WWYD? My horse kicked me in the ribs.

[Sad_Sack]

I am okay, but mentally shaken. I have written about this horse in the past, and he actually has been doing better with HA injections. Basically, I have an older horse who was giving me trouble a while ago but with consistent handling and “Legend” injections he has been doing better and I’ve been riding him at the walk. He has been mostly fine,

The problem: he’s fine about 90% of the time. However, if something in the environment scares him and ramps him up, he can be hard to handle. I deal with this by trying to keep him focused on me. Tonight, I went to lead him in and we started towards the barn, but he became very agitated. I wasn’t sure I wanted to take him in the barn when he was like that (there were a bunch of people in there), so I went to turn back. He tried to pull away and I asked him to back up. He started kicking, I lost a bit of grip on the rope and that’s when he was able to nail me in the ribs. He kicked out away from me too and seemed kind of panicked. He got away, went back to his paddock and I got him back in there.

If this were a young horse, I’d send him to a trainer. This is an older horse with soundness issues, though. As it stands, there aren’t a ton of trainers where I am anyway, plus the vast majority are western trainers who use round penning to teach a horse respect. I have nothing against doing that for a horse who needs it, but is it worth doing that to an old, arthritic horse? I myself am not a horse trainer and am a nervous person in general. I’m just scared that this will happen again the next time he panics and I’ll end up with broken ribs or worse.

I mostly know what kind of responses I’ll get but I mostly want to vent my emotions with other horse people. I’ll likely talk to the boarding manager lady tomorrow - she seems nice, at least. This situation just sucks.

[Laurierace]

I would start by putting a chain over his nose. I am not sure I would want someone round penning my older horse either but I am sure they could help you figure out how to lead him safely without doing that. Most likely he is herdbound which can make even the sanest horse dangerous to work with but it can be managed. Glad you are ok.

[SuzieQNutter]

I will ask how you ard leading this horse. NH sttle with a loose lead and him following you. English with the horse next to you?

[Sad_Sack]

Thank you. I’m not sure he’s herd bound generally, although in this situation he may have wanted to go back to the other horses for security reasons. He’s usually fine being led away from his herd mates. The other horses were definitely concerned over something seen in the back area. Maybe a moose or bear showed up and made him anxious? I can see if someone can show me how to use a chain correctly, or help me figure out what to do when he starts panicking and pulling. He’s fine and obedient unless something gets him in “fight or flight” mode. I think if I’m handling him and he wants to bolt, he starts to feel trapped and panics. Sometimes I can refocus him, but when he started kicking, I got quite anxious as well.

[Sad_Sack]

@SuzieQNutter

I will ask how you ard leading this horse. NH sttle with a loose lead and him following you. English with the horse next to you?

Not, not on a loose lead with him following me. He has a rope halter and I lead him so he’s next to me (but slightly behind).

[Scribbler]

When you lose control of the head then the horse can kick you whether that’s accidental or deliberate. You need to never lose control of the head. That means you wear grippy gloves at all times (deer skin are wonderful), you use a lead shank that gives you purchase (I like a fairly soft thick cotton rope), you carry a whip to keep him from running you over, you act proactively, and you never let yourself daydream. And you put something on his head that lets you control him at his worst.

They are all fine 90% of the time until they aren’t.

It’s hard with a horse that’s usually calm because there aren’t many opportunities to practice how we handle scary things.

You need to feel secure enough in your horse handling that you don’t get afraid and stop handling him effectively.

[alibi_18]

I deal with this by trying to keep him focused on me.

What exactly are you doing?

Shit can happen, but whatever you are doing doesn’t seem very effective.

I think you are in need of handling lessons and be better equipped for the task.

Tonight, I went to lead him in and we started towards the barn, but he became very agitated. I wasn’t sure I wanted to take him in the barn when he was like that (there were a bunch of people in there), so I went to turn back.

You weren’t sure.

You can totally decide to change your mind and go to which ever direction you want, especially if you know it won’t be safe.

But you need to be confident about it. At least, your body language needs to pretend you are…

He tried to pull away and I asked him to back up.

This is not the right way to react to a horse who’s pulling away.

Also, if he’s arthritic, backing up frantically is the worst thing you can do.

You should have stayed as still as possible and pull its head down toward you. Until it calmed down, staying still.

No mini circle, no backing up, no nothing.
Head down and quiet, close to you.

He started kicking, I lost a bit of grip on the rope and that’s when he was able to nail me in the ribs.

How could this horse started kicking? Weren’t you backing him up?

I think you were already too far while leading. You’ve lost some length when he pulled back, and some more while backing him up, which he didn’t do much…

Because there is no way a horse can back up and kick at the same time. and if he is moving away from you, unless he swirled around, he shouldn’t have been in position to hurt you.

You need to learn how to position yourself around this horse, how to effectively use a lead chain and a whip, and what training techniques will be good for you both.

He kicked out away from me too and seemed kind of panicked. He got away, went back to his paddock and I got him back in there.

Whatever he did while loose is irrelevant.
At least you got him back. How was he afterward?

[alibi_18]

@Sad_Sack

Not, not on a loose lead with him following me. He has a rope halter and I lead him so he’s next to me (but slightly behind).

Slightly behind is too far for this horse.

On an unrestrictive but very short lead chain,
you want his head next to your tight.
Height wise, you want its head between your knee and hip. It must never get higher than your hip, never.

Because you want to see/feel things coming from the slightness head up movement.

[Sad_Sack]

@alibi_18

How could this horse started kicking? Weren’t you backing him up?

I think you were already too far while leading. You’ve lost some length when he pulled back, and some more while backing him up, which he didn’t do much…

Because there is no way a horse can back up and kick at the same time. and if he is moving away from you, unless he swirled around, he shouldn’t have been in position to hurt you.

