Young horse who now is becoming a little bossy

[poppetrose]

I have a youngster (3 years) who is now like a teenager questioning everything I ask her to do and most of the time trying to get out of anything I ask her to do. Is this usual? I have had her for two years and in that time she has generally been a joy to have, until now!! Do you think she will grow out of this?

[jemma]

I have a mare who behaves like that! She is 6 but a very immature 6! When i bought her she was like a little lamb, but now she tests me all the time, never ridden but when im in the stable or field. I describe her as a teenager with ADHD! Everytime we solve a problem she bring along another! She stopeed loading, worked through that, loads super but now when i try to catch her she tries to attack me! We work through our problems using lots of ground work in a dually. We are doing join up again in the morning! It puzzels me as she has never been badly treated, i think it is the oppostie, she thinks she is the boss as im too passive with her!
I think some mares are just like that, and we will always be working on our relationship!
If you really struggle try the exercises in Kelly's books, or even get an RA out to show you how to deal with thing!

Good Luck!

[Oranges]

all the ponies we have had since they were young have been like this usually between 2 n 4. Machrie is at this stage at the moment and is not very nice to be around, but i think shes over the worst of it.

[poppetrose]

Thanks for that Gemma, its nice to know that other people have the same problems as I have, I just hope my youngster grows up well before she hits 6!

Thanks again anyway

[varkie]

Yup, perfectly normal at this age. She'll probably settle down in a few months or so, but will probably have another phase like this when she's 5 or 6! The joys of youngsters!

[js]

This has made me feel better guys and not so alone. I have a 2 1/2 year old miniature shettie who is really testing the boundaries at the moment (small man - big attitude !). So frustrating at times but I try to remain nice and calm and repeat my requests over and over with consistency, and he does finally get it. He's a little tinker but I adore him. Glad to hear it'll pass.

[Native Ponies]

Quite normal. Im sure most of them go through the Kivin the teenager stage.

[Francis Burton]

Boundaries need to be enforced consistently to give the horse the best chance to learn what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.