Horses That Kick
February 23, 2009
Expert advice to quell a kicking horse’s bad habits.
America’s Horse Daily received the following question concerning a horse that kicks her owner. AQHA Professional Horsewoman and friend of Daily Julie Goodnight offers some advice that many riders will find useful.
Question:
I need some help with one of my mares. She is trained, but she is not ridden much. I always longe her before riding because she is powerful. When I take her out to longe her in the arena, she turns as she moves out into a circle on the longe line and kicks out to the side and has hit me three times now. Each time is a little higher. I know that this has to do with not handling her enough. She is smart and I am always careful with her (and all horses). She doesn’t do this to the stable hand that lets her out and longes her. I am pretty experienced, but this has me baffled as to how to handle this without getting too rough with her.
Answer:
You have to expect that horses will kick out when they are on the longe line, working a circle on a lead line or even working at liberty in the round pen. The whole purpose of the kick is for defense when the horse is being attacked from behind, either from a predator or from a more dominant horse. When we work the horse on the circle, we are basically attacking the horse from behind, therefore you must expect that the horse will kick out.
Always be aware of your horse’s hip and whether or not it is moving toward you or away from you. Long before your horse picks up a foot to kick, she’ll move the hip toward you as a sign. Doing lots of disengagement of the hindquarters from the ground will help.
When you are longeing or circling a horse, your job is to be aware of exactly where the kick zone is on the horse and to keep in mind that when the horse is moving, the kick zone expands. Try this exercise for learning the horse’s kick zone: have someone hold a well-trained, quiet horse for you while you pick up a hind leg. Give the horse a moment to relax then slowly pull his foot as far forward as it will go (which is almost up to its foreleg) and make a mark in the dirt. Then gently pull the leg to the side as far as it will go (the distance will surprise you) and make another mark. Finally, extend the foot fully behind the horse and make a mark. Now extend those marks to make a box—this is your horse’s kick zone. You should always know exactly where it is, where you are in relation to the kick zone and take extra cautions when you are within it (like when you are grooming or cleaning front feet and especially when longeing/circling).
When you longe, you should always have a whip, stick or flag to use as an extension of your arm so that you can signal the horse without entering the kick zone. You should always be aware of exactly where the kick zone is and make sure you are never within it when you put the horse out on the circle. Make sure the hip is moving away from you and if it is not, gesture with your whip at her hip to move it away.
As you stated, your horse’s behavior is an indication that there are some holes in her training and with your relationship. I am not a big believer in longeing a horse to get her energy out before you can do anything with her. That simply makes her explosiveness habitual and is an excuse for poor behavior.
There are lots of articles in my Training Library that address these sorts of issues.
Even if you only have limited time to spend with your mare, you can make this time more productive and improve your relationship and your authority with her by doing systematic ground work exercises. My Lead Line Leadership video takes you through a whole series of exercises, including circling work (and a demonstration of the kick zone), that are just what the doctor ordered for you and this mare.
Be Safe!
Julie Goodnight
CHA International Spokesperson
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8 Comments on “Horses That Kick”
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February 25th, 2009 at 10:09 am
dear julie goodnight ;your perception of longeing has obviously gone wildly bizzare ;what ever gave you the idea the horse is ;quote being attacked from behind ;i thought a long time before writing this ;but i couldnt contain myself as it is exactly these old wives tales that give trainers dubious names ;madam your horse that kicks at you simply knows it is your boss ;something the horse instinctivly knows the very first time you presented yourself in front of him her however long ago you gave me the immediate answer when you spoke of the stable hand ;the answer does not lie in the whip ;because i can whole heartedly confirm to you that when knowledge ends brutality begins ;if you require a personal conultation on the matter you may write me. kind regards bazil
February 25th, 2009 at 10:58 am
hmm, bazil isn’t totally wrong but neither is Julie.
The horse does not respect you nor is she paying attention to you.
Here’s a few things that should help. Rope halter, the knots will help to get her attention. Whenever you are leading her around make sure she is listening to you and has an eye on you. If you are just standing there make sure she has two eyes on you. bump her with the rope (Bump = light jerk on the rope & halter) to get her attention and have two eyes on you. She needs to learn you’re in control and she needs to listen to you. If she doesn’t listen to the first bump,bump a little harder until she does listen and face you.
Do the same when longeing, make sure she’s always paying attention to you with her head and not running off with her head turned away from you. A bump on the rope helps to get their attention back to you. this also keeps them from hanging and pulling on you. It’s also harder to kick when the head is tiped to you and she’s paying attention.
