How to Help Your Horse Settle in to a New Home- Calming an Anxious Horse. 

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It is possible that he is in pain. It is also possible that he is developing unacceptable habits during this time of trouble. I would talk to the vet and see if he has other injuries or if the vet can discover softness. Let's talk about his groundwork. Are you seeing any limping or head bobbing? If you can, do stretches on him (see ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2Z9TToSTeU8.html) and then move him in the round pen at a trot or canter if possible. Look for lameness or head bobs after the stretches. Also, have someone walk him away from you and watch to see if his tail moves to one side while walking away. There is a reason that he is acting out. Usually, bad behavior is caused by fear, anxiety, or pain. Regarding the biting and kicking: What are/were the circumstances surrounding the bite? Is there a certain spot that he tends to react to when that area is approached? Normally, when a horse bites or kicks, it's the same thing as a person punching someone in the face and is an act of high aggression. If we are talking about backing the ears and taking a posture of warning, that is a less aggressive act and requires a lesser response. If a horse tries to bite me or kick me, they generally only do it once. We have to speak horse to our horses. If one horse bit at a more alpha horse, the more alpha horse would light him up! YOU must be your horse's alpha and leader. When a horse senses a void in leadership, they will fill it. Horses aren't drawn to sweetness for leadership, they are drawn to strength. They respect, trust and follow those (four-legged or two-legged) who demonstrate dominant strength. When one of my horses bit at me, I lit him up with high aggression. I happened to be holding a training flag. I wacked him in the neck and head with the flag as I advanced into his space, backing him up as he tried to get away from me. Wacking a horse with a flag is about like spanking someone with a feather, not painful at all. However, to a horse, it is frightening. If it would have been a horse instead of me getting after him, it would have been very painful for him, so he was lucky. That horse looked at me with amazement and surprise. He has NEVER bit at me again. However, he trusts and respects me completely. He can't wait to be near me. Why? because I am his trusted leader who is strong enough to protect him and keep him safe, just like the alpha horse of the herd. We are dealing with survival instincts here and meeting a horse's need for an alpha leader who makes them feel safe. Strength draws a horse to you. If he bites or kicks, light him up for his own good and for the sake of your relationship. Spend some quality, mild pressure time making his feet move and showing him that you are the alpha and a good companion. See ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Fxfm4SXgTwI.html for ideas on what to do. Focus on discovering why he is acting out and do what you can to help him.

I don't know your horse or all the factors, but generally, when you meet a horses emotional needs of feeling safe because he truly believes that you have his back and that you are an able and dependable leader, alpha protector, you end up with a generally calm non spooky horse. That said, you can help a horse improve and make better choices, but you can't always change who they are. Warwick Schiller talks abut helping horses deal with things that spook them and managing their anxiety called "Don't Go to Bed Angry" .

Thanks for the question! The horse needs your connection and leadership now. Also, see our How to Calm a Horses' Anxiety video as these two videos go together. Spend time with the new horse. Using calm and light pressure/release, you can help your horse see a confident leader and companion in YOU. Spend time with him just being together. Mirror his actions. When he is concerned about something help him see that you see his concern. If he is looking at something, you look at it too. When he relaxes, reward him. Look at his ears and when one flickers back after being focused on something, reward him. Spend a day like this and slowly begin moving him a shown in the video. He will be drawn to your strength, not your sweetness. He needs a confident and calm leader. Once he has settled a little, start moving his feet. See our Trust and respect episode 2 video. The join-up will be a VERY important exercise for you. After he is more confident in his new surroundings, turn up the pressure in your training. See more at www.DoubleSpurRanch.com on the Learning Center page.

Great comment. It is not an exercise in how to lead your horse, the point is developing respect and helping the horse to stay focused on you. It's a common training practice that works well.

Start over. 1st, look at yourself. When I fail to get a result from a horse, 99% of the time it is I who have failed, not the horse. Sometimes a horse doesn't believe you. Sometimes they just don't understand. I'd start with leading exercises, rebuild the trust/respect relationship and try again with a different type of pressure.

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Usually, if they won't move out for you for the short lounge on a lead line, it is about confusion. I offer direction by leading the horse off to one direction and apply supporting pressure to the shoulder and/or cheek to push them off and release when they do. I sometimes focus on nothing but moving the shoulder away from me, rather than moving in circles. I'll try to post a video breaking it down.

@@DoubleSpurRanch thank you that would be very helpful 👍🏻