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Sarah Woodman
Member
Username: Meggles
Post Number: 15
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2005 - 7:45 am: |   |
Hi All. A friend of mine is in a real quandry with her horse, a 5 year old, 16h TB gelding who she purchased around a year ago having ridden him frequently and finding him perfectly well behaved. He had some time off due to an injury which is now resolved and has had teeth, back etc checked so is now good to work. He was turned away with a herd and appears to now be in a state of starting again from scratch. She started off lunging him and found him to be completely explosive and he learned quickly to pull away from her, which became a habit. She then asked a local instructor to help her with him and found that he'll walk and trot around but as soon as he canters he goes berserk, and finishes up going vertical and sometimes going over backwards. The instructor's advice is 'when he goes over backwards, stand on his neck, hold him down and teach him a lesson'. This happened once a week for about a month and now the horse gets himself into a state every time he's asked to do anything. I am a believer in natural methods of working horses and completely disagree with this. To me, this just teaches a young horse that the people who are working with him are predators and that he should be afraid. Has anyone ever come across this before?
I've offered to help with some ground work as I've had a fair amount of experience of working with Parelli techniques and think this horse needs to have his confidence built up and learn some respect in that way. I'm nervous of the rearing though and am obviously keen to stay safe and out of his way if he feels the need to go up. I'm planning to start off very slowly and build on it bit by bit by rewarding good behaviour, ignoring the bad and using subtle pressure and release techniques to show him the way.
Any tips from the vast experience out there would be gratefully received!
Thanks. |
Sara Wolff
Member
Username: Mrose
Post Number: 748
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2005 - 11:38 am: | |
You are wise to approach this carefully; rearing can be very dangerous, for both you and the horse, as I'm sure you're aware. It sounds to me like a situation that has grown totally out of control, and standing on his neck isn't going to cure the problem.
I'd start him right from the beginning as if he'd never been worked with before, and imo Parelli technique would be great. Just be very cautious and go slowly.
There is another method of teaching a horse not to pull away or to rear when on a lead or lounge, but you have to really know what you are doing and also have the absolute right conditions and very soft ground to work the horse on. You use a thick, soft cotton rope so as not to hurt the horse. Make a loop in one end of the rope and run the rope around the horse's girth area, between his front legs, and up through the halter ring where a lead rope would go. Then, lounge the horse as normal. The instant the horse pulls away or starts to rear, you give the rope a hard yank. This will cause the horse to fall down. This does work, but I don't recommend it, especially for this horse. I used the method once and by luck happened to pull at just the right moment.The horse quickly went down, very surprised like "what happened?!" The horse never tried to rear and pull away from me again. Afterwards, I realized how badly the horse could have been hurt if this was done wrong, and don't think I'd do this again. Luckily, I haven't had such a misbehaving horse since that one. |
Katrina Turner
Member
Username: Kthorse
Post Number: 360
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 27, 2005 - 2:59 pm: | |
Stand on his neck and hold him down to teach him a lesson. Oh boy. No wonder the horse is confused.
Let us no how it goes, sorry I dont have advise in this area, I am interested though in how people deal with horse's that rear as I know most are given up on because of how dangerous it is. I have seen so many go to the auctions because of rearing, its sad. Good luck ,Parrelli sounds like a good plan to me. |
Christos Axis
Member
Username: Christos
Post Number: 891
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005 - 12:53 pm: | |
There is big difference between a horse that rears to attack and one that rears to defend itself or because he does not know how to do what you're asking.
In the first case, where the horse rears just to free his front legs for some "boxing", you simply whip those legs until he puts them down.
In the second case, which is the one at hand, the last thing you want to do is "teach the horse who's boss" once more. He already knows "who's boss" and that's what frightens him.
So, in hand is the way to go. Walk in hand, trot in hand, canter in hand (two-three steps are enough, you don't have to run a full trotting or cantering lap). Be friends, show him there's nothing to fear, show him that you do this together, that you're there to help. Do not forget to scratch him and pet him at least one third of the total time.
Very slowly, very carefully, increase the distance between the two of you to lungeing distance. Lungeing should be leading a friend from a distance, not dictating dry orders by yelling and threatening with the whip.
What is very important is that if he rears and runs away you simply go catch him again. Do not try to muscle him down or hold him from running away, you'll justify his fear.
Be patient, this may take a few runs. Don't lose your temper! If he takes off a few times and nothing scarey happens, he will start thinking that there's nothing to run from.
Many times you can clearly see their surprise and relief the very first time you catch them after such an incident and they don't get beaten up. |
Christos Axis
Member
Username: Christos
Post Number: 892
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005 - 1:04 pm: | |
Oh, let's not forget, also, that this is what one mostly gets when trying to canter a green horse in a tight lunge circle.
Double the circle's diameter and things should smooth out significantly.
But do not dismiss work in hand, his trust does need some repairs. |
Holly Wood
Member
Username: Hwood
Post Number: 686
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005 - 2:58 pm: | |
Sarah,
My first thought is that this horse shouldn't be on a longe line. Can your friend work the horse free in a round pen . . . 60' round? Then she won't have to worry about the horse pulling away. It will give her a chance to observe the horse more critically as she won't have to worry about being hurt by getting pulled. |
Sara Wolff
Member
Username: Mrose
Post Number: 756
Registered: 1-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, Jun 28, 2005 - 4:57 pm: | |
Holly, smart idea! duh....why didn't the rest of us think of that! |
Holly Wood
Member
Username: Hwood
Post Number: 687
Registered: 3-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005 - 12:34 am: | |
I never longe my horses. I only use a longe line when giving lessons to beginners or to teach students to balance without reins. My first choice is to work with my horses free . . . whether for grooming, trimming hooves, worming, tacking up and training from the ground. Of course, there are times when I need to tie my horses, but most often I work with them free. Seems more respectful, somehow. If a horse isn't attached to anything then he can't pull. Keeps us both safer. |
