What should I do about my horse?
4 months ago I took on a challenge in the form of this beautiful, but untrained 4 year old mustang. I got him for nothing due to the fact that he was untrained. I got through a lot with him, but lately, I no longer want to see him. I knew I would be breaking him in when I got him, but I didn't realize how hard it would be. I'm an experienced rider and now, because of him and the stuff he's done, an experienced handler, but a very inexperienced trainer. I had my riding teacher/trainer helping me with him, but even that doesn't seem to cure the fact that every time he takes a couple steps forward, he goes several steps back immediately. I've been so frustrated lately that I haven't wanted to go and see him. I feel like I gave up more than just riding when I got him. I've lately been feeling like I gave up the fun in horses too.
I love doing the grooming and the cleaning and all that, but I always loved the riding most. Only, with him, I can't ride. I can barely lead him around. When I first decided I wanted to get a new horse, I was thinking something more along the lines of green broke, not totally untrained. I didn't realize when I got him how hard it would be just to try to get him to the level of green broke. I've been thinking of selling him or giving him away and trying to find a different horse, one I can actually ride. But the thing is my dad says if I sell him, then he's done paying for horseback riding for me. At least, that's what he claims. I'm so miserable now, though, with my current horse. I'm rarely continuously happy with him. One day I'll be thrilled to own the lovely gelding, while the next I want out. More than anything I want a horse that's mine that I can actually ride. I want a horse I can take to gymkhanas and I don't know if I have the patience to stick it out with this horse.
What should I do? Should I keep him and force myself to stick through it? Or should I try to find a different owner and get myself a horse I can actually ride?
This horse has never had a rider on his back. Ever. He's not even bit broke yet. Whenever I introduce something new to him, I usually do it in the roundpen because he takes off bucking around the roundpen. If he REALLY doesn't like something or is REALLY frisky for whatever reason, he rears.
Oh and lately he's been biting me. Not the nibbling baby bites most 4 year olds would do, but the lunging forward and trying to cause pain or something bites.
Dec.18.2009
I have a mare, that when I bought was a mess. I counld’t ride her. I would get off and walk away, I hated being near her. She was danergous and unloving.
But since I couldnt sell her, I had to keep working with her. And instead of me beign negitive about it, i went in with a new prospective and I was positive towards her and training her. So I never gave up on her and now she is a perfect well trained mare that I love to bits.
If I gave up on her, I would have learned nothing and who knows what would ahve happened to her. And since I didnt give up, Iv learned SO much and I am a way better rider/owner now.
So you just need to be positive and udnerstand the horse. Its going to be a long painful road, but dont give up. It will work out in the end, this horse needs you , it may not seem like it, but he does.
Be positive and patient.
Dec.18.2009
Try and find a different horse, and someone else that would be willing to take over the training on your horse. If you’re not enjoying being around him, he can probably sense that, and it isn’t fair to him.
Dec.18.2009
This is hard. I personally feel that when you take on the responsibility of an animal that you make the promise to that animal that no matter what challenges may come, you owe it to the animal not to give up on them and toss them aside. You can never be sure that he will have a good home or that someone else hasn’t given up patience too.
I worked with a mustang makeover challenge trainer and I really think that mustangs are so amazing, so smart, and great partners. You should stick it out. Really, really gain his trust, take him on adventures! Do something new with him everyday. If you can’t break him yet, teach him to drive! Bombproof him before you ever even get on him!
Something that is essential to remember- there are no mistakes in training. It is a really special thing training your own horse. 4 months is nothing! Give him time, don’t give up on him.
When I was helping to train mustangs, they really need a lot of time to trust you. He is wild and feral in a new world. Give him a chance to be your forever friend!!
Dec.18.2009
If you sell him the person might take him to slaughter for money so if you do make sure to find a really good home
I think you should keep trying though,I got my mare untrained and it was hell getting the bit in her mouth!. . . . she would full rearer. So I just started putting my fingers in her mouth and giving her treats if she listend,when I put the lead rope in her mouth and after a little while she just let me slip the bit right in. . . any trouble and I walked her in a tight circle and tryed again. But after I was on her she was easy to handle,try lunging him and just getting him to be good with simple stuff
good luck and hang in there ^_^
Dec.18.2009
i have a horse right now that I am working , i just don’t care for him . . can’t pin point the reason why so i nick named him Short bus.
just before that I had another horse who was wild little witch and i loved her to death. . dispite the fact she threw me and did other naught stuff.
