HORSE ABUSE

Question
My husband and myself, fell into horse rescue, and have rescued several abused horses, one..."Texas-Star" a 4 yr. old quarter/paint mare, who was starved to death, beaten almost to death, she would not let you touch her, or get near her, since July 06, until now, we can pet her on her neck sometimes,she is not a biter,or kicker she just wants to get away from people.She has so much fear in her eyes that it is heart breaking. We were told to never have her broke, due to she can never be trusted because of her abuse. How do we or what can we do to communicate with her that we will never hurt her. She has put on over 200 pounds,and her feet are 100% better.(she has to be druged to have her feet done) since her rescue.

Answer
Patricia,

God bless you both!!  

OK.  You have a horse with a lot of issues here.  I hope you have a round pen.  That's the best thing you can have to help her work through this.  It is possible to get her to trust you again.  It will take a while.  If you are not familiar with round pen work get some of the videos that are available by the noted experts in the field - John Lyons, Curt Pate, Pat Parelli, Richard Shrake, etc.  There are a lot of them.  I think you would probably do best using Parelli's games as he calls them in this case.  You can use any of their methods, they are all based on the same principle of letting the horse work things out in it's own mind.  I cannot tell you how long this is going to take but it's gonna be a long time.  If you are involved in rescue though you have patience and love which are the most important things.  

How far you will get with her is anyone's guess.  Only she will know.  On her side is the fact that she's a youngster and, like all children, she can overcome this.  I've watched wonders with older horses, Mustangs, and seen them take enormous strides so I won't discount anything here.  

I do have a couple of suggestions that will help.  One is to get a bottle of Bach's Rescue Remedy.  It's available at health food stores and is a homeopathic remedy, not a drug.  I would simply put a couple of droppersful in her water everyday so that she's drinking it.  It will work to help with axiety and fear.  I would keep up with it until you start with her round pen work and make a break-through with her.  Also, I would just about bet anything that she has ulcers.  Don't even consider trying to diagnose them, just take my word for it that with what she's been through it's pretty certain her stomach suffered damage.  Here's and easy, inexpensive help.  Add 5 oz. of aloe vera juice and 3 oz. of papaya juice to her feed twice a day.  I think you'll see a huge difference in her overall attitude very quickly once her stomach is no longer hurting her.  It will also help with her feed utilization since her teeth undoubtedly need work which at this point in time is out of the question.  Aloe vera juice can be bought at Sam's Club, here, for about $6 a gallon.  Papaya juice I buy at the grocery store or just make it up myself in the blender and use the puree.  Both taste good and are natural so I've never had a horse turn up their nose at eating them.  They usually gobble them right up.  Horse's are very prone to ulcers and the majority of them show no outward symptoms of them.  This is something that's very much in the forefront of research right now with the realization that far many more horses suffer from them than previously realized.  We keep them in so much different an environment than what they evolved in and they pay the price most of the time.  They are biologically engineered to eat about 19-21 hrs. a day.  In the wild they browse and move constantly.  Their guts are designed to process roughage, fiber, something that most horses don't have 24 hr. access to.  As a result, since their stomach's produce digestive acids constantly, unlike us who do it when we eat, when there is no food in the stomach the acids have nothing to work on but the stomach itself.  Same for the upper part of the small colon.  Sorry I've rambled on but I wanted to cue you in to something to consider as part of your rescue work.  Any horses you rescue should probably get this as part of their rehabilitation when you bring them in.  The juices don't break the budget and will actually save you money in feed over the long run.  

Let me know how she does.  You will see a big difference in her.  But, it could take many hours of work to start with.  You have to break through her defense barriers and get her to start thinking again.  This will be a marvelous experience for you both.  I've done it many times.  You can actually practically see a light bulb go off over the horse's head when they figure something out.  And the rewards of having them accept you cannot be expressed adequately.  Once you have her trust treats work really well once she will accept them.  It will make you a highly desireable person!  Anyhow, start with socializing her once you have made friends with her.  She needs to realize that all people are not different.  I actually introduce new people to horses like this one at a time.  And then work up to small groups so that the horse becomes comfortable with people in general.  

Please, keep me informed on her progress.

Lyn