Barging Yearling

[lisae]

Hello after an absence from the board I have some questions! I got a yearling Haflinger gelding in March and he has a wonderful nature, as the farrier said, very level-headed. But he is quite bright about escaping from the field, with our dry weather the fencer wasn't giving much a bite and the grass was greener so he just took down the top strand with his hoof and hopped over! Anyways, once we got that fixed, he realized that when I come into his stall there is a short moment when I have to turn around to slide shut a balky latch on the swinging stall gate (husband's homemade job). As soon as I do this, wham - pony goes behind me and hits the gate with a body slam, then trots right out through the barn to freedom - once banging my arm in the process. Any ideas for prevention? I've tried sharp commands - whoa, stand - and they work momentarily and then Dante decides to go anyways. (Gate won't get replaced any time soon due to husband's schedule.) Can't climb over for fear of stressing the hinges! Have recently gone in with a lunge whip held parallel to/along the gate and gently tapping to the chest as I latched it shut- that intrigued him enough to stop him the last time. But I'm worried about the barging in general. He also will start to chest butt me when he's gets tired of whatever training project I'm working on with him, such as beginning lunging. I can avoid that by watching him and when he gets tired I go back to simple leading and then quit. Thanks for any input!

[Wally]

This is a personal space thing. A horse will invade the personal space of a horse or person he feels is lower than him in the pecking order. He needs a lesson in hierachy!. Do some join up and get tough, you'll only have to be "bad cop" once then you can spend the rest of your relationship being "good cop"

[lisae]

Sounds good - I'll give it a go when the heat breaks in New York! Our nanny goat is away at another farm being bred so Dante has lost his middle ranking in the pecking order - there's no one below him except the two fat hens that were supposed to be butchered two months ago and are now laying eggs all over the horse barn!

On a positive note, I had a local trainer come out with her training cart to work with the Morgan gelding I have - he is rumored to have had driving training at age 4 and he's now 11. He did great even though he's been a riding horse only all these years. Within an hour, working in stages, we had him completely hitched and pulling/stopping the cart. (Next visit, someone may actually ride in the cart.) He was very prancy and 'upheaded' but basically was able to listen and remember - the trainer could tell he had been driven before.

Now, to get some driving lessons for myself. It's one thing to pop off a riding horse and have it head back to the barn. I would imagine it is quite another thing to have a horse out of control with a cart attached to its butt. Beau has never taken off on me while under saddle (knock wood) but safety first with this endeavor. Thanks for your posts, Wally, you're a real help to horse lovers everywhere!

[BollyBo]

I know it might seem mean, but you might have to invest in a pressure headcollar. I have an extremely bargy, 13.2 pony, but he is very coby! We tried a pressure headcollar and he got a lot better. We also did some joining up, this has worked a treat and he respects us a lot more. Even though hes now a lot better, we do sometimes still use the pressure headcollar every now and then, when he gets a bit big for his boots (shoes)! We still also carry on with the joining up!