our new weanling

Question

Ollie   QUESTION: Hi there,
I recently purchased a 6 month old Belgian colt to break as a saddle mount.  I have experience with horses and ride well, but have never had a young horse.  Ollie is a sweet horse, and is good to groom, handle, and lead BUT he is definately testing authority.  We take him with our dogs and go for an hour or so out into our bush for a walk.  He has adapted wonderfully to the new scenery.  However, he is a little monster if he sees anything that might be edible and tries to crowd me or throws a little fit.  I have been letting him stop to have a snack, only after our walk is done and if he is good.  He has been acting out more and more when he doesn't get his way.  I'm unsure how to discipline him when he is trying to turn me the way he thinks we should go.  I keep my elbow on his shoulder, put my other hand on his neck and say no, but often have to turn him in a circle.  You can see he's ticked off.  He has broken into an irritated cantering fit to the end of his lead several times while I try to trot him, all the while gazing out at the grass he was rewarded with earlier.  HE IS NOT STARVING!  I think we are spoiling him, what do we do?

ANSWER: You are spoiling him.  He does not understand the whole concept of "I am being good now so I am getting rewarded"  Horses are creatures of habit, and by letting him graze sometimes, and not others you are sending mixed messages.

If you continue like this, you are setting yourself and him up for major problems, magnified by the fact that he is a Belgian.  And he is not a dog, so I am not sure why you are even taking him on walks like this.  That is also not helping, as you are teaching him to disrespect you as well.

A 6 month old colt doesn't need to be coddled, or babied, they really need to be left to be a horse, you can groom them, or spend time with them, but too much many times will lead to a person getting hurt, and the horse comes to believe it is in charge.

And if all you are using is a lead rope and halter, eventually you will not be able to do anything with him, you can not out strength a horse, you have to out think him.  When you and he battle on the end of the rope, he is learning quickly that he is stronger than you, and that there are no consequences.  

Leave him at home on your walks, as you are not needing to hand graze him, or hand walk him due to injury.  And remember he is not a dog.  Let him be a horse.  Groom him but if you make a pet out of him, you are setting the stage for him to eventually end up at slaughter, as a horse that can not be handled has few options.

Are you planning on driving him to a wagon?  What is he going to be used for?

Is this the only horse you have at present?  And don't forget about gelding him when he is old enough, as that can bring a whole other set of problems.

If you continue to walk him like this, then be prepared for him to test you and get a chain shank, which is a leather lead with about 20 inches of chain on the end where the snap is.

With the halter on, insert the snap through the near ring above his mouth, and take two wraps around the nose band and snap to the off
ring.  Give a couple of pops so that he feels the difference.  Don't lay on the shank, just a couple of short tugs, or pops, so that he knows you mean business.  And then don't let him graze at all.

He doesn't understand that it is okay now, but not okay in five minutes, and it is not fair to him to send him mixed messages, so make up your mind and then stick to it.  By letting him graze one time but not another it confuses him, and as I said, it will lead to him disrespecting you in other areas.

If he persists in dragging you around, if you decide to still take him for walks, then take a riding crop, and when he pulls you around, smack him across chest, and tell him NO.  

I cannot emphasize enough though, how important consistency is here.  Think how you would feel if when you went to the store, and one time they tell you to pay cash, and the next time make you use a credit card, and then the next time back to cash.  Would you not be frustrated?  So is your horse.

Remember, this horse can weigh close to 2000 lbs when grown, so if you don't get control now, you will be in serious trouble in a short while.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, thank you so musch for your informative reply.  I kind of figured we were doing the wrong thing.  Ollie is going to be used as a saddle horse, and is supposed to be a pet.  We do not have any other horses and there are several reasons we take him with us for our walk.  We are a couple with 3 large dogs who live on a property with about 40 acres of bush.  We do everything with our dogs, and before you think that they are likely very spoiled too, they are.  However, 2 of them work in a retail store, and visit a nursing home on a regular basis.  They are very well behaved and respectful spoiled dogs.  We have added Ollie to our family and would like everyone to get along.  He had never been in a bush or been around dogs.  He is curious about them and in no way threatening.  We both work and commute full time, so the hour of "family time" we have at the end of the day for a walk is something we would like to include him in.  He has adapted well to the bush and to the dogs running around barking at squirrels.  He is very good on these walks.  I do take a crop and make him stay behind if necessary, do not let him get the lead and he backs up well if we are in a tight spot.  I have been using a lead with a chain, but have been putting it through the ring on my side and clipping it on the other side, underneath his chin.  Are you saying I should go over the nose?  I do not allow him to drag me at all on the walk itself, he is actually quite a gentleman and I talk to him constantly and reprimand him if necessary on a regular basis.  His dragging around of me has been after the walk when he thinks it's grass time, which I realize is a big mistake.  The cantering fit I mentioned, was not won by him, I tried a few times, and then tied him up and went and folded the laundry.  He was quite shocked and when I came back out, he did trot a few steps, I took that as a success, and gave him his dinner.  Was that the right thing to do?  A typical day for Ollie gives him a lot of time spent alone, rolling, eating, and making piles for me to clean up while he eats a leaf of hay and gets talked to.  I can't see not including him in our family, should we not even have a horse?
Thanks, Sherri  

Answer
My answer to this must have gotten lost in the shuffle, as I did respond, but will do so again.

I understand a little more now, and that most of the time he does act okay for you.

He is still very young, and as I said earlier, he will get to be a very large horse, so any behaviors that he learns now, whether good or bad, can become a lot to deal with as he grows.

If for the most part he behaves, he may be just feeling his oats and wanting to play around.  As well as see if he can get his way.  He has no one to play with, and I suggested in the other answer to get him a ball or some type of toy for him to mess around with during the day when you all are gone.

If you are going to continue to walk him, then make him mind all of the time, and until you got a little past the rebellious teenager stage, I would not let him have the grass time.

It all depends on how he is acting, you have to learn to assess him, whether he is being playful, disobedient, hateful, or just checking.

Then you can decide whether to keep letting him have grass time.  Still the yes/no will be a problem for a while, I would think.

Much of the pulling he has shown, may just be youthful colt related playfulness.

And I don't think there is a thing wrong with you all having him, as long as you realize that he is a horse, and will get very strong very quickly, and work with him to keep him respectful, and don't spoil him.

Again, I do apologize, as I did send my answer to your response, and thought it had gone through.