6 month old filly behaving badly

by Marci S
(Dawsonville, GA )

I just bought a 6 month old filly, with no training to speak of. She tries to bite me, kick me, bucks and has reared up while I am trying to lead her. I have been around horses since I was a child and this one scares me. I think if I could get through to her she will make a great horse. I noticed today when I was trying to lead her she started to get her attitude. I tried turning in different direction and after a couple steps she would stop and refuse to go any further, on every turn. Then my phone went off and I broke eye contact with her, within a few seconds she walked up to me on her own. Do you think breaking eye contact with her made her feel less threatened? Or did it make her feel more dominant?


Hi Marci,
Under the conditions you mentioned with the phone ringing I would go with her feeling less threatened because she “willingly” walked up to you.

All horses but especially young horses need 100% of our focus though so I would recommend that you turn your phone off when you are with her.

It’s safe to say that this youngster doesn’t understand/know how to lead so it’s best to start with a clean slate and start all over. Where were you leading her to? And why?

Do you have other horses too? The reason I asked is because if she is also alone this will cause her disposition to be more on self preservation mode and less on people at this age particularly. If you do have other horses then she is going to want to be next to one all the time for comfort. So depending upon your situation would determine how I would proceed too.

A horse that bites, kicks and rears are all indications of her feeling that humans are “untrustworthy” and “threatening”. After all she has been through a lot in just 6 months of life, like being taken away from her mother and other horses she knew. Befriending her is the place to start.

Young horses are also more unpredictable because they react extremely quickly if spooked or when they don’t understand something. If you are feeling scared I would recommend you find someone in your area that is well versed in handling young horses to help you.

For now I would consider the following. When training “young” horses our sessions should not exceed 10-15 minutes max. (I do this for all horses when introducing new information as well.) Set all sessions up so the horse succeeds in the situation, in other words make things easy for the horse to choose the right action. Always end on a positive note. Work on “trust” first to the place that the horse finds your company pleasing and looks forward to your visits. Avoid putting any horse in an anxious situation invoking fear or self preservation. Once I know that a young horse feels comfortable with me I will utilize Clicker Training to further gain trust and introduce an effective way to communicate requests like teaching to lead, pick up feet etc.

Elaine Polny
Horses by Nature