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  Discussion on Age Related Problem Or Something Else?
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Member:
Lhenning

Posted on Thursday, Dec 22, 2005 - 4:34 pm:

I have owned my horse since he was nearly two. I bought him because he was very calm, seemed quiet, and had a generally amiable personality. His early training was slow and consistent, and he responded beautifully. He seemed to like learning and we bonded. I felt very comfortable riding him even though I was not very experienced. He just behaved like a good boy and I rewarded him for it. We progressed very slowly so we both had time to really learn each step before moving on.

Now he is 4 1/2. Suddenly, he has become belligerent, pushy, and just plain sassy. He tries to push into me when I saddle him. He tries to nip my back when I'm picking his feet. One day he bridles great, the next he won't have anything to do with it. He is also spooking more than he used to. As a 2 and 3 year old, he rarely spooked. Last night in the arena, he was terrified of a saddle sitting on it's side with a blanket thrown over it, which he's seen many times before. Each situation, I try to respond as a lead mare. I don't let him get away with anything, but it keeps continuing. This has been going on for the past two or three months. Is this related to his age and a natural part of growing up? If so, how long do horses go through this bratty stage? If I continue to stand up to him, will he one day go back to being the quiet, gentle fellow I once knew? Do 4 year-olds normally spook more than at 2 or 3? He is great when I ride him as long as I use lots of walk/ halt transitions in the beginning and slowly work him up to more difficult things. I always lunge him, and it is very effective at bringing his sassy attitude into control. However, I'm becoming frustrated that the behavior continues as if the previous session had never happened. Any thoughts?

Linda
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Dec 23, 2005 - 7:25 am:

Hello Linda,
If you thoroughly search horseadvice you will find this a common complaint with horses 4 to 6 years of age. But does it have to happen or is yours just the usual 2 steps back is hard to tell from here.
  • First you should do a thorough job of ruling out pain related resistance. Particularly painful skin, back, and tack.
  • Second you need to look at the handling or other riding if it is occurring. Is someone doing a bad job handling the horse when you are not around?
  • Lastly consider backing up to the level of training where the horse was happy perhaps there is something physical or mental that this horse is not ready for that is confusing, frustrating, or painful. Then come back slowly.

DrO
Member:
Thomboy

Posted on Friday, Dec 23, 2005 - 10:42 am:

Linda, from my experience, this is just a part of growing up if, as Dr. O. says, pain is not a factor. Just as teenagers go through puberty, horses go through a similar "know it all, rebellion, you're not the boss of me" stage. I call my 4-year-olds my teenagers. I have a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, both daughters, and I see serious similarities in their behavior to my 4-5-year-old horses. I have 1 horse in particular this was very evident with. We foaled her here, raised her, and sent her to the trainer. My son was 8 at the time and started riding her as a 2-year-old. Same story...never spooked, very well behaved, very respectful, excellent kids horse. Then, one day out of the blue (not too long after her 4th birthday) he got on her and she actually bucked!! He used to have a ball on her team penning, but all of sudden she was afraid of the cows. As a child growing up, my grandfather would put the 4-year-old horses out to pasture and not mess with them much until the following year; now I know why!! I have watched many of my horses go through a similar stage, but rest assured, they (just as our teenagers do) grow out of it nicely, and believe it or not, come back as 5-year-olds even better than they were as 3-year-olds. My grandfather's analogy of horse age is below:

Horse - People
Newborn - Newborn
2-year-old - Kindergartener willing to learn but still wants to play now and then.
3-year-old - 7th grader not really wanting to work or learn, but old enough to know they have to as part of their existence.
4-year-old - Teenager!! Enough said!
5-year-old - Early 20's wanting to learn as much as they can and succeed, but still wanting to be a kid every now and then.
8-year-old - Late 20's much more responsible and ready for life. They actually look to you now for guidance.
10-year-old - Actually mature and ready to really work.

There are, of course, exceptions, and I have some of those, but as a general rule, my grandfather's little analogies are pretty fitting in all of my experience. Of course, I guess that could be that I expect them to act that way, so they do. Who knows. What I would give to get inside their head and know what really goes on!!!

If you have teens, just treat this guy like one of your teenagers. If not, borrow a friends for a few days and then you will see the correlation. Believe it or not, this too will pass.

Good Luck,
Melissa
Member:
Lhenning

Posted on Tuesday, Dec 27, 2005 - 9:51 am:

Dr O,
Thanks for your suggestions. I have thought about the pain issue, but he seems to act up one day and not another, so my gut feeling is behavioral. I'll keep it in mind though.

I do think I'll try stepping back in training a bit and see if that might help. I've tried searching on the subject but maybe my criteria was off. I'll give it another shot.

Melissa,
Your Grandfather sounds like a very knowledgeable horseman. You are lucky to have someone like that to learn from. My own children are in their twenties now, but I remember only too well what the teenage years were like. It seems to me it takes patience, remembering to reward the positive even if it seems there is only negative, patience, lots of encouragement, patience, trying to keep the lines of communication open, and lots of patience. They do outgrow it! I think I can adapt these ideas to my horse training as well.

Thanks,
Linda
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