2yo playing too rough

[MapleBreeze]

I have had 2 young geldings raised by stallions come to me to be started. The first, had a tough horse mom that facilitated ground manners. He was a breeze. The second, was raised by an old stallion he could push around. He was a heathen, and tried to run at me and attack me and knock me down multiple times when i was first starting him.

So for the sake of safety, put him in whatever group that will kindly teach him respect. That might mean he is the last to get shelter during a cold wet rain or the last to eat hay on the roundbale, but it will surely keep the humans safer when its time to start him.

I as the human would be doing some dominant groundwork with him too - just so he learns to respect hunans because I cant imagine him playing that rough and not being a pill on the ground.

He sounds like he is also very dangerously kicking. Have you messed with his leg and made him wear polos etc yet? Geldings can be so weird and throw monster spooks when stuff touches their legs. The older i get the less tolerant i am of bad behavior so i have never done this before but if his kicking contines i would put a homemade kicking chain on with a dog collar around the hock and let that hit him when he kicks and then it will be like an act of god and he will stop. I mean, he needs to learn it is wrong before people and animals get hurt.

Maybe I just spend too much time training rank youngsters but safety of other horses and people should be the primary concern .

Lastly my youngsters always play with the older horses when they are in the mood. Yesterday I watched them play rear and chase with a goofy 7 year old gelding - it was fun and respectful and nobody got hurt.

[EventerAJ]

Not fair to endanger another horse. I would not continue this dynamic, though I suspect it may be toned down if both youngsters lived outside together 24/7. But I suspect that is not possible (and probably not desirable!!) so separating them is best.

I have 4 2021 colts right now. Until last week, they were all out together. They played and wrestled and did things that made me cringe and cover my eyes. They have occasional bites and scrapes, but so far have no major injuries… of course all it takes is a split second wrong place, wrong time moment. But they have been raised together since birth, there is never any animosity or outright aggression… it is all playful entertainment. We have since separate them into pairs, as we needed their big field and only smaller paddocks were available. And they still rear, jump on each other, bite knees and hocks, run around and body slam… but they have done this every day of their lives.

In the summer, they all were stalled 10 hours a day, and out at night. There was SIGNIFICANTLY more pent up energy, violent rough house playing in the evenings when they first went out. Now they are back to living out 24/7, and their energy levels are more tame. They still play, but it is less intense since they are always free to move around and interact. They are also racehorses, and beginning their future jobs, and the daily work has also helped them mature and provide a productive outlet for energy. (Sort of like enrolling 8 year old kids in soccer, to have controlled chaos running around a soccer field chasing a ball, versus running wild around the house screaming and tormenting siblings.)

[B_and_B]

Separate them. You are lucky enough he can go live with the gelding herd. He does not need a playmate.
(I’m managing some interesting dynamics in my herd of three: 20, 13, and 3)…with a lot of space, separation of the most critical two for 16-18 hours a day, plenty of food, near constant supervision…and more space.)

[4horses]

My young colt is turned out with the mares. They have put manners on him in no time flat. They do not tolerate anything from him. He has learned to leave them alone and be respectful.

Having herd manners is a good thing. Put him back with the other geldings.

[LeatherLover]

What feed are you using? I put my yearling on a different feed because ours was hard to get for a while and I think she went berserk. Once we got her back on her regular feed her temperament went back to normal.

[Bloopie]

It was the other owner’s idea….I’ve never turned them out without them right there next to me.

Also, I think there’s some confusion, he’s still turned out with the older geldings daily and behaves appropriately with them after getting torn up a few times as a yearling (nasty bites, kicks, etc). I chalked it up to him getting his place in the herd pegged down but one gelding had to be moved after he shredded my guy’s flank.

My guy even developed some unhealthy anxiety around the gate for a while because if that dude was near (or one of the many other cranky dudes), and he always is when a person comes because he thinks he’s getting fed, my kid would start to panic and either push through the locked gate or try and run. Anyway, they’re back together now and my kiddo has slowly learned that I will beat away someone coming too close to us at the gate.

He’s just occasionally turned out for an hour or so with just the other horse. And the other owner is always physically present (I’m usually not there). They loved getting them together and I was happy my boy was getting some play time and a chance to actually get some energy out. I haven’t found a toy that he’s remotely interested in. But, the other owner is rightfully concerned now and I told them they could continue the sessions if they so desired but I did not want my guy hurting their horse. So they have my permission to stop and I think they will. As I mentioned, more of a rant and maybe looking for some hope he’ll grow out of it. I don’t think the other geldings are going to help teach him how to play because they don’t play.

[Bloopie]

He’s started getting fat on air now that he’s 2. So he’s on Nutrena Topline and a supplement, no grain whatsoever.

[Bloopie]

Yeah, he’s ok with his legs. He doesn’t like when people use a stiff brush on his legs but otherwise he really doesn’t care. He can become entangled in something and not have a care in the world. And when he is being naughty toward people, he is very, very, very clear that he’s thinking about kicking. He’ll slowly raise his back leg and keep it cocked for a solid minute while he considers his options I can just rap his offending haunch and he’ll put his leg down.

[Bloopie]

Yeah…it’s less about the playtime and more about the energy expenditure for me. My trainer also says he does a much better job focusing if he was turned out with the other gelding earlier. Not because of the play, but likely because he’s gotten the “edge” off.

[LeatherLover]

I have never heard of Topline. I need to look that one up.

[OverandOnward]

This may not be realistic … but I’ve heard of people jogging horses from golf carts to add fitness and in this case work off some energy. And of course there is ponying the horse from another horse. And then there is jogging on hot walkers.

Not everyone is set up to be able to do those things. But maybe there is an opportunity on the farm somehow to put this youngster to work during the day - not training, just exercise. Although if this is started it needs to be maintained as otherwise the horse just gets more fit to create more chaos on days when the energy isn’t used.

[clanter]

we put our young horses to work to help them burn off some of the youthful engery