7 year old mare

Question
I have an Arabian/Paint cross mare. She is 7 years old and is very high strung. She has perfect ground manners (better than any horse I've ever seen) and she knows how to lunge very well. I can put a saddle and bridle on her and lunge her like that and she has no problem. I took her to a trainer when I first bought her 2 years ago. When she first arrived she cut her leg and had to wait a few months for that to heal. She was kept in a round pen the entire time and I don't think she was happy with that. By the time she was healed and the trainer began to ride her she had been in the round pen for probably 3 or 4 months. She bucked and never calmed down and eventually he gave up on her. I know she was ridden by her previous owner so I think that by that point she was just sick of the round pen and I don't think she liked the trainer much. I think she trusts me now though and I'm interested in training her myself. It's been about 2 or 3 years since she's been ridden and I want to do everything I can to prepare her before I just jump on her (I broke my arm and wrist when a horse reared and fell backward on me a few years ago). Are there any good training tips you have? I have been lunging her with the saddle and bridle and I'm thinking about putting a bag of feed on her back to get her use to weight. Is there anything else I can do?
Thanks!

Answer
Hi Courtney!  

I've answered this question twice, but it doesn't want to post...so here goes AGAIN and fingers crossed you may get to see it!

Your horse is green and so are you and that is not the best combination.  What we need to do is help you find a the right folks to help you out and guide you in this process and NOT a "horse trainer".  I went on quite a rant in my last two answers to you about the difference between horsemen and horse trainers and now that I'm writing this for the third time, I've lost a bit of the zest.  Gosh, I hope those other answers show up at some point!  Any way...I am proud of you that you have come to the decision to do this yourself and not rely on a "trainer", it is pretty obvious they did not have the knowledge or ability to help you.  Look for someone that will teach you as well as help you teach your horse.  Horses can't be trained, really, this is not like Pavlov's Dogs, ring the bell the dog salivates!  This is NOT what you want in a horse.  What you are trying to do is to build a partnership and that requires an all together different  approach.  

Just about everything was going wrong in what you described to me.  Courtney, it is YOUR responsibility to care for your horse and to make sure she is not trapped in the same space for months on end.  This to me is just not right.  You have to learn how to start a colt because that is what you are having to do, only with more difficulty! Now you will also have to un-do the wrong that has been done as well as teaching your horse the basics, the ABC's as it were, all of the things she has missed.

I want you to go out and buy the "Ground Work" book by Buck Brannaman.  It clearly illustrates the classical ground school you will need to teach your horse.  Lunging is NOT ground work.  It is great if you want to wear your horse down, but it is nothing more than that, it is just running in circles.  You CAN turn it into a portion of a wonderful ground school, but you will have to incorporate more.  Learn every last thing in Buck book.  Ray Hunt taught it to him and Ray learned it from Tom Dorrence.  Learn who these men are.  I am pointing you towards quality and it is up to you to follow up and do the homework.  There is no one sentence, simple answer to re-starting a troubled horse, YOU will have to do the work.  I can point out the resources, get you to the right people but the rest will be up to you.  Start working your way through the resource list on my website and look up the clinic schedules for Buck Brannaman, Brian Neubert, Martain Black, Peter Campbell and Ricky Quinn.  These guys travel the country and have made a life out of helping people with their horses.  They will teach YOU the skills that you will need to teach your horse.  You will also meet quality folks at those clinics that can continue to help you after the  clinic is over.  This is a must for you.  Starting a colt and re-starting a troubled horse is like building a house!  I can't tell you how to build a whole house in one e-mail just like I can't tell you everything you need to know to re-start your horse.  I will give you some of the first few things to do and then as I have said, the rest is up to you.  I will be here to help and support you, but this is your house to build.

Start by teaching your horse to "hook on" to you.  I have written  much about this in past answers and have a synopsis of it on my web site. This is a critical step in establishing leadership, respect and trust with your horse.  How this works out will tell you volumes in just where the leadership, trust and respect truly is.  Then work on getting control of the feet.  Teach your horse how to yield its hind quarters, again, you will find this in Buck's book and in many of my past answers.  This to is critical.  It is ALL about the feet.  When you get control of the feet, you have control of the mind.  Get your horse leading by on the fence so she can see your from above.  You can actually get a first ride on your mare without ever leaving the fence.  This is how you prepare them to ride and NOT by throwing on a bag of grain!  There is NO life or support for the horse in a sack of grain.  I don't know where this idea came from!  There is SO much silliness out there it just makes me cringe.  Weight in and of itself just has nothing to do with finding success in re-starting your horse. Really Courtney, a good hand, someone with feel,timing, balance and a knowledge of the horses needs will have her going, packing a rider in just a few hours, not months or years.  I feel so bad for you and your horse that this has been your experience.  Don't feel bad, it happens to a lot of people.  You and your mare are sadly not alone.  

So, read Buck's Ground work book, get your horse hooking on, teach her to yield the hind quarters, get her leading by on the fence and start watching some of the DVD's I have listed on my resource page.  That is tons of homework I know, but you can do it!  Then check back in with me and let me know how things are going.  I would like to know where in the country you are and maybe I can find someone of quality to help your and your horse, NOT a horse trainer, but someone that has studied with my teachers and is a true horseman.  Get to a colt starting clinic with one of the guys I mentioned and do it as fast as you can.  It will change everything for you.

Good luck and Keep me posted!

Denise