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ARTICLES & EDUCATION
Noise Making
(Stall or Tank Banging, Raking Teeth on Objects)
Horses, mules and donkeys primarily make noise for attention. We have listed a few below but there are a wide variety of noises that they can make, depending on the creativity of the individual.
Striking or kicking a feeder, water tank, stall door or gate with their hooves or legs
Scraping their teeth along a stall door, stall wall, water tank or gate
Picking up objects with their teeth and slamming or dropping them
Braying or neighing
What these individuals have in common, is they have learned that if they continue long enough, they will be rewarded with attention, and if especially lucky, feed. Unfortunately once they have learned how successful they can be with these annoying habits, it can be very difficult to stop them. Ignoring them usually only drives them to do it more frequently or louder….since you obviously must not be able to hear them! While these habits are usually not life threatening to the animal they can lead to dental problems or bruised legs and they are damaging to whatever property the horse is using for an instrument. If neighbors are close enough to be bothered by the noise (especially if it occurs at night or early in the morning) this can also cause problems and may lead to the passing of local ordinances against horses.
A separate category of noise making is the squalling stallion. Although this is normal breeding stallion behavior is it is inappropriate in many non-breeding horse environments. Stallions may squall as horses are led by their stalls. They may squall in a show ring or anytime they can see strange horses. It can be difficult to train them to stop this behavior and many current methods are not particularly pleasant for the horse. They may be completely enclosed in a stall with solid walls so that they cannot see other horses. They may be disciplined severely with a whip or chain when they vocalize. These attempts to deal with the problem may actually lead to the development of worse bad habits.
Noise making bad habits are very easy problems to stop with the ViceBreaker® and usually only the lower levels are needed. The horse can be corrected instantly from a distance without relating it to the person.
Please read our
Factors page to better understand why horses perform many bad habits and also our
Tips page for suggestions on how to improve your horse's environment to help prevent future bad habits.
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