2 yr Filly pawing gates, herd bound

Question
Hi..I have a 2 yr old filly that I'm getting ready to start.
She has a bad habit of pawing anything that she wants out of. Her dam did it alittle and she now does it alot. I'm worried about her getting her leg caught somewhere. I put her in an enclosure this week with mostly gates/panels but had a few feet of board fence and when I wasn't looking she crashed thru the boards! She was in the enclosure with her 6 yr old brother so she wasn't alone, but her dam was across at the barn. This filly has never been alone. I set the round pen up with just gates so she won't be able to get out..I hope..and I was wondering how I should start weaning her off the other horses.  I have a little donkey I want her to buddy up with because we trail ride with the 6yr old gelding and my mare.  I weaned the filly when she was 4 months and she was out with our 27 yr old gelding who died this year at 29.  She's very sweet and gentle, very good breeding. I started all my horses and her dam and stud were 'born' broke. I think she'll be fine..but I just don't want to mess her up.

Answer
Not sure how old you are and what your horse experience is, but I would say you need to understand horse and herd behavior better.  All horses are herd bound, it keeps them alive in the wild and is their nature.

Herd bound is not your problem.  You are not thinking like a horse.  You are in the herd with this horse and you are either higher or lower.  If this horse accepts you as a leader, she will not be so concerned about her other herd members.  

Read my horsemanship page on my site and it will go into this more.  Work on being a good strong leader and the horse will look to you for safety and not the other herd members.  Pawing is a habit, there lots of ways to stop it, but normally it does not hurt much and if the horse is worked right and handled right it will go away or get less.  If you focus on it and make it a big deal, it will be a big deal.

If you are going to start this horse, do lots of reading so you can give this horse a good foundation that you can build on later.

hope this helps,

Rick