Hi, I'm new here. Looks like a great site . . . Anyways . . . on with my post . . . I just recently got a mare that just turned 2, she's half arab half breeders stock, she's a very big horse, and very stubborn. She's had some work, and was doing very well till she was like 1 then started getting stobborn and not willing to do anything . . . and sorta acting like she never learned anything. lol. She's very pushy, mouthy, and fearless. She was doing well after I got her, lungeing great, staying out of my space, took a saddle and rider with no problem, but like a few weeks ago she just like refused to lunge . . . like will not go at all . . . I've tried everything I know and nothing will make her go . . . the only way I've gotten her to go at all is to lunge my gelding with her . . . but I still have trouble getting her to move . . . does anyone have any suggestion on how to fix this? and is it fine for me to lunge both of them at once? Will that make her to much of a follower and cause problems later? and people have told me it's fine for me to start her on riding this year because she's so big for her age . . . Is that true? or should I wait another year or two? I'm just kinda new at the training thing and have alot of questions. lol. And how do I get her to not be so nasty? Like she bites alot . . . but if you bop her one she'll fight back with a kick or another bite . . . what do I do about that?

I lunge her free in a pen, and no I can't run with her in hand . . . she has some trouble leading . . . which I'm still trying to work on . . . Is it fine to do a light amount of work under saddle with her? And if I "bite" her back when she bite or kicks . . . she kicks or bites even harder . . . how do I get around that?

Have you tried to get your horse to "JOIN UP"?  I find that after working them hard in the round pen, you can get a horse to lick their lips, lower their head, and thats the sign of relinquishing dominance.  When you see that happen, approach the horse at an angle, until your shoulder is close to their head.  Walk away slowly and see if they will follow you.  Praise them by rubbing their forehead, and continue on.

If they lose focus (that takes only about 2-3 minutes) then put them back to work and join up again.

This process will really help you with the dominate thing.  If they are mouthy, make sure you are not hand feeding, and other than that, keep your eye always closely looking for them to reach out to bite you and try to predict that from happening, so you can give a warning back as soon as you sense the bite coming.  Trying to predict the strike coming will be safer, and also get the horse knowing what they are doing wrong as soon as they think about doing it.

On aggressive horses, it will just take a little longer to accomplish your goals, and also be aware that you don't baby that horse too much.  No hand feeding for sure, and make sure they always stay out of your space.  Respect is the most important thing next to your patience level.  Don't get mad, just get more patient. Easy for me to say:)  I have to remind myself of that all the time!

Good luck!

oh i know what you mean my big grey her name is patty and she has some problems with leading. she can get very stubborn make sure she knows that your not messing around and that you are the one in charge. put a good amount of presure on the lead rope. say walk in a comanding voice take a step forward if it come then praise if not put more persure on the rope if you are leading with a long lead line the with the end that is not on the halter give it a good firm tap on the horse's rear and step forward with the command walk one. and well if that dont work get someone eles to tap the horse and u at the same time step forward and say walk on keep trying dont let the horse know that you are just going to give up and dont let i know that you are mad.

GOOD LUCK

brittany