My 19 month old horse just pinned down Wilma, my pregnant goat that is due any day and was biting her and pawing at her. We just got the goats and they are in with the horse. Rebel, the horse is used to all the attention, and very spoiled, but I love the big baby and can't help but spend alot of time with him. He will lay down on the ground now when I am sitting in the feild with him and rest his head on my lap. He is like a child. I have rebel tied up right now as punishment for the way he was with wilma( goat) and she seems to be fine. No limping or blood and she is moving around and eating. Question is how long should I keep rebel tied for bad behavior, and are horses able to comprehend the punishment and be able to be around the goats in the feild. The goats are kept in a little pen at night so stray dogs or cyotes cannot get them.
2006-12-16 03:42:06 · 9 answers · asked by FANNY 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
okay the pawing could be playful if he is not making contact or it is not killing the goat. now i am not sure on what breed of Rebel, but i would say being the average horse being around 1100pounds. that is big enough to kill a goat by pawing at her. now the biting can be a form of showing dominance. now is he just nipping the goat or taking hair out with some skin and or holding on? it also can be Rebel just playing there too. i think if the goat walked away with no blood drawn or bones broken i think it is all in fun or a small show telling wilma who is boss of the pasture.
now horses are able to comprehend punishment but not in the form you gave him. all night while he wasn't sleepin he was probably wondering why in the hell is he tied up and why you left him like that. if you need to punish your horse for something, you gotta think on the horses level. do horses punish other horses by tying them up? no. it is a swift and precise blow that shows them them that they are messin up. and then after it is like it never happened.
2006-12-16 04:13:17 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Go untie that horse right now!!!!!
You're poor baby has no idea why he is tied up, and this is just confusing to him, and mean. Unless you were there when he was doing this behavior and when out and gave him a smack on the nose as he was doing it, he'll have no idea why you are punishing him. Horses can't realate punishment to a behavior that they did more than 30 seconds ago, so unless you can immediately punish a behavior all you're doing is making your horse upset. What you horse was probably doing was trying to assert himself over the goat. Horses are herd animals, and there for they have a pecking order. When ever a new animals is introduced into the herd, all of the other members will be trying to figure out where this new animal will fit on the pecking order, so horses will try and assert their dominance to try and be on top in the pecking order over the new comer. You shouldn't have put the pregnent goat out with the other horses until she'd had her babies and they were strong enough to be turned out, and this transition should have been gradual. Simply throwing out a new animal that can't really defend itself against your horses is mean to that animal, as it could get seriously injured if your horses aren't used to having a smaller animal like a goat. Especially if you have a 19 month old colt, as he'll definately mess with the goats and get a little aggressive. Your horse is simply doing what is natural to him. Once he figures out that the goats are just there he should leave them alone, but if he is particulary rambunctious then he could continuously chase the goats and eventually hurt them. Keep an eye on the horses and goats, and give things a week or two to make a decision on if your horses can be good with the goats. But make sure to watch out for the poor goats as they could get some serious injuries if the horses get rough with them.
Now go untie your poor horse, and good luck!
2006-12-16 04:13:30 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Horses are only able to comprehend what they did for 3-5 seconds. So right now Rebel is thinking she's tied up for no reason. Young horses often play with other young horses by rearing, kicking and pawing. So unless her ears were pinned back and she was bitting Wilma she was just 'horsin around'! I would probably remove Wilma until she has had her kids. Keeping her across the fence from Rebel will be company enough.
2006-12-16 06:21:29 · answer #3 · answered by hey_its_from_clare 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He doesn't get why you are tying him up. It sounds like he is bored and trying to play with them to me. I have heard of horses chasing, killing and eatting rabbits, but that was a rare article once. What I would do is put the goats somewhere else during the day if possible. If it isn't- the only way I can think of getting him to leave them alone is to stay by the goat- and push/scare Rebel away when he tries to go by the goat. It worked with the dogs for us, possibly it will work for you (our yearling would chase the dogs around all day until we got her to stop)
2006-12-16 06:38:15 · answer #4 · answered by D 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first, untie the horse unless you are training him to stand tied. You just told that horse that everytime you attack the goat, you get to rest. What you want to do it set the horse up. Let the goat and horse out together, when the horse goes after the goat you run him off and keep him moving out. You want the horse to think the only way he doesn't have to work is to stay away from the goat. Kinda of like you would do to cure buddy sour. work the horses when they are next to each other, let them rest when they are away. pretty soon they don't want to have anything to do with each other.
2006-12-17 03:50:56 · answer #5 · answered by bandit 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i worked on a horse ranch for years. its very common behavior. Your horse just wants attetion. Charlie may seem like he's bening rough when he pushes his head against you, next time move off to the side, rub his neck and talk to him see how he reacts. they usually calm down a bit. With him putting his head down can mean multipe things. and again may means he wants attetion. You want to be the boss, but you also need to give him attetion. play with him, talk to him, brush him. most horses like there neck rubbed, not their face. Its when his ears go down is when you should be nervous. he's probably upset. he's 10x's biger than you. walk away. try breaking him. ifyou dont know how, ask someone who does.
2016-05-22 23:23:30 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
horses need constructive puishment
you are giving him destructive punishment , thats not good for them !!
you need to find a way to let out this behaveour, like longing or
take your horse (on a lead rope) up to Wilma and stand there if Rebal
goes at her ( or tries to bite or paw at her) back him up at a fast, steady past for about 10 strides keep doing this for mabe 15 minutes if he doesnt try to act towards Wilma
then rub him in his favorite "iching spot" for a long time and give him a treat!!
tieing up a horse is a BAD idea!!!
good luck
and say hi to all your animals for me
god bless, Mery Chridtmass,
Sue !!!
2006-12-16 04:02:17 · answer #7 · answered by hORSE~gIRL 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Could be both. But you shouldnt keep him tied up because you dont know if it was bad behavior or not. Keep them seperate if possible but I would try them again and see what happens. If anything bad happens just chase the horse away.
2006-12-16 07:58:33 · answer #8 · answered by Sassy B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the horse doent know that he is being punished for attcaking the goat.. it would most likely be best if u were to separate them
2006-12-16 14:52:54 · answer #9 · answered by kooneyedkellie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