Why Is My Horse Misbehaving?

Does your horse live alone?

Do you allow your horse only a limited time out?

Does your horse gets enough interaction from you?

Was your horse moved recently from another stable?

Is your horse a mare that misbehaves occasionally?

Is your horse fed properly?

Horses need entertainment and fun to keep them happy and healthy. If they aren’t feeling stimulated, they will get bored and act out to entertain themselves. Horses usually live in groups, which means it goes against their nature to live alone. Some horses can even develop anxiety if they live alone for too long.

Horses need entertainment and fun to keep them happy and healthy. If they aren’t feeling stimulated, they will get bored and act out to entertain themselves. If you give your horse only a limited time out he may become bored and start to misbehave. Even in the winter months, your horse should have adequate time out in the field

Horses need entertainment and fun to keep them happy and healthy. If they aren’t feeling stimulated, they will get bored and act out to entertain themselves. Little interaction with your horse may lead to boredom. Take the time to pet your horse and take it on longer rides to satisfy them.

Adjusting to new surroundings can take time. A horse who has been moved to a new stable may miss the horses he left behind as he's also attempting to cope with the stresses of shipping and becoming accustomed to different barn mates, smells, feed, and handlers. Even the invisible microbes in the earth provide a new antigenic challenge for his immune system, which must quickly adapt.

Some mares are more sensitive to the fluctuations of the estrous cycle, and their behavior may be affected for the five to seven days each month that they are in heat. Occasionally, their actions and reactions are a sign of something more serious. When a mare kicks or squeals to light pressure almost anywhere on her body, or if she is constantly difficult to control under saddle, call your veterinarian to check for an ovarian cyst, persistent corpus luteum, or another endocrine anomaly.

The most common reason for misbehavior is pain. If your horse is difficult to catch when you are trying to ride them, consider why they would be running away from you and avoiding the possibility of riding. Perhaps their saddle is ill-fitted and causes them pain when you ride or the rides you take are too long and tiring, which causes them to feel exhausted and ache afterward. A bucking horse or a horse that is refusing to move altogether can also mean that the horse is in pain. A horse rarely misbehaves purely for the sake of it. If your horse starts acting differently, it is a sign that something else is wrong and it needs to be checked out.

A horse who is fed an overabundance of protein or supplements and then insufficiently exercised will be so full of energy that he will be difficult to control under saddle. It may be a challenge to keep him straight. He may buck and fling his head. In contrast, an underfed horse won't have enough energy to get the job done. He'll lack impulsion, willingness, and spirit.