From: Kerry
Dear Jessica, I have looked through your fantastic archives and have not seen an answer to this specific question. You have been a HUGE help to me (50 yr old 1st time horse owner). I am new to horse ownership. I have fulfilled a lifetime dream and have taken a year of riding lessons (western) and now have two Appaloosa geldings (11 and 12 yrs old). The 11 year old (Cash) was given to me very recently by a man who has owned him since he was 3 yrs and needed someone who could care for him properly. He used him as a trail horse and did intense distance/terrain hunting and fishing expeditions on him but I don't think that he ever taught him anything other than 'stop' and 'go'. Also, Cash has been left in a field for the last 2 years with absolutely nothing done to him except feeding.....no shots, no shoes, no trims, no riding, no other horses. I have only had him for 2 weeks and my vet has given him a complete check-up, shots, worming, etc. and has found him in good health. The farrier is coming this week to do the first of several trims to get his feet in better shape to shoe. My question (FINALLY): Is the training approach the same with a young 'green' horse as with a mature horse with no manners? I have read copious amounts about training in general and am working on ground work with him but he has had a lot of years to establish his patterns. He doesn't bite or kick and with a week of work, I can walk right up to him now in a 2 acre pasture and halter him......but his ground manners are terrible. He walks into me while on the lead, walks on briskly without permission, etc. I have been working on "Forward", "Whoa" and "Stand" and wearing out my elbow on his shoulder to make him aware of my space. I want to develop his ground manners before riding him (I have also been waiting on getting his feet cleaned up) and am hoping that "old dogs can learn new tricks". Any special advice for working with the 'mature' horse vs younger horses? Thank-you!!!! Kerry
Old horses can certainly learn new tricks, and your horse isn't at all old in any case -- he's just coming into his prime. You should begin exactly as you would with an untrained youngster, and teach him everything he needs to know, from the ground up -- beginning with leading, standing for grooming, picking up feet for cleaning, etc.
By the way, this is something that you should do in any case, even if you buy a fully-educated animal. If your horse is wonderfully trained, you can go through everything it should know in a day or two, and be ready to start whatever you want to do with it. But you will always discover one or two "gaps" in the horse's education, or areas where the horse has learned to do things THIS way and you would prefer to do things THAT way! It's a very useful precaution to find out all of these things before you begin real work. You'll get to know your horse, get to know what he's been taught (and how he's been taught), and you'll be able to fill in the gaps by teaching him the missing bits and pieces.
The fact that your horse is not a baby and does have some experience and some expectations is an advantage, not a disadvantage. Because he is physically mature, he'll be able to do much more, and more quickly, than would a youngster. Because he hasn't been worked with in two years, you'll be able to help him develop, physically and mentally, along the lines that YOU want. Because he was previously used as a trail horse for hunting/fishing expeditions, he understands about terrain, distance, trees, water, and all sorts of other things that stall-raised, paddock-kept horses (of any age) would require to be taught.
Horses can be retrained. Good riders, who keep improving their own understanding and skills year after year, will effectively be retraining their horses every year. Retraining isn't a problem. The fact that you've never trained a horse before -- now THAT is more likely to present a problem. But again, if you have a good instructor who is also a good horse-trainer, and if you're willing to take your time and learn as you go, you can probably make this work. The biggest differences between mature and young horses, in terms of reactions to training, is that the mature horses may feel that they already know what to do, because they've learned something ONE way. If you want them to do something in a different way, be prepared to be very patient and take the necessary time to teach them what you want them to know. You can't say to a horse "Forget how you used to do this". You CAN say to a horse "This is how you will do this, right now and five minutes from now and tomorrow and always" -- and you'll say that by showing him what you want, by rewarding every hint of appropriate action (or non-action) from the horse, and by being utterly consistent when you handle your horse.
Remember that there is no "right" or "wrong" from the horse's point of view, there's only what comes naturally, what's been taught (and rewarded) by the handler, and what has been accepted (which is also a form of teaching) by the handler. In other words, if your horse steps on your feet, crowds you on turns, wants to walk ahead of you on the lead rope, and puts his head high in the air when you try to bridle him, someone in his past has taught him to do those things, or has done things that made him react in that way, and then accepted his reactions, thus reinforcing them. So NEVER get angry unless your horse does something that would never be acceptable to ANY trainer: biting or kicking at you. Those behaviours rate a loud yell of "NO!" and a strong whack to the neck or chest (in case of biting) or to the offending leg (in case of kicking). All other behaviours are subject to change through training, and that's going to be your job. If you want your horse to walk next to you but not on top of you, and you want him to walk quietly with his head or neck at the level of your shoulder, and you want him to start when you say "walk on" and stop when you say "whoa", you have to teach him those things. If he doesn't do them automatically, don't waste time imagining that he's being deliberately disobedient: he isn't! Just start teaching him to keep his distance, to maintain his position, and to respond to your body language, physical aids, and verbal cues. You'll be surprised at how quickly he'll learn -- especially if you remember that every single session should be FUN for him, and that learning should always be pleasant. Eventually, he'll see you as the antidote to boredom, and you won't have to walk up to him in that two-acre paddock. He'll see you coming, beat you to the gate, and try to shove his head into the halter.
No matter how well or how quickly his training goes, there are two things that you cannot take for granted: fitness level and attention span. You will need to develop both, and both will require time. Old horse, young horse, or in-between horse, it doesn't matter -- muscles may develop in one month or four, but it takes much longer to develop a strong cardiovascular system. Bones will take a full year to remodel, and support structures (tendons and ligaments) will take almost as long. It's especially easy to be fooled by horses with a lot of QH ancestry, because those horses will develop muscles very quickly, and APPEAR to be strong and fit. Never forget that those big lovely muscles are only a small part of the fitness story. ;-)
It's a big project. I hope you have the right help -- you certainly seem to have the right attitude! Good luck, and please keep me informed about your progress.
Jessica
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