can go all around the pole if he wants to, can rear, fall down, etc. but stands little chance of hurting himself. It seems to work. For some reason I've never had the pawing problem - although I have other habits to contend with.
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Member:
dres
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Posted on Sunday, Sep 19, 2010 - 8:10 pm:
Could not find a perfect patience tree for Tom, so put him in the trailer first to have lunch * he gets in but is not comfortable at all * and i sat on the wheel cover out the side and when he pawed i would slap his knee with a whip .. 40 mins there.. Then gave him a short work out and put him in the cross ties with what i call kicking chains on his fetlocks.. its a leather hobble but not connected with heavy metal dangling down so when he paws it hits his hoof wall and fetlock.. I sat a ways away and read a book .. After about 40 mins he started to lick and chew a bit .. but really never relaxed like the other horses do .. He is a funny boy ..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Sunday, Sep 19, 2010 - 10:26 pm:
Ann, slapping him with a crop is attention! You are giving him what he wants.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Sep 19, 2010 - 10:31 pm:
Hello Ann,
There are many ways to approach this Ann and the more positive (reinforce the desired behavior) you can be the better and faster this will go. you just have to be creative.
Of the two methods discussed above I much prefer the tied till he stops pawing rover the whip. A horse that you repeatedly wack is not going to like you for very long. But short tying a horse is very effective for a number of vices if you have a safe place to do it and the patience to wait it out. However it is not just the tie that is important it is the release. You reward the horse by letting him loose once you have the behavior you want.
DrO
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Monday, Sep 20, 2010 - 8:23 am:
Ann,
I don't remember what show it was on RFDTV, but a horse had a pawing issue. One of the old time trainers tied him to a trailer, sat down on a bucket or something, and had a supply of small pebbles in his hand and nearby. He would toss a small stone every time the horse pawed. Some hit the horse on the rump, some missed, it was no big deal. Simply that when the horse pawed, things rained down from the heavens!
It was NOT throwing the stones to hurt the horse, just something to irritate him. The horse didn't really connect the stones to the man sitting there. Very low key, and very effective!
It might take awhile, but then we know with horses we have to do things on their time or it back fires. So pour yourself a drink of something, get comfortable, and good luck!
I have heard of having a shock collar put on the horse too...but my guess is that would not be a very nice experience for the horse and plus once the collar is off you might be back to square one.
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Member:
mysi
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Posted on Tuesday, Sep 21, 2010 - 9:29 pm:
Ann,
I have a pony with a terrible pawing problem. She's always had it ever since I bought her. It was always when she wanted something, food, attention, to go in, out...it didn't matter. She was the worst when in her stall. I tried everything, tying up, the clicker, smacking her with the crop...but smacking her stall door with the crop worked the best for me. Now...she stopped the digging kind of pawing, but she was smart, she knew if she did it with out making noise I wouldn't know. So she then began "air pawing",lol...like I couldn't see her bobbing around in there, little bugger! She stops now with a simple "no ma'am" for a while anyway. (minus her stall rest for an injury...you couldn't stop the pawing at all).
I hope you find a way to stop this while he's young, she was 12 when I got her with the habit and 21 now...I don't think she'll ever give up the crutch completely.
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