I also have a horse that started out as a defensive kicker.
I did basically the same as Ranelle, using the hind end yielding and slightly
turning his head towards the object of his defense. I also used the red ribbons,
played leapfrog out on the trail a lot, scolded when he put an ear back or
started making ugly faces when a horse is passing. He got over it without ever
kicking out at any horse on a ride, but I do still ask riders to keep their
horses away from his rear end, don’t tailgate, etc. Truly, we shouldn’t
need to ask this, it should be part of our everyday safety with our horses,
something most of us learned and often forget because we are with so many
horses all the time.
IMHO, every rider should assume that the horse they are
coming up on might kick and use appropriate caution and good trail manners.
