Getting this horse to stand quiet?

Question

sometimes if my horse is not happy with what she is doing, or if im talking to some1 while holding her, she will stand the literally making faces at me, like ears back and occationsally throwing her head. Is there a way to train her to stop this?

well she needs 2 learn to respect me, which is done through training, horses need 2 learn trust and respect, im wondering how 2 earn this from her

oh and if your wondering wha tI do, i ignore it whne she does it, but i want to teach her to stop cause its embarressing

yes, she is a mare and she came from a pmu farm so she has hormone problems from haivng so many foals

Answer 1

Since you called your horse she, I assume she is a mare? This could add to her moodiness, as mares may often act more discruntled during their heat cycles. Non-the-less, she should stand quietly for you when you ask her to stand. But, you also need to be reasonable on how long you except this behaviour, as well as picking your battles. If she is simply pinning her ears, or bobbing her head, yet she remains standing where you put her, then I would ignore the behaviour, and allow her to release her boredom through her harmless antics. If she is acting out in more dangerous ways by shoving on you or trying to step all over mother, while you talk, then you need to back her up to where you first asked her to stand. Re-ask her to stand. You need to be consistant and more persistant than she is, which may take some time. Eventually, she will get the message that standing like you asked is more relaxing than backing up a gazillion times.

With all equine behaviour, you must pick your battles, and allow some of the horses more harmless and natural behaviours to exist in harmony. Respect begets respect. Otherwise you will only aggrevate her into acting out even more, by frustrating her. Anticapating her reactions and heading them off before they begin is always the best bet. If you can help your horse to make her own decision to do the right thing, the lesson will always be more permanent. Then reward with a good rub on the forehead.

Lastly, relax. If she feels your frustration, she will only react more upon that. If she is constantly getting your attention,.... even negative attention, then she has succeeded in her plight.

Hope this will help a bit.

Answer 2

The sex of your horse has nothing to do with her doing that- it's lack of respect. By you ignoring this bad behavior she will only start doing more embarrassing things- such as tossing the lead, pawing the ground, pacing, and trying to run over you- she'll keep up until she finally gets your attention.
In your free time when you aren't training or going to a show- tie your horse each day for however long you think is necessary. This will help with bathing issues, farrier issues, and teach your horse patience. Even with my horses that are all well trained we'll leave them tied for hours just so they don't forget. Also by leaving your horse tied she learns that you are in control of when and where she's able to go and she'll learn to respect you as her alpha.

When you are holding her lead in your hand trying to get her to stand- every time she starts to do those behaviors take your hand spread out and place it behind her ears. With your index finger and thumb start gently adding pressure until she drops her head. If she doesn't drop her head- add more and more pressure until she does. When she drops her head let off the pressure. When you get control of her head and her movement- she'll learn that your the leader and she'll learn to respect you and your space. Also, getting her to lower her head is essential when it comes to putting a halter or bridle on and clipping her ears or face. Pretty soon she'll stop the aggravating behavior on her lead line and you'll have a more peaceful and respectful mare.

Answer 3

I've got the same problem with a horse that belongs to a friend of mine, but I think I have an idea to make him fidget less in the arena. Every time he comes to a halt and begins moving again, urge him into a working trot for a lap or so around the arena. After which, try halting him again, and repeat the process for a little longer each time. When he figures out he has to work in exchange for bad habits, he'll understand the idea and hopefully stop being so antsy. Every horse is different though, and it could even be a problem with his mouth. ALWAYS check your tack before a ride!

