Telling the differnce between humans and horses??

[outoftheblue]

WE have a horse who hs been stabled for the past two years without turnout or contact with other horses - and he is only four. We are finding him difficult to handle (our local RA is booked to come tomorrow) but are thinking that actually he doesn't know the difference between people and horses - or at least what he can do to interact with them. He rears up on us and grabs us in just the same way as he does with the other young horse here. If you go into the field with him, he badly wants you to play with him - he trots up and down and tosses his head just as if asking another horse to play. I am curious whether people think he might have missed out on a stage of his development and not know that he is a big boy and humans just can play with him!!??

[jill]

Do you know his history, and in particular whether he was hand reared, and weaned in a herd? Hand reared foals are notoriously hard to work with because they never had a horse to teach them right from wrong in horse herd terms. I always reckon the best one to teach them is another horse - do you have access to a lead mare who could teach him? The optimum period (from 6 months when the herd stops seeing them as babies and begins to teach them herd rules) has passed and you may have a lot of work to do to make up that lost ground.
Good luck - it may be hard work but it will be interesting and you will learn a great deal from it.

[mandal]

Good luck for today with your RA. It sounds to me like he has never been taught how to behave around humans. Or rather has been taught that humans are to play with perhaps inadvertantly.

[outoftheblue]

He came from gypsies to the eprson I had hiom from, as rising two. He had no turn out at all after that until he came here at the end of November. He has had a rig operation and we are waiting for his testosterone levels to go down before he gets near the mares. I do have a brood mare who would probably sort him out on the horse front - but its going to be interesting (and you are right hard work) to sort things out on the humans front.

[Deleted]

The trouble with a horse who hasn't been socialised with others is that if they don't understand horse body language etc then you won't be able to use it to teach him the ground rules you want in place.

All may not be as bad as it seems though, if he was with gypsies until he was 2 then I can't believe he'd have been alone, I'd have thought it more likely that he was turned out with a herd and not handled by humans, so it might not take long for a dominant mare to remind him of his manners within a herd.

Do let us know what your RA says

[jill]

Ah, well, if he has had testosterone in his system that may well account for it. By the time that has dissipated you will possibly find he is a different horse, with some it is just coltishness.
A colt I bred turned almost overnight from an easy to do foal to a nightmare of a yearling, couldn't go in his stable easily especially with food. After he was gelded he reverted to his former nice temperament. Give him a couple of weeks post operation.

[generalj]

Hello everybody, saw this and thought I would register so that I could suggest another angle

Horses have very strong needs to do specific things - we're all familiar with their huge need to run around and leap in the air after they've been in a stable for a while, so over time, when they can't run, the need to do so sort of builds and builds. When they get the chance to move, they let it all out!

Young horses also have a very strong need to play - it's part of their social and physical development. If they're kept in a situation where they can't play, as soon as they get out of that situation, their need to engage in play behaviour will be very strong indeed. It's unlikely that a horse that spent the first two years of his life with other horses will mistake humans for horses, but when you have a strong urge to play, you'll try to engage whoever and whatever is around

The best solution - just as in the horse confined in a stable who needs to run - is to provide a good outlet. The best outlet is another horse who likes to play - ideally another young male horse. If you put the young horse in with an older mare, he'll just annoy her by constantly asking to play (something older female horses rarely do). Sure, she'll teach him some good herd behaviour, but she won't help him get the play out of his system.

Just a suggestion, and a slightly different take on things - if he gets the chance to play with other horses, he will find humans distinctly less attractive as play companions.

[Deleted]

That's a very good point generalj, though if you turn him out with another young playful horse make sure they're not wearing any rugs that you're in love with

[generalj]

That's a very good point generalj, though if you turn him out with another young playful horse make sure they're not wearing any rugs that you're in love with

Yes, that's a lesson I've learned well at this stage ;D GeneralJ is a sedate rising 9 now, but still likes to play hard. He tends to be unrugged, although he still sports love bites all down his neck... No showing career for us!

[outoftheblue]

Well - its been an interesting morning, He is not going to be easy thats for sure. Our RA thinks that he has never had any boundaries laid down for him so he is trying to establish himself as leader of the herd - a herd which includes the people here. We have ordered our Dually headcollar and are going to make it our life's work to try and get him sorted out. Yes, he can play with another young horse when his testosterone levels have gone down - they play over the fence now. However, Blue is much the bigger of the two - I dont have any others Blue's size, so it would be slightly worrying!