wundahoss
Posted : 6/10/2009 4:53:24 AM
Have to ask, what made you get an untrained, ungelded horse for you & your young daughter? How much experience have you had?
First & foremost call the vets ASAP & get him gelded. But don't expect, at his age & with well established behaviour patterns that that will change him much. After you've called the vet, find & book a *good* trainer ASAP. Preferably one who is confident about dealing with aggression and 'dominant' behaviour in a non confrontational way. Next learn all you can about equine behaviour & behavioural training principles & practice.
Depending on your level of expertise & confidence, and that of your daughter, you can either get your chosen trainer to work with the horse for a while first, before giving you lessons with him, or you can go straight into getting the trainer to teach you to deal with him.
I would personally - after getting the vet - be inclined to start out teaching him some manners & 'good' behaviour with positive reinforcement, from the other side of a fence(for safety) to begin with. I would avoid confrontations & punishment where ever possible(never say never), as you getting 'bossy' with him could easily be seen just as a challenge that he wants to rise to - causing his behaviour to get more dangerous. There are more ways to skin a cat and you might get some more ideas about the type of approach I think best from Mark Rashid's site - he used to have a good article on 'Passive Leadership'.