How do you break a horse that is spoiled to doing what he wants?

Question

My 10 year old just got a 15 year old paint. He is a good horse, just spoiled. When I ride him, he wants to do what he wants. My girl doesnt let him get his way, neither do I. He belonged to a 8 or 9 year old boy that let him do what he wanted all the time. Any ideas of how to get him out of his bad habits? He likes to lay down when he doesn't want to go anymore. I spur him when I am on him and he tries. He has never bucked, not even kicked his feet up with any of us. He is a well mannered horse, just lazy and spoiled. He actually does better for my 5 year old little boy than the rest of us. He makes him go and do what he wants, not what the horse wants. I keep working with him, along with my kids to try to get him out of it, but to no avail. I have never encountered a horse that is so stubborn about wanting his way. Any suggestions and advice is appreciated. I am at my wit's end with him! I just want to start over with another one, but my girl said no way.

Answer 1

If you've ever chewed your nails, smoked or had any bad habits yourself personally, you'll have an idea how difficult it is to change something once it becomes part of us.  It is no different for an animal.  

Horses that are ridden regularily by young children are literally trained to make the decisions.  This can be lessened if they are also ridden inbetween regularily by knowledgable adults.  The horse you bought has obviously been trained by the 9 year old boy.  When I say trained, I don't mean that the boy actually set about to train him - but one way or another we train our horses each and everytime we work with them.  So this horse has long term habits and ways of dealing with things that are going to take time, firmness and consistency to change.

You mentioned this horse is stubborn.  We're all stubborn.  To you the things the horse might refuse to do are little things - but to him they are essential.  And sometimes what we consider stubborn is the horse protecting himself.  Kids aren't always consistent, they can be soft and loveable one moment and then jerk their mouths the next.  Quiet and smart horses learn to protect themselves as much as possible from this sort of treatment.

So I guess the first point I want to make is - your new horse's habits were not created in a day and will not be cured in a day.  It will be a long term project to change him.  And since your daughter is 10, it will be more than she can handle, her knowledge base and her physical coordination will not allow her to have the ability to do actual changing of this horse's behavior.  So its going to have to be up to you.

If you are not an experienced rider, then I think you are going to find this very challenging.  

I think you have three options.  First, sell the horse and buy one with less baggage.  But be aware that if you and your daughter are fairly new to horses, this problem will arise again even with a new horse unless you have an experienced horse person to regularily help you.  When you ride, either you or the horse will be the boss.  As a beginner, your horse is quickly going to become the boss.  No matter how good of a horse he is.

Your second choice is, keep the horse and keep chipping away at the problems.  If the horse isn't dangerous, and if you get some good advice, perhaps with time the problems will become less.  The downside of this is - kids can become discouraged and turned off horses with behavior problems, and before long they want to quit riding.  I can speak to this personally, my oldest daughter's first pony was a lovely trail riding horse but the most ring sour animal I'd ever met.  I was an experienced rider and my daughter was 12, but his constant cheating and attitude in the ring made my daughter hate showing and 4-H in general.

Your third choice is - find an experienced person's help and ride with them regularily.  A professional trainer would be ideal.  You probably don't need the horse to go to their place constantly, but even a week or two there for an evaluation and then a tune-up would be a good start.  Then you and your children need to ride this horse ONLY IN FRONT of the trainer for the next week or two, so the trainer can tell you exactly what to do when the horse tries to cheat.  After that you could take the horse back to your home, but continue to have the trainer over once a week or so to help you nip small problems in the bud.  If you go this route both you and your children's riding abilities and knowledge will great increase, which will be helpful with the next horse you buy as well as this one.  Yes, it will cost you some money.  But selling the horse now when you are having problems is also going to cost you money, so a trainer might be a money saver in the long run.

Good luck.  Buying a horse for a youth is one of the most difficult chores out there, and then trying to maintain a kid's horse is next.  It can be done, but first you need a horse with a good mind, and next you need someone to keep them tuned up.

Answer 2

MAKE SURE TO REWARD YOUR HORSE WHEN HE DOES SOMETHING GOOD AND PUNISH HIM WHEN HE DOES SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT HIM TO DO.if you keep doing that the horse will start doing what you want it to do,but don't think it's gonna happen over night.my horse liked to run away with you still on his back.he would run you through thorn bushes and i didn't like that so when he would run away from me i ran him until he could just barley walk and i would give him a snack when we would have a peaceful ride.if you keep at it the horse will get what you want it to do eventually.

Answer 3

Good insight, Gallopal.  The horse isn't the only one that needs a trainer working with them. . .

Answer 4

The best way to get a horse out of a bad habit, is to establish a new good habit. The longer your can establish a good habit, the more confirmed it will become and will replace the bad habit.

This horse needs to learn that his job is to be obedient and that he cannot have his way while he is at work. If he tries to lay down because he thinks the ride is over, then you cannot let the ride be over at that time. The ride is over when you say its over.

Since this is a family horse, and there are kids riding him along with you, my biggest suggestion is to find a good trainer in your area who can work with you through all his issues. A good trainer will not only be able to work with the horse to remind him that he needs to mind, he/she will be able to work with you to give you some tips and techniques to take on each individual habit as it comes up. It sounds like he is a good boy, but just needs some reminding about what his job is.

Answer 5

I'm bothered by the way you are describing the horse's behavior.  It doesn't reflect any understanding of the way horses think.  It seems that to you, spoiled means stubborn and in need of punishment.  To me, spoiled means ruined by inept handling and ignorance.  A child was given the job of handling him.....that's like giving a child the job of raising a child.

This horse needs a trainer with insight into his mind....I don't think you are interested or educated in how to handle this horse.  My advice is to find another horse that meets with your current goals, or find a trainer to work with this one.

Answer 6

Sounds to me like this horse has no respect for anyone of you. Even though you have repeatedly tried to make it clear to him that he can't do what he wants, he still seems to be obnoxious. Try ground driving with a lot of transitions. Longing is always a good idea too. Try to get him to give to the bit and flex  to the inside of the arena. Basically ground work and getting him to flex and bend should soften him up and hopefully get him to have more respect for you.