My horse has a bad habit of swinging her head around when we are petting her. She is a great horse %26 is very gentile. One time she swong her head %26 hit me in the mouth %26 allmost knoked me out. How do I brake her of this habit?
Answers:
Maybe you are standing where she cannot see you very well. Being that you are the human and she is the horse, it is your responsibility to make sure that you do not put yourself in a position to get hurt.
If you are convinced that it is a habit, hold a crop in your hand with the butt end towards her head. When she swings her head around let HER bump her head (make sure it's not by her eye) into the crop end. DO NOT hit her with or move the crop. Hold it stationary.
Act like you have no idea what happened when she bumps into it. You don't want her thinking that you are disciplining her. Simply that if she swings her head around she gets an uncomfortable result. If you do it right she will not like the feeling and it will help curb the bad habit. I think you need to also try to figure out WHY she is swinging her head around.
sorry to hear that you need to tighten the rains a bit
Is she doing it with pinned ears, a snake-neck gesture, or any other signs of annoyance? I know some thinner skinned horses don't enjoy rough brushing. .it might be uncomforable for her. Why not try super-gentle brushing with only a soft bristle brush and see if she acts any differently.
To teach her better behavior, I would not resort to hitting her or anything negative. I really like Clicker Training. You can teach her in a positive way to stand quietly and discourage bad habits. I recommend the book "clicker train your horse" by Kurland.
Let her know you are buy her talk to her. She may not see you as you may be in a blind spot for her. Try putting a halter on her and having some one hold her head steady and pet her. She should get used to someone being by her head.
Try Holding Her Head Down.
have a bridel on her and when she swings her head pull the bridel and tell her to stop
She may just be trying to rub on you if her face is itchy. Does it happen more when you take the bridle off or if she's sweaty? She doesn't know the power she has. I would have a halter on her while petting, that way you can control her head. It's probably a habit she's formed, you just need to break her of it.
she is probably head-shy. my 8-year old QH mare does this sometimes. is she touchy about her ears or around her eyes? you could just be bothering her and she wants you to stop. when she is eating, just run your hand from the withers, down her neck, all the way to her poll. slowly run your fingers up and down her ears. try to get to where you can fold them around and touch them without her going psycho. my home email is williamson7683@verizon.net if you have any other questions.
moniter her and see if she does it at any other time. she may have a sore back or teeth problems. does she eat her feed okay? is she comfortable when you put her halter or bridle on? she may be headshy and this needs a lot of time and patience. Speak gently and quietly to her and dont rush her into anything. Explore all options as it may not be that straight forward.
You have to stand in her direct line of sight and let her know who the boss is..what happens is horses do not realize that we are not as big as they are and they want to play with you.
If its an aggressive act then again you have to show her who is boss, she needs to know that you are incharge, how ever you (if you did yourself) halter broke her use that method again, she will get it.
one other option is to catch her with in seconds of her doing this and react in an aggressive manner..tap on the nose or yelling tell her to stop.she'll get the idea.
Where are you petting her? If you are petting her head, maybe she doesnt like it. I am sure she means no harm. She is simply reacting to a situation she is uncomfortable with. Try allowing her to approach your hand for the pet. Also, if it is that she is bored with her life or a little bossy, Try working with her on the ground. Lead her around an indoor arena (So no tempting grass causes aproblem) stand on her left side and hold your right hand close to the her halter on the lead rope. Don't jerk her head around but keep her attention focused to you. Practice stopping and standing and moving forward on your comands. This may not seem related but she needs a confident leader. Horses sometimes need time out of the stall and this along with horse time in the pasture may make her less of a head swinger. Also, never leave your gaurd down around a horses head, it is alot more powerful than yours!
well alot of horses do that. theres probably something wrong that your horse doesn't like you petting him. If your horse is still green, maybe thats why write back and tell me more about your horse like how old he is breed and so on .
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