# Help! My horse chases things



## rockystone1624 (Jun 29, 2017)

So when I bought my horse we had a herd of cows in the pasture that a neighbor was keeping, my horse, Outlaw, immediately started chasing them. We thought him chasing the cattle was no big deal, in fact, some of my friends thought it was cute (I thought about possibly taking up cutting). It's been about 3 months of owning him and I noticed his chasing behavior has started aggression in him. The cows will be leaving soon and we are starting a meat goat business and we would like to put out goats in with him (they will be about 300lbs +) however he has taken up chasing them as well. Our goats now are young and don't know how to react so we need to stop him with a lunge whip. We recently got a 1-week old goat (super cute!) and Outlaw has been so interested in him, he started banging into our 6ft metal gait and looked as if he would jump it! He is by no means a fancy jumper! He gets worked 6 times a week and stays out almost 24/7 (we live in basically Canada so for bad weather he has a stall)(working includes riding in and out of an arena, join-ups, ad days we can't work I'll read him a book or feed him new treats). He is a 3-year-old Quarter Horse if that helps, I will NEVER use whips, spurs, or a bit in my training methods, so that is excluded.


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## JoBlueQuarter (Jan 20, 2017)

OK, first of all, you're going to need to use a whip (better called training stick or lunge whip), if you're going to stop aggressive behaviour. (For the books, I don't think this is aggressiveness.) As long as you use the whip (or spurs and a bit, for that matter) correctly, it will only help; he won't be "traumatized", or "ruined", or anything like that. His behaviour will only improve. I suggest doing more research before you say "never". From what you describe, I do think you might be spoiling him a bit; I for one, don't like giving a lot of treats unless to reward good behaviour. But that isn't the issue here. I think he just wants to play with someone. I mean, he's three. Practically still a baby. Is he gelded? 
I don't think this is a training issue or anything that you can "fix" with training. You can show him that you don't like when he does that; get somebody to hold onto a goat, and lead your horse up to it. Let Outlaw sniff it, and just get used to him. Show your disapproval if he gets too rough. I wouldn't keep the goats with him though, and if he tries to get to them over the fence, try to move either the goats or Outlaw farther away.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

If this is in a pasture or pen and this is his free time, you can't stop it. Separate your goats from him. Does he have other horses for company? And be careful with smaller animals going in his pen or pasture, he might kill them. My friend's daughter's horse killed 2 of their sheep.


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## horseluvr2524 (Sep 17, 2013)

Perhaps you should rename him. "Outlaw" is asking for trouble... :razz:

I'm just kidding around. Don't have time now but I may be back to offer advice later, after I read the whole post.


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## ApuetsoT (Aug 22, 2014)

You can't control what they do when alone in the field. It is impossible for you to correct every instance of the behavior. You can teach him not to act or while you are present, but that's it. 

Get him a horse friend and seperate him from other livestock.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Unless you separate them, you will probably end up with a dead goat or two. I have a horse that will go after anything smaller than a pony that has four legs. She doesn't mind birds and will gladly share her food with them even. So far, she has killed a dog, a calf, two coyotes, a couple of rats that went in her stall and a bunny.

When they are out in the pasture there is not much you can do about it and it's not fair for any of the animals to be put in such a situation. Some horses just don't like other animals like that and will try to chase them off at best or hurt and kill them at worst.


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## secuono (Jul 6, 2011)

Separate the goats from him, he will kill one or more of them eventually.


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

Many horses cannot be trusted with small livestock for this very reason. You may be able to make him tolerate them in your presence, but once you leave he will want to bully and be dominant. You need to separate them. 

I have had and currently own many of these horses and donkeys. My donkey was SUPPOSED to be my sheep guardian, but he was too aggressive and chased and herds them and runs them to a panic. I couldn’t even imagine what he would do with lambs, he failed his first two trials. Never again. 

I have some horses who are mellow enough to trust and not bully sheep, and had one that scalped one when he jumped into their field, if I hadn’t intervened he would have murdered my entire flock. He was a very aggressive horse that also killed chickens. He taught one of my current geldings how to be bold and aggressive too, so he can’t be trusted either.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Like everyone else said, this is not a training issue, this is a stock management issue. Either separate the horse from the goats (he'll need his own companion animal, I suggest nothing smaller than horse), or sell this horse and get one who tolerates goats.


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## Dustbunny (Oct 22, 2012)

Do not put him in with other livestock.
Has he shared space with another horse prior to you getting him? If you do get him a horse friend make sure it is not smaller than he is. Sounds like maybe he needs herd education.


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