horse behavier

Question
hi i have a 7 month old section d filly i bought her 3 month ago.ican do most things to her pick  her feet up i can tie her and groom her.ican put a rug on and off no problem she comes in and out of her stable she is easy to catch.but when i give her, her feed i cant get near her she turns her behind towards me and warns me with her hind feet what can i do .i do try to clean her stable when she is eating and i have left her alone.she is not aggressive when eating grass only when she gets her feed in bucket.also when she sees me coming with it when she near me i have to give it to her there and then now i try to give it to her in her stable am i doing something wrong yours sincerely Sharon.

Answer
Sharon,

The only thing you are doing wrong is letting her run the show.  She's a baby and turning into something of a bully.  You need to stand up to her and let her know in no uncertain terms that she has to respect you; you are giving her food and she is not allowed to behave this way.  I would take a dressage whip with me and if she starts getting nasty when I am taking the food out rap her smartly in the chest with it.  Make her back off.  Yell at her, get authoritative!  She knows how to read body language and you have to use that to let her know you mean business.  Scare her a little.  Same thing when she's eating.  Do not accept her threatening you.  Use the whip and smack her again with it.  Yell at her, let her know you are not going to let her be that disrespectful.  You are cleaning her room!   

It might take a couple of lessons to get your point across.  Just be consistent and vigilant to correct her whenever she disses you.  This will be important throughout your relationship with her.  You have a filly, my guess is her mom was an alpha mare and you need her respect.  Otherwise you could get hurt.  And she could become very difficult to work around.  

Youngsters need you to establish limits and rules of behavior for them.  She's at a good age so it shouldn't be a problem.  She's behaving like a dog with a food dish right now, which is kind of unusual in horses.  The only ones that are usually bad about it are ones that have been in an undisciplined group feeding situation where they have to defend their food from other horses.  She does not need to do that now and it is essential that her behavior cease.  

Good luck.  She won't hate you for disciplining her,

Lyn