nervous horse

Question
13 yr old mare,had a baby and now she is very nervous around other horses,baby is now 3 yrs old, use to be a 4h horse,did alot of shows but has no confidence now. tried mare magic with no luck, cant afford to spend alot but sure miss enjoying the ride, she knows it all, even reining. any help would be appreciated.   scott

Answer
Scott,

Interesting.  My mare had a filly 2.5 yrs. ago and it did wonders for her temperament.  She's a lot more tolerant of riding with other horses now, if they can keep up with her.  She's a Standardbred who did race and is very competitive.  She was a successful racehorse.  Anyhow, on to your horse.  You tried one type of herbs, just not the right type for your horse apparently.  Is the baby still with her and the other horses?  Could be she doesn't want to leave her baby, even though it's been 3 yrs.  I don't know if you keep her alone or in with other horses.  

In any event, it might be helpful to find out what's going on in that brain under the fuzzy ears.  Find an animal communicator.  A lot will do consults over the phone for a reasonable fee.  Mine I just email with the request and give some times that work for me.  She gets back to me with one that work for her too and I call her.  See what the mare has to say about why she's so nervous and what her issues are.  I know, if you don't believe/aren't familiar with animal communicators you may think this is nuts.  It's not.  It works.  

I would also do some round pen work with her to re-establish trust.  You need to be able to give her support when she gets nervous about something.  If not familiar with round pen work break down and get one of the videos on it.  Pat Parelli has some excellent ones.  Working through his "7 Games" will do wonders to get her to respond to you.  

Be prepared, this will take time.  How long depends upon the horse.  Some horses come around quickly, others can take a lot longer.  I throw away my watch (figuratively speaking) when I start with a lesson.  Work on baby steps that you build on.  Each horse learns at their own pace.  You can conquer this problem.  You have to commit to investing your time, lots of patience and love.  Then you'll have your "old" horse back again, maybe even better than before.

Lyn