Feeling guilty and sick over this and why?

Question

i had my gelding broken in 2 weeks ago. he seemed fine when i got him back. anyway a lady came over to look at him to buy. and he wouldn't let the saddle on, it took us half an hour to get it on him and he was looking ready to explode. so we led hima round got him calm and then took it straight off. i rang my breaker and demanded that he take him back and fix this problem that wasn't meant to happen. he said yes but he's charge. i said no, a properly broken horse shouldn't behave this way. he finally agreed to take him for a week and fix him. now i feel guilty and sick and i don't know why.

Answer 1

Have you ridden this horse at all since you got him back from the trainer?  If so, the saddle that you use may be making his back sore and that is why he is protesting having it strapped on again.  If not, 5 weeks on and the two weeks off following that is not enough to expect this horse to stay broke.  Five weeks at a trainer is just a start, not a finished horse.  If you take a green horse and put him out in a pasture and don't mess with him for two weeks, he isn't broke/green anymore, he's back to the way he was before.  After thirty or even sixty days at a trainers you have to keep working with a horse or you just wasted your money in sending him there.  NO ONE can finish a horse in 30 to 60 days.

Answer 2

Are you concerned that perhaps you have sent him back to a trainer that didn't do a good job to begin with?

Hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're normal.  That bad feeling is probably the "I think I've been screweds" sneaking up on you.

I will say that you should get your horse back and see a different trainer.

Training horses isn't like sending your car to the mechanic...keep taking it back til it's right...you can't do that with horses.  If the trainer isn't getting it right, they can keep doing it wrong for months, free or at cost, and all it will do is further progress the bad behavior.

Answer 3

5 weeks is not a whole lot of training. Have you been consistantly working with him everyday since he has been home? Otherwise I would say it is completely normal for a horse who is that green and unhandled to act this way. I hope you are ineracting and participating in this horse's training

Answer 4

Well really i wouldnt feel guilty you are only sending your horse away to get broken in so you can ride her! ! !

Answer 5

Maybe you feel that way because you had to get your feathers ruffled to get the trainer to agree to take him at no cost?  Then, when the adrenalin subsides, you feel like you were too harsh?  Sometimes that's the only way to get something done.

I also agree with cnsdubie that if he isn't doing it right in the first place it's not like a car where you keep taking it back until it's fixed.

Answer 6

Hello,

My input:

This horse was PUSHED to hard to fast, TOO soon!  5 weeks is a short amount of time, to have PROPER ground work and to start riding them.  

Yes, 5 weeks can be enough time on level headed, willing, already leading, horses with proper upbringing as a foal.  

But, NO 5 weeks is NOT enough time if the horse isn't "born quiet", handled properly as a foal, etc...  OR just plain spooky and untrusting.

BUT, more importantly, I think the way the trainer has handled them and if he has treated them properly it can be done (but, not all horses) in 5 weeks.  YOUR horse maybe testing you!  He knows you didn't do all this stuff with him before, so now he wants to see what he can get away with.

YOU should have some idea of your horses temperament and willingness before he was sent out for training...  and how he acted for the training before you brought him home.  Since the trainer is putting another week on him.  GO and watch as MUCH as you can!  SEE how he interacts with your horse.  IT will help you to know what methods are working on him!

Answer 7

My QH did this once when I first go him back, I'd go to put the saddle on him and he'd tuck his butt and move away... I let him chill out in the corral and an hour later went and got him, groomed him really well, checked his feet really well, checked the saddle, pad, etc. he didn't do it again...

So maybe something in his coat, mane, tail, feet, saddle, pad,etc was bugging him.

Also make sure his teeth don't need floated..

Another likely reason is he had a bad experience with the trainer during saddling. Some (bad) trainers 'knee' horses to get them to suck their stomachs in so the saddle will fit tight just in case there's any incidences.

You shouldn't feel guilty for not paying the trainer extra. You might want to just 'show-up' and try to catch the trainer in action.  They're not always gentle if they think no one's watching....

