Horse being a jerk at the gate when bringing in

[DCW]

Hello, I have a horse who is recovering from an injury and hasn’t been ridden in several months. He is becoming a problem at the gate in the field when they are bringing in in the AM. Apparently he has been running people over! I want to go deal with this before he hurts someone, so I will be going there to bring him in i the AM. What is the best way to help him re learn some manners? He has always been a bit of a jerk at the gate wanting to get out first, but it sounds like with this extra energy/being bored it’s getting worse and I want to nip it in the bud!

thanks for any advice.

[phoebetrainer]

What is he like when you bring him in and out? If it is other people that are bringing him in and letting him out, your ability to do anything is limited by their skill set. Teach him good leading manners, all the time. That is really all you can do. Teach him to respect you and not run you down - but that may we’ll not translate to not running other people down.

[DCW]

That is something I run into, he’s generally good with me because I am not afraid to correct him, but I can’t be the one to bring him in all the time. Once he’s past the gate and when he’s going out they say he is fine.

[candyappy]

Just have them bring him in first. They sound fairly inexperienced as handlers if they can’t keep horses the they handle daily in line.

[DCW]

I’m wondering if he is just running through the person as soon as they open the gate? I’m going to go tomorrow AM and see/help. Would hold him back and bringing him in last make the behavior worse? I was planning on going into the field and putting his halter and chain over his nose and making him walk through the gate semi civilized once the other horses were brought in, but I’m wondering if that will make it worse and I should halter/chain him and let him come in first (semi civilized)?

[CHT]

Are the other horses crowding him at the gate? I had this issue with a new young horse, and it was just anxiety on his part. I moved him in with less bossy horses and it is no longer an issue. That said, the owner also did a lot of work on his leading skills in the arena.

It could also be he caught a hip at the gate and is now afraid of the opening and rushing out.

What if instead of haltering and leading him right out, you halter him, and lead him in a big circle in the pen? IS he still difficult or is it just the gate opening that is the issue?

[DCW]

From what they are telling me when they open the gate he rushes out, once he’s past the gate he’s fine. I’m sure all the horses crowd the gate. It’s breakfast time! Which would be better, haltering and walking him around the paddock while they bring the others in, or haltering and letting him go first but trying to make him be civilized? I worry about making the other horses wait though, might not be able to.

i would prefer the first method but want to make sure I will not make his anxiety/impatience worse by doing this. Maybe give him treats while he walks around calmly to reinforce calmness? He is super super food motivated, and very smart. He learns good behaviors quickly but will just as quick pick up a bad one if he is allowed to get away with it.

[MsM]

With a horse recovering from an injury, your options are a bit limited since you dont want him to further injure himself! I think the first step is observing what he and the handlers are doing. Also what the other horses are doing and how they interact.

If the other horses are polite, my first inclination is to ask them to halter and bring him in first. Any training for him to wait is more of a long term proposition. I would provide a halter with some “bite” to it and show the folks bringing him in how to make him behave.

Now if the other horses are all crowding and pushing, everything is more difficult as he will either try to warn them off or scoot away, depending on his ranking.

Hopefully the handlers can manage now that they are aware and are able to make minor modifications for a horse without work to keep him busy and civilized.

ETA: The rushing through may be eagerness or a concern about the other horses chasing him. I would also suggest the you can do work with him apart from breakfast time and practice leading through a gate, pausing frequently. If they are really concerned in the meantime, they could try backing him out of the gate.

[spacytracy]

Can he be tied safely while the others are being brought in?
Do the handlers bring a whip in with them?
Is there a way to put up a tape-hot-wire with a handle, so they can keep all the horses back?

[DCW]

I am going to go see how they bring in tomorrow and try to help. I don’t know that they would be willing to modify their routine. Hopefully I’ll have some more answers tomorrow

[Where_sMyWhite]

Is the gate being opened so all the loose horses can rush through? If so, I would not be impressed.

The horses should be haltered before going through the gate and, if need be, maybe a pushy horse needs to be haltered and learn who is the herd leader (the human) and who is lower in the herd pecking order (any horse).

[Elsari]

Every now and then one of my horses rushes the gate. 99% of the time, he’s the easiest horse to handle, but every now and then he just has to get through it as fast as possible. When an episode happens, I walk him back in,make him halt with the gate completely open, then take a few steps, halt, few more steps halt, repeat until he’s through. If he rushes or anticipates, I back him up and start over. I do this as long as it takes for him to walk through calmly.

I used to handle a horse that never got over his rushing the gate, he’d bowl people over going through gates or stall doors. His owners were never able to fix the behavior, so ended up backing him into his stall and through the gate. It was just safer for everyone.

