soured horse

Question
2 yrs ago I bought a mare from our local sale barn. She was headed to slaughter. This mare is very easy to deal with from the ground.

After I had her for 6 months and built her weight up I figured it was time to see if she would be rideable. She did fine placing the saddle onto her back but as soon as I started to tighten the cinch she pinned her ears back and started bighting at anything or anyone. I'm sorry to say that she was turned out to pasture and nothing else was done with her. (In the meantime she gave birth to a beautiful filly).

Earlier this spring once again I tried to saddle her and the results were the same. However this time I did get up on her and was lead around. Well, that didn't go very well either.she cow kicked and attempted to buck. Again she was turned out to pasture.

A few weeks ago I was able to relocate her to a facility that has an indoor riding area. I decided to try once again to get up on this mare. This time I laid across her back without a saddle and was lead around. She did fine.

Last week, I was able to sit on her back again without a saddle. She seemed fine with this but I kept this session to just a few minutes.

Today I got back up on her bareback and was lead around the barn once. I then took her around once alone. (We did good) third time around we had a blow up...ears pinned back and refusal to move forward. I made the mare back up several feet then encouraged her to move forward (which she did).

It seems to me that this horse has been allowed to get away with bluffing her previous riders. She has been horribly abused...the scars are evidence. But there is something there that is worth giving her another try.

My question is, how can I continue to move her forward and get past the bluffing, biting and blow-ups?

Sincerely
Ann

Answer
Hello Ann,

This more mare has been through who knows what in her life. It is important that you try to "think like a horse", and not give think she is doing things like "bluffing? with you.

She needs to trust you. That you are not going to abuse her. In her previous training, probably many incorrect things happened to her, including bad and confusing training.

Your job now is to start her out right from the beginning- treat her as if you were just starting out a baby...which mentally she still is, no matter what her age is.

I recommend that you get a book by Linda Tellington Jones on training, remembering that you are REtraining, which takes more patience and time. Do not let someone tell you that you have to chase her around in a round pen, or get her tired to "submit" to you. She does not know what she is supposed to do. You need to start her out with ground work, including correct lungeing, and repeat the processes many times.

You started out correctly, but do not rush it. If you do something successfully one day, it does not mean that the next day you already start to increase your demands. Repeat everything many times. If she balks or does not understand it is the TRAINER'S (yours) responsibility to figure out how to explain what you want. When people have problems with horses, even when they first start, it is usually because the horse just does not understand.

You have the added task of taking away all of her fearful memories of the past. As soon as someone works with her, she probably becomes tense, anxious, and worried. Ground work, just brushing her, and then start over again with the saddle work. Do not take anything for granted that she should know

You are wonderful to give this poor horse another chance. You can write to me anytime..through Experts, or Summersdressage@aol.com, www.Mitzisummers.com

Mitzi Summers