horse advice needed!!!?

Question

my sisters horse has had about 8 months of work and can be a handful at times. but when he learns, he takes to it quite quickly. my sister who has just had a baby, is thinking about selling him but is devastated. the horse (sam) doesnt like the farrier unless he has food, will not be caught at all unless at least 2 people round him up and can be nervous. since having a baby my sister has lost alot of her confidence and is abit scared, so i want to try and help if i can.

can anyone advice me on how i could possibly solve any of these problems? and do you think re-schooling may work?

any ideas? please help!! xx

Answer 1

You'll find great advice on "www.horsecity.com." You could use the "horse training" forum to get advice on this subject.

It's free to join!

To answer your question...the effectiveness of your help will all depend on how much the owner lets you work with the horse, how confident you are with the horse, and how well you and the horse click. It could work, or it could be a complete disaster.

If I were in your shoes, I'd give it a good shot. I'd work the horse on the longe. I'd work on the horse's manners by practicing lifting his/her feet (prob w/ farrier).

Good luck. Stay safe. Encourage the nervous owner to let you work with her horse and help her out with re-establishing a better horse/person relationship.

Answer 2

Hi firstly you should gain his trust and teach him some stable maners! One of my horses is the same to catch and with the farrier - He has got more confidence with the farrier now as long as he's not tied up - i pay someone £5 to hold him and he's fine! I shouldn't worry about him having food whilst he's being shod - tie a haynet up! The catching him - i have the same problem - when i walk back he decides he wants to come in though! Leave a headcoller on him! I keep a crisp packet in my pocket and some treats in the other - when i go into the field my horse will let me go up to him(sometimes) but he will be on his toes ready to run as soon as he's grabbe d the treat from my hand! Now i stand a few meters away with my back to him and rustle the crisp packet - horses are always interested and he eventually comes to have a look - when he relaxed around me i'll give him a treat and slowly grab his headcoller! Praise him! (i would suggest that you do this around the yard whilst hes in the stable first - so he gets used to the idea that rustling a packet means a treat then give him one) You say he's nervous and he probably gets agitated when theres more tan one person in the field to catch him! Another thing i once did was to section his field off so he doesn't have as much room to get away from you - the easier he gets the more room he can have!
Also if you have time - possible do some lunging over poles to keep him interested - if you do different things and he has variety in his work he wont have time to mess around and should listen to what you want him to do next! Good Luck

Answer 3

Sounds like the horse isn't too keen on people. Try doing some join up with him. This will teach him that people are the boss, but that it is a good thing to be near people. Go to your local library and get a Monty Roberts book, or a really good one is called 'From Birth to Backing' by Richard Maxwell. Although this is aimed at youngsters, it sounds like your horse has not been taught many of the basic lessons he should have.
This book tells how to teach all the things a horse needs to know, and how to do techniques like join up. There is also a section on reschooling.
As well as not having learnt a few essential lessons he is probably at the age where he is testing how much he can get away with so you need to be firm with him - don't get rough as this will just cause more problems, but be quietly firm. Patience is a wonderful thing - you need more of it than the horse. It once took me 6 hours to load our cob, with me standing inside the trailer waiting for him. He eventually decided that it was ok to go in the trailer and he loads fine now.

With the catching problem, put him out on his own if possible, take a carrott or apple with you. Catch him, useing help if necessary, put the leadrope on and walk him around a little. Feed the treat then release him. Eventually he will understand that coming to you in the field does not always mean he is going to work. Also when turned out, leave a headcollar on - preferably a leather one as that will snap if he becomes tangled in anything - and tie a thick piece of string, plait it if needed, about 7 or 8 inchs long. Make sure there are no loops or anything to get caught. This gives you something to get hold of when catching the horse.

For his feet, allow him a haynet when the farrier comes, but otherwise, work on picking his feet up, holding them for a while, and once he is comfortable with you doing this, ask your farrier to do this as well without reshoeing him. It is possible that he has been badly shod in the past and so is expecting it to hurt. He needs to learn that he does have to stand for the farrier, but that it doesn't hurt him.