Answer 8

Sorry about your story.

You are probably angry about it aswell which doesnt help, and also maybe you felt embarrassed when the lady came to see him and your horse wasnt what you expected it to be.

Deep down it sounds like maybe he had a bad experience with the trainer if he reacted like that. Do you think you might think this yourself and feel bad that you sent your horse there in the first place?

How about if you find another trainer?

Have you seen the trainer in action with your horse?

Hope your horse get fixed. Good Luck

Answer 9

That's way you work the horse several hours BEFORE your buyer comes out to try 'em out.  If they are green, that let them settle down before they show up and get all the "sillys" out of their system.

BUT it's nice of the trainer to take him back and work on him for a bit longer.

Answer 10

After 5 weeks of training he might still be a bit nervous...combine that with the nerves YOU felt due to the pressure of having a potential buyer standing there...!

Did you have a chance to saddle him up during the 2 weeks you had him home?  If not, that might explain it as he just needed to remember his lessons.

Different saddle?  Had the horse been fresh out of a stall?

Perhaps the "trainer" excersised him (lunging or round pen) before saddling - did you?

Hang in there - if you know and trust this "breaker" it should be ok.

I'd definately try out the horse from grooming to saddling to riding BEFORE I brought him home , so the "breaker" can show you how he/she did it.

Guilty and sick?...every horse owner feels this sometimes...none of us are perfect and we beat ourselves up with "shoulda done" thoughts.

Go check on your horse if it will help you.

Good Luck!!

Answer 11

The only thing that I would feel bad about was thinking that a horse gets safely trained in 2 wks, it doesn't.  If you said, "break this horse in 2 wks, then that is different, but if the trainer said, after two weeks, "take him home, he is ready to ride", then you shouldn't feel any remorse, other than about the money that you have already paid the trainer.  I don't know how much you paid him, or how much experience that you have putting a saddle on a horse, so I have no idea how much that you contributed to the issue.  But, just for the record, you are correct in thinking that a properly broken (trained) horse shouldn't behave that way, on the other hands, a horse cannot be "properly broken" (trained) in two weeks.

Answer 12

Don't feel guilty about it - you paid for a service and if you are not satisfied with the results you got then you are fully entitled to complain and ask that it be put right.

Answer 13

Training a horse for riding is not a process that is done quickly and it's not at all unusal for a horse that's "green broke" like your gelding to backslide a bit. This is all new activity for him and it's not surprising that he had a moment of temper when he was saddled. Five weeks is not at all enough time for a horse to be fully trained for riding, and it can take several months for a horse to become completely docile when being saddled and worked.

I think that you jumped the gun a bit in looking to sell the horse as saddle-broke at this point. He's had only rudamentary training and while your trainer probably was able to get him through the basics in five weeks, he needs continued training for a considerable amount of time. Have you been actively working with the gelding and riding him since you got him back? If not, it's not a huge surprise that he didn't appreciate being saddled again.

Your trainer is doing you a favor in working with your horse, but he's not going to "fix" all of the problems in a week. It's not a question of "fix"ing the horse, but of making the committment to keep working with him to build on what the trainer is teaching him. A newly broken horse requires a lot more work and comittment.

Instead of just dumping the horse back in his stall when you get him back, speak to the trainer and get very detailed specifics on what he has been working with the horse on and what needs to be done by you to keep up on his training. Otherwise, simply sell him as unbroken and leave the training to someone who is willing to put the work into it.

Answer 14

You shouldn't.  If you paid for him to break your horse this is lesson one.  However, he should have had you put the saddle on him a couple of times while still at his place.  The problem may have simply been that the hrse had not had you put the saddle on there at your place before and was afraid of you because all of a sudden someone he thought he knew would treat him a certain way, had suddenly started treating him in a completely different manner.

Answer 15

i know wat u mean....do u kinda feel like " ooh ill pay u...srry i got mad"?

even if thts not it...i know wat u mean...

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