Pushy yearling

Question
QUESTION: I adopted a paint yearling stud colt about a month ago from the Humane Society.  He will let me put his halter on and lead him but I am trying to get him use to fly spray,  He has begun to rear up and is very pushy when he leads.  This is the first time I have owned a young horse.  Even though he is smaller I am still afraid he will hurt me.  I know he is being disrepectful but I don't know how to fix this problem.  He is stalled most of the day, do I need to work him in the round pen and get him out of his stall to work on this.  I am also working with him on handling his feet and he is doing very well.  What is the best way to get him use to the spray as well and water from a hose.  Thank you.
Kalen

ANSWER: Kalen, Hi!

How wonderful of you to adopt this horse.  I'll help you all I can!   First things first...call the vet and have this colt gelded, NOW!  I'm surprised they adopted out a stallion...???  Handling a stallion or keeping a stallion is a project for experienced horse owners only.  There should be very few horses left as stallions as well.  Only the best of the best should be allowed to breed and breeding should be a very well planned and conservative endeavor.  Just as you rescued this horse, there are so many horses now that are being sent to slaughter as a result of over breeding and careless owners.  Right now there is a Race farm in Arizona that has gone out of business and there are pregnant thoroughbred mares being shipped to Mexico for slaughter.  You can check with the local TV station in Phoenix for more information on these poor horses.  So PLEASE, geld him now.  It will have a significant impact on your horses behavior when the hormones stop raging!

The next thing you get is homework!  I want you to go to my website and start going through the resource list I have posted there.  Watch the Ground Work information by Buck Brannaman first.  It is very clear at defining all of what you must do with this colt.  Next, go through my past answers on colt starting, leading, hooking on.  When you have done your home work and you understand some of the basic terms and concepts we can talk more specifically about where to go and what to do.  

Give me a shout when you have finished your homework and we will start getting things fixed up with this horse.  Again, congratulations and thank your for thinking rescue!

Smiles, Denise

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

QUESTION: Denise,
Thank you for your reply.  I am the Cruelty Investigator that seized this horse along with eight others.  None of them were halter broke and some of the older ones could not even be touched!!!!!  My question is how can I tell if he is ready to be gelded?  The vet said both testicles had to be dropped before he could be gelded.  Also he has only been in a trailer once when we seized.  I want to work on his trailering before I haul him to the vet.  What do you think?

Answer
Hi Again Kalen!

My heart goes out to you for the job you do.  I cannot thank you enough!  Here is a big hug and a round of applause!

At a year, your colt is very mature and should have two well descended testis.  The only way that you may encounter a problem is if he is cryptorchid, which is a retained testicle.  This undescended testicle is in the abdomen and must be removed surgically, if not you have stallion behavior, breeding behavior and the possibility of creating a pregnancy.  Although, most cryptorchid horses have low sperm counts and low motility, pregnancy is still possible.  

At a year you should be able to see a fairly well developed scrotum.  Palpating the scrotum is the best way to insure that both testis have dropped.  By about 6 to 8 months old, is when I geld.  It has been my experience that by the yearling year you have both testis dropped and available for gelding.  

This colt sounds a bit wild, so palpation might not be the best idea usless you have some oral sedation on board.  You can check with your vet about approiate sedation for this horse.  Do not use acepromazine.  Ace has been linked to penile paralisis in horses and is not a risk you want to take.  There are many other classes of drugs that  work well orally and your vet can make you up a little cocktail.  I would sedate him, and palpate him and them whisk him off to the vet!

You will really have to step up your game when dealing with this colt.  The role of a stallion is to dominate his universe and everything in it.  You will have to be all business with this guy without setting up a war.  He will have to view you a the leader of the herd and that means he will challenge you.  It is what a stallion is, it is what they do.  Don't blink.  You do not however want to be overboard with the domination.  Stallions are also wonderful, so willing to bond, loyal, and will try their hear out for you.  It is why in classical dressage at the Spanish Riding School they have a saying:  Stallions you ride, mares you breed and geldings you eat".  True saying!  It comes from Thomas Ritter a classical dressage master trained at the Spanish Riding School.  Thomas in on the cover of Dressage Today, the august issue.  He also coached my daughter for many years.  

Ray Hunt says you can't teach feel and this is true.  You will have to feel your way with this colt and learn for the two of you how much is enough and how much is too much, and what not enough is.  I have a feeling you will have to do more today so you can do less torrmorow.  This horse has no respect for the human.  Someone else before you, taught him that.  You may just have to come down on him like a ton of bricks to get him to listen to you, but the second, the absolute instant he considers you and is listening to you, you will have to get soft, soft, soft.  Timing here will be everything.

I also want you to get a good rope halter with a 12' tree line lead.  Practice spinning the tail end of the lead overhand, and get accurate, very accurate with the placemanet of the popper.  This will allow you to "nip" your colt and be accurate with the placement when the need arises.  If you have a round pen, I would work on hooking him on first.  You can see this and read about it in Buck's book and DVD on ground work.  You will need your lead rope and the ability to use it well when you start this.  Send your colt out and then ask him to get with you.  If he does not, put him to work.  Don't allow challenges to develop.  Be aware of what happens before what happens, happens.  The absolute second he makes the slightest try to hook on to you, release the pressure.  Keep this up until he will follow you respectfully around the pen and until you can walk and trot him in both directions, stop him and turn him.  This is the basis for leading, and loading your horse in the trailer.  This is where the real work starts.  When you have this down and you have looked at Bucks book and the "Ground Work" dvd, let me know and we will work through the specifics of leading him into the trailer.  You have to have the base line information so I can use the terms and concepts and I will know you understand what I'm talking about.  This may take you a week or two, no big deal.  You have this colts whole life to really get things right so lets start with the highest quality possible.

Lets keep talking and working through this.  Be patient, really this could be the best horse of your life.  He really owes you and I think on a certain level, the horse knows.

Smiles, Denise