Today it got worse. I was having a great ride on him, all alone in the outdoor, but with people and horses and dogs coming and going, and despite all that, he stayed focused and only had a few small spooks. We walked forward march! We trotted and trotted, using most of the 20X40 sandy arena. Then we did the spiraling-in, leg yielding-out exercise, and he was just great. He's starting to really get what my multitude of aids mean.
I was so happy I did what I always do, with all horses, I stopped and started scratching his neck and saying GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD boy.
And he struck out with a foreleg and squealed. WTH!
I whacked him on the side of the face and said NEVER do that!
Then I felt compelled to work him even more to see if a little work would stifle that. Again I let him rest, praised him, rubbed his mane and he struck out and nickered again. OMG WTH. I whacked him upside the face and said "NO! You don't do that with PEOPLE!"
Poor Mag. He had been trying so hard, and then acted innocently freaky and was punished for it. I trotted on.
Then I was done but instead of praising him like I normally do, I "Clinton Anderson'd" him a bit, backing and disengaging repeatedly, to see submission. He was fine, he had this offended look on his face, if I can call it that.
Gabi saw me and said, "What's going on?" I said, "He was....less than respectful."
Then I was done, tied him in the stall, left him, and went to Gabi and Jana as they lunged the entire herd around the indoor to let them blow off steam before the kids arrive. Gabi said, "It's not sexual, it's just social. He lacks social contact so he's expressing it on you."
OK then.....I explained that he is 100% appropriate whenever turned loose with Argo to play. No studdiness at all, and if he was in fact a stallion, we'd have a baby donkey/horse hybrid at home right now. And he's never acted studdy around mares, so WTH. She said he just needs contact.
I told her I'd texted Argo's owner today asking if I could let them play together but she said she's not comfortable with me handling her big horse if she's not there. I understand, I wouldn't want her handling Mag he's so sketchy about his Winter blanket. Oh well. I let Mag play alone today.
But Gabi said she might let me use two of her rogue ponies with Mag, her troublemakers. I said, "Which ones?" as they trotted around us, and Jana knew without prompting, she pointed to two pinto ponies. Gabi said we'll try it on the weekend. We'll see. They're barefoot and small, hopefully this is not going to lead to a vet bill/euthanasia expense for either of us.
Interestingly, as mouthy as Mag is, he is never mouthy toward people, and never pushy. Thank God for that: ) Well, and I've taught him that he can put anything in his mouth that he likes as long as it's not person.
Hm. Mag is 100% appropriate with other horses. Every day I let him visit others, share their hay, etc, and he's nonchalant about it. They are the ones to squeal and strike. So it's really odd that Mag is not 100% appropriate with ME.
Sorry I have no current photo of me riding - this is last May - but that might change next Sunday when S visits me again. She said her husband wants to come (really?) and if that's so, I hope he'll take some video of our time together. Anyway, this is the focused, work-ready horse I had today, so I thought I'd repost the photo.
8 comments:
I could tell you what the behavior would mean in dogs and what you'd need to do to correct it. Horses though, I've no clue!
Camryn, I would love to hear it anyway, please.
I wonder if Mag was bottle-fed at any point. Of course, it might just be baby-behavior. He's a baby, he's gonna try stuff. You reacted strongly and appropriately, so he might try it once or twice more (maybe months from now), before he gives it up entirely.
Sigh. Horses!
Striking out is aggressive and I don't know if it is playful or studly or just youngster antics. One thing to think about that might help him connect the dots (or not), is to smack him closer to the offending action. Specifically, when one of my horses paws or strikes, I smack them with the back of my hand on the belly, right behind the offending leg. If they get mouthy, I lift my hand so it hits them in the mouth... I try to avoid hitting on the face -- but I'm also very sensitive to that because of Tex's history of abuse and resulting head shyness. Maybe Mag wanted you to dance around and play with him again. LOL.
Well, with dogs it would generally be an attempt to dominate. when a dog decides to hump your leg for instance isn't behaving sexually, (unless there's a bitch in season in proximity), it's telling you who is boss and it isn't you.
For instance when one of our males who was low in the canine pecking order wished to be boss of someone, he chose my low key husband. I had Hubs take over this dogs day to day care, Reej would be required to sit before eating, sit when being let outside, sit before being petted...After a week of Hubs doing this Reej never tried again. This can happen with bitches as well.
You've already been establishing yourself as Mags leader however, so doubtful such is the case here. I wonder if he's just to eager for praise? I know I clicked trained my first horse for a while, each time his fifth leg would put in an appearance and it wasn't in a relaxed state!!!
Maybe when you washed and cleaned him yesterday he liked it and wanted you to do it again.
Anette, if I could have predicted such weirdness, I could have planned my reaction: ) If a horse is mouthy with me, I put my hand in their mouth, something I learned in a TTEAM clinic in the 90s. Supposedly it removes the joy in mouthiness, that the horse's mouth suddenly belongs to the person: )
Aarene, your comment about bottle feeding made me laugh cuz Mag comes from a government-run mass production facility. I can't imagine anyone taking any extra effort out of the hundreds that are born each year there and auctioned off.
Camryn, I had no idea - about the dog thing. I would be mortified if Mag's 5th leg wasn't in the relaxed state! I pray that it never happens. S wrote me tonight and said lots of horses get excited and "proud" when doing close, in-hand work, it's not uncommon. I had no idea. OK then. I can calm down I think. I just don't like it.
Ellie, I hoped no one would say that: )
Just kidding. :)
Post a Comment