Bringing 4 anxious and hungry horses in at once is negligent . I mean I could do it with mine if I had to but I would never do it daily. Too dangerous.
3 Likes
I think reporting the situation to the barn manager should fix it. Perhaps make sure they know who was leading your horse when there was an issue. They might not know that they have someone handling horses that needs more training. That could be a liability issue for them.
With horses sometimes shit happens. I too have 4 to bring in. 3 of them have been with me for a very long time. Usually they are very well behaved and i just use a shank around the neck. However this week twice two of them rushed me almost running me over. We are back to putting halters on and I carry a crop to the gate. Now they seem to remember their manners again. They are never allowed to just barge through the gate. I always lead them one at a time.
Went back out this morning, out of curiosity I led him in with one other horse…l and theeeeere it was. He got pushy and disrespectful. I asked someone to take the other horse and we walked/stopped/backed around the paddock until he was listening, then walked back and forth through the gate calmly, stopping often. He got the point quickly, within two passes so this is re trainable.
And yes 3 or 4 horses are being led in by one person, even with the best of horses I think it’s a recipe for problems. He probably got gate checked once or twice and now panics coming out the gate. I am going to continue going out to work with him and I’ve asked the BO to have someone bring him in individually on the mornings I can’t. I even offered to pay a bit more to the person for the inconvenience but they declined.
This is partially my fault, I have been slacking on my groundwork and he is a horse that is too smart to not have a job. Now he’s learned he can rush through people and get out. Horses are too big to think like that.
Its a really nice barn, and so close to home, so I def don’t want to do anything to be asked to leave. It’s hard because I moved there just recently and they only know this unridden wild horse and not the “ will save your butt when you probably don’t deserve it” saint that makes him worth it. When I first got him on trial I almost sent him right back because his ground manners were atrocious… biting, running through, pushy … and bad ground manners are my pet peeve. I’m sure some people at my old barn thought I was too hard on him, He has come so far but I think horses like that will always be prone to sliding back to bad manners if they arent kept on top of. Like I said this is my fault as well and I need to do better, thankfully it looks like BO will give me the opportunity and work with me to do it.
I hope he never catches a hip or worse, to make you rue saying you hope they don’t ask you to leave
1 Like
Bringing in 4 horses at once terrifies me. I once boarded at a stable where they were walking 2 horses out together (both very used to each other and got along fine), something triggered one of them and he kicked the other. He caught him in a really bad spot and it was game over. They eventually had to have the second horse put down. Sure it was really bad luck but, horses and good luck are not always the best of bedfellows. When you make it 4 horses and 1 handler, you increase the risk exponentially. At my current stable, almost all the horses are led in one at a time. It takes a lot longer but it’s the safest approach.
1 Like
Oh hell no, NOBODY should be leading other peoples horses in 4 at a time. If you were the one leading and all 4 belonged to you, then fine. You need to nip that shit in the bud.
2 Likes
