Oh boy! I know what you are going through as I have a 'one woman horse'. I own a 16.3hh, 700kg appaloosa gelding. I have had him since he was four and he is now seven rising eight in November. He is dominant in the extreme and was EXTREMELY aggressive when I first got him. When he charged he would not stop or break off his attack. He really meant it and would bite, charge, strike, body slam. He would come at you with his head low and snaking and try to get your legs. When I first saw him (he was advertised as casual, laid back and very quiet), however he was actually totally introverted almost to the point of being catatonic.

He has a very high play drive and energy level and the only way the previous owners could keep him in hand was to tie his head down and do endless boring lunging laps. To a horse like this it is torture. They never did anything with him other than arena work and he was always tied down hard. I never tie down my horses so when I asked to ride him without all that rubbish on they all went white as sheets (LOL). He was actually nice to ride, but beligerant.

He is also naturally very dominant and confident in his surroundings. Like your horse, strange things don't bother him - he just attacks them or destroys them. When he first came to me he didn't handle the change of home well at all (he was bred by the previous owners). He was really introverted and grumpy. I tried a lot of things to get him out of his shell.... well, after he was settled in he EXPOLODED out of his shell. He would constantly bite and nip. This was to satisfy his play drive, but the previous owners had allowed it to escalate to biting by smacking him. If you went to smack him he would attack violently. If I put too much pressure on him under saddle he would stop, turn around and latch on to my leg and he would not let go unless I went totally still and did not react.

I had to tie him up to feed him otherwise if I approached he would charge out of his stable and attack. If he got you in the corner he would just turn around and try to kick the &*$# out of you. He put my partner in hospital. I tried everything I knew (I've had horses for 35 years including many, many stallions but they were nothing like him). I couldn't keep him in with other horses because he would fight and chase them through fences. He really was a nightmare.

I decided that I would have to think outside the box and so I used postiive reinforcement training ie. clicker training. I knew that all of his behaviour was dominance and there was absolutely no point fighting with him as this was exactly what he wanted and he was VERY good at it. He is extremely food motivated so giving something he wanted was a great way to redirect his energy and play into something positive. I also filled his yard, stable and paddock with toys and he will play for hours on end. The change in him with the clicker training was totally remarkable. I wouldn't have believed it if someone had told me the results I would get! I had to establish rules around the treats, but all of a sudden (it was really quick) his expression changed as if I was interesting and different to other humans. He is rocket scientist smart and within the first hour I had him targeting and fetching a target. He got a bit too enthusiastic and would then try violence to get a treat, but I would not rise to his bait and back him off me hard or I would leave and the game was over.

I used (and still do) lots of things to challenge him mentally and not just lunge him round and round. It is a challenge to think of enough imaginative things to do with him, but you get better at it. I use natural horsemanship techniques with great success. This was very difficult to start with, but good now. It sounds to me like your horse is totally bored by lunging and is creating his own entertainment. If you don't use variety with these smart ones they just channel their energy negatively. If he stays in the stall a lot he needs toys. I'm not saying the clicker training changed my horse instantly, he is still very dominant and he challenges me daily, but what it did do is open up the line of communication and take him out of his usual cycle of using aggression to amuse himself and dominate people. I also used a long rope on him (22ft and heavy marine poly rope with a rope halter). Even a 12 ft rope was too short with him. The other thing I did was spend a LOT of undemanding time with him so that he realised that I wasn't always there just to catch him and do things to him.

The big problem I encountered with him which I did not count on was that once we got some respect and trust going (he started to run to me in the paddock and show some signs of affection; he neighs during the day for me to come and play) then he bonded to me and would attack anyone else who came near me. I would back him off with a lot of energy and make him keep his distance and I have done heaps of things to get him to accept other people. We have got to the stage now where usually he puts his ears back but nothing else UNLESS it is a man that he doesn't know. Then I have to really watch him.

People who saw him when I fist got him and then see him now can't believe he is the same horse. He is a fabulous liberty horse and his dressage is coming along really well. There are still days when I have to 'put him in his box', but they aren't too often now. I hope he will get over the protective thing - he is mostly a big sooky sap with me and likes nothing better than just the two of us to be together with noone else. Its almost like he feels he can be himself and relax. We go out on trails and do interesting things and he loves this.

Anyway, I don't know if any of this helps but I thought I'd share my story. This horse has taught me more about horses than all of the others I'd worked with. He has taught me the value of calmness and assertiveness, but to also consider the horse's feelings and to be polite and soft, but firm when necessary.

I wish you well with your horse.