 |
| A horse that is aggressive toward people is obviously a danger and a liability. Most horses that show aggression toward people are not actually vicious but instead have a lack of respect. You may see a horse that is gentle and well behaved with an experienced horseman quickly become dangerous with an inexperienced handler that they do not respect. ... |
|
|
| When horses are aggressive towards other animals: dogs, cats, goats, llamas, cows, sheep, pigs etc., it is usually bad news for the smaller animal unless they are quick enough to escape. In some of these cases, the horse initially is curious of the smaller animal and may follow it closely. The horse's size alone is enough to frighten many small ani... |
|
|
| Horses can be aggressive towards each other in many ways including; biting, striking, kicking, chasing, stalking or guarding a food or water source. When horses are aggressive towards other horses, the human is usually unable to intervene. Most cases of aggression occur in a paddock or pasture where the animals will quickly outmaneuver and outdista... |
|
|
| Horses may have to wear bandages or leg wraps for a variety of health related reasons. The bandage or wrap may be necessary to: Protect a wound Protect sutures Support an injury Keep medication on a wound or injury Keep liniment on a strain Keep heat or cold therapy applied to an injury To preve... |
|
|
| Blankets, sheets, hoods and fly masks are expensive necessities in some segments of the horse industry. They are used: To prevent insect bites To keep an animal dry For UV light protection To keep a haircoat polished and smooth For warmth To prevent eye infections that are transmitted by flies T... |
|
|
| This bad habit can be seen in any aged horse but is most common in foals. It may be caused by boredom in an older horse or the eruption of new teeth in a young horse. In a short amount of time a horse can have his entire mane, forelock and tail dramatically shortened if not completely removed by a chewing companion. This leaves the "chewed" horse n... |
|
|
| Cribbing and windsucking are different terms used to describe a particular bad habit unique to horses. For simplicity sake we will refer to it as cribbing for the remainder of this discussion. (Sometimes wood chewing will be incorrectly referred to as "cribbing". Wood chewing<... |
|
|
| This section is designed to help you better understand why horses begin bad habits. Hopefully by understanding why horses perform many bad habits, we can make changes in their environment that will prevent them from ever starting in the first place. Horses have evolved to be free ranging social animals. The majority of every 24-hour period w... |
|
|
| The hard part about teaching horsemanship to the general public is there aren't a lot of hard, fast rules. There are very few rules that never, ever change. Because a horse is a living creature. He is a reaction with four legs. He's constantly reacting to everything around him. Depending on the horse's mood, depending on his temperament, dep... |
|
|
| It is completely normal and necessary for foals to eat manure but not adult horses. Foals are born without the bacteria that are necessary to digest fiber and cellulose in plant material. By eating fresh manure, the foal obtains these bacteria and is able to begin digesting the solid foods they are already nibbling on. It is important that foals ar... |
|
|
| Horses kick in the trailer for a variety of reasons. They may not like being in close proximity with other horses and may kick at them. They may be bored. They may have become trained that when they do kick in the trailer, the trailer stops and a person comes to check on them, thus rewarding the bad behavior. For whatever the reason, kicking in the... |
|
|
| Leaning Over or Through Fences Opening Gates or Stall Doors Removing Tank Heaters or Water Hoses The following are all nuisance behaviors that may have dangerous consequences. Leaning over or through fences. This is usually an expression of "the grass in greener on the other side" rule. T... |
|
|
| Horses, mules and donkeys primarily make noise for attention. We have listed a few below but there are a wide variety of noises that they can make, depending on the creativity of the individual. Striking or kicking a feeder, water tank, stall door or gate with their hooves or legs Scraping their teeth along a stall door, sta... |
|
|
| Horses normally paw from frustration or impatience. They may be impatient if they feel they are not being fed quick enough. They can be frustrated by many things; being left behind when a pasture-mate or neighbor is taken out to work or being tied for any length of time. Some horses will paw so fervently that they almost seem unaware of their surro... |
|
|
| Stall kicking occurs at all hours of the day and night. Horses may kick the stall walls in anticipation of receiving feed. They may kick the walls out of frustration, excitement or boredom. They may kick the walls trying to reach a neighboring horse. Others have been trained that when they kick the walls, they receive some form of attention when a ... |
|
|
| Hot walkers are machines that turn slowly and walk horses around in a circle at a set speed. Horses are tied at the end of long poles that keep them a safe distance from each other, which allows multiple horses to be walked at one time. They provide constant pull but have a slip clutch which will allow the walker to be stopped if enough force is pl... |
|
|
| In a perfect world horses could all be turned out into hundreds of acres of pasture with many other horses to run in herds in complete harmony. This would solve all of the problems that are caused by confinement, lack of exercise, high-energy feed and lack of socialization. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that most people do not have... |
|
|
| This is often seen in young stallions or inexperienced stallions when first being used for breeding. It can also be seen in older stallions that have learned bad behaviors over the years. They may bite or strike the stallion handler or try to charge and bite the mare. Stallions that bite or strike the handler may do so out of excitement and frustra... |
|
|
| The above three behaviors are similar in that in each case the horse repeats a movement over and over until it seems like they are in a trance-like state. Weavers will rhythmically shift their weight back and forth from one front foot to another while simultaneously bobbing their head and neck from side to side. With every step they twist and push ... |
|
|
| Some horses can put a beaver to shame when it comes to chewing wood. With today's high quality feeds it is unusual that a horse chews wood for any nutritional reason but it is always good to have a veterinarian rule out a dietary deficiency. Horses may chew wood when they are bored or they may chew wood after a rainstorm when it smells more appeali... |
|
|
| Read customer letters telling their ViceBreaker success stories. |
|
Help me choose:
