[browneyedcowgrl]

I have a 5 year old throughbred that is 18 hands big big big thing and he has some issues ive been trying to work out. Lets start with his newest one we just recently put him in a big pasture with 4 other horses that have bad habits from being in a pasture together lol. Our stalls flooded from all the rain so bad habits are better than thrush. well he has a pony friendthat i trained at one point in time and she tends to grind her teeth when she is angry at another horse. A common issue. So ever since i put him in there he has picked up the habit but taken it to extremes, if i do something he doesnt like he turns and grinds his teeth at me and pins his ears (ime not hurting him in any way) I can deal with it on the ground but his new one is he does it with the bit in his mouth when i ask him to do something he doesnt feel like doing . he hasnt shown aggression yet but i feel a little disrespected and its also VERY annoying to me. He used to be such a sweet horse not a mean bone in his body and now hes starting to get nasty how do i make this grinding stop and the disrespect?

[AtomicPenny]

Firstly you need to rule out that it isn't discomfort. Have the vet check for any dental abnormalities like wolf teeth, etc and have her rule out stomach ulcers, which tend to be showing up more and more in horses and can cause them to grind their teeth. Also any muscle soreness, lameness issues, etc etc. Medical reasons being said...

If he does this on the ground as well as under saddle I'm putting this down as a respect issue. Check to be sure his bit, noseband, saddle etc all fit well to rule those out, but I don't think that is the problem. This is one of those situations where you need to be sure to be firm and exact with everything you do with him. Some big horses don't know their big, and some figure it out. He may be one of the latter. And where he is still relatively young he's also going to test you out. A horse realizing they are bigger than you, and also one who's still trying to establish just where his boundaries are means you have to seem extreme to him. I'm not by any means saying you need to beat the **** out of him or anything, but I'm saying you can not let him get away with one single thing when you are with him. Where he is large and this is gradually getting worse, you need to be very stubborn, and make yourself seem formidable. If he tries to make you move over when you're bringing out hay, stand your ground and get him to move over...if he turns his head and pins his ears at you when you tighten the girth, a harsh "no" and quick smack on the nose can work wonders. If he tries to push you around on the ground carry a crop with you if need be. Doesn't want to trot at one half of the ring, tough, he needs to do it. In a nutshell, you are the boss. Horses are used to living in herds, their used to being above or below certain individuals. Be sure to establish yourself as dominant over him and it'll sink in and he'll stop. It's a respect and slowly progressing aggresive attitude he has taken to you (again if it's not a medical problem) and you need to just be tough and nip it in the bud.

Karen

[browneyedcowgrl]

thank you. he definetly knows hes bigger he uses it to his advantage on the ground ecpecially when i lunge him he will run at me and intentionally try to run me over he moves so close that you are uncomfortable. I will definetly do this with him

[AtomicPenny]

Unfortunately this is one of those types of problems where with one person he knows he can't get away with it, and with another he knows he can. Just always appear tough and above him and be sure that you are the one controlling the situation. If you don't lunge him with a lunge whip be sure you do. When lunging I tell my guys "out" when they start coming in. Use a voice command but have the lunge whip to back it up. Since he knows he's big, and knows he's intimidating you probably are going to have to be pretty physical at first to get your point across, which I know isn't fun, but is in some cases necessary. If he tries to push you around on the ground I would carry a crop at all times also for the time being...a jab with the handle end in his side to tell him to get over. I've dealt with some very aggressive horses in the past....ended up with a lot of "problem" horses, somehow managed to get free ones all the time lol. If you have any more questions or want to know more specific things shoot me an e-mail or a pm, have experience with guys like him lol

Karen
equuskeepusbrokus@yahoo.com

[IIIBarsV]

Be extremely careful. I have a 16.2hh gelding who knows he's bigger and is extremely aggressive if you're aggressive with him (due to previous owners), so the best way to work with him is to do it passive aggressively- ie, if he comes towards me at any point when I haven't invited him to come over, if he's aggressive I immediately get my hand on his nose and ask him to back up several steps. The speed doesn't matter, as long as he does it. Then I pet him and tell him "that's nice" and he gets the positive reinforcement.

Today, for example, he was being ignorant because he's bored in his stall (weather's keeping them in), and he didn't want to back up when I asked him to. So instead of trying to flail at him over the stall door, I gave him a quick spray with the hose, and he backed up. As soon as he did the hose shut off and he was told "Good Boy", and THEN he backed up nicely when I asked him again. lol Sometimes it takes something unusual that I would not normally do to make the point without getting myself hurt.

Grinding teeth when there's no pain issues- especially when it's you if you're not doing anything but standing nearby- is a threat. He's saying "Get away from me or I'll..." and the next step is either him trying to bite you or charging you.

My big gelding did both a few weeks ago (because I kicked out at him instead of making him back up d'oh), and he tried it the first few days we owned him, as well as with his old owner. I'm not afraid of horses, but I was a little shakey after I saw the bottom of his belly a couple of times, lol. The biggest horse in my barn is 16hh and the rest are all 14.3hh-15.3hh. I've handled 17hh and 17.3hh before, but they were both very gentle giants. But with this gelding, I know how you feel. 18hh is HUGE, and it's also why passive aggression on your part is probably a more wise decision.

The bottomline is you want his respect and cooperation. But I can guarantee, physical aggression will get you no where with a horse of this size especially if he's giving you warnings. The bottomline is he's 18hh and probably weighs 1300lbs, and you're under 250lbs and probably shorter.
Obviously, brawn will not work. So you've got to use your brain muscles.