I have a 2 year old that is starting to spin her butt and kick. What do I do. I have had horses many years however they have all been trained. I am not a trainer and was able to provide here simple ground training, haltering leading etc, but do not know hw to teach respect. Please help

My horse started doing this not long ago, at first I was afraid & backed off which I now know was a mistake. I took the people's advice from this form & when he did it again I just smacked the Hell out of his bum & scared him. It took me a couple times but he learned real quick that kicking was a 'no no'.

Yep, exacty. When a horse is trying to hurt you on purpose, it is time to remove the kid gloves.
Getting or losing the respect of a horse is something you are doing EVERY SECOND that you spend with your horse. You are always "training" it whether you are aware of it or not. This horse may be doing small disrespectful things, and getting away with them has emboldened her to try more. She is questioning your ability as leader, so you have to prove to her that you are. I could give you some excersizes if you are interested, but the important thing to remember is that if you give a horse, especially an unbroke two year old, an inch, they will soon stomp all over you.
I really think you could benefit from watching some experienced horseman. Study their timing and execution. Many trainers have good videos that you can learn a lot from.
I watch mine over and over and always find something I missed the last time. Be careful and have fun!!

Spinning and kicking is a very dangerous behaviour to learn - if you are not familiar with youngstock I would suggest sending it to a professional. I could give you my advice and what I do, but from my experience I can see it coming much earlier than you can which is the difference of being able to do it safely.

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Time to put yourself in the "head horse" role. It's something that everyone needs to establish with their horses from the get-go.

A dressage whip or lunge whip may be your friend in this scenario. Step back when it happens, and pop them in the butt. The horse isn't expecting it, and instead of them hurting and/or scaring you away, you've done it to them! It may take a time or two for it to click with your horse.. but it'll eventually happen.

And anytime your horse is acting defiantly, make yourself the one in charge. I personally use the same movements and body language that horses do. If any of my mares are invading my personal space, I tell them to back off. How do horses tell each other to back off? They pin their ears and charge at them. All I do is turn around, and make one big lunge forward with one foot.. and without fail, the horse backs off. If they don't? I do it again..

And what do horses do if the other horse wont take a hint? They turn around and kick them. So I either 1.) Smack them - not really hard, but hard enough to make a point. Only do it on somewhere like the shoulder - NEVER the face! Or 2.) I will turn around kick them like any other horse would do. Again, not hard, but to get my point across. Around the shoulder or front of the chest works.. If your horse isn't use to it, it'll be a guaranteed shock, and they'll back off right away.


I did all of this with a Appy filly I had not too long ago, who was super pushy [hey, she was young - not quite two]. After just a few sessions of her learning to respect me, she was a perfect angel on the ground. Lead nicely, stood nicely to be groomed. The woman who bought her couldn't believe what a nicely behaved filly she was.. and it was all because she knew that if she respected me and my space, I'd do the same for her.

I recently purchased a horse that was advertised as a beginner horse. When we went to see the horse spent at least 1 1/2 hours watching under saddle, and in general routine horse imprinting. She is a 7 year old mare. Seems she is a different horse in my barn. Not at all as quiet as there, she has been in my barn for over a month and still shows signs of NOT being a beginners horse. Anyway to tell if a horse was medicated to sell? I know that is awful to say even think, as I would never put anyone in danger, but I am really concerned. What can I do, any suggestions.

No way to tell this late if she was drugged (but it does happen...can be anything from mild stuff like Quietex to outright downers). I'd go back to the beginning with her and do ground work and then move to mounted work....see where the holes in her training are and work to fix them. I have a several page long form I worked up to evaluate a horse's training level (each exercise is scored 0-5 with 0 being "horse doesn't have a clue what I'm asking for" and 5 being "horse does it correctly before I finish asking"....they get negative points for any aggression)...keeps me from falling in love with a pretty eye or great color. You can try some exercises for respect (Clinton Anderson's "DownunderHorsemanship" has some great ones...work for adult horses as well as youngsters as does John Lyons book "Bringing up Baby"....check your library to see if they have them...if not they are on WesternHorseman's books or at Amazon.com). She may be anxious about the change in living situation but after a month she should be over that. Or she may be picking up on your concerns and needing more confidence from your interactions with her.