[DCW]

Well update, went this AM to help bring in. The guy worker went with me, and while he was putting halters on the rest , I put the chain on my boy and opened the gate ready for a fight… he walked through like a perfect gentleman. On the way to the stall we stopped and backed a few times and waited, slightly impatient (it was breakfast time) but would listen.

maybe it was that I was bringing him through by himself? maybe it’s the other horses crowding that makes him rush?

‘I asked one of the workers what he is normally like, he said he’s fine with him, sometimes he and one of the horses in the field don’t get along so he will panic if he’s next to him but he doesn’t have a problem bringing him in.

It seems it’s the really sweet young lady he runs through, which judging by the fact she asked if I was a horse whisperer bringing in two horses she said are normally not easy ( they were absolutely fine, little pulley on the leadropes but again, correctable) … I don’t know how assertive she is with the horses and Maybe he can sense that and along with the horses crowding has a panic moment? Also trying to halter 4 horses in a field to bring in at once is a lot for one person, so I can see how she could get taken advantage of.

I don’t think he really needs to go on a calming supplement like the BO suggested, just maybe have the guy bring in. But I will because she mentioned having to “find another situation” for him which I guess is code for leaving the barn and I really don’t want to.

I’m going to go out a few more days to see if today was a fluke.

[RainWeasley]

Yeah it sounds like the lady is just not really a good one to handle him. She doesn’t sound like she needs to be bringing in 4 horses at a time. Heck, I don’t think anyone should bring in 4 horses at a time. 2 is the most I think anyone should handle in case things go wrong.

[furlong47]

Are they trying to lead all 4 horses at once? That right there is a problem. When something goes haywire you can’t really correct them or do anything to instill manners, all you can do is drop one or more. I would be asking for my horse to be brought in alone or at most with one other that he gets along with.

[merrygoround]

It sounds as though there is a complete lack of common sense, coupled with an individual with insufficient horse handling skills.

[meupatdoes]

If you can lead him in just fine, then the problem is the incompetence of the others.

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to transfer handler competence to other handlers.

Training the horse some more is not going to train the idiot humans.

I know you said you don’t want to move, but it’s probably the only option if you don’t want to beat your head endlessly against the wall with other people’s incompetence. At least if you up and leave immediately, you can just say, “Looks like leading Ranger in and out of the field is pretty tough for you guys but I need to make sure he’s kept safe, guess you’re forcing my hand here…”

There is a chance if you say you need to leave and lay it on them they will start arguing with you to stay and that they are excellent handlers. Some passive aggressive people like to use vague threats of “guess you might have to leave” to try to get you to validate their concerns, subjugate yourself to them, and basically beg them to “let” you stay. The whole tone of the conversation forevermore revolves around your horse being the problem and it being on you to figure this out and appease them, even though it’s really on them to be remotely competent at their chosen profession.

If you refuse to cater to this and say, “You’re right. I guess both Ranger and I would feel more comfortable somewhere with more experience in handling horses like Ranger, and I really can’t have him getting led around in a group of 4 risking reinjury,” there is A CHANCE they will realize you’re not fng around and that they will start arguing with you that they are excellent handlers, volunteering to bring him in by himself, and you should stay. It’s really a last ditch hail mary, because by the time the incompetence nattering starts, it’s usually inevitably all over. It either gets nipped in the bud immediately or the “your horse is the problem” dynamic takes over your entire life and you eventually have to leave anyway.

Believe me, I get it. I have gotten more than my fair share of phone calls blaming the horse when human incompetence was the real problem. People who can’t lead horses competently shouldn’t work at or own boarding barns, but they do, and here we are.

[Angela_Freda]

If management encourages or doesn’t discourage leading more than one at a time, the horse may have learned to be rude out of self preservation, either avoiding hitting a post as they squeeze through the gate, or avoiding the horse they are being led with.
This is an unsafe practice, particularly for the less capable staff, that can only end up with your horse hurt or labeled. I’d nip that bud.

[Redlei44]

In this situation, leading 4 horses at once is unacceptable. (I think it’s unacceptable in all situations, but with 4 perfect horses I guess I wouldn’t argue with a busy boarding barn’s processes.). If they cannot or will not lead your horse separately or with one friend max, I think you need to leave. Don’t wait for your horse or for staff to get hurt.

[MsM]

I would not add a supplement to my horse’s feed just because they have incompetent handlers and/or poor practices. On the face of it, it sounds like they may want your horse to leave. May be because he requires correct handling or for other reasons unrelated to you. I would definitely look at other stables to determine options before you are forced to do so on short notice.