11 year old OTTB

Question
I found my TB about three years ago, he had raced for seven years.  Luckily he was sound physically, but was not emotionally.  He was being fed what a mini should eat for about six months, and was skin and bones.  He's 16.3...He didn't trust people at all.  It took about a year to gain muscle mass and have him look fit.  His feet I think will always be an issue (tb!) He now has developed trust, but I still have issues with trusting him.  I have him working quite nicely at the walk and trot (I ride dressage) He's round, moving forward, and relaxed most of the time.  I did this with millions of transitions and ground work.  The issue is that at times, he feels like a spring ready to blow up, which is exactly the same way he feels when he's working underneath himself and moving correctly!  He isn't like the typical horse that has a buck or two when first working, he has to warm up for 1/2 hour or more and will then have a blow up (not that this is ever appropriate, but most horses do that early on rather than have to warm up first!) He's gotten me off his back once a 1 1/2 years ago, witnesses said it was the largest buck they'd ever seen.  I simply don't trust him not to do this again.  He is a very intelligent gelding, and seems to want to please on most days.  I've gotten to the point that I can see it in his eye if he's going to be a brat (if they are not round looking watch out).  He works great outside, but hates the indoor arena which we are stuck in until spring.  I want to move forward with him, I've not done much canter work with him at all.  Are there any ways I can gain some trust in him?  This one has me puzzled, he's the 10th horse I've owned, my previous horse was sold working a solid 2nd level and ready to move up to 3rd.  After three years I'm about ready to give up, but I do love this horse!
Thanks you for providing this service, it's great to get another trainer's opinion.

Answer
Hi Katie!

I have tears in my eyes reading your question...Please don't give up!  You can give this horse a future.  So many wonderful TB's leave the track mentally ill after having endured so much abuse in the racing world.  it breaks my heart.  I have 2 ex-racehorses, both started out with real issues, both ended up being gems.  Hold on!  You can fix this!

The moment, that absolute second you feel him ready to launch...get OFF!  This is meaningful for several reasons, one, something in the ground work, and in is mind has been missed and you need to break the cycle and go back to the beginning.  Second, no one needs to ride like a cowboy!

If you can and you can support your horse and get something good out of staying on board, go for it.  However, you have "taken flight" once before and this is never good.  Your horse really does not want to lose you!  It is very troubling for your horse when your are bucked off.  A horse that bucks is also in general, very troubled.  If you feel him getting ready to buck, and I know you can feel that negative energy building up like a volcano, reach down and rub him.  Make it feel comforting and good to him.  Never pat, just rub.  Rub him until his feet come still, don't pull on both reins, soften in your whole body and just come back to zero.  At the same time I would be rolling down my inside rein yielding his hind quarters, giving him as much support and comfort as I could.  Keep yielding the hinds making sure the inside hind leg is reaching up and under the body and the inside front leg is still stepping forward but small enough so that the hinds are moving a greater distance than the fronts.  Keep rubbing.  This is called yielding the hind quarters and it will become the one rein stop.  This is your emergency brake and clutch for your horse.  It allows him to keep moving and not feel trapped while also allowing his mind to come back down from an adjated state to a calm state.  Keep yielding his hind quarters until you feel him exhale, lick and chew and start to let down.  When you feel his mind getting right,go ahead and allow him to walk out, keep rubbing.  When it feels good again, start your school.  You will have to repeat this process as many times as necessary to change his mind.  This is only a stop gap, remember.  I'm going to give you some resources and homework to do to really get to the root of this problem and it will require more from you!  You will be re-starting this horse like a colt and helping him to learn the things that were missed in his education, all of the things that will allow him to become a calm, obedient, confident performance horse.  It is wonderful stuff.  

If you do NOT feel you WANT to stay in the irons for this...get off.  You will do more good from the ground at changing his mind than in the saddle feeling bad.  What you are feeling in your gut drains right out of you and into your horse anyway.  So, unless you can ride this with real confidence and quality and NOT ego, get on the ground.  Don't allow ANYONE to make you feel wrong about this.  Don't let the frail, damaged human ego of ANY on-lookers make you feel bad or doubt your decision.  Getting on the ground to support your horse is a great decision.  After all, it is nothing more than a cur in hand.  It is the ego that makes us do so many dumb things.  The horse is NEVER wrong.  What the horse is doing may not be what the rider has in mind, but it is never wrong for the horse.  The horse is honest.  We just have to figure out how to make our idea the horses idea, we have to make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult.  Getting on the ground makes it impossible for you to be bucked off!   Getting on the ground, smooth and soft, is your idea.  You are not avoiding the conflict, you are making sure the conflict never comes up.  I can hear all the little back seat riders and arm-chair DQ's already, Katie, don't listen to them.  Know what you know and know that YOU have a plan.  Get on the ground and start yielding his hind quarters.  Go about your ground work until you see his mind change.  Do the same things I just wrote in the previous paragraph, only from the ground.  When you see him lick and chew, yawn (this is a big deal, it means he is letting down and letting go of tension) then, and only then do I want you back in the saddle.   

I gotta quote Tom Dorrence...again  "Putting yourself in the horses position is not only the moral highground, but it allows you to see solutions you may not have otherwise seen"!  Katie, you have to feel what your horse is feeling and operate from where the horse is.  If you can do this, your path will become crystal clear.  

Here is your homework:  watch the "Ground Work" DVD by Buck Brannaman.  Buck has taken a 2 hour DVD and packed it full of the essentials of ground work.  It is what everyone has based their systems, gimmicks, and programs on.  It is what the Dorrence brothers, Tom Dorrence taught Ray Hunt and what Ray passed along to Buck and what I have learned from them.  Look past the style of the saddle Buck rides in.  He can pound out a beautiful 4th level test and rope a cow on the same horse.  It is NOT about the saddle, but about great horsemanship.  The saddle does not matter to the HORSE anyway.  When you can accomplish everything in this DVD on your TB, you will have a new horse.  I would love it if you could attend a clinic with Buck, Ray or Ricky.  They will help you with the mechanics and really getting to know some of these basic horsemanship skills.  When you master these, upper level tests will become childs play for the both of you.

Give me a shout and let me know how things are going.  If you need clarification on any of these concepts or ideas, let me know and we will talk about it.  You can give this horse a future and a wonderful life.  I'll do my best to help you both.  You are on a wonderful journey now, enjoy!

Smiles, Denise