Question
Ben
Hi. I have a 5 yr old tb gelding that I have had since he was 3. He was previously a pasture ornament at a Kentucky race horse farm and from what I have been told, his only handling was to be brought up in the morning to be groomed and fed. He was a colt when I purchased him. Since I have purchased him, we have been taking the time to get to know eachother and work on ground work. Until I purchased this horse, Ben, I had not been around horses for 20 years. I have enjoyed this time with him and this time to get back my horsemanship skills and my sense of the horse. I have put my saddle on him and even was able to cinch it up, however, every time it has been a scary experience for him. I have started out slow, but every time he seems ready for the saddle, the minute it is cinched up and he's in the round pen he takes off bucking....he's lacerated his leg....and had many cuts. I love this horse. I want to ride this horse. He's such a sweet boy. I have had other "trainers" tell me that he's just pulling his crap and he's not scared...but am I completely wrong to say that I firmly believe he's terrified? He becomes hard as a rock and his eyes surely tell me everything. He did used to run away, but now, he moves away from whatever it is he doesn't like and then he steps forward toward me, like, Mom, am I okay? make it better...okay, so I know that giving him human thoughts is a dangerous way to look at things with a horse. He definitely trusts me. Not enough to accept the saddle. I have tried to talk to the previous owner, and she tells me that he was regularly handled and that she knows of no situations that were train wrecks or hard on him. Now, he has crooked front legs, the both turn to his right. They are not overly bad, however, I am an equine vet tech and he does not wear shoes, gets fantastic balanced trims, has no back problems and is not lame. His body is adapting to his confirmation, surprisingly. He may not be a riding horse for a long period of his life...he's beautiful, inside and out and my intention is to have him for a forever horse. I am taking him to a colt starting clinic next weekend with Buck Branaman and I am hopeful to learn to saddle him and eventually, soon, ride him. I am in need of your input and supportive ideas on how to work with him in a way that makes him feel even more comfortable, secure and not afraid. Or am I wasting my time? In your experience, will he continue to buck as a riding horse? will he continue to be terrified when I'm on him? I just cannot afford to be hurt. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and answer my questions.
AnswerHello Jaimie,
I can tell from how much thought you put into your question that you really care about doing things right with your horse. I have a feeling you two will be just fine, your job is to keep putting the relationship with him ahead of any training goal and his job is to learn how to give to pressure from you.I am sure by now you learned tons at the clinic you went to and who knows maybe you are already riding him. I would work on being able to throw a rope over his back and around his legs until you feel like he is not worried about it at all, if he is worried he can trot off around you but I would stop him from coming into you. The cinch usually is the scary part for them so you can use the rope you threw over his back to get him used to the idea. Pick it up from the other side and slowly squeeze it like a cinch and immediately loosen the rope- you want to advance and retreat with the pressure of the rope until you horse is relaxed and wondering what reason you have to keep messing around with the rope around his belly.
Best Wishes,
Caitlin Day Huntress
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