How to Correct Horse's Aggressive Behavior?

[Fessy_s_Mom]

My New Vocations OTTB Homer, who I’ve had for almost a year now, had SI injections the middle of March. Up until that time, he has been nothing but sweet, docile and bottom of the herd pecking order. Now that he’s feeling better, he’s gotten aggressive with some of the horses in turnout, and even more concerning, charging boarders leading those horses while turning out/bringing in. The more seasoned horse people at the barn just swing their lead rope at him and he runs off, but the more timid, older boarders are fearful of him now. My BM has been a saint in helping me deal with this, but is now worried that someone will get hurt. The turnout arrangement is two 10 acre grass pastures with the herd of 12 horses (evenly split geldings to mares) . I know that many people will say that is the problem - the mixed herd. But he had been fine for the first 10 months of keeping him there. Other changes that may have affected him (in chronological order after injections) his favorite mare left, the alpha mare left, another new mare came in, I switched him to 24/7 turnout with my mare the middle of April and I began ulcer treatment (abprozole) on April 29th. I wanted to start the ulcer treatment same time as the turnout change, but had to wait two weeks for shipping. Reason for ulcer treatment was new sensitivity to grooming (kicking out, etc) and rough coat and trouble gaining weight. I got a fecal test done and it was negative.

BM decided to move him and my mare to the other 10 acre pasture by themselves and poor Homer had a meltdown. The change started Saturday, and when I went out yesterday to ride, he was beside himself, calling, pacing while tied, just a wreck. I put him back out so we could both recompose ourselves while I groomed the mare. Went back out to get him and worked with him to settle him down, and was pretty successful. But I was devastated that he has deteriorated so much in such a short time.

I think I can continue to work with him while I handle him regarding the herd sour behavior, but how do I teach him not to charge people/horses while being lead into/out of the pasture? My thought was to be there when the boarders went to get their horses so I could correct Homer if he misbehaved. But obviously can’t do that while he’s in the other turnout, which BM wants him to stay for a month to give the other boarders a break from his antics and in the hopes that re-introducing him will put him back at the bottom of the pecking order.

So my question is, what can I do with him in the mean time to correct this obviously unacceptable behavior? Has anyone seen a personality change like this with a horse after joint injections? The whole thing is so puzzling and upsetting. I want my horse back!! Thank you for reading and for any suggestions.

[Scribbler]

You can teach a horse to behave when he is under your control, for instance while he is being led.

You cannot teach a horse to behave in a certain way when he is loose in his stall or field and you are not there. It’s like keeping the cats off the kitchen counters or dog off the sofa when you are at work all day.

The only solution is setting up a situation where the horse is not a danger to other horses or humans. If the barn caters to many timid inexperienced clients that solution will look different than if the barn is full of pro race track grooms.

The timid clients could also be walked through a skills course in defending themselves. Always useful. But they are paying good money to enjoy their beginner safe horses in a quiet safe environment.

I don’t know what the property looks like or what your options are. But I think this horse needs to be in a turnout where he cannot attack other horses passing by. If that is not possible, or the options for that make him crazy, then you need another barn.

Note that all the mares are coming into strong heat about now and that can affect a gelding.

[findeight]

Ditto. There is nothing you can teach him that will work when the inexperienced or timid are around him, especially in a herd situation. You cant teach him not to take advantage of the timid who are afraid to deal with him or don’t know how.

Actually, when you board out, its best to assume other boarders lack your knowledge and confidence…and, really, the more timid or less experienced boarders shouldn’t need a high level of expertise and confidence with somebody else’s horse. Thats not an ideal situation for experienced or inexperienced boarders and sounds like your BO is dealing with it appropriately by separating him from the common group.

Just a thought, how often and for how long are you schooling him? Since he’s feeling better, he might need more work, turn out is great but not enough on its own for energetic, young horses. On top of which the time tested way of dealing with herd bound horses is a) don’t let it get started or, failing that, b). divert their attention to work and try to avoid them spending so much time together.

Easier said then done, I know. Perhaps a different barn would be better set up?

[No1]

It’s unlikely that this is a response to injecting his SI and far more likely it’s a result of the change in herd dynamics.

He’s probably all sorts of confused about what his place is in the herd now. The ratio of mares to geldings of far less important than the hierarchy of the horses in the pasture. Your horse may just be more sensitive to change than the others. Do one thing with him and stick with that for long enough for him to settle down. If that is leave him out with just your mare, do that.

Can he see or touch the other group over the fence?

[Fessy_s_Mom]

Alright. I get it. And I certainly don’t want to detract from the more timid boarder’s fun time at the barn. He can stay in the other field with my mare until October or so when the BM opens up both fields. I’ve suggested those boarders bring a longe whip with them and beat him over the head with it if they have to, but they don’t “want to be mean to him.” I say go for it. Maybe he’ll get tired of betting smacked when he pulls these stunts.

So no relation to the injections, which is good to hear. And yes, the mares are in heat right now, but this is probably at least the third strong cycle. Maybe the combination of the changes and the hormones is what is mostly to blame for his behavior.

I do have another barn I can move them to, just no where near as ideal as the current facility. sigh

No1 - he can’t reach the other horses, but he can see horses in turnouts all around his current pasture. But he wants to be with them, which I certainly understand. I’m giving him the day off to continue to acclimate to his new situation, mostly because I have an aversion to riding a fire-breathing dragon at my age.

findeight - I agree about riding him more. He’s been great being ridden 3 or 4 times a week. I’ll try going more often. Thank you!