You need to learn how to position yourself around this horse, how to effectively use a lead chain and a whip, and what training techniques will be good for you both.

Whatever he did while loose is irrelevant.
At least you got him back. How was he afterward?

I didn’t back him up forever. Just a couple of steps, then I stopped. It’s hard to remember the exact sequences of actions. I can certainly take a different approach and have him keep his head down. I aim to keep control of his head, but obviously that didn’t work this time.

[betsyk]

When one of mine was young, we had some moments… I saw the bottoms of his feet a few times when he had no business showing them to me. We did a LOT of ground work. They key is, you have to do it on the good days or it won’t pay off on the bad days. Lead him all over the place, tske him carefully into slightly more challenging situations, build the skills.

While you’re working on all that, can you get someone else to go with you when you have to bring him in? Best if they bring in another horse at the same time, but even if they just go along for moral support, they might see aspects of the situation that will help you improve your handling skills.

if he’s older, he knows exactly what he’s doing. Don’t cut him too much slack for being old and arthritic. He can choose to behave or he can choose to be a dingdong. Remind him he’d rather choose to behave.

[222orchids]

For starters, until you figure it out I would not handle him without my helmet and safety vest on, buckled and zipped.

[Sad_Sack]

@betsyk

When one of mine was young, we had some moments… I saw the bottoms of his feet a few times when he had no business showing them to me. We did a LOT of ground work. They key is, you have to do it on the good days or it won’t pay off on the bad days. Lead him all over the place, tske him carefully into slightly more challenging situations, build the skills.

While you’re working on all that, can you get someone else to go with you when you have to bring him in? Best if they bring in another horse at the same time, but even if they just go along for moral support, they might see aspects of the situation that will help you improve your handling skills.

I don;t know about who can help me when I bring him in but that is a good idea. I don’t really know anyone at the barn well. I do believe I need to get an experienced horse person to assist me. I’ll have to talk to the boarding manager to see if anyone at the barn can give me some handling tips…there are people who give lessons at the barn (primarily beginner lessons to kids), but I don’t know if any will give some handling lessons (I’d pay them, of course). I have had plenty of riding lessons in the past, but any lesson horse I rode or leased was fine and safe on the ground.

[S1969]

@Sad_Sack

I didn’t back him up forever. Just a couple of steps, then I stopped. It’s hard to remember the exact sequences of actions. I can certainly take a different approach and have him keep his head down. I aim to keep control of his head, but obviously that didn’t work this time.

Why? Did you need to back up, or was the “backing up” a consequence for poor behavior?

I’ve seen this as a technique when a horse doesn’t want to go forward but I don’t know that it makes sense - especially to the horse. More importantly, you’ve changed your position relative to the horse and apparently lost control.

Are you working with a trainer? I’d be paying a trainer to work with you and the horse on basic ground work at this point.

[Chall]

Taking lessons on handling a horse is a good idea, as long s the trainer is good, knows safety. It’s surprising that this isn’t more emphasized in the horse world.
it should be.
Dont feel humiliated or embarrassed when asking for this, because I suspect trainers will be taken aback, because they haven’t thought about this and wouldn’t have a clearly thought out plan.

Trainers of kids may be your best resource. My school barn had afternoon classes on horse care, basics of conformation, hoof picking, how to remove a shoe and a visiting blacksmith, how to put a saddle on, bridle etc.

[Vyce]

If you can’t find anyone at your barn, I recommend looking up some Warwick Schiller videos on groundwork and respect. He has a youtube channel. His videos have helped me with a snotty opinionated Arab. Best of luck OP I hope you can find a solution.

[WildLittleWren]

If you can’t get access to a trainer, I second Vyce’s opinion of looking up some Warwick Schiller videos on groundwork and respect.Good luck!

[DinkyDonk]

Work with a trainer if possible, or look up Clinton Anderson’s methods and give them a try; put him on a magnesium supplement for 2 weeks to see if it makes a difference.

[clanter]

@Vyce

I hope you can find a solution.

at times we had to remind the TB mare after-all there is the nearby International Exotic Animal Sanctuary who would accept her

https://www.bigcat.org/

[Hawks_Nest]

Definitely try and find someone to help you learn some handling techniques for a horse like this. Ground work is really important and too many people don’t realize how much better their horses could behave.

That being said some techniques for being safer while you try to get help.

1. Always use equipment that allows you to lower the horse’s head. Be it rope halter or a chain shank, you need to have some way to communicate effectively with the horse.

2. Do not leave the horse’s shoulder. That is the safest place to be. Keep his body bent slightly around you, even if you have to jam a finger into the base of his neck to make him yield a bit. When you stop, he stops, when you walk, he walks. He is not allowed to deviate from being shoulder to shoulder with you.

3. Always carry a dressage whip in your left hand. This helps stop the horse from getting behind you. If it starts to lag and drop from being shoulder to shoulder, use the whip to encourage him to march with you rather than pulling him along. That way the lead rope is only use to communicate “whoa” and “head down”

With those things, when something goes wrong you should have control of the horse’s head and their hind end. The horse should always move away from pressure (this is often not the case due to poor training unfortunately). When things start to go wrong you want to make sure his neck is bent towards you and that you can send his haunches away from you.

All horses have their moments. I HATE handling horses I don’t know or that I know aren’t handled well because I can’t trust that when things go wrong they will yield away from me. My own horse can be leaping and bucking but I know he will never, ever, point those hind legs at me.

[Scribbler]

You can also research in your area for good groundwork or colt starting trainers and pay one to come to your barn, with of course permission from your barn manager.