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Disciplining a mini; Yearling antics
Topic Started: Jun 12 2012, 12:29 PM (274 Views)
Trialbyfire
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So now I remember why I was really happy to find a 20 year old mini in need of an upgrade. :teehee:

Our summer guest is showing some of her baby antics....she has reared up on all of us this week. :o We have no idea what has provoked this behavior, but I saw it the first time the other day when my 10 year old was leaving the paddock and the baby followed her to the gate. When my dd turned to her and verbally tried to shoo her away from the gate, the mini went up in her face. Not sure if it was a "aw, come on, don't leave me" or if it was "how dare you shoo me away!".....

And she bit me in the butt yesterday. :mallet: Not hard, but not tolerated in big horses so shouldn't be ok in little ones.

Do yearlings in general do these silly things? I am mostly worried about the rearing because it's not just bad manners, but dangerous. Sure, she's tiny, but little hooves are hard and sharp.

If we can't diminish this asap, she'll have to go home. Unfortunately with my barn setup, the drylot surrounds the barn, so to get to the barn you walk amongst the horses. Obviously we have to be careful, but all my horses have great ground manners so it's easier to stay safe. But a rearing mini horse.....not good.

How would you address this?
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Witchy
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That kind of behavior is very typical of a yearling. They don't know that you aren't a playmate, so you need to remind them, often. I would fence off a walkway away from the mini, so you can walk through safely. The worst horse on human accidents I know of, have all been in the pasture with loose horses.

If you absolutely can't run some hotwire for the summer, then carry a dressage whip. Buy two, and keep one at each end. That way you can keep Mini, away from you. There is no good way to disipline a young loose horse. I would start working on lots of manners once it's haltered and you have control.
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Trialbyfire
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Thanks Witchy. I assumed it was play behavior but never having a yearling horse, I wasn't sure if it was dominance or play. I suspected that she hasn't been taught a lot about good ground manners because she is really tiny...I think she only weighed about 50lbs when the trainer got her. And she had some sort of physical issue as a baby (locking stifle or something) so I think she was given a lot of leeway since they had to do a lot of physical therapy on her when she was really small. (I can imagine her being treated more like a dog than a horse.)

Running a hot wire would be so awkward/difficult that we'd send her back before we'd do that...it would be quite a lot of work to manage it well. But I think I will put whips at the gates. And maybe she'll have to have a breakaway halter that just stays on her. She does behave quite well when haltered, but I take halters off all mine unless they are working.

My 3 are pretty easy...they are not really 'touchy feely' and generally stand in their stalls and stare at you when you enter and leave. The less energy expended, the better. ;)

Well, the good news is that she's not mine and I don't have to keep her. I am on the lookout for another mini or a small pony in need of retirement just to keep my mini company. Also have a chance to get a Nubian goat if I was sure it would be enough company....but it would be a baby as well....hmm.....

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goodhors
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What the Mini folks tell me, is that you need to grab the rearing front legs and MAKE the animal stay upright and walk backwards with them!! Sounded rather amazing, because this is a HORSE! But with the small size, it is not difficult and REALLY makes an impression on the animal!! I have heard of doing this method from about 6 Mini owners that do have well behaved animals, so I would sure give it a try.

Yearling is trying to move up in herd status, so biting and rearing thing is pretty common for the age. However it SURE can't be allowed to continue!! Not sure how big your 10-yr old is when the Mini is up, if they are strong enough to make filly walk backwards like she needs. Have her be careful, Mini might also do the "spin and kick", so carrying a whip could be a safety measure. I would want one at least 4ft, so kid is out of reach from a kick. Dressage whip is a bit too short to suit me for that use.
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Trialbyfire
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Thanks for that idea goodhors. I thought about doing this but I'm not sure I'd want my 10 year old trying it....those feet would be right near her face if the mini went up....just don't want to encourage dd to get closer to the mini, or the mini to try to strike out at my dd.

Needless to say she hasn't tried this since the other day. Maybe because she got yelled at and chased when she did it to me last time. She gave me the stink eye yesterday and you could see the wheels in her head turning, but she decided against anything naughty.

Time will tell....still looking for an older, quiet mini or small pony that needs a soft landing without too much grass. We'll see. :) This mini is keeping me from doing something stupid like buying another horse. ;) :teehee:
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