any tips on horse training?

Question

i have a very mean horse that was broken at one time but her prev. onwers never messed with so she's a bit wild now. what should i do?

(When she starts being "mean" give her a sharp quick slap on her neck or flank and reinforce it with a stern "NO".) doesn't work

Answer 1

I agree with the trainer idea. She has no respect for you, and you are arguing with half a tonne of beast there- it surely isn't for someone who isn't experienced with handling these types of situations.

May I suggest natural horsemanship? It's not about being airy fairy with your horse and not holding them responsible for their actions, but it doesn't involve fear or pain either, definately the best choice for both of you.

Can I just say that hitting her isn't going to work because she doesn't care about whether you are mad or not, and the smack isn't hurting her.

I have recently bought an ex racehorse that has a few "issues" with people, and she has trouble trusting me- she doesn't believe me when I tell her I won't hurt her. Your horse is feeling the same way, but for a different reason. She needs boundaries and guidence in order to feel secure in her "herd" and she's not getting that, so she fights to keep herself safe. This isn't about whether you (or anyone else) has hurt her physically, it's just like a child that was never taught the right social skills, she has no idea where the line in the sand is, and has learnt to fend for herself and hold herself more important than anyone else.

You really need to be getting into her head and proving to her why you should be her leader. Until then, she's not going to listen to anything you ask her unless she's in the mood to.

Get someone to guide you through this process, don't let someone else do it- it's your relationship with her, and the previous lessons she's learnt can not be erased, but you can teach her some new ones. It will take time and some dissapointment (for both of you), but at the end of this road you're about to embark on is an unbelieveable partnership, and a lifelong friendship.

All the best to both of you :)

Answer 2

Bring her back to basics - treat her like she was never broken and give her plenty of handling and lunge work - you dont say if she can actually be ridden - if she can just do very basic flatwork etc.
When she starts being "mean" give her a sharp quick slap on her neck or flank and reinforce it with a stern "NO".
you need to bear in mind that whilst this may be a long and rather tedious process that its not your horses fault - a horse can only be as good as their owner and by the sounds of it her previous owners werent much.
Just take your time with it, make it an enjoyable experience for your horse and Im sure she'll come right

Answer 3

with a mare like that you really should turn her away for 6months to a year...then start from the beginning, you have pretty much half answered you're own question with just a couple of words "was broken " breaking is a term I personally am not fond of, it insinuates destroying the animals nature and instincts, what you want to do is back her gently, and in order to do that you need to try and make her forget being broken originally... (you're in for a tough time, a horses memory is second only to an elephants, they never forget) if you do decide to turn her away, then you should continue to spend time playing games, brushing lunging and long reigning her (basically let her regress to being a youngster she'll enjoy it and so will you), she will come to love you're company and you will become friends (you're going to be together for a long time) and once she does come to trust you it will make the task of backing her so much more simple.
The games I mentioned earlier are the 7 games developed by Pat Parelli, these strengthen the bond between horse and owner/rider my personal favourite (also my mares fave) is the driving game, I've added a link to parelli's website at the bottom.
Good luck with you're mare, hope you have a long and very happy time together.
ttfn Babs ;o)
http://www.parelli.com/
If you want to get in touch to yap about hollistic horsemanship or anything else nag related my addy is [e-mail] (note to weirdo's I will not enter into correspondence)

Answer 4

This is not a job for an amateur, Most do not have the knowledge base to help a horse like this... A professional trainer, especially one who specializes in this type of work, is your best bet..Find one who will work with you throughout the process... It is a real red flag when someone is told not to show up for a couple of weeks.......Get references, take your time,, this horse hes been this way for a while, a little longer will not hurt.

I have been doing this type of work for 20 years, and have turned close to 2000 head around, but if the the owner hasn't learned as well the situation normally returns.

Feel Free to contact me, [e-mail]

Answer 5

Honey you are going to have to start at the ground and work your way up. Let the horse get used to being with you and just generally in a new area before starting. If possible contact local trainers and ask them for any advice, and e-mail the people on here who have offered help.
Good Luck.

Answer 6

The most important thing is developing a bond of trust with her.
Spend as much time with her as is humanly possible, show her plenty of love and patience, and reward her whenever she does something right. It's as basic as that.

Also, (re)train her on a halter first before attempting to ride her.

Good luck. I'm sure she'll be a great horse eventually, but be prepared to spend lots of time with her to build up her confidence again in her own abilities... and with you, her new owner.

Answer 7

You have a lot of work ahead of you! This is not going to be easy and training techniques vary from person to person. I have been fortunate enough to work with what I think is the best guy in my area anyway. First question: Do you have a training pen?

Feel free to email me at [e-mail]

Answer 8

Pay an experienced trainer to work with the horse for a few months and bring her back to riding condition.

Answer 9

There is a ton of information out there if you know where to find it. There are alot of trainers who you can get video tape and DVD from. Watch RFDTV, you can see almost all of them on there and find out how to get their video's. Some of these are:
Parelli Natural Horse, Chris Cox, Ray Hunt, and Craig Cameron, I'm sure there are more, just google horse training video's and you'll find alot. My personal favorites are Parelli, Hunt, and Cox. Check em out.

Answer 10

If it were me, and I could afford to send her out for training, I'd do just that. I don't know what it cost in your area, but it's well worth it to have a well behaved horse. That is, if the horse means anything to you! If not, I'd sell him and buy another that is more settled and trained.