my horse....?

Question

ok ive posted this before but it didnt help so
my 4yr old male show horse was acting crazy and kept testing me when we went on the trail ride but he only acted up badly out in the field with nothing to spook him around but in the woods he was fine what could be cause ing this?

and to the jb person thanx but i only way 97 pounds so you can go shove off

HE IS A GELDING

Answer 1

I used to have a 3 year old show gelding that would do the same thing. The reason he was acting that way was he didn't like being alone or left behind. If I was trail riding by myself, he would constantly be looking for other horses, and if I was with other people he would freak out every time someone passed us. I just always rode in a group and in the front and he eventually just grew out of it. It is probably just a young horse's insecurities acting up. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Your horse is only 4 and is probably full of energy and if you show him he is probably often stabled and not turned out enough. Increase his play time outside and allow him to run around and be a horse. Lunge him or work him in the round pen before riding to warm him up, wake him up and get him paying attention and, most importantly to let him expel his extra energy before you mount. I do not know your level of experience, but he may be testing you because you are inexperienced and are having difficulty handling him. Riding him in the open can be dangerous especially if you are thrown and if you are nervous about this he can sense your nervousness and fear and will respond to it. Hope this helps, you may want to get a trainer that you can consult when your horse acts up.

Answer 3

He is only 4 and is still a 'kid'. He will have lots of energy. My mare usually wants to stretch her legs in the field and go for a good gallop. The open space may scare your horse because he can't see anything distinctive, while in the woods there are many shades and shapes to identify. My dads horse was this way. He will eventually grow out of it. and being a show horse he is probably in the arena a lot, and in an arena there is no real room to gallop, give him his head and go for a good run! he will love it, and he may turn up sweating and hot but he will be happy!

Answer 4

Okay, this is quite a difficult question as, no offence, but it's quite badly worded and doesn't give much in the way of details.

however, it could be one or more of the following:

- Has his food changed? either the content of the feed you are buying, or you feeding program. be careful you aren't feeding him to much in relation to his work load. it could only take a few days for an excess of food, and a lack of work could cause him to "blow his mind".

- If he is familier with the field, it could be boredom that is causing him to act up. out on the trail there is more for him to look at and concentrate on. be careful you aren't being to repetitive in his work program, bearing in mind he IS only 4 and in horse years he's only just reaching the human equivalent of "Adolescence" so he is going to test you.

Offer new things into his work program. You don't say what kind of "show" horse he is, but try and vary your lessons, work, even your trail rides, try to make them as interesting as possible for him, without over challenging him. Does he have companions? changing them, if he has them, will upset him. horses become very attached to companions in a relatively short space of time.

you don't say if he is gelded or entire. if he is entire, then you are dealing with an "ego" as well as adolescent hormones. bear this in mind too as colts and stallions are notoriously more difficult to handle, and need a more specialised handling.

I hope this helps you!

Answer 5

grass is my guess. he probably wants to eat. is he pulling hard on the reins? swishing his tail? clamping on the bit with his teeth?

here's a question to help: if something were to scare your horse, would he run away so fast you wouldn't know what happened? or would he run for a bit, then stop and turn to face whatever it is? or would he just prance around blowing but not trying to get away?

if it's the first, he's an unconfidant horse and you need to build his confidance in you and in himself. if it's the second, he's probably mildly confidant, which means it's conditional. if it's the last, he's probably very confidant in himself - the horse that grabs a bucket off the wall and throws it around for fun.

to react right to the first, you need to be consistant in every way. don't do anything new, just keep doing what you're doing. new things scare him.

if it's the second, you should figure out if he's scared or not then decide what to do.

if he's the last one, you should probably try being different. for example, when you get to a field, try doing serpentines, circles, figure eights.... something new each time.

in the end, evaluate your horse and act accordingly. chances are this is your problem, not his.

good luck!

Answer 6

Although you may think there was nothing to spook him in the field he might think otherwise. Remember we might see a rock but horses might see a predator. There could actually be something spooking him or else he just gets excited in the field because of the openness. Hope i helped

Answer 7

Honey, no offense, but from your post we can tell you are not an experienced rider. A horseperson would not have referred to the horse as "my male show horse."
Maybe he wanted to run in the open field. Were you riding alone? (bad idea).
We need more information. How was the horse testing you? How was he acting crazy?

Answer 8

maybe somethin is botherin the horse. . . .like the girth,saddle, a horse shoe, or maybe he's sick, somethin inside his body, or maybe he's just plain old scared for NO REASON happened to me before. Jst have some patience. HOPE THIS HELPED

Answer 9

Because he is still young, he may have been feeling insecure out in the open alone.

Answer 10

he probably is highstrung and wants to run when getting into a field