Horse what else

Question
I have just came into a 3 yr old paint, when we got him he was half stared. You could see his ribs and hine quarters. I made him into a gelding just as soon as the vet said okay. That has helped with the biting alittle. I've had him for 3 months. I just now have felt that he's healthy enough to work with. I started just leading him around and getting him use to the world woo. He stops pretty good. He follows me when i'm in the field with him. My husband was trying to drive him and I started to run out of the field, he started running after me.  with lungeing him and driving him. He's actually got on pretty good. He's very nervous about things. I don't have a round pen, so lungeing is done in the field. Sometimes he tries to bolt, but when I pull firmly on the lead line he stops. The driving is going great, at first he was scared of the new rope and how long it was. Now he's pretty good about the whole thing. YOu can put a saddle on him and we gotten him to take a bit. He does great with all these things considering what he's been thru. Question whats next, how do i get him from being so afraid of stuff, he hate's his ears touched and he's mostly left side. He doesn't like you to be by his right side at all. But he will only lunge to the right. He will go in a circle to the right all day. And not too the left at all. He still bites or trys too. When he starts to act like he's going too bite, I look at him and say you better not bite me, and he will most time turn his head back. When he first bite me, I whack is nose. Some people say to bite him back, but I just don't think so. Do I need to be waving things around and rumbing bags on him too get him use too noises?   He's a beatiful horse. He's cream in color, thats why they call him Cashew. I haven't been around horses since I was about 10 yrs. and I'm way pass that. Everyone tells me too send him off too have him train. But after everything he's been thru, I don't want too trust someone else. I don't want too think that they would be mean too him. If he didn't do what they wanted. Any helpful hints? they say you can't teach and old dog new tricks. But how about an old horse ride new ones. This is the first horse I've ever tried to train(or brake)   Thanks for your time.

Answer
Hi Gail!

Your horse is very green.  There are so many things you can do to help him.  If he has been starved and mistreated, it is about time he started enjoying his life with a new and caring owner, like YOU!  Here are a few ideas:

I don't lunge my horses.  It does nothing for their mind, it creates a brace, it is not what the lunge was meant for.  The lunge line is to be used as an aide for the green rider, in the hands of a master.  There are so many other things that must be done prior to the lunge...A simple, portable round pen will really help you and your horse.  Most tack stores sell them and the price is very reasonable.  With a horse this green and YOU this green, it could really save your life.  

I'm going to give you some homework to do.  You have so many things going on here.  I just wrote a very extensive answer on biting, lunging, catching an 8 month old colt, please read that answer, as well as some of the others on colt starting and biting.  This will give you a good base of knowledge.  I am also going to list some DVD's to watch, starting with the most important:

"Ground Work" DVD by Buck Brannaman
"Ground Work" book by Buck Brannaman

Gail, these two will be the most important for you and your husband to watch.  No more ground driving or lunging, please.  Start with a good rope halter and teach your colt the basics of ground work.  When your colt pulls, bolts or runs after you as you leave the pasture, it tells me that too many of the basics are missing to continue with the driving.  You colt does not know HOW to listen and respond when being driven and the handler is not able to support the horse in a way that teaches a positive lesson.  The horse is learning that he can pull and run away while being driven and that is not good.

To be a good teacher to your horse, you too must be a good student.  Watch Buck's DVD and teach your horse how to yield his hind quarters, how to get the front quarters to follow a feel through a turn, how to lead up to a fence so you can expose your colt to someone being above him.  I then want you to start exposing your horse to the flag, a tarp and a slicker.  I want you to watch the DVD FIRST and I don't want to say too much more here until you have had a chance to do that.  It has been a long time for you and I want to give you the information in a way that is meaningful to you and not too confusing.  I want you to see these things first and then I can talk you through more as you understand more.  I hope this approach makes sense, I really feel this is what you need.  I can now concentrate on things that I know are not in the DVD.

