crowhopping

Question
QUESTION: I have a 7 yr old mare. I just bought her and she crow hops and is extremely tense when you ride her.  I believe this may be in due to the fact that a 12 yr. old girl had her and when she crow hopped she would become upset and cry according to the girls mother, but did not get off, but the girl did not enjoy the ride. There was also a trainer present and worked with her for 90 days her mother said.  I tried to contact the original owners, but they never returned my calls. I got on her (Lucy) and she immediately began to crow hop on me and I did not get off, but the ride only lasted about 15 minutes as I do not have a round pen and I was home alone.  My skills are limited, but my desire is in the right place and I am willing to learn.  

In the pasture she is a sweetheart and I have lunged her, but this unfortunately takes a whip in the air moving, or she will not do it, and at times she will challenge this by stopping and going up slightly with her front feet at me, but at a distance, she does not get close enough to strike, until I hit the ground with the whip then she will lunge again.  She will also fight you when you put the bit in and apply pressure to pull her head around to try to stretch her neck out.  It does not matter which side it takes more pressure than it should before she gives in and does it and the tenseness does not go away.  A friend rode her for about 45 minutes and she was tense the whole time.  The mother shared she had a chiropractor check her out also and stated that nothing was wrong with her that they could see.  She does have a very nasty burn on her face, due to some exposure to white clover I was told, other than that she has beautiful confirmation.  I don't want to give up, but I really don't know what to do.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I really hate to ship her down the road.

ANSWER: Kim,

First off I would check out her back, see if it's sore - does she tense up when you run your fingers, slowly down her back about 2" away from her spine?  Press only hard enough to indent the skin.  If she flinches, tenses her back up, caves in under you hands, maybe snaps at you, that might be a good place to start addressing her issues.  You say she's a sweetheart until you ask her to work.  I suspect she's got physical issues here that make what you are asking difficult if not almost impossible to do.  

Horses are not devious like people.  There's a reason behind their behavior.  She's only 7 and doesn't sound like she's had much love or respect from the humans she's been associated with.  Fixing her is going to take time a patience, a lot of it.  A burn on the face from white clover?  Hmmmm......

You don't have a round pen.  OK.  Do you have a small pen/paddock of any type to use?  She needs to be able to work freely.  You can improvise pretty well by taking a small paddock and closing off the corners with that wide, yellow plastic CAUTION tape you buy at hardware/home improvement stores. Then you can do some round pen work when you are ready so that you can re-define your relationship with her.  

I would also go over her completely and see how she feels.  Are her muscles like firm, sponge rubber or are they tight and ropey?  Somehow, the chiropractor I wonder about, but if she's physically uncomfortable it's going to make work much harder for her.  Spend some time letting her realize that you are concerned for her well-being.  That's important to mares and the appreciate it.  

Check your saddle fit.  Saddles are like shoes, they have to fit and be comfortable.  Her behavior screams saddle problems.  If you don't know how to fit a saddle, see if you can find someone who can help you - someone who knows HOW to fit saddles.  It's a science and I've seen a lot of mistakes by people who thougt they knew how to fit saddles.  

Have you had her teeth worked on by an equine dentist?  Has she ever had her teeth floated and been checked for wolf teeth?  This could well be the root of the bridling problem.  

I've tried to get you thinking here.  I hope I've succeeded. Mares are generally willing to work, they usually have a pretty good work ethic.  So her behavior says that something is not right. Find out what the problems are and fix them. Show consideration and respect for her and I think you'll get a real change in attitude from her.  She deserves a real chance and you can give it to her. You saw something in her when you bought her so bring that out.  I hate to think what might happen to her if you were to get rid of her now.  

Lyn

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Okay I could use my husbands saddle, but his seat is larger than mine, but I know the tree is much larger and may fit her back better.  Her muscles are firm and solid not like sponge or rubber.  I have not had her teeth checked, but will look into that, but she seems to take the bit well and tends to give her head to me more so than the males who she has worked with shortly.  Unfortunately my small area is on cement and would not work well, I can work in my yard, and I do have some portable fencing, would that work for her, but it is not tall.  I also noticed a scare that is indented high on her chest, it is healed over, so I wondering about trauma, of course the original owner still will not return calls.

