suggestions on her bad habbits

Question
i have a 5 year old appendix quarter horse. she is laid back most of the time. she has pretty good ground manners. will come to you in when she sees you. she did have some problems with picking up her feet when i bought her but now she will pick them up when asked without to much problems. one of the big problems is that she is herd sour. i have owned her for the last 2 years and she has been with the same horses and when my husband and i ride one of the other 2 horses will go with us. last weekend i saw another side of her. we decided to take one of our neighbors horses out for a ride with her. faith (my horse) did not like to be seperated from her pasture buddies. when we got away from the farm she started to back up and not stop, i made her go in circles to try to calm her down, she then started to do little bucks and act like she was going to take off in a run. she was acting all antsy and mad. my mare is 16.3 hands and she is a big girl. this is the first time she has ever doen this and after i had thought about it i realized this was the first time seperated from the herd. i have contacted a few trainers and i didnt know if it would be better to send her away to a trainer and get her away from these other horses or if there was things  i can do myself to help correct this problem. she hadnt been riden much in the last 6 months because my husband was away in iraq and i didnt feel comfortable riding by myself. my behavior when she was acting this way was not the best. i had a bad horse accident 2 years ago and got bucked off and in the process the horse had stepped on my upper arm and crushed the bone. the arm has healed but i havent mentally healed from it fully. i did get a scared when this happened last weekend because i had flashbacks of having another accident. i know this didnt help my mare. do u have any suggestions on helping to build a better relationship with my horse and helping me to get over this bad experience i had. i dont want it to interfere with riding and spending time with my horse. in a few months we will be moving to another state and this mare is the only one we will be taking with us. thank you  

Answer
Hi Kim!

What you are experiencing with your mare is a common problem with horses that are always together in a "backyard" herd.  The very instincts we use to subdue and command them are the very same ones they feel when so closely quartered.  It is a double edged sword.

Since you have not yet had any real dangerous issues, you should stop while you are ahead and fix this problem now.

I think you are on the right track with talking to local trainers.  One should come out, evaluate your mare and your situation and give you some basic exercises to work on with her.  Since you are moving very soon and taking only her, it would be of no real value to send her away to a trainer right now..  But, if you keep her in your backyard in the future with other horses or even a pet goat or something, she will do this again.  Some horses are just more needy for friends than others.

What you have to show her through patience, training and trust is that YOU are her safe place and then, she will be happy to be with you.  Even if it means leaving the other horses.  I understand it is hard to train on a daily basis but, she is young and now is the time to do it.  It isn't all about riding her.  It's about her trusting you to lead her away form her herd and her not feel anxious about it.

A good trainer should see this and show you how to gain her trust.  You have to be smarter than her, force will never work.  And do not be afraid to reward her with treats for leaving her herd and going with you quietly, even if it's just to the end of the driveway and back.  But, you must do it consistently, several times a week.

It's all about you and her working together.  It will not magically happen and she will not out-grow it.  In fact, left alone, she will probably get worse.

Spend a little time and money now to build a real relationship with her and in the end...not only will she trust YOU but,you will trust HER!

Good luck and remember to always wear an ASTM/SEI approved helmet!

Solange