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Message |
    
Miss Allen (Lawra)
| | Posted on Sunday, Jun 24, 2001 - 11:13 am: |   |
My filly is rising 4 years old and she paws constantly when she is not in the field. Does anyone know how you can stop this? She is now starting to do this when ridden or when mounting her and it is getting dangerous because she throws her feet out so high she nearly kicks people with metal shoes on. She does it tied up in the yard and when asked to stand still, she even does it when she`s eating her feed. Shouting or slapping doesn`t work coz as soon as you go away from her she starts again. Stopping her from doing this when ridden is very difficult. Any suggestions? |
mindy franklin (Mindy)
| | Posted on Sunday, Jun 24, 2001 - 8:02 pm: | |
Just a thought, are you sure it's not flies bothering her? I have an older horse that started pawing and the smack correction worked on her. I don't know what you can do but I think when they do it they are telling you to get on with it so they can go do something more important like eat, rest, play, etc. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 25, 2001 - 7:59 am: | |
She paws either because she is bored or nervous and being a 4 year old filly, I suspect this is nervous energy. You must address the root cause to fix this problem.
Though you can correct the horse that occasionally paws out of boredom to quit, if nervousness is the cause, I think you will find it may worsen with negative reinforcement: you make the horse more nervous. Neither will trying to calm the horse with treats work, it will take the horse exactly 3 treats to learn pawing means treats.
First ask yourself is there anything I can be doing to make this horse calmer:
1) Is she getting enough time out in the pasture and are you exercising her enough?
2) Is she getting excess energy in her diet?
3) Lunging her hard, after a proper warm up, for 15 to 30 minutes after you first bring her in will certainly release a little bit of nervous energy in most horses.
4) Consider any associations you have not thought of, for instance: does the horse normally get fed when brought in and so she is expecting something that she is not getting.
Once these issues are addressed, I suggest you tie the horse up out of the way where you can observe the horse while you do your other chores. Let her paw and ignore it, for however long it takes, until she stops. Once she stops and stands quietly she gets a tablespoon of sweet feed fed from a small bucket and let go. Increase the length of time she is asked to stand quitely before the treat and release till you work yourself up to standing quietly all the time. This should work if you have the time and patience.
Alternatively you could place hobbles on the horse until you get ready to go. Most horses learn pretty quick that they cannot paw in hobbles but usually there is a fight at first so I only recommend this to the experienced horse man who knows the dangers and can deal with any bad situations that may arrise.
DrO |
Carolyn Santucci (Santucci)
| | Posted on Sunday, Jul 1, 2001 - 7:16 pm: | |
Haven't tried this personally, but once read about a way to stop a horse from pawing. Take a dog collar and fasten it around the horse's leg just below the knee. Fasten a length of light to medium weight chain (or a length of PCV tubing) to it just long enough so that it hits the horse in the leg when he paws. The constant banging of the chain against the leg soon becomes irritating enough that the horse will stop. Of course, you would want to do like Dr. O says and try to eliminate things that might be causing the problem, such as boredom, flies, etc. |
Joni Pasko (3rsatsmf)
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 8, 2002 - 8:58 am: | |
But... I certainly expect my 3yo Friesian gelding to stand in the wash stall without pawing - whether I am working on him or not! Even if he is bored, that's his lot in life, as a horse. I don't leave him for long periods of time - no more than a few minutes and he can see me...
It's such a Catch22. When he paws, he gets what he wants, my attention (because I fuss at him)!!!
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Joni |
Holly Edwards (Hwood)
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 8, 2002 - 9:15 am: | |
If the ONLY attention he gets is a single stinging contact with a dressage whip on his cannon bone (and it can be any cannon bone; not necessarily the leg doing the pawing) each time he paws, then I think he will consider a different tactic.
Holly |
Joni Pasko (3rsatsmf)
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 8, 2002 - 10:31 am: | |
But, but... he only mis-behaves when I am standing outside of the wash stall. Seems like I would be missing my "moment of opportunity"?
Thanks,
Joni |
Dawn Friesen (Dartanyn)
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 8, 2002 - 1:42 pm: | |
Joni, my Saddlebred seems feisty this way too....I've taken a couple of wood chips in my hand & as soon as I see him starting to paw - I discreetly (as possible) lob one to contact him anywhere on his body. This seems to be working, as it is lessening over time. Not as quick a correction - but then often I am Chief Cook and Bottlewasher for him so I can't be right next to him all the time either. Maybe this will help?
Dawn  |
Holly Edwards (Hwood)
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 8, 2002 - 3:20 pm: | |
Ooops. Sorry, Joni, I thought you meant he pawed when he had to stand tied, even if you were there. Still, as Dawn suggests, he needs to get some kind of unpleasant effect immediately when starting to paw or as he paws so he can associate the sting with the pawing action. Dawn's suggestion is creative and will work if you are keenly aware of your horse and have good aim!
Holly |
Nancy E. Hodges (Redwood)
| | Posted on Friday, Mar 8, 2002 - 3:25 pm: | |
I use a squirt gun (or spray bottle) when my donkeys paw. They get a blast of water when they paw. After a while, all I have to do is reach for the squirt gun and they stop.
Nancy |
Imogen Bertin (Imogen)
| | Posted on Sunday, Mar 10, 2002 - 3:36 am: | |
Wash stall - a lot of mares, particularly, will paw or splash where there is water or very sloppy ground. Could that be it?
My mare does this out hunting, which is very annoying for everyone, if we are standing in wet ground drawing cover. I borrow a stick and hit her on the upper part of the front leg. She then doesn't do it while I'm holding the stick, as soon as I give the stick back to someone else she starts again.
All the best
Imogen |
Debra McAlister (Debmc)
| | Posted on Wednesday, Mar 13, 2002 - 12:38 am: | |
My Arab gelding always knew when I couldn't reach him, and would paw, jiggle and climb his box (when tied up outside). I lined up all the old riding boots in the tack room and bowled one at a time at the offending leg, yelling "oy!" at the same time.It only took one or two boots. He quickly learned! |
Katrina Turner
Member
Username: Kthorse
Post Number: 53
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Monday, May 12, 2003 - 6:09 pm: | |
Hi, When he paws imediently as he is doing it grab his foot and hold his foot up for a few minutes. He will soon learn that when he does it he has to hold it up. Worked for my horse after a few times. Never did it again. He did it constantly before this. |
Colleen Goolsby
Member
Username: Goolsby
Post Number: 4
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2003 - 10:54 am: | |
Katrina
I am going to try your suggestion. My TWH gelding paws at his feed dish while eating. He does this consistantly and will tip his dish over and spill his food. I have to feed him in a special container he cant tip over. If i yell at him to put his foot down he will, but this gets tiring. This is the only time he paws except occasionally on a ride when we have stopped a while and he is ready to go. This method sounds like the one I should try first. |
