From: Elizabeth
My mom and I are taking care of a Quarter horse Palamino. he constantly tries to bolt out of his stall as soona s you open it. We have had his eyes checked and all other vet related things but he couldn't find anything wrong. we had started giving him hay 5 mins before putting him out. It worked for a while but it doesn't work any more.the big problem is he is getting pretty dangerous because he kicks up his heels and nearly kicks you. Please help us. The owner is going to sell him if we don't figure out some way to calm him down. We don't want her to because he is a good horse otherwise.
sincerely, stumped
how old is this horse? how much work does he do? what (and how much) is he being fed? how does he react when you put him IN his stall -- is he at all reluctant to go in, or does he just walk in calmly?
But even without knowing these things, I can make a few suggestions.
First, whatever the root cause, you are going to have to change this behaviour because it is dangerous -- you're quite right about that. But since he seems excited, you will have to stay VERY calm while you retrain him. An excited horse isn't a thinking horse, and certainly isn't going to learn anything. You'll have to keep him calm and quiet while he learns the proper way to leave his stall.
He's dangerous to you right now, and he's also dangerous to himself -- horses that charge out of stalls in a hurry can hit their hips on the doors, and horses' hips are not well-protected; they can break from that kind of impact.
The best time to start retraining this horse will be AFTER work, or after he has been turned out and is coming back in. Your chances of making him understand what you want will be much better if he can work off some of his excess energy first. Especially if he is young and/or getting too much protein in his diet, he is likely to be dancing around in his stall and unable to pay much attention to ANYTHING until he's had a chance to blow off some steam.
Are you ready? Okay, this is what you will need:
your ASTM/SEI approved helmet, ON your head and fastened. They aren't just for riding -- they're very good things to wear when you are working with a difficult horse from the ground. a lead shank with a chain at least 18" long: this is going to go on his halter, but only until he has learned a new behaviour and been confirmed in it. The chain is NOT to be used as punishment, it's just to get his attention and give you some control over his forward movement. a short whip, like a jumping bat or a Western "popper" -- not to hit the horse with, but to POKE him in the chest with the handle-end of it if he moves forward when you DON'T want him to. a pocketful of carrot sticks -- these are to remind him that good things come to horses that listen and do as they're told!
This problem is a fairly simple training question: if you break it down, what you have is a horse that needs to (1) pay attention, (2) go calmly forward when asked, and (3) stop and stand when asked.
Now, think of exactly what it is that you want: a horse that will walk through the stall door calmly and quietly, stop when you say "whoa", and stand when you say "stand." You want to make this horse obedient and SAFE to handle.
Keep a few things in mind:
With your helmet on your head and your pocket full of treats, go into the horse's stall.
Don't wave the whip, but have it where you can reach it easily (back pockets are good places to carry short whips). When you put on his halter, instead of clipping the snap to the ring under his jaw, run the chain up through the ring on the left side of his nose, then through the ring on the right side of his nose, then attach the snap to the ring on the right side of his cheek.
This will keep the chain, and the halter, in place, and won't leave any loose chain to flip around. Remember, when you put pressure on the lead shank, the chain will put strong pressure on his nose. So use it only if he goes forward when you don't want him to, use it only to REINFORCE your voice commands ("whoa" and "stand"), and use it only by tugging ONCE and then releasing the pressure. A single tug will get his attention; constant pressure will just cause pain, and he won't learn from pain.
Stand next to his shoulder, facing forward, just as you would if you were leading him outdoors. Then lead him out of the stall, ONE step at a time. Each time he takes a step, say "whoa", stand still, and release the pressure on the lead rope. If he doesn't stop and stand, tell him "whoa!", and if he doesn't stop then, tell him again IMMEDIATELY and give ONE short tug on the rope. The chain is there to remind him to listen to you. Whenever he stops and/or stands, tell him "good boy!" and give him a pat. When you get to the stall door, tell him "whoa" and "stand", and be ready to enforce it if you need to. If the door is narrow, he needs to learn to wait for YOU to leave FIRST, and follow only when you tell him to. Have the whip in your other hand, with the butt of the whip toward the horse, so that if he does step forward you can say "whoa!" and poke him in the chest with the whip-handle.
Tugging the chain while he is standing in the doorway is NOT a good idea, because if he rears he could hit his head, but "Whoa! Stand" and a poke in the chest with the whip will tell him that you mean it. When he stands calmly without trying to get out of the stall before you do, tell him "good boy" and give him a pat and a treat. The longer you stand there, the better!
Once he is out of his stall and in the barn aisle, walk him up and down the aisle for a few moments, practicing stopping and standing on your voice commands. Keep his attention on you, and give him a carrot stick whenever he comes close to doing what you want. Then lead him back into his stall, calmly, a step or two at a time, and do it all over again.
This horse may have a good reason for wanting to get out of his stall in a hurry -- but that's too bad, because he has to learn to go slowly. But try to understand WHY he might be doing this. If he just once (all it takes is ONCE) hit a hip on the side of the stall on his way out, when the handler was in a hurry, he could have decided that the only safe way to get out of a stall is to jump out FAST before the door bites him again. All it takes is ONE bad experience -- horses have very good memories.
Some people don't handle horses calmly, and they jerk them around or hit them to get them in and out of stalls -- what this does is train the horses to rush and charge out of their stalls! Horses that are handled this way can get VERY apprehensive about the whole process.
Or he may just be in the habit, and he may not really understand that this isn't what people want him to do.
Whatever the reason, it isn't enough just to say "NO" when he does this, because all that means is "BAD HORSE", and it doesn't tell him anything about what you actually WANT him to do. You have to teach him, step by step, exactly HOW you want him to leave his stall.
You'll have to be patient and consistent, but you are right: you can't allow this barging behaviour to continue.
Let me know how it goes. Most horses with this behaviour can be taught to go in and out of stalls quietly in just a few sessions. But you'll have to be careful to be calm and quiet with him forever, to reinforce his new behaviour!
-- Jessica
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