new mare

Question
hi. i've just bought a 12.1hh mare with foal at foot and in foal again for next year. i bought her from a horse sale as she looked negelcted and i felt sorry for her. she is 10 years old and seems to have many problems emotionally, i have been feeding her well to build her up but not to well so as the foal she is pregnant on will grow to big. i turned her out for a few hours yesterday and it took nearly an hour to catch her again she can be nasty an will barge and bite and has even turned her backend on a few occasions. we have 5 other horses including a stallion and have had horses all our lives breeding a few to keep along the way as well as buying in young stock to break and keep for riding and have never before had to deal with anything like this. we've had horses that have been difficult to catch but they have very rarely been nasty with it and food is normally enough to bribe them. the mare is very nervous and as i have no history on her it's hard to guess where and when the problems started. i thought with time she'd come to realise that were not here to hurt her but she seems to be getting worse and i'm starting to think i've taken on to much with her as i have my other youngster to consider and dont want her training to suffer due to me having to spend so much time trying to bring this mare around. should i sell her on as a broodmare companion to someone who has the time and experience to bring her right or shall i bare with her and see if she comes around on her own.

Answer
hi elizabeth,
there are some very simple ways to fix these problems. first off she is moody and sour because she has been neglected. possible even beaten. you dont know how her life was so you cant really expect her to be happy go lucky. try to keep her in a smaller pen for now until you wean off the foal. once you do teach her to keep her but away from you. to do this you swing a rope towards her but until she turns it and looks at you. once she looks stop and say good girl. if she just runs then let her run until she stops herself. approach her and get her to look at you. when your leading her swing the rope at her quarters and pull her head yowads you. once she faces you praise her. make sure you do both sides. soon she will be at the point wear if you walk towards her quarters she will move them away and keep her head on you. as far as catching goes. let her run. approach her when she stops and act normal. if she runs then she runs. she can run forever. soon she will realize she is doing more work then she wants and will stop. over time she will get the point and not run. just be patient and always be consistant. work with the foal as well on lead treaining and picking up its feet. anything is a good start. rub all of its body and throw towels on his back. anything you can think of will be a great benifit in the long run. good luck!
amanda groff