is my horse loosing it?

Question

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Followup To

Question -
hi
i have a five yr old mare that usually behaves really well, but last sat. we were up elk hunting she rode perfect all the way up the trail. i tied her to a tree for a couple hours."nothing that she hasn't done before" but when i came back she was all full of life. i get on her and started to ride again. from that point on she would throw her head and chomp the bit. also had a really hard time stoping till we got back to the truck. went back up on sun. and same thing just perfect on the way up. till i tied her. and once i got back the same thing again. she has done the hunting thing since she was two but this is the first year she has given me one bit of trouble. i ride every sat on the same trails all year long so i don't know what has gotten into her? oh ya when she is tied she has al least on or two other horses with her but they all act just fine. do you have any idea why she would start acting like this?

thanks
cory

Answer -
Hi Cory!

I believe you have a simple case of "Let's get back Home!"syndrome with your mare.  I have a client who trail rides a docile 23 yr. old QH gelding who literally walks so slow onto the trail that he may very well be going backwards!  LOL!

But, the minute we turn around to head back to the trailers, he starts off like a racehorse and if he is held back in the least, will resort to mini-rearing and bucking!
All he wants to do is canter right back home.

As for your mare, she's probably bored being tied so long with no entertainment.  Then, you come back and she knows the very "NO FUN" time she has been having is over and she starts to get anxious to get back to her safe place and do what she likes....grazing, dinner....whatever.

How to solve it?  Well, she just needs to get older and wiser.  You could also make the trip there and the "tied to the tree time" more of a value to her.  Avoid rewarding her to hurry back home with hay and feed in the trailer or waiting for her in her feed bucket at home.  Get it?

She gets good hay in the trailer on the way there, a feed bag at the tree (and water too) and nothing in the trailer on the way home and nothing waithing for her at home....until several hours later when she disassociates it from the hunting trip.

You must always be more clever than your horse and trick them into thinking it's more fun than it really is.  They love to settle into a routine that has a known outcome.  And if food is the outcome, they are usually happier!

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

Solange


thanks for the info

the reason i ask is this is the first time she has ever given me trouble. she has been doing this stuff "hunting rideing so on " since she was a 2 yr old with out doing the hury hury hury stuff. but now she just started the messing around in the last week. why would she start now at almost six yrs old?  

Answer
Hi Cory!

Hon, I am just a horse trainer, not a mind reader of horses!  LOL!!

Don't concern yourself over why and just work on making the situation between you two as good as possible.  If she's happy, you're happy and then everybody's happy  :-)

Solange