Question # 93: My young horse Danny is 1.5 years old. He leads, ties, loads, hauls, gets groomed, does the farrier and vet thing, and is all around a good horse.
He has been on a ton of trail rides being ponied with Fleck and does pretty well for that. He's crossed creeks, gone up and down banks and over ditches while ponied and in hand. He's done some in hand work but is pretty wild when in front of other people (Like the FEH shows) but at home is better. He is good at the walk but gets too excited in the trot. He's very mouthy and a chain doesn't seem to help, nor does letting him chew on his chain/lead. I've bought a chitney bit (chutney? chifney?) and am going to try that. I've done one session of round penning/joining up and he did well. He knows to yield to the touch and is good at respecting my space (mostly). He knows to stay with me (mostly) when being led and even without a rope, he stays at my side and with me. But I haven't done much round pen work. He's too young I think and my round pen is more of a large oval pen. BUT... he's VERY bored... and very smart! And very Irish ;) His go to move is to stop and plant and he almost "shuts off". But when he's done thinking.. he's fine again. I'm wondering what else I can be doing with him to help keep his brain working and further his education without pushing him. I don't want to hurry things, but want him to be a good kid. Oh, he's had a saddle and bridle on (the bridle with bit but only for a few minutes). He gets clippers but is still touchy about his face. He's had on wraps and boots and clothes. He lets me touch his ears and his sheath. He gets bathed and fly sprayed. I've tried teaching him "touch it" where he touches his nose to something and gets a treat. He does that game fairly well. He's just too smart and too bored! Fleck and Roany don't play with him. Any advice?? (Holly)
Hi Holly!
It sure sounds like you have covered all of your bases! Maybe teach him some tricks? I usually teach my horses to bow on command. I like to do this because I can ask them to bow on a daily basis, and it seems to be a good stretch for their backs. A lot of times they will extend their front legs and sit back and stretch like a cat after bowing, as they learn that stretching their bodies feels good. It is also good mental stimulation to teach them a trick. Whatever the trick is, they learn the concept that it is up to them to figure out what you want them to do.
One thing that stands out with what you wrote, however, is that of his tendency to stop and plant himself. I would be inclined to nip this habit in the bud now, before it gets too confirmed. While I don't want to discourage a young horse from stopping and thinking about things, teach him now that he can think while he moves, and that refusing to move is unacceptable. Do this by... (Click on Question Title above (in blue) to read full answer)
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