Move the Hindquarters Away and Fix Kicking Threats
Tools You’ll Need
- Halter or rope halter
- Lunge line
- Lunge whip
- Longer whip if needed for safety
- Gloves
- Safe round pen or open work area
- Basic lunging fundamentals
- Professional help if the horse is aggressively kicking or charging
A horse that turns its butt toward you, kicks at you, or refuses to move its hindquarters away is creating a serious safety problem. This lesson teaches the horse to yield the hindquarters, move the butt away, and face you instead of threatening you.
What’s Really Going On
This lesson builds off basic lunging. By now, the horse should already understand how to move around you in a circle, change directions, and pay attention to your body pressure. If the horse cannot lunge yet, go back and fix that first.
Now we are teaching the horse to yield the hindquarters. You may also hear this called disengaging the hindquarters, moving the hip away, rolling the hip away, or tucking the tush. It all means the same basic thing: the horse learns to move the butt away from you and bring the safer end back toward you.
This matters because the back end of a horse is dangerous. A horse that turns its butt toward you is not giving you a cute little opinion. It is putting the weapon end toward you. If that horse kicks, it can break bones, cave in your face, or leave you drinking out of a straw for the rest of your life, if you live through it.
You do not need an acronym for this one. A kicking threat is a serious safety violation. This is not something to laugh off, pet through, or hope goes away. If the horse shows you the butt in a threatening way, that behavior needs corrected immediately.
The whip is not there for decoration. It is an extension of your arm so you can correct the horse from a safer distance. If the horse threatens you with its hind end, you use the whip to smack the butt and drive the hindquarters away. You are not doing it because you are mad. You are doing it because a kicking horse can seriously hurt or kill someone.
The goal is simple: when you say whoa, bring the horse’s nose toward you, and step toward the hindquarters, the horse should move the butt away, stop, and face you. The horse wins when your whip hits air because it moved before the correction landed.
I have had horses turn their butt toward me and kick three or four times in a row. Every time that horse kicked, it hit my whip instead of me, and every time that butt came toward me, I smacked its butt with the end of the whip and drove it away again. I kept correcting the same behavior until the horse finally decided to move the hindquarters away, turn in, and face me. That is the moment the lesson starts to stick. The horse figures out that showing the butt gets pressure, and yielding the hindquarters gets relief.
How to Fix It
Step 1: Start with Lunging
Start the horse lunging around you in a safe circle. The horse should already know how to go forward, stay out on the circle, and change directions. This lesson is not where you teach basic lunging from scratch.
Step 2: Say Whoa
When you are ready to stop the horse, say “whoa.” Do not instantly go after the horse. Give it about a second and a half to think and respond. You are setting up the cue before the correction.
Step 3: Bring the Nose and Move the Butt
When the horse is first learning this, you may need to help it understand the answer. Say “whoa,” then bring the nose slightly toward you with the line while you step toward the hindquarters. Pulling the nose to you helps unlock the hip so the horse can move the butt away instead of just standing there confused.
Step 4: Go After Where the Butt Was
After that short pause, step toward the hindquarters and drop the whip toward where the butt was at that exact second. If the horse does not move, the end of the whip may make contact with the butt. That is the point of the tool. It lets you make the correction without putting your body close enough to get kicked.
Step 5: Let the Horse Win the Game
The first few times, you may smack the butt with the end of the whip because the horse did not move. That is part of the lesson. But the point is not to chase and beat the horse. The point is for the horse to learn how to win. Eventually, you say whoa, wait, bring the nose, drop the whip toward the butt, and the whip hits nothing but air because the horse already moved away.
Step 6: Look for the Turn and Face
The better answer is not just running away. The better answer is the horse moving the hindquarters away and turning in to face you. That means the dangerous end left, and the thinking end came back to you.
Step 7: Correct the Butt Immediately
If the horse turns its butt toward you, do not wait. Correct it right there. Smack the butt with the end of the whip and drive that hind end away. The horse needs to understand that showing you the butt in a threatening way is not allowed.
Step 8: Stay at a Safe Distance
If the horse has a habit of kicking, do not stand too close pretending you are brave. Use a longer whip if needed. The whip is there so you can reach the horse’s hindquarters without putting your body inside the kick zone.
Step 9: Repeat Until the Horse Chooses Safety
The horse may try it a few times. Every time the butt comes toward you, the correction comes. Every time the horse moves the hindquarters away and faces you, it finds peace. The horse should start choosing to yield the hindquarters and face you instead of threatening you.
If It’s Not Working
If the horse does not understand how to move the hindquarters, help it by bringing the nose toward you first. The nose and hip are connected. When you bring the nose slightly in, it makes it easier for the hindquarters to unlock and step away.
If you keep chasing the butt around the pen, the horse may never learn how to win. Go after where the butt was when you made your move. The horse wins by moving it before you get there.
If the horse keeps turning its butt toward you, your correction may be too late, too weak, or your distance may be unsafe. Be ready before it happens. If the horse is known for kicking, work farther away and use a longer tool.
If the horse runs away but never turns to face you, keep working on the disengagement. You are not just trying to scare the horse off. You are trying to teach it to move the hindquarters away and bring the front end back toward you.
If you are angry, stop and get your head right. This is not about venting. This is about timing, safety, and teaching a serious rule. The correction needs to be clear, not emotional.
If this horse is trying to kick people aggressively, get professional help. One kick can change your life permanently.
Final Thoughts
The hind end of a horse is not something to take lightly. If the horse turns its butt toward you, kicks at you, or threatens you, that is a serious safety problem.
Teach the horse to yield the hindquarters. Teach it that when you say whoa, bring the nose slightly toward you, and step toward the hip, the butt moves away and the horse turns to face you. That is the safe answer.
This is still a game the horse can win. The horse wins when it moves the butt away before the correction lands. You win when the whip hits air and the horse chooses the safe answer on its own.
Do not be mean. Do not be emotional. But do not be casual about kicking threats either. A horse that respects your space and keeps its hindquarters away from you is a safer horse for everyone.
Tools You’ll Need
- Halter or rope halter
- Lunge line
- Lunge whip
- Longer whip if needed for safety
- Gloves
- Safe round pen or open work area
- Basic lunging fundamentals
- Professional help if the horse is aggressively kicking or charging