Do you ever have those moments when your horse comes in close - then nearly stands on your or knocks you over? Or perhaps a horse that pushes ahead of you to get to the gate, even though it is on the lead?

Then you know what it is like to have a pushy horse.

A pushy horse isn’t necessarily nasty, but if the behaviour is left unchecked, it could result in a dangerous situation.

Of course, the last thing we want to have to do is continuously discipline our horse. It feels horrible to constantly tell them off, and it can damage our relationship.

If you know why your horse is pushy, it could save you a lot of time and effort in correcting the issue.

TIP: OUR FREEBIE IN THIS ARTICLE NOT ONLY SHOWS YOU HOW TO START CORRECTING THE BEHAVIOUR, IT DOES SO WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR RELATIONSHIP OR AFFECTION FOR EACH OTHER!

1. You horse is insecure

An insecure horse is going to push into you for security, or may try to pull away from you to get to a more secure location - such as with the rest of the herd. This can happen when you horse is dealing with separation anxiety, or when they are in a new environment.

Tip: if you work on your horses trust, they will follow your lead more consistently. Work on adventures in our guide to start establishing trust and identify the areas your need to strengthen in your training and relationship.

2. Your horse doesn’t see you as a leader

It may be that your relationship is new, it may be that the herd structure has changed, or it may simply be that your horse has an alpha personality - whichever it is , your horse will, at some point, make you prove you are their leader.

Leadership is based on a level of consistency and knowledge, as well as comfort that you can. If you give the impression you cannot, your horse will look for someone who can - and will take it upon itself to see if it should be the leader instead. It’s instinctive - it is what would happen in a herd.

You can be a strong leader without beating your horse into submission (or scaring it with objects), and you don’t have to turn into a horse to do it either! The Foundations Of Equine Development: Training Trainability provides you with the tools you need to become a human alpha and understand the challenges that face it.

3. You keep giving your horse mixed signals

The biggest mistake I see is a lack of consistency - which is absolutely critical to preventing pushiness.

Your horse doesn’t care about the day that you had a cold and still had to turn up for feed time - but what it does care about is that it was able to push into you to get food quicker, and it worked.

Being consistent means you know what you expect and your expect this EVERY — SINGLE — TIME (perhaps singularly excluding life-threatening situations). Know what your boundaries are, and make sure your horse respects them too.

We hope that you have recieved some insight into why your horse may be pushy - pushing your boundaries, pushing your buttons, and potentially pushing your over. Contact us here if you need any further advice!