Kicking mini

Westwood Farms · Oct 16, 2008

I sold a 5 month old colt to a lady that has owned horses for years, shown, everything, so she is not new to the horse world. She also owned several minis before she had to move back to Texas. I sold a colt to her that was fine here, but is changing.

He is kicking out at her and her daughter, sometimes with his ears pinned. I know he is testing his limits, but I have never had a horse do this. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do with this colt? How do you change this behavior before it becomes a habit?

thanks for any suggestions..

Alicia

topnotchminis · Oct 16, 2008

Is he gelded?

Westwood Farms · Oct 16, 2008

no, not yet, I usually wait til 6 months to do so, oh, and he does have a horse friend that is on the joining fenceline

txminipinto · Oct 16, 2008

Alicia (Frenchie says hi

),

This shouldn't be taken lightly. Even minis can hurt us as we all know! There are two reasons to kick: fear and aggression. I've been kicked on accident out of fear and I've been kicked on purpose out of aggression and both get two different reactions out of me.

If the colt is fearful (which I doubt coming from your house and by the pinned ears), they need to gain his trust. Many big horse people new to minis tend to treat and approach them like a big horse. Unfortunately, some minis find that threatening and react out of fear (running away, kicking once cornered). Getting on his level and hand feeding can help.

Aggression I have a lot of experience with this year and it's frustrating as well as dangerous. This I firmly believe should be handled just like another horse would. I wouldn't kick him but I would approach him with a riding crop. If/When he kicks out, I would react immediately, for 3 seconds making him fear for his life (without causing serious harm such a whelps, etc) and then back away. Giving him the opportunity to approach in a neutral or friendly way and rewarding him when he does. Should he react aggressively again, I would again react just as aggressively driving him away for 3 second and then allowing him to return on my terms.

Some stallions are just too hormonal and aggressive to have testicles. There isn't a stallion in the world that's conformationally perfect enough or has the most stellar show record to allow or put up with this behavior. I would give him 3 months of training and then geld him if he doesn't improve. It's not worth it.

Katiean · Oct 16, 2008

With my colt he started kicking so I turned around to him and kicked back making a squil sound. He turned and ran. He didn't think I would fight back. He is now over a year and can be handled by anyone. Even the kids. However, I had a big horse colt that when he turned 1 year old he started to get mean. He would kick and bite and in general he was just a horrible horse. Someone I knew said he just needed to be out in a pasture. They convinced me to sell him to them. They put him in pasture and he was nice again. But as he got a little older he got mean again so they gelded him. He turned into the nicest horse you would ever want to be around.

Minimor · Oct 16, 2008

I haven't had this problem in a long time, but did once have a foal that acted that way, at about the same age. I just carried a riding crop, and one kick from him got him one good spank with the crop. It didn't take too many times before he gave up kicking. If he made a crabby face at me without kicking he got a sharp QUIT.