[jburns]

I have a 7yo unbroke QH gelding that I have been working with since Nov. and lately he has started turning away from me in his stall when I go to get him out to work. He sees me and the halter and turns his butt to me in his stall and we do the run around with me trying to get he halter on. He does not try to kick or puts his ears back or anything, he just looks at me like..."mom I dont want to today"
We usually go around for a few minutes before I break out a carrot and coax his nose into the halter while he tries to get the carrot...it works, but I would rather work on this issue instead of relying on the quick fix(carrot)
I have not had any issues with him not wanting to be caught to come inside from the pasture...its just when he is in his stall.
I belive he is starting to associate me with work He sees me coming and say "NOPE!" I have tried just coming out and spending some quality time with him and not making him work off and on and that hasnt helped.

Anyone have thoughts or suggestions on how I can work on this?
Thanks in advance

[jpottert]

The first thing I would stop is chasing him around the pens trying to get him caught, the goal is to get him to come to you. I would start by doing some work with him that is without haltering. Walk up to him in the stall without the halter and mess with him for a while (pet him, push on him, get him used to your movement), then start doing it while carrying the halter, and slowly work up to the halter. I have seen this work before so it may help you...good luck!!!

[EVOO]

I may be a little harsher than others but I'd take a long training stick and correct him verbally the first time ("ANNNH!" or "NO!") when he turns around - if he doesn't come back around to face you I'd pop him with the stick - probably on whichever side of him I want to swing around to bring him facing me. He's blatantly disrespecting you and if it's not corrected now it will only progress to more severe ways in which to do it.

I'd also suggest teaching him a place to stand in his stall when you come in. For my mare I like her to stand along the back wall. I rarely even have to signal for her to stand there anymore, she just knows when I'm in the stall unless I asked her to stand someplace else that's where she belongs.

[bnwalker2]

Originally Posted by EVOO

I may be a little harsher than others but I'd take a long training stick and correct him verbally the first time ("ANNNH!" or "NO!") when he turns around - if he doesn't come back around to face you I'd pop him with the stick - probably on whichever side of him I want to swing around to bring him facing me. He's blatantly disrespecting you and if it's not corrected now it will only progress to more severe ways in which to do it.

I'd also suggest teaching him a place to stand in his stall when you come in. For my mare I like her to stand along the back wall. I rarely even have to signal for her to stand there anymore, she just knows when I'm in the stall unless I asked her to stand someplace else that's where she belongs.

Agreed, this is great advice and this is what I do with my horses as well.

[MissHopesMom]

Hope was doing this with me for a little while when she first went into a stall. Trying to chase her around to get it on her actually made the problem worse.

What I did was wait until she was finished getting herself away and stopped, then I would calmly proceed towards her, quite close to her body. I could push her bum away from me if she started to turn herself away, which would bring her head back around. Once at her shoulder, I would halter her with one hand under her jaw... if she tried pulling her face away I would swing her head back around and keep going with the haltering.

My old gelding used to fuss in the paddock when being haltered, so we used to use a lead rope around his neck to give some control until the halter was on.

[jburns]

Thank you guys for the advice! He just recently started doing this...so I want to nip it in the bud before it gets worse. I know him "showing me his butt" is disrespectful and needs to stop!
So, let me get this right....when I first enter the stall, with training stick in hand, I approach him and if he turns away from me then I give him a verbal warning...if he doesn't listen I give him a pop on the side of the butt I want him to move away from me...then attempt again?
What do I do when I try to put his halter on and he puts his head up and backs away? Verbal warning and then what?

How do I go about teaching him where I want him to stand in his stall when I am in there? Just move him to where I want him to be and repeat that everytime I enter and he will eventually catch on?

Sorry for all the questions, but I really want to nip this in the bud before I have a bigger problem on my hands.
Also, I have been doing some work with him in his stall without the halter. I go in there fiddle with him a bit, move him around to pick up poop and he does quite well listening that way...its when I show him the halter that I have the problems.

Thanks again for all the help it is very much appreicated

[dvineequine]

You need to get him used to the halter so it's not a bad thing and gain his trust in the confined area. Yelling and hitting him in the stall where he is already confined will only increase his desire to get away from you. This can also lead to potential danger as you have limited spaces to get away from flying feet and 1000 pound body in a stall. Go to his stall and talk him into coming to you. If you have a halter drop it on the ground and let him know you aren't there to catch him, start to use reverse psychology on him.
Let him sniff you first, hold out your hand and let him do it. Don't force him and be patient and wait, bend at the waist and look at his rump, make this obvious, he will start to wonder what the heck you are doing, when he turns and faces you stand up straight look down and hold out your hand. When he does eventually come to sniff your hand he is all yours halter or not. You will be able to pat on him rub the halter on him, put it off and on him ect.
This may take up to 1/2 hour so be patient, if you advance on him the point is lost and his trust will be gone and it will take even longer next time.
But if you take the time it takes it will be lesser and lesser time each visit.
He will soon meet you at the door and be glad to see you.
Sounds like he is a good guy every where else, I would mix up his work, not frazzle him and just visit for a nibble or a brush/ massage once and a while.

[jburns]

Originally Posted by dvineequine

You need to get him used to the halter so it's not a bad thing and gain his trust in the confined area. Yelling and hitting him in the stall where he is already confined will only increase his desire to get away from you. This can also lead to potential danger as you have limited spaces to get away from flying feet and 1000 pound body in a stall. Go to his stall and talk him into coming to you. If you have a halter drop it on the ground and let him know you aren't there to catch him, start to use reverse psychology on him.
Let him sniff you first, hold out your hand and let him do it. Don't force him and be patient and wait, bend at the waist and look at his rump, make this obvious, he will start to wonder what the heck you are doing, when he turns and faces you stand up straight look down and hold out your hand. When he does eventually come to sniff your hand he is all yours halter or not. You will be able to pat on him rub the halter on him, put it off and on him ect.
This may take up to 1/2 hour so be patient, if you advance on him the point is lost and his trust will be gone and it will take even longer next time.
But if you take the time it takes it will be lesser and lesser time each visit.
He will soon meet you at the door and be glad to see you.
Sounds like he is a good guy every where else, I would mix up his work, not frazzle him and just visit for a nibble or a brush/ massage once and a while.

I will have to try that...couldn't hurt

[belsenj]

Sienna did this briefly with me too. This is what I have done.

The first time she turned her rump to me when I wanted to halter her, I made her move further away. Then I walked away from the front of her stall and gave her a couple of minutes to think about it. (btw, I never enter her stall to halter her, she comes to me). Couple of minutes later I repeated my request for her to halter. If she didn't, I walked away again. It wasn't until she completely ignored me that I entered the stall, walked right to her shoulder and proceeded to put the halter on. When we get to our destination she gets lots of praise and some treats.

She repeated this twice when I was trying to halter her in her paddock. The first time, I entered the paddock and retrieved her, but the second time I realized she was messing with me, so I quickly went and started sending her around in her paddock. I made her move because she was moving away from me. After about 5 minutes of this, I let her stand and think about it. I was then able to walk up to her and haltered her up and praised her.

We had that lesson those times and from that point forward, she has always come to me at her stall door or her paddock gate when I pick up the halter. This last week she was actually lowering her head so I can put it on.

Chasing a horse won't work, but sending them away and then backing away can work wonders.

[jburns]

Thank you all for the tips I will give it a try...I want to do it as nicely as possible first....see how that goes.
Thanks again for all the help