ANSWER: Kim,

I sort of hazard to guess that if you do ever manage to talk to the previous owner then I will know that Hell has truly frozen over!  

Anyhow, she evinces previous trauma to her chest, sounds like she managed to impale herself on something.  I can tell you that she would really, really benefit from some body work.  And you really need to make a sincere effort to use a saddle that fits her.  Saddles are like shoes.  How much can you do in a pair of too tight, ill-fitting shoes?  Like shoes that are a little big but otherwise fit OK and a pair of thicker socks will let you wear them trees that are a little too wide will work with a thicker pad, extra pads, etc.  Put a saddle that doesn't fit on a horse with a tight, sensitive back and you have a real good reason for the crowhopping.  

I don't know about the portable fencing.  What are we taking about here.  If it's pipe panels, even 12' x 4'.  Some of the latest work Parelli has been doing involves working in a round pen inside a larger arean or ring.  If the horse jumps out of the pen they just go with it.  Use your own judgement with this one.  You know the horse and the fence you want to use.  

I'm sure an animal communicator could shed some real light on this horse's background.  I have one talk to my horses regularly.  We do it all over the telephone.

You have a nice horse here who deserves a real chance.  Doesn't sound like she's had it easy up to now.  She has issues that need to be resolved.  I've had to fix so many "broken" horses that people were unwilling or unable to spend the needed time with.  Patience and love will go a long way.  

Good luck, keep in touch.

Lyn

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Okay I did run my hand like you suggested along her spine the 2 inches indenting her skin, nothing she did not flinch and then I ran my hands up and down her legs talking to her and such and applied the lotion to her scares so they don't itch. So at least she did not flinch with the pressure!  About the animal communicator, can you tell me more?   The portable fencing I have is not very tall, it is only about 4 feet tall, so probably not very good for a round pen.  They funny part is that I can lean on her neck and such to hop down off the bunk after I put hay in it and she does nothing, so I think I am gaining her trust more and more, I am out there with her and the others every day talking to them, and she lets me push her around also, like the mare does to the colt.  I just need to fit a saddle.  I am interested in the animal communicator.

Kim

Answer
Kim,

It may be more of a trust issue than anything else, once you get a saddle that fits.  Put it on her without a pad and cinch tight enough it won't fall off.  Step back and look at the saddle from the side and from the back.  Is it level front to back?  Does it sit evenly on her back, not off to one side or the other.  There should be enough clearance between the gullet of the saddle and the horse's spine to insert 3 fingers for and English tree, 2 fingers for Western treed saddle.  Remove the cinch and pressing firmly on the saddle seat with one had, run the other hand along under the saddle starting at the front of the tree behind the withers and running it all the way to the back.  The translation of pressure from your hand to the tree should be evenly distributed along the bars of the tree.  Any place that pressure is greater says it's tight, lessening pressure means it's not taking enough.  So once you find a saddle that fits, then judge how thick a pad you need.  Shoes that fit well don't do so well with heavy socks so a thicker pad might not be better.  

Mares are, after all, ladies.  If a woman has been treated badly by men they are less likely to trust again.  Same thing for horses.  But mares have a degree of loyalty that the boys just don't have.  Once you get the mare working for you and with you I think she'll be an awesome horse.  

Just go slow, keep up with what you are doing.  Sounds like it's working.  

As far as the animal communicator, check the internet.  You don't need to have one there to talk to her.  I email mine (she's in another state) with days and times, she tells me when she's available and I let her know when I will call her.  I tell her who I want to talk to and she contacts them.  She'll ask some quesions to make sure she's got the right horse.  She'll describe characteristics of the horse, an idea of color, markings, etc.  THe she'll talk to the one I wish to talk to, sort of introduce herself and explain that she's there to talk to them.  Then I tell her what I want her to ask.  And she'll tell you what the horse says.  It's fascinating.  The rates are reasonable and you can find out a lot of stuff you didn't know.  Give you a much better idea what you're working with.  

Lyn