Help with some ground manners during PARADES!

[maewest4u]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My 5yr old miniature Appaloosa “Phantom “ seems to lose a lot of his ground manners during parades. I lead him and he continuously pushes me with his shoulder. This was his fourth parade today and he has just gotten worse. He was all over the place. I had him on a stud chain and that helps but I need something more. His brother, Apache, is lead by my daughter and its is like walking a dog. I’m a senior and don’t need him pushing on me! Help!

 

[LostandFound]

My guess is that he is nervous. Although he could just be being bad. A rope halter is more severe than a chain, you could try that, and/ or any of the natural horsemanship stuff if you are into that. You can also desensitize him more to the kind of things that make him anxious at a parade. Starting with smaller outings and giving him more time to get comfortable.

 

[maewest4u]

My guess is that he is nervous. Although he could just be being bad. A rope halter is more severe than a chain, you could try that, and/ or any of the natural horsemanship stuff if you are into that. You can also desensitize him more to the kind of things that make him anxious at a parade. Starting with smaller outings and giving him more time to get comfortable.

Thank you for your input. I do believe you are correct saying that he is just nervous. I don’t want to punish him for being anxious but he has to respect my space.

 

[LostandFound]

I usually just stop them, turn and face them and back them up a few steps, then let them settle for a few seconds. The problem is you can teach them to do that, but you can't really practice it at a parade.

 

[Cayuse]

I have two like this. The "shoulder thing"is a fav move. My 2 cents is that you don't need "more", you need less. Stud chains work mine up into a dither. Both pull against them and one will bite and really looses his marbles. I would work on ground manners at home and get him to respect your space at all times. If he gets pushy, back him up. Don't back up with him as that maintains the close contact, but make him back away from YOU. Once he's away from you, give him a "good boy' and just chill out, stand for a minute, breath and regroup. It's going to take a few sessions, maybe more if it's an ingrained habit. And it's something you can practice whenever you are working around them doing other things like feeding or brushing, just ask them to take a step away from you.
I'm not against stud chains, I've used them. But I think some horses just get worked up with them.
Warrick Schiller might have some good youtube videos on this stuff.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Some horses cannot handle the stimulus. Ive had two that practically lost their minds at parades. You can keep working with him, but some just never get comfortable. Sometimes they can be downright dangerous. We tend to think that if we just keep exposing them to new things, they will "get over it". But I'm not sure it doesn't create a behavior pattern that becomes more difficult.
Could you do a cross tie with someone who can walk with you?

 

[maewest4u]

I have two like this. The "shoulder thing"is a fav move. My 2 cents is that you don't need "more", you need less. Stud chains work mine up into a dither. Both pull against them and one will bite and really looses his marbles. I would work on ground manners at home and get him to respect your space at all times. If he gets pushy, back him up. Don't back up with him as that maintains the close contact, but make him back away from YOU. Once he's away from you, give him a "good boy' and just chill out, stand for a minute, breath and regroup. It's going to take a few sessions, maybe more if it's an ingrained habit. And it's something you can practice whenever you are working around them doing other things like feeding or brushing, just ask them to take a step away from you.
I'm not against stud chains, I've used them. But I think some horses just get worked up with them.
Warrick Schiller might have some good youtube videos on this stuff.

Wow’! thank you for taking the time to help me address this issue. I don’t think the antique car behind us blaring his horn “ ahhhuuuga” helped the situation at all.
We have our county fair parade in 4 days so I’m going to be out there tomorrow morning trying out this method you posted. I did find a video on YouTube showing the backup, give me my space, ground work. Thank you so much. I’ll post on how Phantom and I do on Thursday.

 

[maewest4u]

I usually just stop them, turn and face them and back them up a few steps, then let them settle for a few seconds. The problem is you can teach them to do that, but you can't really practice it at a parade.

So true… I’m so busy smiling and waving and walking fast enough!

 

[LostandFound]

I do think that most horses can be taught to accept almost anything. But it's often a matter of exposing them little by little, not just throwing them back in the same situation until they get over it. You might be better off skipping a couple of parades and just letting him hang out at the fringes.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Wow’! thank you for taking the time to help me address this issue. I don’t think the antique car behind us blaring his horn “ ahhhuuuga” helped the situation at all.
We have our county fair parade in 4 days so I’m going to be out there tomorrow morning trying out this method you posted. I did find a video on YouTube showing the backup, give me my space, ground work. Thank you so much. I’ll post on how Phantom and I do on Thursday.

