Training a Mustang

Question
Hi,
    My sister and I just bought an 11 year old mustang mare.  When we went to look at her before buying her, she was a little thin, and after talking to her last owner I don't believe she was taken the best of care of, but she seemed sound and confident, she took the bit with no problem, stood to be saddled and rode like an angel.  Since we have gotten to our place however, she will not let us touch her head in any form, we can't get a halter or bridle near her.  She tries to buck when we go to mount her and she seems to all of a sudden have some trust issues with humans as well.  We have a morgan mare that we trained ourselves, but these methods do not seem to be effective with Sallie.  She is the first mustang we have owned so we would be learning with her.  If you could give me any information on a good training method for Sallie or some methods to try I would be most greatfull.

Answer
Hi Stephanie,
               It seems as though you have two different mares there. The one who you tried out and the one who is at your home now. There could be a couple of reasons for that. Is there any chance the mare was drugged to make her more sedate? If she was you will have to start at the beginning and work with getting the halter on and getting her to trust you. One of the things I like to do is put the horse in a pen and every day go onto that pen with a chair and a book and just sit there reading. The horse gradually gets used to me and curious enough to approach me. I also use either a bamboo pole or a PVC pipe that has a glove on the end of it and use that to rub on the horse and over time I get closer and my hand eventually takes the place of the pole. To get her to accept the halter I would hold it over a bucket of grain and make it that she has to stick her nose through the halter to eat the grain. You then gradually slide it up buckle it and praise her. Then remove it and repeat this several times. Speaking of grain, did you change her feed at all? Mustangs do not need high protein feed and it can make them flighty. For weight use beet pulp instead of grain. For lots of good training tips about Mustangs check out this website http://www.kbrhorse.net/pag/train.html

Lisa