Stopping a Kicking Horse

Stopping a Kicking Horse

A lot of novice horse trainers would like to know how they can go about stopping a kicking horse:

Research have shown that the kicking habits of these horses range from the horse kicking at virtually everyone to kicking at only the husbands. This is still a daunting problem that lots of people have no idea how to cure.

Firstly, we want to relate some causes of horses starting in the habit of kicking. Because a horse kicks is no reason to think he is naturally bad or unmanageable. We don't think there is a horse alive that is "naturally" vicious. In fact, they're made that way due to bad management or ignorant handlers.

Admittedly, there are some horses that inherit the characteristics of their ancestors. But one should never start to break a horse without first taking into consideration the nature, disposition, and understanding of a horse. For instance, there are some horses that are naturally predisposed to have a "not so good" disposition. There are certain physical characteristics you can spot on a horse that indicate what his temperament is like.

Stopping a Kicking Horse Continues:

Anyway, now we can handle the horse according to its disposition. We can get it very nearly equal with a good tempered horse. All the difference in the world is due to the management and training of the colt. A horse with a "not so good' disposition will require more patience and thorough work.

All animals in nature have a self defense of some sort. A horse's self defense is kicking. After all, if you work with a horse that gets badly excited by some cause (such as ropes or chains coming in contact with his legs and those parts of his body aren't broken) his first inclination is to kick it out of the way.

The trick is to break a horse in a way that the habit never occurs in the first place. Too many people think a lesson will be enough to educate the horse to be ready to go. But if you're driving your horse and he gets caught under the tail or the cross pieces of the shaft touch his quarters...and those parts are unbroken, it would likely frighten and excite him enough to cause him to kick.

And the worse part is this: Once started, there is an increased inclination to go on kicking until confirmed in the habit. So the cure is prevention. You must make all parts of his body submissive to sensitivity of his extremities. One way to do this is using a technique called poling. Essentially, you take a light pole and start at a horse's nose, rub it over the mane, back, belly, quarters, and sensitive parts of the body, until all muscles become relaxed.

If you are one of the unlucky ones to have a horse that is confirmed in the habit of kicking, we have some possible answers:

1. Sell the horse if you feel it's not fixable, cause it's not helping anyone to keep the horse around and someone could get severely injured if you're not extra careful.

2. Get a professional trainer to help you (at a cost off course). Their fees will vary between $400.00 p/m to $900 p/m. You need to decide if it is worth the expense.

3. Learn to do it yourself. This will be the harder of the three and you will need a lot of patience and time. Do a lot of reading and ask for advice by visiting websites relating to this issue.

Good luck!

How to find the best horse for your child
Owning a horse is a huge responsibility for an adult, much less for...

The Importance Of Habit And Repetition During Horse Training
Picture this. You're out feeding your horse. You're petting her,...

Building Efficient Horse Barns
Future champions deserve royal treatment. Someone who helps you in...

Horse First Aid Pack
Horse supplies run the gamut from grooming products to nutritional...