attitude when I act like an idiot

[HicksteadFan]

OP I understand what you are trying to do. And in my opinion you are going about it in the right way by jumping around and touching the mare until she just stands calmly and takes a nap, then you retreat as a reward. (You can even give her a treat when she does it really well.) Barred teeth would get a punishment from me because like someone said, its just a tiny step from that to lunging, bitting or kicking. I rarely punish horses. Only for bites and kicks because there isn’t really a way to reward a horse for not bitting/kicking you.

When she turns towards you and bares her teeth I would punish. Do something she doesn’t like. Maybe jab her in the belly, growl, a tap with the whip. Horses are sensitive and smart so you don’t have to go to town with a lunge whip to get her to understand. You should be able to do ANYTHING YOU WANT around your horse, jump, yell (not too loud), weird sounds, sudden movements, waving a flag. What happens when the vet comes and needs to do something involving touching the mare from the side and maybe standing tall and looking over her back (almost as if mounting)? That’s not when you want to try and fix the problem.

Once you fix the “who’s really the boss” problem, keep on going with what you’re doing. Advance retreat, I usually call it pressure release, is the way to train.

[SuzieQNutter]

As with any training the timing is key. If I jump, bang whatever it means turn and come to me.

Use the incorrect timing and you will teach them the opposite of what you want.

[LLee]

[QUOTE=kbdb32;8071900]
I normally wouldn’t jump around horses but I’m trying to get her prepared for when I mount. If I stand next to her like I’m going to mount (no saddle on) she does the same exact thing even if all I do is jump once.[/QUOTE]

Who told you to do that? Your horse isn’t feeling like it’s training when you start jumping around next to her, and I am wondering if her stifle problem still hurts her, or maybe she is still trying to protect her previous injury…

This type of training is done with Police Mounts, but not 1 person 1 horse, there is always a second person helping the horse to understand what’s going on when someone else starts jumping around and acting crazy. Some horses don’t have the right temperament at this stage of training and they get dropped from the program.

Please do not continue with this style of training. You will get hurt and your horse will continue to be confused and defensive. Teach her about dismounting (not jumping off) when you can get on her (with mounting block!) and then slide off, with someone else to help for the first few times so you know she isn’t going to freak.

[LLee]

Also, OP, she will eventually learn to trust you and “strange” behavior once you have regained her trust and respect. I just think maybe you are using the wrong technique this early in her re-training.

[RhythmNCruise]

[QUOTE=kbdb32;8073356]
I can’t believe I didn’t realize what I was doing. Everyone is right. I wasn’t reading her correctly and I was letting her move me.
Today when she did that we had a little come to jesus meeting and she was completely fine afterwards.[/QUOTE]

Good! It’s amazing what a little CTJ meeting can accomplish. It may not always be the solution, but often all a horse needs is a swift and sure reminder of just who is in charge. Once that’s settled, they usually are like, “Oh, okay. Gotcha.” Your mare thought SHE was calling the shots, so she was attempting to control the situation. You showed her otherwise and now she’ll probably be a happier girl for it.

Do keep in mind that if she’s hurting somewhere, part of her reactions toward you could stem from that. However, that’s not an excuse and you cannot tolerate her aggression. So, you did right to put her in her place. She may still not be thrilled, but she knows now that threatening you with bodily harm is NOT ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR.

A friend of mine had a gelding who was pretty much pissy from the time he was a young colt. He and she had a love/hate relationship, and he had some soundness issues (stifles). He grew increasingly nasty as he got older. He was fine to ride but on the ground he was a sneaky, MEAN turd. He’d make the mean faces and it escalated to lunging at people. We’re talking a small boy walked down the aisle of the barn and this horse came over the top of his dutch half-door and tried to bite the child. Another friend saw the horse in the pasture with his blanket sliding off one side and stopped to go out and fix it. The horse tried to attack her. Finally one day at a show, my friend was in the stall with the horse and she was kind of playing with him (annoying him in his POV) by hugging his neck and patting him rather obnoxiously. He warned her once with slicked back ears and snaking his neck around at her and baring his teeth. I saw it and said, “You better watch him.” She thought she knew better and said, “Aw, he’s alright, he’s just cranky,” and continued to annoy him. In the blink of an eye that horse attacked her full-throttle, and by the end of it she was laying in the bottom of the stall with a big bite taken out of her shoulder and his back feet poised and ready to kick her. Thankfully there were some of us there to intervene and distract him and help her out of the stall before he killed her. She wound up selling that horse with full disclosure to someone. The owner was riding him when one of her friends came up to adjust something on the horse’s bridle. He snapped at her and she reflexively popped him. He went nuts and even with his rider trying to hold him in check from his back, he attacked the woman who had popped him and had her on the ground. They said if it weren’t for the fact that someone was on his back to pull him away he would’ve probably killed that lady.
The last time I saw that horse he had been purchased by the woman that owns the barn where I used to board. She’s not the most ethical horse person out there, and I just hope she didn’t dope him up and sell him to some poor unsuspecting buyer. He was seriously dangerous.

Sorry for the tangent. My point is…be careful. I never thought of horses quite the same after witnessing what that gelding was capable of.

[shiloh]

Well, my idea would be this - stop doing that; you’re just pissing her off. I mean, it isn’t going to make her stop but it doesn’t give her a chance to practice and then maybe put it into action.

Second, Miss Mare the first time you show your teeth to me with ears back would be the last time. Don’t care what your issue is.

[Shermy]

[QUOTE=kbdb32;8073356]
I can’t believe I didn’t realize what I was doing. Everyone is right. I wasn’t reading her correctly and I was letting her move me.
Today when she did that we had a little come to jesus meeting and she was completely fine afterwards.[/QUOTE]

Glad you figured it out!! I was at the Road to the Horse, last weekend, so just saw this.

Keep it in mind, you are ALWAYS training, whenever you are w/your horse.

I am kinda a good manners Nazi, my horses KNOW what I expect. I am very consistant and clear. I think my horses appreciate that. They KNOW the rules and are perfectly happy obeying them.

I look for things that scare or concern them, I do not “protect” them. The weird thing is once I really started to expose them to everything possible, they gained a lot of confidence. Now, it is pretty rare to find anything they are weary of, so don’t be afraid to challenge or expose her in case she gets upset. She will live, it is when people DONT expose horses that is bad.

I don’t want my horses to live in fear, so I want them confident. Confidence comes from exposure to scary stuff and LIVING, lol.