My Horse Fidgets On Cross Ties

My Horse Fidgets On Cross Ties

Written By: Bonnie Marlewski-Probert

Below is a letter from Emma in Ontario Canada sharing a problem that many horse owners have.

Dear Bonnie,

I have a 14hh pony. We do Trillium Circuit (hunter) in the short stirrup division. She is perfect, except she has bad manners in the crossties. She tosses her head, and paws with her left foot. Could you perhaps provide help? You don't have to print this in the magazine if you don?t have room, but I need HELP! Please respond soon.

Emma, Toronto Ontario

This is a fairly common problem that is generally caused by boredom or "thin skin." By "thin skin" I mean, if you find your horse doing these behaviors when you are brushing her, it could be because her skin is sensitive and the brushing is uncomfortable or making her ticklish. This is more common with Thoroughbreds. If she is doing these behaviors before or after you brush her, it is more likely caused by boredom.

So, how do you solve the problem? First, you work on putting verbal commands on her. This means that you choose a word that you will use for discipline. I use "QUIT" and it is always said in a low, firm tone of voice. In order for this to work, you have to set aside one or two grooming sessions on the crossties wherein you are not going to focus primarily on grooming, you are instead, going to focus on producing the problem and then solving it. This is what I call "creating a controlled environment" and this is the quickest way to solve most problems with your horse and in your life as well.

The trick to solving the problem is to catch the behavior BEFORE your horse actually starts to paw. For example, in order for her to paw, she has to shift her weight off of the leg that she will paw with. That is the time to say QUIT because it is at that point that she has already decided she will misbehave and is asking you, "do you care if....." By doing nothing, you are actually answering her with a loud, clear response that you don't care if she paws or tosses her head. Also, before she tosses her head, she has to start to raise it and that is the time to catch the behavior and the best time to correct it.

In most cases of bad behavior, a horse will ask you, "do you care if?." At least ten times before they actually display the overt bad behavior. The trick is to recognize the signs that your horse is giving, read them and react to them before it is allowed to escalate into the big display. In my book, "Debugging Your Horse," I use an example of a school pony we used to work with, affectionately called, "Chubby Rusty." He was an appaloosa pony that brought the term "easy keeper" to an entirely new level! Chubby was ideal for teaching people to read their horse?s behavior because he was amazingly easy to predict when food was involved.

To set up the "controlled environment," I would place a wheelbarrow of grain at the end of the riding arena, against the wall and ask the rider to walk around the rail. Chubby was so good at teaching this body language that he would start asking, "do you care if?." at the opposite end of the arena by turning his head, pointing his ears and slowly resetting his course for the shortest distance between he and the grain. If the rider paid attention and noted the small signals of him asking, "do you care if?" a simple rein correction to steer him back to the rail would solve the problem and Chubby Rusty was happy to go back to work. If, on the other hand, the rider wasn?t paying attention, Chubby?s behaviors would continue to escalate with each trip around the ring. They would progress from perking up his ears and looking, to weaving slightly off course in the direction of the barrel. From there, he would speed up at the walk as he approached that end of the ring, widening the turn each pass bringing him closer and closer to the barrel. All of this would end up with Chubby setting his chubby neck muscles, lowering his head and taking the rider to the barrel at a determined walk. If he made it all the way to the barrel, he would open his mouth as wide as possible and bury his head into the grain (resembling most of us at an all you can eat buffet after a long day!)

The interesting fact about Chubby Rusty was this; if you put a rider on his back who was alert to the small body language changes Chubby Rusty was a perfect gentleman and he had a show record to back that up. In fact, if the rider was on top of things, Chubby would ride by the barrel all day and never give it a second look. On the other hand, the second he knew there was a rider on him that was not paying attention, he was fully prepared to take over.

The lesson here is that although horses are not the smartest creatures on the planet, they are smart enough to outsmart most of us, if we are sleeping at the wheel.

So, taking a lesson from Chubby Rusty, when you see your horse shift her weight in preparation for pawing, say QUIT in a firm, serious tone. If she shifts her weight back on all four feet, say Good Girl, pat her and keep grooming, but be sure to keep an eye on her, watching to see if she tries it again.

Another point I would make is that many horses do this behavior on crossties because they are legitimately bored. It is tempting for many horse owners to leave their animal standing in the aisle while they visit with a friend or go to the bathroom, etc. I would recommend that you only put your horse on the crossties when you need to have them there. The rest of the time they can and should be turned out or put in their stall or ridden. In other words, if I asked you to sit in the car after we arrived at our destination while I got out to visit with friends, run an errand or whatever, you too would be very bored in short order. If I did it to you regularly, you would start to tap on the window to get my attention or crank up the radio to annoy me. These behaviors would all let me know you are bored. I am not suggesting that you should avoid cross tying your horse, I am simply suggesting that you put yourself in your horse's position and be considerate.

If you say QUIT and your horse continues to paw, you can slap her on the fleshy part of the neck to get her attention. This will hurt your hand a lot more than it will hurt her, but it will let her know that you are not kidding. Again, the trick to using verbal commands effectively is that you must be consistent and alert. This means that you can't hit her if you haven't said QUIT first or you will get her confused. Also, if you say QUIT and she ignores you, you must be prepared to back it up with either a bump of a chain over the nose or with your open hand on her neck area (closer to the shoulder, rather than the head area).

One final suggestion, if your horse is really bad about this, you can have a helper remove her from the crossties and put her on a lead line with a chain over her nose. Position her as though she were on the crossties, just don't connect the ties. Encourage her to display the behavior (let her stand for a period of time (2 - 3 minutes) so she gets bored) and then work on the solution. When she starts to shift her weight, say QUIT and if she doesn't, ask your friend to bump her with the chain. Repeat the exercise a couple of times and you should see positive results. In most cases, after the first session, you will never need to use a chain or hit her in the neck again, your voice will get the job done.

If you have any questions or need anything clarified send me a note. Hope this helps and let me know how you are doing.

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