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Problem horse or bad training?

From: Laura

Dear Jessica, I've enjoyed your advice for the past year and need to desparately seek some for myself, now.

I have a lovely young mare that I started at 2yo and then turned out for 6 months. Her strengths are her lovely movement and conformation (western pleasure) and her intelligence and self confidence. Her most negative quality has been that she has considered herself an Alpha type mare since she was 6 months old.

At age 3 I sent her to a fancy AQHA trainer. The mare seemed to progress well for about 6 months. At that time she was advertised for sale and they emphasized that she needed to stay there to protect her value. I agreed. As time progressed, she became more resistant and so she was injected, the spurs got bigger and the bits got badder...Still, they could force her into compliance and that lovely and unnatural arced back. She showed open and placed X2.

The routine at this barn simulates a day at a show. The horses stand tied for approx 6-8 hours a day and are NEVER turned out. Their reward is to leave their stall and be ridden. Monday is the only day off and they remain stalled.

About a month ago (I've ridden her weekly all along) she began to buck and get angry, especially when I asked for the left lead. I'm a lot lighter that the male trainer and the spurs hit higher up as well. The trainer said to really get after her with the spurs (mine are taped and might cause discomfort, but pain is doubtful) and I sure rode through some rough stuff. She never does this for the trainer, but I'd be afraid of him myself! She will buck at the canter for everyone else.

I've had many horses and ridden several different events (especially dressage) and have gone to John Lyons clinics, which I enjoyed.My plan is to bring my (now near valueless) mare home and just turn her out for 3-4 weeks. I thought when I started to ride her again I could do slow leisure rides with her mother or another calm barn mate. Next, perhaps I should go back to the round pen...I just think that cuing her so harshly with the spurs to come up in the back, drape the neck to the ground and articulate in slow motion AND NOTHING ELSE for an entire year made her nuts!

What can I do to bring her out of this? I know I only get one chance after the damage that's been done. I'm getting too old to get hurt! Any suggestions will be so appreciated. I just so wish I had stood up for her 6 months ago. I wish I had seen this wreck coming! Regretful, but not giving up! Laura


Hi Laura! I'm glad that you're planning to give your young mare a chance. She deserves one, and up until now, she hasn't had one. You are right in thinking that it would have been a good idea to stand up for her - or better yet, take her somewhere else, preferably home - six months ago. But what's done is done, and you can't go back, no matter how much you would like to. Instead, let's look forward and see whether we can't devise a plan to reclaim your mare.

The routine at this barn simulates a day at a show ONLY if you treat horses very badly at a show! Constant confinement, standing tied for hours, no exercise other than the "training" ride - this isn't simulating anything, this is abuse, pure and simple. As for the escalation of bits and spurs - not to mention the injections (the barn term for that is "ace-training") that's just evidence of incompetence and a poor attitude on the part of the trainer, not any kind of a reflection on the horse. Sadly, this type of abuse is often rewarded in the show ring, and so the abuse is perpetuated - at least, until an individual owner wakes up, looks at the situation and SEES, and takes the horse away.

I'm glad you've done this. Your instinct is correct here - get rid of the harsh bits, get rid of all spurs, don't let anyone inject the mare, and start her training over from the very beginning. She needs this in any case, because she hasn't been developed or trained in a way that would allow her to stay sound. Your mare's "training" has been oriented toward a short show career, and she has been forced to move in an unnatural way. When you begin to retrain her, you'll be thinking in terms of a much longer career as a riding horse, and - I hope - as a riding horse that can take pleasure in its job, and pride in its ability to do the job well.

I would suggest that you turn her out for at least four weeks, and probably longer - but be careful not to put her out full-time into a lush pasture, since she is not accustomed to having grass. Change her diet slowly, don't let her founde. Good grass hay, or a mix of alfalfa and grass, should make up most of her diet until she can be on pasture full-time. Since she'll have at least a month before you put her into any sort of training, and she can't go out on pasture immediately, you have a good opportunity for you to make friends with your mare and build up her trust in you.

Hand-graze her for fifteen minutes the first day, then add 5 minutes a day until she's grazing for an hour, then add fifteen minutes a day until you're hand-grazing her for two hours. At that point, you can add half an hour a day of grazing time, in a paddock or pasture, until she's up to six hours a day... and then you can safely leave her out. You don't have to hand-graze her when she's grazing six hours a day, but do hand-graze her for some of that time, and spend some time grooming her and talking to her. She needs to understand that this is an entirely new life and that everything has changed.

You're effectively in the same position as someone who has just adopted a rescue horse. Your mare has been suffering from bad management practices and bad "training" practices, and will need to be rebuilt, physically, mentally, and emotionally, so that she can become a normal horse again and then become a riding horse. Take your time, pretend she knows NOTHING, be very patient with her. If she's been subjected to that sort of mistreatment for a year, you may need to bring in a good equine masseur and/or chiropractor (ask your veterinarian to recommend someone) just to help bring her body to the point at which she CAN start over and learn to be a riding horse.

Right now, she's not starting over from zero, like a horse just taken out of the field and beginning training, she's starting from a negative number, and it will take time and probably some help just to get her UP to zero.

Imagine how sore you would be if someone had tied your knees together and your arms behind your back and asked you to learn a new way of walking... you'd be sore until you learned it, and then you'd be terribly sore if someone untied your arms and knees and asked you to walk normally, because your body wouldn't be equipped to do that, even if you could remember how. Your mare needs to learn to use her belly muscles, relax and stretch her back, and move from the hip and shoulder instead of tensing her back and moving from the elbow and stifle. It will take a lot of work. Fortunately she is still young, still growing, and you can afford to give her time in a field to recover, and then start to bring her back very slowly and carefully. Meanwhile, make friends with her and let her know that there is a human she can trust. That will be an important part of her new life.

There's quite a lot of information about basic training in the HORSE-SENSE archives. If you need more, I hope you'll write again when you and your mare have had six months or so to begin sorting things out. I would stay away from the round pen if I were you, at least for a few months. Let her recover, help her become more physically able to cope with the training you plan to begin, and avoid circle-work of any kind until she is strong. She doesn't need to learn that humans can make her do things - she knows that already. And she's not strong enough to be running in circles, even if you've got a round pen that's 90' in diameter, even if the footing is ideal. Don't be fooled by muscles. Quarter Horses can put on gorgeous muscles in a matter of weeks, but they don't tell the whole story. Your mare has been deprived of exercise, and her BONES are weakened and need to rebuild. That will take a year, even if she's turned out full-time in a huge pasture - there's no way you can speed up the process of bone remodeling. Use the time wisely, and it won't be time lost.

Be glad your mare has a strong personality and a good sense of self, by the way. A meeker, milder mare would probably have become completely emotionally "shut down" by now, and you might NEVER get her back. As long as your mare expresses ANGER as a reaction to mistreatment, she is still THERE emotionally and can probably be reclaimed. Do everything in your power to help her become healthy and sound, and to help her understand that interacting with humans can be FUN. Clicker training will help, and it will also help her develop a new attitude toward being ridden. You'll find information about that in the archives, too.

I know it seems like an enormous project, and in a way it IS, but it's definitely worthwhile. You've got the right attitude - even though I changed the subject line, I agree with your original one. Your mare IS getting a bum rap - on top of a bad deal. Now it's time for her to be offered the good deal, and you can do it.

Good luck!

Jessica

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