Behavior problems can be a major concern in horses.  Specifically, aggressive behavior by one horse toward others can cause injuries to the horses as well as causing a management problem when stabling or feeding.  Also, many other undesirable behaviors can cause damage to facilities such as kicking the stalls, cribbing, and pawing.  Difficulty in correcting these behaviors stems from the fact that you are not present exactly when the behavior happens, and correction later is ineffective.  Dr. Michelle Kennedy has indicated she has had success using an electronic collar that is worn around the horse’s neck.  Although electronic, this collar is not the same as collars for dogs as the stimulation supplied by the dog collars is much stronger than the horse collars.  The advantage of the collar is the horse can be corrected up to a half mile away at the time the undesirable behavior is occurring.  The collar provides a very mild shock and usually causes the horse to stop the behavior immediately. 

Dr. Kennedy performed a study in 18 horses that were aggressive in the pasture, in the paddock, or at feeding time.  She used the collar for a week on all horses but only had to stimulate the horses 4 times or less.  After the week, all horses had stopped the behavior and still did not exhibit the behavior after the collar was removed.  Although you may not like to use this method, many horses are so aggressive they are unmanageable and may have to be destroyed.  Also, this report indicated only a few stimulations are actually necessary to correct the problem.  If you have a horse that is uncontrollable, contact me at for information on this technique.