About your horses ears...he really feels the need to protect this very important and sensitive part of his body.   The horse knows how important his ears are, and if someone has hurt him or been disrespectful of his ears in his 3 short years of life, it is a big deal to him!  Do not try and grab his ears.  Don't try and touch them with your hand.  Simply stand on his left side and with your Right hand rub his forehead between the eyes, make this feel good to him, be smooth and gentle.  Now, take your right arm and just smoothly sweep your right arm up and over his head just lightly brushing his ears with your arm.  If he can't stand still for this, it is okay, don't make his stand, if he has to move his feet, allow him to, just yield his hind quarters and wait for him to come still again.  Then rub his forehead again, get him to drop his head a little by following a soft feel, brush past his ears again and rub his neck.  If he raises his head up, ask him again to follow a soft feel and drop his head, now, rub his neck and sweep your arm back to his forehead and rub his head again.  Make this very soft, smooth and comfortable for him.  Make sure you are not fast and rough.  You will NOT fix this in a day.  This will take you some time to get him to really trust you.   Take your time and you will notice little improvements every day.

About the bag, waving bags etc...you first have to teach your horse how to yield his hind quarters.  This is so important because you want your horse to be able to MOVE his feet in a meaningful way when you start exposing him to flags, bags, tarps, slickers.  You NEVER want to  MAKE your horse stand still for this.  Making the horse stand still while using a bag, flag or tarp will really scare him and destroy his trust in you.  Making the horse stand still makes him feel tapped!  You have to let his feet MOVE if he feel the need to.  If you have taught him to yield his hind quarters, he can move in a way that is meaningful to HIM and you can PROVE to him that the bag, tarp, slicker will not kill him and that he can survive the experience with quality and not be scared.  

Never bite your horse.  Never hit him in the nose.  I have written so much about this and I am happy to say it again.  Hitting a horse for biting you creates a war that the human will never win, period.  It destroys trust, it shows the horse that the human is NOT a leader that can be trusted.  It takes a horse game, something they do to each other to play, joust, and establish a pecking order in the herd, and turns in into something that creates fear and anger.  You HAVE to be AWARE of what happens BEFORE what happens, happens.  After you have been bitten, kicked, bucked off, struck or run away with...IT IS TOO LATE!  Dust yourself off, pick yourself up, put a Band-Aid on the blood and MOVE ON!  Take care of the problem before it is a problem.  Gail you are doing just right by noticing your horse before he bites you!  Good for you!  When you feel him turn his head and it feels like he wants to bite you, put him to work, give him something positive to do, do something to change his mind so he is not thinking about biting you!  Pretty soon when he comes to trust you as a leader that has a plan, he will no longer feel the need to nip at you!  You will always be more than one step ahead of him anyway and he will never get the chance to nip you!  You have taken care of the bad behavior without ever having to be bitten again and you have created trust and not fear.  It doesn't take much to convince the horse that we are the leader.  Be as aware of him as he is of you.  React to the FEELINGS before they become actions!  

Gail, you will do a great job in training your horse!  You are the one that really cares about him.  So, study and learn how to be the best leader you can be for him.  You do the work because it will change you as well!  I'm going to give you a resource list of other DVD's, books and people that will help you along...

"Back to the Beginning" DVD by Ray Hunt
"True Horsemanship through Feel"  Book by Bill Dorrence
"Turning Loose" DVD by Ray Hunt

Also, check into attending a colt starting clinic with Buck Brannaman or Ricky Quinn.  Both of these men quietly travel the country helping people get better with their horses.  They are my teachers and they are wonderful.  It is not a show or a big production.  It is caring owners with their own horses working on their horsemanship.  I have a link to Bucks schedule on my website and I have most of Ricky's schedule posted, more dates are coming!  

Watch the DVD's, do your reading and then give me a holler and we will talk more.  Enjoy this!  You are learning so many good lessons from your horse.  After all your horse is your best teacher!  

Smiles!  Denise

Hi Gail!  I noticed on my log that this answer has not yet been "read"!?   I hope you have seen it!  Let me know!  Smiles, Denise