refusing 2 yr old

[jenna_nicole1994]

I have a 2 yr old filly who is absolutely refusing to go anywhere near the barn. I took her out to lounge her and she started to back her butt towards me. I have never had her do this. She is also refusing to go toward her pasture. HELP!!

 

[patandchickens]

So this is new behavior, she's never had a problem with it before?

First, has she been "behind" on turnout... they can do this sometimes if they are feeling really pent-up and stroppy. Also is she in heat, a few mares can be really weird then.

Do you have electric fence. That would be my next thought. What you describe is CLASSIC stray voltage or short or fault-in-buried-wire behavior. If you have a hotwire buried under a gateway or driveway, that is the likeliest suspect, but a wide variety of other faults can give similar results. Animals may refuse to go near the zappy area even once the fence charger is turned off, as they've learned "that gateway has evil feet-zapping fairies!" (or "that water tub" or "that gate" or whatever).

If you have no electric fencing on the property, the major remaining possibility that I can think of is that something has scared her around the barn. An animal that is (or was) in the barn; a piece of roof tin flapping in the wind just the wrong way; she knocked down an iron pipe leaning against the fence and it scared the bejeebers out of her; that sort of thing. You can't always figure out what it was, you just have to deal with it as a training issue. With some horses a bucket of grain (held by you or by a second person in front of you) can solve most "won't, can't, shan't!" type problems; with other horses it can just make them more obnoxious. I would suggest working not just on getting her back to the barn but on the whole back-and-forth routine, preferably in many short sessions with some reward she likes, rather than as a single marathon and she feels there wasn't anything in it for her.

Good luck, let us know how it goes and if you figure it out,

Pat

 

[mydakota]

Backing her butt to you is behavior that MUST be nipped in the bud. It is extremely disrespectful and dangerous. By all means, if you do have stray electricity, fix it. I am not saying she should stand by and be shocked. But don't tolerate her ever backing her butt to you. I wouldn't resort to bribery either. She should go to the barn for no more reason than just because you told her to. Every time. She doesn't get to vote and she doesn't get to argue. Most horses mature out to 1000-1300 lbs. It is imperative that she be respectful and obedient. She just won't be safe to be around if she is not. Some mares can be extremely dominant--violently so when they don't get their way. ( and the same mare can be sweet as sugar when everything is going down to their liking) Don't let her continue to get away with it.

 

[mydakota]

I just re-read what I wrote above and it sounded a bit sharp. That was not my intention and I am sorry if it was off-putting. I don't know what your experience level is with horses, or how many young horses you have had. I have had horses for 42 years. There is so much to know in order to turn a young horse into a mature, respectful, safe partner. The journey is never ending and I am learning from my horses every time I handle them, just as they are learning from me. In horse "body-language" putting your back end to someone and backing into them is a clear statement that she thinks she is the higher of the two in the pecking order and she has no intention of doing as she is told. It really doesn't matter why. Within the hierarchy of a herd, it wouldn't matter if she was scared of what was in front of her because she would be MORE scared of behaving disrespectfully towards the boss mare in the herd. If the boss mare said "go", she would go--no matter what. You need to be the boss mare. Not only for your safety, but for hers. I am involved as a foster home for a rescue in my state. I can say with certainty that the horse least likely to end up in rescue is the horse with enough ground manners to be safe to handle and enough training to do a job that makes them useful to someone. Someone will pretty much always want that horse around. The horse MOST likely to end up in rescue is the horse that never learned to be respectful and has no clue as to his appropriate place in the pecking order. So it is for both your safety AND your horses safety that you MUST make it clear to her that what she did will not be tolerated by you and that you are a force to be reckoned with. Does this mean I think it is okay to beat a horse into submission? Absolutely not. But it does mean that some actions will be thwarted by any means necessary and available in the moment. My main riding horse is a 7 year old Arabian gelding. I have had him since he was a long yearling and have done all his ground and saddle training myself. He is hot by nature and would be too much horse for some people. He could easily be dangerous. But he is not. And I don't believe I have ever laid a hand on him in a punitive way. But it was made very clear in his early handling that I was in charge. He just doesn't question it--so those things never come up. I believe that in a different situation he could be a very different horse. Here? He is the light of my life. If he ever found himself in a situation where his butt was to me?? I think he might have a heart attack. He knows. Please make sure your mare knows. For your own safety and for hers.