Retraining

Question
I have just brought this horse. She is a 7 year old Mare who had been mistreated with bridle and I have got the bridle on a few times but only once by myself. I think she is a bit stage fright because every time if another horse is there she wont lets us put the bridle on. She also doesn't like people touching her ears but already she is trusting me a bit and i can touch her ears. I got the reins over her head for the first time the other day and she let me pull the fly mask over her eyes but the only problem is the bit.

Answer
Hi Maisie

Firstkly   congratulations   on getting a horse, and thank you for getting a rescue as well............ they do get overlooked  because  they  come with a certain amount of 'bagage'.

Right  theres no fast and easy way  with this lady  its  going to  take time and plenty of patience  there will be days  when its one step forward and three steps back  but   you will  win her round.

Firstly you are doing the right thing  by starting to get her to trust you,  its slowly slowly right now.   

Forget  trying to get the bit in her moouth for the time being, just cncentrate on letting her be touched.   We have the same ting  with one of the youngsters n the yard, he is terriifed of having a bridle or head collar on , and its taken us  nearly 3 months  to get near  him and put the head collar on, plenty of praise and fussing was the order of the day.

Start by  just touching her neck and round her ears as you are doing, stop when she feels uncomfortable with it, and then carry on, don;t get stressed with her, as she was scared before  and now  you are asking her to trust a human  when it was a human who did the damage in the first place.

Once  she will let you do that  then  work on just placing a lead rope over  her neck, don;t do anything with it  jsut place it on her neck, when she is ready for the next step then the head collar,  I  know this sounds like slow work but  please  bear with it.

Once she has accepted all of that then try the bit, just  let her sniff it  if  thats all she wants to do, then slowly ask her to place it in her moouth, coat it with treacle if you have to, but  do it onher terms, and do it slowly., don;t even attempt to ride her, let  her stand in her stable and play with the bit and  let her realise its not an instrument of torture........... once she has realised that then  its  going to be relatively plain sailing.

Do things quietly, you  and her on your own, no one else, no twos  ot threes  in her stable  and a wrestling match to get the bridle on her at all costs.   

Time and patience  will win you everything    rushing things  will lose the trust  she  is gaining in you.