Desensitizing should help too. She might be scared of the whip and reacting or she just could have a lot of attitude, I’m guessing attitude towards you because she doesn’t kick at everyone. Make sure your horse is use to the whip by having her stand two eyes on you and rubbing her with the whip (at first stay good and clear of the rear). Keep working on this you should be able to rub her all over head to tail and legs and go to flinging the whip around gently rapping the end over her back and legs etc.. If you haven’t asked her to move off then she needs to just stand there. bump the rope to keep her two eyes on you. (I use pointing with my lead rope hand and voice commands to ask a horse to move off). If she comes forward at you, shake the lead rope to get her to back up. If she keeps coming bop her on the nose but be sure to stay away from her eye. Your safety is first and a bop on the nose isn’t going to hurt her. Look at how horses behave in a heard and how they bite and kick one another to determine leadership, a bop on the nose is nothing like a bite or kick.
Also when you go to move her off go for the side/mid section not her rear with the whip. Even the neck if she’s not turning to your point (Again always be careful not to get the eye). A lot of times I’ll have a really long whip and just have it rest accross their back and ask them to go around, bouncing it to get them to move off.
Also Julie is totally correct you shouldn’t use longeing to get energy out. It is good for getting them to listen though, this works best if you do a lot of direction changes, and more direction changes. It’s all about getting them to listen not working them out.
Remeber horses are all about hierarchy and you need to be top horse, and you require respect and their attention. a simple thing of asking them to have two eyes on you when standing and working with her will do wonders.
hope that helps.
Sue
February 28th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Good advice from others, but may I add that you need to be able to move that horse’s feet anywhere–especially the back feet. Before attempting to lounge a horse, I make sure that I can move the front end around the back end, the back end around the front end and move the horse sideways and backwards. Do this from both sides. You can use the end of your lead to do this or the whip or stick, always working at the horse’s shoulder or girth line. Do this up close to the horse then eventually get to where you can more this horse’s feet around without moving your feet. Lots of good demo’s on this–Clinton Anderson, Pat Parelli, Richard Winters, etc. etc. Horses establish their hierarchy by making other horses (and people) move their feet. Also, sometimes an experienced trainer is the best answer to some horse problems, even if you feel you are very experienced. Good luck and don’t get hurt!
March 1st, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I have a mare that bucks each time you go into a canter. I have used this same method for correcting this problem.She is starting to get the message, Its been a long process of getting her rethinking an a patient one for me.I can now work her at a slow canter with out her bucking if she does I start her over again stop her pulling her head one side then the other once she has given in I do a walk ,trot and canter.If she does good I praise her stop her praise her again then get off.take her to where I tie her talking to her as to how good she did an spend time brushing her after taking off the saddle an once Ive done all that Ill give her a handfull of grain praising her again as I leave for the day.She is coming around nicely Thanks so muc for the great tips .djsfeed@yahoo.com Donna richardson The key is reputision
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:16 pm
My AQHA 7 yr old mare is well broke – we enter in the ranch versatility shows and have done quite well. Problem???????? She kicks the heck out of the horse trailer the entire time she is in there. I have to keep a thick rubber pad behind her at all times. I am so scared she will injure or break her leg. What can I do. JB
April 29th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I am having the same problem that Joyce Bower has. My three year old filly was hauled with a problem horse that kicked at her, so now she kicks at anything in the trailer. The wall, other horses or humans. I hope you can give me some advice. Thanks, Richard
February 12th, 2010 at 1:28 pm
I got my 5 year old mare about 6 months ago. She is as sweet as can be but then all of a sudden she’ll get major attitude while I’m brushing her or picking out her feet. I have her tied to the wall and she’s very relaxed. I’ll be brushing her and when I go to walk around the back of her she’ll get really pissing, pinning her ears and sometimes swinging her butt to me to kick. The problem is she doesn’t do this all the time so sometimes she catches me off guard and I’m not always prepared for that reaction. She makes me nervous as others walk behind her, I can see the ears pin and I always worry she’s going to kick someone. She is especially worse at feeding time. If I’m not done with her and they are feeding she gets really pissy and then I really worry she’ll kick me or someone passing by. She also hates to be brushed under the belly towards the back. She’ll pin her ears no matter how soft or hard I brush. Sometimes even trying to cowkick. I’ve tried just putting my hand softly under the belly, I’ve tried soft towels, nothing, she hates it. She does the same thing but not as bad when I touch her on the chest or brush her chest. And of course when I pick her feet, I get two personalities. If I try to just run my hand down the leg and squeeze for her to pick up the leg, she picks the leg up fast and aggressive. I’ve resorted to clucking and just tapping the leg. Most times she’ll pick up the leg and then set the foot down on the toe and I can just drag the foot out and pick it and she’s fine. But sometimes when I have to hold onto the foot she keeps pulling it in and wanting to kick out with it. Someone said hang on to it til she gives in – easier said then done when you think you’re going to be really kicked while hanging onto that foot. Any suggestions on any of these issues? I think the hardest part is it’s so random that I can’t figure out what makes her react this way.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
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