[Scribbler]

IME horses often get a bit antsy when they move to a new field or stall or barn, but generally settle down within a week.

[J-Lu]

What others have said.

But, we’ve had good success teaching horses to stay out of people’s space at my barn by using a flag. The trainer at the barn gets in problem horses and I talk with the BOs and barnsit. You can start by being there when another border takes her horse out and be absolute boss mare to tell your gelding that no, he doesn’t get to approach people leading their horses out at all. The next step would be to have someone else be “boss mare” in this situation. The next step could be to have any border carry the flag when they get their horse. By this time, a person just carrying the flag should work because your horse should understand that humans are boss, not him. But at this point, them just raising their hand should work. The last step is that he should understand that people are over him in the herd dynamic. It sounds like he doesn’t understand his place in the herd and thinks people are under him.

We had a fresian/percheron come in who totally got in peoples’ space. What worked for him was to turn him out with 2 smaller mustang mares who kicked the crap out of him and showed him that he was at the bottom of their little 3 horse herd. His whole attitude changed.

You have to be like the mares were - not mean but fair. BACK OFF! Oh, you backed off? OK, everything is great again.

Yes, this approach depends on you being willing to be aggressive with him like a boss mare is, and if your horse is aggressive to others walking in and out of the pasture, you have a liability. But horses can be taught to respect people and back off of them. I’ve seen it work for so many problem horses at our barn over the years.

[quietann]

For the turnout frenzy, groups of 3 horses probably will work better than 2, because that way no one is left alone (unless both horse owners take out 2 of the horses at the same time.) Is there another horse with a more confident owner who could join your little herd?

[findeight]

Might be kind of tough for OP to be at the barn to supervise other boarders interaction with her horse unless she moves into the hay loft or something so she knows when they are going to be catching their horses.

Thats a part of boarding out, you cant be there all the time. Separation is the best answer for now.

[TheHunterKid90]

I think it’s unfair to ask other boarders to bring a lunge whip and beat your horse to defend themselves in the pasture.
My suggestion is you stop referring to him as “Poor Homer” and start making him act like a grown up a bit more.
Homer might miss his friends or not understand the new group dynamic but there’s no reason for a grown horse that is handled regularly to have a complete melt down being brought inside to be worked. He’s looking for a herd leader and that is you. You must teach him to control his emotions under reasonable stressors.
Horses that displayed his behavior under my care would be rotated to all of my pastures about once very two weeks until he couldn’t care less who he was with and whether or not he left or his friends left. I can see that’s not feasible at your BO’s facility but I surely would not return him to his pasture when he was mid melt down in the barn. Time to toughen up! I would continue to leave him separate until he’s not bothered by the separation and then begin to introduce him to the herd again.

[mvp]

@TheHunterKid90

I think it’s unfair to ask other boarders to bring a lunge whip and beat your horse to defend themselves in the pasture.
My suggestion is you stop referring to him as “Poor Homer” and start making him act like a grown up a bit more.
Homer might miss his friends or not understand the new group dynamic but there’s no reason for a grown horse that is handled regularly to have a complete melt down being brought inside to be worked. He’s looking for a herd leader and that is you. You must teach him to control his emotions under reasonable stressors.
Horses that displayed his behavior under my care would be rotated to all of my pastures about once very two weeks until he couldn’t care less who he was with and whether or not he left or his friends left. I can see that’s not feasible at your BO’s facility but I surely would not return him to his pasture when he was mid melt down in the barn. Time to toughen up! I would continue to leave him separate until he’s not bothered by the separation and then begin to introduce him to the herd again.

I do think you can help horses learn to feel security when their herd changes.

But, OP, what might work for you for now is putting another herd mate of his into your field while you take your mare out. Clearly being alone in that field, even if he can see his buddies, is too hard for him. Fine. So bring him a buddy. Personally, I wouldn’t bring him his favorite horse. Rather, I’d bring him a self-assured mare who didn’t care about him one way or another. In other words, give him security, but don’t make that so good that he continues to demand another horse be with him. And sooner or later, you should let Homer “cry it out” when he’s alone in his familiar field but can see other horses.

I’m going through this with my strong mare and needy gelding.

As to controlling other boarders or making better horsemen of them. Good luck with that. If I were at your barn, I’d have no problem backing your gelding up out of my space as just a matter of self-preservation. But I think your BO has some responsibility for this in how she has set the field up. If she were to build a small catch pen at the gate, she’d have a lot more options that let people contain horses and keep safe while trying to pull one of out the herd.

[eightpondfarm]

Teach your horse to have a disciplined mind. I’ve found that a youngster that wants to gnaw the barn, or dig big holes or paw at gates will transform into a different equine when exercised regularly, and when s/he’s worked on ground exercises…fun things, mentally challenging things, about five minutes about three times a day. A whole new horse blooms from many short little one-on-one sessions doing simple, yet challenging things.

Some horses just need to occupy their brains. Especially when stabled.
I had a morgan stallion who needed a pacifier every night to keep him from tearing down the walls. I hung a rope from a beam above his stall and tied about 20 or so knots. In the mornings, it was hanging straight down…all unknotted.

[seriously1]

Take a look at Warwick Schiller’s stuff, go back to the beginning of the relationship path. He has a some videos in dealing with herd bound horses. He also has a couple of FB groups where you can see where he has answered questions from others.