Answer 4

Good, you have at least learned that she needs to respect you. Even though she is PMU, she should learn that such behavior is unacceptable. My mare, when I have her in bridle, halter, a rope around her neck, or even just a lock of her mane to lead her by, knows that she better listen and listen good. It took some work though. Your horse has an attitude problem. Any ears back at you or anything else should be quickly punished. Slap her on the neck and firmly say "NO!" When she tosses her head, jerk on the lead rope and say "NO!" (do not tap/smack the nose or face, as this will cause her to toss her head more, and possibly become head shy) my mare quickly learned the word, so in any activity she is doing, I can say no and she will stop and put her head down, no matter what. Do all of this -out-of-the-way-place-so-no-one-can-see-you-place so you aren't embarrased. Also I'd give her a few good lessons in the round pen. This is what I did with my mare.
No ropes or even a halter on her, just a lunge whip. Ask her to gallop and smack her butt with that whip. For the first 5 mintues, smack her butt every few steps and yell "Git up, or hee-yaw" someing loud and disturbing. Keep her running until she sweats. It's not bad for horses to do this, in fact it increases stamina and heart efficincey. When she turns her inside ear to you, not forward, not back, but to where you can see the inside of her ear, back off and stand still, and let her be by letting her go around the pen once without you dogging her, then pick it up again, and make her work. It will take a few hours everyday, for at least a week working like this. There are steps that you should also watch for. Your mares first step will be flicking her ear in toward you, then licking her lips, then lowering her nose almost to the dirt, and finally, when you take the pressure off of her, she will turn toward you instead of continuing moving or stopping and putting her butt toward you. But anytime she does any of those steps, back off and give her the chance to come to you. In the beginning if she has a serious attitude problem, she may try and bluff running you down, but stand your ground and scream "NO!" and pop her with the lunge whip as many times as you can, sending her around you. If you jump out of the way, or run to the side of the roundpen, her problem will only get worse as she sees she can push you around. I delt with a mare that did that, and she actually hit my shoulder a few times and sent me spinning. Total disrespect, but I stuck to it and now she is an excellent kids horse.
So along with these roundpen exercises, stand somewhere with her, be it a stall, pasture, roundpen, or arena, with her halter and leadrope on. In fact get a friend to do this with you. Ask your friend to stand in front of you and just talk like you would to someone in the alleyway, so when you jerk your horses lead when she tosses her head, your friend will know what you are doing. Also when she is standing perfectly still, reward her with a small treat of some kind.

Answer 5

Work her everytime she starts to act up. Instantly start lunging her, turning direction, stopping and rolling over her hocks. Keep her out of your space when lunging. Ask her to stop and come to you and start your conversation again. If she starts pinning her ears or tossing her head go right back into lunging. Make sure to go both ways with lots of direction changes to get her listening. Once she stands for a few minutes without acting up, give her a good rub.
P.S. I have 3 PMU mares.

Answer 6

I like clicker training for horses. There are a couple of good books out there for training horses. Consider buying one or even getting one from the library. It makes life so much easier for both of you. Once she understands what you want, and what is NOT ACCEPTABLE, you will both be able to get on with you life together.

Answer 7

Instead of punishing for bad behavior, there are quite a few trainers going with the Breland method, which consists of starting by rewarding for good behavior and increasing the time between rewards. In your case, you'll need to train yourself to recognize the good behavion to start and the improved behavior as you advance. Use bit of treats, such as apple quarters, pieces of carrot or other vegetables not common in the horse's diet, along with plenty of love and affection as shown through petting and talking to the horse.

Answer 8

I agree that you should chase her when she does it. She would rather stand than be chased. Another idea, when she does it, just shake the rope, and make her back up a little bit. I do Pat Parelli training with my horse if you've ever heard of that....... Well, good luck.

Answer 9

Okay do this when nobody is around so it's not embarassing.

Try to make her stand there, once she starts acting up, chase her in circles, holding the reins, and then make her stand again. Once she starts acting up again make her run around again, then make her stand again. Keep doing this until she realizes that it's better to stand there and be quiet then to run around in circles. This may take some work and time but in the long run it is worth it.

Answer 10

you could pet her while you hold her or not to be mean but you could flick her on the nose and tell her to knock it off or you could jerk your rope and tell her to stop or if those don't work you could grab her ears. Don't go to tinking i beat my horse or something but if it comes down to it and they won't listen and they push me around and won't listen to the first nice ones i do go and grab their ears. my moms mare can get fiesty or mean to me and she'll push me around and i do that to her and works.