Dec.18.2009
i definitely think you should stick through it. it may seem impossible, and the hardest thing ever, but it will be so wonderful when you finally achieve it. horses take a LOT of patience, and 4 months is almost nothing even though it seems like forever. believe me, i’ve been there. i got this gelding who had never been worked with a day in his life and he was already 6 years old. he was totally head shy too, due to past abuse, which made it ten times worse. forst i had to get him to trust me enough to even just touch his face and ears. that took almost a whole month right there, and i was out there 3 times a day, just standing, talking to and stroking him. he finally learned that i wasn’t going to hurt him, but he still didn’t like his head being touched much, three months after that, i attempted to put on a halter for the first time in his entire life, and he absolutely flipped! he knocked me into the door in his box stall and almost trampled me. i didn’t attempt doing that again for about another three weeks, and luckily, i got it on him this time. then, about another month or two after that, i was able to lead him around the barn with a chain on his nose incase he freaked, i’d have control of him, he was 16 and a half feet tall, and really strong, then 3 months later, i was walking him along the soft shoulder on the roads near my house to get him used to cars with out the chain on his nose, then 2 weeks after that i had a saddle on him, then i was sitting on him in the stall, and now, i ride him no problem and he saved my life too. i blacked out when i was riding him and fell off, when i came to, i was alone, and freezing because it was last december, and i couldn’t move. he was gone, and i layed there for what seemed life forever when i heard voices and breath on the back of my neck, and i turned my head and he was there, and my mom and uncle were running up on horses of their own. me and him are really close, whoever says horses don’t have feelings are totally wrong. i bet, if you take the time thats needed with this horse of yours, you guys will share a similar bond, and it’ll be one of the best feelings of your life. i promise you, just always talk to him, and let him know that you really do love him. good luck, please don’t give up on him because you don’t know exactly what will happen to him once you do sell him. i hope i helped and inspired you:)
Dec.18.2009
Take a breather. Just, don’t work with him for a week, or more if it won’t mess up the horse. After your break is over, get back into working with him. If you truly do not think that you can stick with it, try to sell him, or see if you can find someone who’s looking for a project like him, who’s willing to trade another horse that’s not quite like the mustang.
Training a horse from the start is hard work, especially after the horse has lived a wild life for years, without being handled. If you think you can continue working with him, just set yourself on what you want him to be, and how much you’ll enjoy him when you ride him. Think of the satisfaction that you’ll have, knowing that you stuck with it, even though it was so hard.
Dec.18.2009
No offense but you should finish what you started. You took on this project horse and now YOU need to finish him. Its only been 4 months, thats hardly ANY time. Honestly if I was your dad I would tell you the same thing. If you give up this easily on a horse whats going to happen if your horse gets injured where you can ride for 4-6 months? You going to want to sell him because you cant ride?
This horse has potential and needs to be given time.
It also sounds like you arent as experienced as you claim. The fact is riding IS training unless you are riding a push button horse and you just sit there.
If you are stuck find a trainer or someone who has experience starting horses and start taking lessons with you AND your horse.
I started my first horse at the age of 12. I had no idea how to train, but I had someone watching me and giving me tips and I threw everything at that horse I could think of. When I sold him 5 years later he was trained in 4 disciplines and started in 3 others. He was a gentleman on the ground and was one that anyone could ride. There were times before he was broke I wanted to quit but my mom told me what I told you above and I stuck it out and I became a greater horsewoman because of it.
So my advice? Finish what you started!
Dec.18.2009
Ohhhh tricky tricky tricky. . . . .
I can see this from all of the angles and I’m sure you have laid in bed thinking about all of them as well.
I consider myself a very experienced handler and rider, I grew up on a commercial TB horse stud and when mares were being disposed of I got my pick of them to re-educate and re-home (off the track and not ridden for 2 to 10 years). I have taken some nasty spills (and have the injuries) and seen all types of behaviour. However I have to know my limits!
You can do a few things – 1. Take a break. Give him and you a spell. Recharge your batteries.
2. I don’t think it is a bad thing if you think he is beyond your capabilities that you sell him. Or as you paid nothing for him, advertise him for free and make sure he goes to a very experienced home. Many experienced trainers who have the time and knowledge will have him going in no time.
Injury to you is not worth it and it sounds like he is knocking your confidence badly. You could be spending this time improving your riding skills on a horse who you can compete and be having a ball on.
3. Send him to a trainer. Find an experienced trainer/breaker and send him off for a month or so, whatever it takes. It costs around the same to buy and break a horse (if you send it off) as it does to buy one already started.
4. Stick with him, if you really want to see this through then it is a matter of patients, calm and consistency. He will know when you are tense or upset, so stop before you get to that point. They have the attention span of a little baby.
Set yourself up for success, make your sessions short, to the point and ALWAYS finish on a good note. If you plan to do 10 minutes walking in hand and he is going perfectly after 5 minutes then stop, make a big fuss over him, tell him how good he is and put him away on that good note. I see too many people push for that bit more and then the horse starts to get bored etc and then they have an argument. The horse then refuses to be obedient and they finish on a bad note. Slowly build up the duration of sessions but for now just work on getting a positive.
Try working on your bond with him (I’m not into Monty’s and joinups) it is all just common sense. Sit out near the fence and read a book, talk to him but don’t rush over to pat him if he comes up. Don’t try really hard to please him, if it all feels like it is going wrong for you, you might be trying too hard to make him like you (out of frustration). It’s not about him liking you it is more about him trusting and respecting you.
