how do you help a horse with many problems?

Question

I own a horse named Buster who only trots,walks side ways, bites my foot by bending his head around,rearing while I'm lunging and he is only 3 feet away...ect. please help?!?!

aslo I have A LOT of experience and a lot of confidence. when I bought him his old owner said everyone else was thrown of, I'm not even the upper ADULT rider and still did better than most! It is just my size,but I'm determined!!!!!

Yes,i hold the horse farther away from me but he keeps coming in or running way out and considering he swings away from me I can't smack my whip behind him to keep him going forward!

Answer 1

Get a professional trainer?

He sounds like possibly he has a bit too much energy. Is he getting too much protein for the amount of work he is getting? Does he have regular turn-out time to burn off excess energy? He should be farther than 3 feet away from you when you are longeing him also.

I would definitely consult with a professional if you aren't capable of dealing with these issues or if he makes you afraid at any point.

Answer 2

It's not that you have no experience. Even experts admit when they come across a horse they don't know how to fix. It's ok to send a horse off to a pro-and that's absolutely what I'd recommend in this case.

Do rule out causes for his misbehavior before you write him off as untrainable:
- how do you know his saddle isn't causing pain? or back pain from other sources?
- were his teeth done by a professional in the last 12 months?
- does he act up with a different type of bit or a hackamore/bitless?

Does he act up when another really confident rider is on him? He may be testing you.

I don't think he should be 3' away from you when you lunge. That's extremely dangerous. I'd forget about riding and I'd go back through re-teaching him ground manners & respect first. Maybe someone did a lousy job starting him and now you've got to undo his bad habits.

If you still can't sort him out, before shipping him to the killers consider donating him to a rescue. You get a tax writeoff and he doesn't suffer (the american slaughter system is very cruel).

Good luck!

Answer 3

Short answer - he's got the upper hand. He's the boss. Without knowing such things as your experience, your confidence level, your history of training, even your size, it's difficult to pin it down to one or two specific reasons *why* he acts this way. But basically, he's simply not minding you.

I suggest you get someone close to you to handle the horse a time or two for you to see if that's the only problem. Then, if the horse behaves for that person, he or she can watch you handling the horse and give you pointers and help out.

But most of all, a horse who moves sideways when you don't want him to, bites, and especially *rears* is very dangerous. Don't let him hurt you.

I know you don't want to hear it, but you may need to sell him and get another horse that doesn't have those problems, and let someone else deal with him. Second choice might be to send him to a trainer to eliminate the problems, then you can handle him. Third choice, in my opinion, is to try to solve those problems yourself.

Answer 4

In my opinion, the best thing to do with a horse like this is to start completely over, from square one. Somewhere along the way he learned if he did certain things he can get away with being left alone, so it sounds like he has become dangerous and disrespectful. You have to earn his respect again. Make him go back to square one--very simple commands from the ground ONLY. Make him walk, stop, and back up. Reward him with a lot of petting "Good Boy" and scratching him on his neck. When he doesn't do it right go back to the last thing he did correctly, make him do that right, reward him and then go onto the next step. Yes, it will be tedeious, boring, and takes a lot of patience, but eventually it will occur to him that it is easier to do things right the first time and get rewarded, than to have to do the same thing over and over again....and he will learn to respect you and get away from his bad habits. Good luck!

Answer 5

It sounds to me like this horse has really been through it. I think Buster has had every trick in the book thrown at him. He's afraid and he's acting out. He's learned acting out gets a fearful response. So he's figured out a way to protect himself. You can give up on him like everyone else of you can prepare yourself for a lot of ground work.

Once this horse gives you his heart you'll be able to trust him with your life.

Now, how do you do that?

You didn't mention anything about how he acts when you work around him ie: brushing, cleaning hoofs, walking him, feeding time.

When you lounge him is he in a roundpen or on a lounge line? Do you have a saddle and bridle on Buster or a bitting rig? Do you or have you ridden him? How is he to ride?

Would you be kind enough to fill me in with some of this information?

Thanks

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UPDATE!!!!

Haven't heard back from you on how Buster acts with some of the other things I mentioned. I'm guessing he has issues while you work him from the ground too, whether you realize it or not.

You can buy individual videos/dvd's from trainers to help you get through the problems you are experiencing. I like being able to watch these things over and over again and really fine tune what they are explaining before going on to the next issue.

I would recommend going to the following link to see if there is anything there you like. I'd call their 800#, tell them your problems and ask which they would suggest for your first purchase. https://shop.parellisecure.com/show_cat.php?catid=4

I really do hope you get to enjoy your new horse. Take your time and give him time to get it together. It is possible. Deep breath and go for it.

Answer 6

Buster has learned a lot of tactics to evade you. He sounds like he may be getting a little dangerous too. Look into getting a professional trainer that will work with both of you and Buster.

Answer 7

Bad Horsey!!! There are LOTS of books on this that can educate you on what to do in this situation. Even movies. Just remember... YOU are the one in control, if you give him the idea that he is in control then he will take advantage of that and will push you around. Show him who is boss and show him the right way!! =)

Horse Trainer 8 years experience

Answer 8

Wait...aren't you supposed to be *much* farther away from the horse than 3 feet when longing?

If I have my terminoligy mixed up, I apologize.

Answer 9

Get help from a trainer.
You can also use clicker training and methods such as t-touch to help him behave better. The main idea is to get the horse to want to listen to you and not be forced to.

Answer 10

He sounds like too much for you right now...get someone experienced to help you out...he needs to learn some manners before someone gets hurt...