Nocona's fit

[gonekigercrazy]

Hi everybody. Hope all is well.

Man did I have an eye-opening experience yesterday! We had our first beautiful day since last fall in Michigan...temp in 50's, sunny, just a gorgeous day. I decided to work with Nocona a little, nothing big, just a little walk around the round pen with a healter and lead rope. He had walked like a dream for me back before the weather got so bad so I wasnt expecting any trouble. He put his halter on with no problems but the instant I clipped the lead rope to it he.. lost..his..mind!! Reared up, tried to kick out at me, bucked, pulled, charged me, tried to bite..it was crazy!! A totally different horse. He wasn't afraid, he just looked mad and ornery. He would not calm down no matter what I did. Then I slipped in mud and went down on one knee and he ripped the rope out of my hand and took off to the other side of the pen where he continued to buck and toss that head . Then he reached down and bit the lead rope, carried it around in his mouth, like "Ha, Ha, I got it".

So, q

[gonekigercrazy]

Sorry, computer glich again.

So, my question is, is this what I can expect now out of an older baby or is this testosterone talkin? Just too much time went by and he just forgot how to walk nice? Or is this a "terrible two" toddler acting badly? He has never acted this way to me before and it just took me completely off guard. He just missed me by millimeters with a few of the kicks.

[fantasykiger]

Someone was feeling his oats and caught you off guard. It happens to everyone at least once It is what you do next that counts
Go back to square one remind him you are boss, move those hind quarters, correct him when he strikes at you and get the respect back. He is a differant age and mind set, so just start over, calm and in charge. He will remember the lessons in the past and realize "oh yeah, I still have to walk nicely".
I find that horses at this age in the herd would be asserting themselves, as they would be well weaned and looking to higher their rank in the herd. They will start to push boundries and push back to see just who they can make move their feet and intimidate to get higher up. We as owners are nothing more then another horse in the herd and young horses will push back at us as well to test our leadership or if we are worthy of following.

[stlkigers]

OH boy can I relate! My Kiger gelding will be 2 this summer....and he has oh so entered the "terrible 2's " stage....Tiffany great points above....Cordero is very much trying to assert his adulthood in our herd and has the bite marks to prove it....He has been doing lessons all year long,even thru the winter (it was fairly mild here) but still was fussing at being tied for a half hour, and when he was being ponied he bit me once and my horse once....Of course he acted all startled and innocent at the repercussions but hey, that's his problem....I just thank god with all this attitude now, I gelded him a while ago....Don't need any additional testosterone to cause problems....

So hang in there, and take Nocona back to the basics....He'll come back around....and in the meantime we can woefully compare notes.....

Angela

[gonekigercrazy]

Thanks for the input. It seems Nocona is going to try and break all of the rules. Last night, I was putting everybody to bed and had just filled his water bucket when he decided to flatten his ears and tried to smash me into the wall with his butt. That is a big no-no in my book. The big boys know when I enter their stalls to turn and face me. I had the empty plastic bucket still in my hands so I bonked him on the butt with it, just like you said your boy looks Angela, he turned and gave me this innocent look like he hadn't done anything wrong. So we played the "get out of my way" game for awhile and this morning he immediately turned and faced me when I walked in. Let the games begin...lol Pam

[desperatehorsewife]

Even Steve Holt!, who's been in training nearly every day since getting here 3 months ago, felt good yesterday and was doing some jumping around at the end of my lead. It's a good thing he's not a big puller when he gets to the end of a rope or I'd have lost him because I, too, was caught off guard. Your boy just needs to have a little of that energy worked out of him