Advice?
Hey guys,
I take care of a mare who has a terrible habit of bolting when released into the turnout pen. I've tried training her with treats which has helped, but if she's high or it's cold/windy out, she reverts to this bad behavior. I'm not interested in having her yank on my shoulder every time I take her to the turn out, so I've resorted to turning her out with a halter on (which I don't like to do) and quietly unclipping the lead rope while closing the gate.
She has been spinning around as fast as possible and charging away in the cooler weather and I'd really like to break her of this habit without putting her or myself in danger of getting injured. Last week she got away from me with the lead rope still attached and I approached her four times and got a lovely bolt each time before finally being able to pull the halter off.
Anyone able to train this habit out of their horse?
EDIT:
Thanks for all of your responses. I probably should have done a better job of describing what I've tried with this mare.
1. It's a rule that she never leaves the stall without a chain over her nose because she is known for spooking hard and bolting while being lead anywhere. The time that she got away from me in the turnout and I had to chase her down four times before finally getting the halter off, she had the chain on.
2. Her halter has a clip on it so you can pull it over her ears if necessary. She has managed to jerk away and run backwards so the halter was half on/half off her head. Again, not an ideal situation.
3. I've used treats to try to train her for 4 months. Originally, I would give her a peppermint or a cookie and while she was eating it, I was able to unbuckle the halter or slip it off her head. This stopped being as effective as she figured out the program. So I graduated to two treats. One to get her to stand still while the halter came off and one to try to train her to stick around. While this does work some times, when she's wild, she will still bolt off (or try to) without waiting around for the second treat.
Keeping in mind, I only turn her out twice a week (Sundays and Mondays) so she has gotten used to me and better about this, but I'm not the turnout person during the rest of the week. She has learned to really trust the other woman and does it less frequently with her.
I do like the idea of a longe line with a chain over her nose and a short lead to teach her that she's only allowed to leave when I allow her to. Perhaps by gently pushing on her shoulder and saying 'okay'. But I want to be able to take the halter off safely without risking being dragged or injured. My other concern is that our turnouts are small and they are metal pipe corrals. This is a fairly large, strong mare and she is explosive and unpredictable. Maybe the round pen (which we also use for turnouts when it's not needed for longeing) would be a good idea?
I take care of a mare who has a terrible habit of bolting when released into the turnout pen. I've tried training her with treats which has helped, but if she's high or it's cold/windy out, she reverts to this bad behavior. I'm not interested in having her yank on my shoulder every time I take her to the turn out, so I've resorted to turning her out with a halter on (which I don't like to do) and quietly unclipping the lead rope while closing the gate.
She has been spinning around as fast as possible and charging away in the cooler weather and I'd really like to break her of this habit without putting her or myself in danger of getting injured. Last week she got away from me with the lead rope still attached and I approached her four times and got a lovely bolt each time before finally being able to pull the halter off.
Anyone able to train this habit out of their horse?
EDIT:
Thanks for all of your responses. I probably should have done a better job of describing what I've tried with this mare.
1. It's a rule that she never leaves the stall without a chain over her nose because she is known for spooking hard and bolting while being lead anywhere. The time that she got away from me in the turnout and I had to chase her down four times before finally getting the halter off, she had the chain on.
2. Her halter has a clip on it so you can pull it over her ears if necessary. She has managed to jerk away and run backwards so the halter was half on/half off her head. Again, not an ideal situation.
3. I've used treats to try to train her for 4 months. Originally, I would give her a peppermint or a cookie and while she was eating it, I was able to unbuckle the halter or slip it off her head. This stopped being as effective as she figured out the program. So I graduated to two treats. One to get her to stand still while the halter came off and one to try to train her to stick around. While this does work some times, when she's wild, she will still bolt off (or try to) without waiting around for the second treat.
Keeping in mind, I only turn her out twice a week (Sundays and Mondays) so she has gotten used to me and better about this, but I'm not the turnout person during the rest of the week. She has learned to really trust the other woman and does it less frequently with her.
I do like the idea of a longe line with a chain over her nose and a short lead to teach her that she's only allowed to leave when I allow her to. Perhaps by gently pushing on her shoulder and saying 'okay'. But I want to be able to take the halter off safely without risking being dragged or injured. My other concern is that our turnouts are small and they are metal pipe corrals. This is a fairly large, strong mare and she is explosive and unpredictable. Maybe the round pen (which we also use for turnouts when it's not needed for longeing) would be a good idea?