I got a horse who I was unable to ride when he arrived (I was pregnant) and he sat in the paddock for over 2 years. I had not formed a bond with him. When I started riding him he pulled every trick in the book to get rid of me, but I felt safe enough with him and on him and knew I had the ability to see it through without being injured. My instructor could not believe last week that it was the same horse, he has improved so much.
However a few years ago I tried a horse at my property, he was a very nice type and had super paces. But he reared when he did not want to do something. I consider rearing to be every dangerous. Did I want a horse with this behavioural issue, NO I did not. Could I fix it, perhaps I could, but I did not have the time, willingness or energy to want too. I sent him back. I knew my limitations at that period in time (a $3500 horse should not rear).
Bottom line is. . . . think very carefully about what you want to achieve with riding, write it all down on paper. Your goals, what level do you want to compete? How soon to you want to do it? What do you have to do to get there?
In regards to your dad, when you get your thoughts sorted out have a chat to him. If you want to sell the horse, admit to him that you have bitten off more than you can chew and you really don’t want to continue working with this horse. The risk of injury with this particular horse sounds high, I’m a parent and I would not insist my child continue working with a horse they felt unsure of. I have two spinal fractures from separate falls, believe me it is not worth the long term pain and suffering.
Tell your dad that it is very possible that this horse is going to take a long time to bring up to the level of what you want to do. It is going to cost money for lessons and trainers. When you add it up you may get a horse ready to go for less? And if you need back up get your trainer to tell him this horse is a bit much for you.
The worst part of this is it’s killing your passion for horses, it is no fun to go out and work with your horse when you know it will be a battle. You see everyone else riding around and having a great time and wonder why you can’t be doing that.
Regardless of your decision, know that YOU put a lot of thought into it and you made the best decision for you at this point in time.
Don’t be made to feel guilty by anyone. And keep in mind some horses are way easier to work with than others, so other people may have had a horse who was easier to deal with.
Edit- You can not train temperament. If he is lunging at you to bite you and rearing then he may simply have that mindset. He really needs to be sent to a trainer if you want to keep him. He sounds like a handful.
I have the teenage story about a half crazy horse I got and worked with (like half of the people on this page) and I had her 19 years (she was plain dangerous at first).
However she was not my only horse ( I had plenty of others to ride) and it took years before she became a really good mount and was capable of higher training (It would have driven me nuts to not ride while I worked on her). I lived on a stud and had lots of resources available to me. I by no means did it alone (and your not either) and I doubt many people do.
Have a chat with your teacher and see what they think your options are. Ask them to be honest to you about what “they” think you should do. Really push for them to be honest and not worry about hurting your feelings. Take them your list of goals and talk about if they can be achieved with THIS horse.
Good luck with him.
Dec.18.2009
It can get very depressing when things go wrong but, look on this as a very steep learning curve. You will be a better rider/trainer if you overcome the problems.
I am not sure how old you are nor what stage you have got to with this horse – are you riding him yet or is he running backwards when you are leading him?
Are you riding him in an arena or outside of it?
If you are riding him in the arena and he runs backwards – let him but keep him going backwards for twice as long as he wants. Reversing is hard work for a horse and although it might go on for a long time he will soon get fed up with it.
Then, when he does go forward when you ask, even if it is one step. Stop. Praise and ask him to go another step. He will run back so go into reverse again so continue reverse. When he goes forward three steps, dismount and put him away.
If he is running back when you are leading him then I would have something like a hot wire not far behind him and let him run back into that. I would also carry a long swishy whip that I could reach around his butt and use that whilst still facing forward.
If you can say whether you are riding or leading I might be able to help a little more.
Dec.18.2009
If the horse is truly a danger to you, then you need to give it up. You shouldn’t be risking life and limb, period, and your parents should understand that and let you get a safer horse.
If that’s not the case, I HIGHLY suggest that you try clicker training. Clicker training is a 100% positive method of training that works on dolphins, horses, dogs, cats, birds, and boyfriends
You can find more information than you ever imagined for free, online, just google it. Look for books by Karen Pryor and she’s got her own website, something like clickertraining. com.
The idea is to break things down into very small steps and start rewarding the animal for what it’s doing right and ignoring everything it does wrong. Eventually good behavior will get stronger and behaviors that are not reinforced will go away.
It’s perfect for you since you can’t ride this horse yet because clicker training allows you to turn everything into a game and at the same time you’re going to build your horse’s confidence and build a bond between you.
I just got a new horse who had never experienced clicker training before and I spent a week doing ground work before riding him at all. I taught him to target a stick (touch it with his nose) and to follow me. When I did start riding him, it felt like we had such a relationship already even though we’d only been playing around for a week.
There are lots of websites and videos on youtube to teach you how to train your horse to target an object like the end of a crop or anything really. That’s a good place to start. You’ve got to establish that the horse known what the clicker means first of all and teaching something totally random that the horse has never been asked to do before is a good way.
If you have other questions on this, feel free to email me.