Yes! Let us know. I was hoping to take mine in the cart, but maybe I will just dress us up a little and walk in our parade on Saturday. And let people pet him.

 

[nurselynne]

I have been in a ton of parades with my haflinger but never with my mini so I also appreciate all the ideas here. I was surprised that you were in front of an antique car though, the horses in my town are always at the very end of the parades for a number of reasons but one is safety of our riders and leaders as well as the crowd but another is so the fancy cars, cheerleaders and dance groups don't have to go thru any poops along the route. Have fun, be safe and I too may try the two lead rope thing at our Memorial day parade.

 

[maewest4u]

Yes! Let us know. I was hoping to take mine in the cart, but maybe I will just dress us up a little and walk in our parade on Saturday. And let people pet him.

The most fun is waiting for the parade to start! We had so many children asking to pet the horses. We were mauled by an entire Girl Scout troop. The horses loved it Marsha and it was heartwarming to make so many little kids happy.

 

[maewest4u]

I have been in a ton of parades with my haflinger but never with my mini so I also appreciate all the ideas here. I was surprised that you were in front of an antique car though, the horses in my town are always at the very end of the parades for a number of reasons but one is safety of our riders and leaders as well as the crowd but another is so the fancy cars, cheerleaders and dance groups don't have to go thru any poops along the route. Have fun, be safe and I too may try the two lead rope thing at our Memorial day parade.

I was shocked that we were positioned in front of that car. It was a huge parade with 120 entries. Now I know…we prefer the little home town parades of 40 or less! Our minis will be unicorns on Thursday. Looking forward to it. Hopefully Phantom will have a better time of it.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I was in dozens of parades with Dapper Dan. Because we were showy and unique, we were often near the head of the parade, or in the middle. I've had fire engines behind me, antique tractors, and Army Cavalry. The only thing he reacted to was the motorcycles, but it was a minor thing. Kids zipping by on skateboards were a little startling, but he was cool with it all. He was my first horse, and so I thought ALL horses would like parades. Not.
Rarely at the end with the other horses because the biggies were often scared of the cart.
I am decorating Billy's surcingle with garland, and he will wear a patriotic halter. I plan to lead him this time and hope it will be a positive parade experience.

 

[maewest4u]

Hey Marsha… I hope you and Billy have a wonderful parade. It really is fun to share these beautiful creatures with others.

 

[maewest4u]

Some horses cannot handle the stimulus. Ive had two that practically lost their minds at parades. You can keep working with him, but some just never get comfortable. Sometimes they can be downright dangerous. We tend to think that if we just keep exposing them to new things, they will "get over it". But I'm not sure it doesn't create a behavior pattern that becomes more difficult.
Could you do a cross tie with someone who can walk with you?

You really get the picture Marsha. It was almost dangerous a couple of times. To have a 250 lb horse trying to get in your lap was a bit much for this old cowgirl.

 

[Cayuse]

You really get the picture Marsha. It was almost dangerous a couple of times. To have a 250 lb horse trying to get in your lap was a bit much for this old cowgirl.

I'm right there with you, they can be so quick and strong and I'm. . .not!

 

[maewest4u]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My 5yr old miniature Appaloosa “Phantom “ seems to lose a lot of his ground manners during parades. I lead him and he continuously pushes me with his shoulder. This was his fourth parade today and he has just gotten worse. He was all over the place. I had him on a stud chain and that helps but I need something more. His brother, Apache, is lead by my daughter and its is like walking a dog. I’m a senior and don’t need him pushing on me! Help!

I did some ground work with Phantom this afternoon. He was a perfect gentleman! So…. he definitely was just very frightened in that last parade.

 

[Dragon Hill]

I don't know if this will help you any, but I have one that if I lead her with a loose lead she's fine. If I get nervous and start putting pressure on the lead, she will put pressure back the whole time. Not only forward, but towards me.

 

[HersheyMint]

Marsha and Maewest4u
I'm loving this parade talk. You must send pics of these parades. You know how we all love pics