My mum's mare is afraid of our paddock?

Question

At our house, we have an outdoor ring which is amazing if it's sunny out, and we have a big paddock with a small shelter and some monsterous trees. Anyways, we have our horses at my uncle's barn during the winter and they come here all summer. My mum's horse, who we bought last fall, is deathly afraid of the paddock. She's never been in there before, so we put them all in, and she goes ballistic. We seperated, tried different combos of horses, she still runs and runs and gets herself into such a sweat. We put her in the arena, and she just runs and runs and runs. It's not like a fun run either, you can see the whites of her eyes, and when you ask her to calm down, and approach her, she looks genuinely afraid. All of the other horses are fine though... they just ignore her. My mum is on a business trip, and my uncle and dad have dubbed this my task, I really don't want to let them down, but I'm fresh out of ideas. I've had to move her back to my uncle's place for the timebeing. Help?

Answer 1

okey this is very serous it is a lack of trust horses first instinct's is to flee from danger so when she is in the padock she probibley feels insucure with being fenced in when there could be danger and she is fenced in she can't run very far to protect herself so what id do is bring her to the ring let her run round and round you sit in the middle of the ring (but it must be quiet around you)just you and the horse horses can read body language so if you sit there scared or nervous she can pick up on that and she could feel that theres danger so sit down on the ground let her run round you and it may take a few hours but it works so just sit there with a bucket of her food and some treats put the bucket in between your legs and leave it there the number 1 rule dont go to her let her come to you so she can have time to think weather she wants to trust you to tell her its ok  and if you dont hand her the treat she will come looking for it if she keeps running round and your sure she wont stop just leave the ring looking ashamed of her and DONT take her out leave her there later that day go out and with out saying anything to her give her a look and walk away she will realise that its ok when your around to protect her and then when she stops running round the ring you can smile at her and give her a hug and kiss (and treat)then bring her to the feild if she acts up again give her the ashaned look but first walk out to her and tell her its ok if she donnt listen give her the look and walk away,she will aventually understand its ok,(she could also be wanting to go for a long gallop with her friends too) you really have to treat her like a humin but you have to speak there language body language its hard but it helps if you feel bad the horse can see it in your body so its good to try to control how you feel

expeshuly when your trying to catch her to go riding.if you need further info go to'' you tube '' and type this in ''desdonohoe100 '' and click on my site and leave a comment and ill help you with anything els my sith is all about my horses and others and some of horses and paddocks

Answer 2

try lunging her by it and maybe try a buddy approach. i would try little by little each day each hour don't over frighten her by trying to hard just remember to stay realaxed and try to ignore her but not so much that she over takes you=] best wishes and good luck

Also maybe try calling the people you bought her from to see if the ever encountered the same problem or to get an idea of some past experiences that might cause her to be afraid.

Answer 3

Start longing her near the arena/paddock.  Get close.  If she is fine, move nearer the gate.  If not, work her until she calms down.  Have the gate open and longe her half inside, half outside.  Then gradually move into to arena or paddock, and when you are fully in stop her and let her rest.  Praise her, maybe give her some treats.  If she starts running or getting restless, bring her outside and longe her more.  It might take a few sessions, but you'll get there eventually.

Answer 4

try a feeding approach. every day feed her a little closer to the paddockif that doesnt work pull the horse traier into the arena with her in it and feed her in the trailer untill she calms down . with a little patience she will overcome her fear

Answer 5

Where they normally board in the winter....is there another horse next door or something?  It almost sounds like separation anxiety.  When I took my two out for trail rides the neighbors horse would run herself until almost keeled over from their separation.

I'd walk her around where she can see the paddock.

Feed her at the fence line so she can be eating and look at it but not be enclosed in it.  Stay calm and just 'ladeedah' around. Rubs and strokes.

Bring out her favorite buddy to hang out with her.

Now...lead fave buddy back in and have her lead in behind.

Lead them both around inside the paddock but only the first few yards.  Don't overwhelm her.  

Gradually go out a little more.  Rubs and strokes.

If she is really calm with all of this lead her out til she seems jittery.  When she gets to a point where she looks agitated, backtrack a few yards til she settles.

Put some hay out in this area...along with some water.

If she is calm in this area I'd just let her go and see if she will now just stay here and be calm...giving her time to survey the rest of the paddock.

I worked for a Morgan breeding farm.  The woman just purchased the property (I had already been there boarding my horse and taking care of the previous Paso Finos)

Anyhow..her horses were separated.  2 younger ones (3 and 4) were put with my girl down in the back pasture.  My girl knows the field so was calm.  The gelding was a little tense but calmed down.  The Morgan filly was nuts!  She cried and ran and ran and frothed up and ran.  She busted into the gate and my son was right next to it.  He seen the latch pop..tried to close it and the horse busted into it again, tossing my son to the ground and she trampled over the top of him.

It took her over a full month of panic attacks before she could handle that pasture...even with buddies.  It was too far from the barn that she knew as her protection.

another thing:

My horses will alert me that something is bothering them.  They are scared.

I have to walk the property and fence line yelling "Face your Fear!" to them and they will soon come up behind me and help me scare out any monsters.

But that is my guys who have the utmost faith in me and my judgment.  

Hope you get some good tips and tricks.  Maybe one will work!

Answer 6

try walking her around the paddock on the lead and getting her used to the paddock - have you tried feeding her?  im not sure what she could be afraid of maybe the trees if she was introduced to the paddock on a windy day the noise im not sure but it going to take time little by little giving her tome to get used to her new surroundings