Have some patience with the horse, and try using join up with him.
Good luck

Answer 4

i own an ex-eventer who is also a handful to the point where i also thought about sending her away for re-schooling only to be told that it wont make a difference because she is too set in her ways (basically her last owner let her get away with too much for too long) so it all depends on the age of the horse and for how long there have been problems. there are alternative solutions like natural horsemanship etc. lol, i also used to own a pony who, through no fault of her own, wouldnt let anyone catch her. because it was such a problem (and on many occasions had me following her around the field for hours!!) so i started her off in a really small paddock which was about 40foot by 40foot tho she was only 12.2hh! i was able to build up her trust and used small treats to tempt her, gradually reducing the amount i gave her and making the paddock bigger. i dont know if any of this will help you but seriously spend time with the creature and build a bond, it will help! all the best xxx

Answer 5

easiest answer send it to a proffessional yard get someone to school it bring it on and then get involved whilst its still at the yard. you will learn how to work with your horse in a safe environment. have lessons then consider bringing your sister back into the equation. otherwise get lessons with your horse maybe get someone experienced with young/problem horses to loan with you, share some of the work. if you are not experienced enough and your sister is not confident you are only going to teach your horse bad habits. it sounds harsh but if none of the above appeals to you sell him and get an older horse that you can enjoy. i dont mean to be horrible and i wish you the best of luck but ive seen too any horses messed up because little problems were allowed to happen and the owner didnt know enough to resolve it and the horse was left in a stable or in a feild because the owner didnt want to lose it. please think hard on your capability to train this horse and think what is best for him.
good luck

Answer 6

Go to www.parelli.com

This is EXACTLY what you are looking for you. If you don't fall in love with this horse when you start, you can sell him for quite a bit more than you would now if you just go through the first level of this program.

My horse one year ago:
Literally, running me over daily. Dragging me on my side across the lawn. Trying to knock my head off with his head. Threatening to kick when you try and put *any* pressure on his back. Won't let me pick up his feet. Wouldn't go backwards for me for the world....

My horse now:
Begging riding without an issue and he's having fun. Follows me around happily without a halter. Comes to me when I ask with a happy look on his face. Picks up his feet and holds them there so I can pick them out. Lunges, changing direction and gait with minor signals from me and without pulling me across the world. Backs when I give him 'the look' without any resistance..... The list goes on

None of this is my 'talent', it's all the Parelli program. I know, it costs a fortune to get started, but you save (literally) thousands on trainers and hospital bills later. It is worth every penny. Also, don't listen to what anyone else says! If the program doesn't work or it didn't work for them, someone's not doing it right. I have NEVER seen it fail if you follow the guide exactly.

Parelli doesn't 'disolve' your problems, but it gives you the tools to face them. Me and my horse still have issues, but they're not life threatening, and they don't worry me because I know that I either have or will get the tools to address the problem.

Good luck!

Answer 7

My parents have got a handful of a young horse. They are a handful when they're young and need an awful lot of work to build up their confidence and burn up their excess energy. My mum always lunges her horse before riding him to make him easier to handle. My dad uses strict disapline with him in the stable to help keep him under control there. Just take it slowly with your sister, my mum gave a friend of hers lunge lessons to build up her confidence again after a fall. You just have to keep at it with a handful horse. Good luck.

Answer 8

Check out this link:
http://www.parelli.com/

Have a good look around the site, there are videos and lots of information. I've seen this method turn around some horses who were so far gone, most people would have had them shot, lucky their owners found another way.

It's not just a training method, but a whole different way of handling your horse.

Good luck...

Answer 9

Re-schooling without someone to ride him and keep him up on his skills is not a good idea. He'll just revert to his previous behavior. In my opinion I'm afraid there's not too much you can do. A nervous rider on a nervous horse is a disaster waiting to happen. I know it's hard to give up something you love but keeping this horse is not doing him any good. He needs a confident rider. Without one, his behavior will continue to get worse.

Answer 10

ok what you need to do is just love on him o whole bunch get his confidence up in humans again