Need help with my abused mare.?

Question

I brought a mare from the sales last month, I could tell she was skiddish but I didnt want to see her go to the knackery, when I first brought her I had alot of trouble catching her, she attempted to bite a fair bit and would swing her rump around and kick out when she felt threatened. The first three times i rode her she sweated up like she'd been ridden 4 or 5hrs straight. I can touch more of her now without her attempting to bite and the last time I rode her we trotted in figure 8's for around half an hour and she had bearly broken a sweat. Just wondering if anyone else has had similar problems and could suggest what you've done to help them start trusting again.

Answer 1

take it slow

Answer 2

First how do you know she was abused?  I have seen  more horses that were never abused, only spoiled, that were like that, than I have abused horses.  Maybe her behavior is why she wound up at the auction.

Sorry but I think it is a waste of time to try and save a horse like that when you can save a good horse instead.

Answer 3

It sounds like you're doing a great job!

Spend lots of time grooming.  Catch her a dozen times a day until she decides that being caught isn't so bad.  Even just taking her out and grooming her while letting her eat grass in the yard is a good thing - you don't have to work her every time.

She'll sweat less as she relaxes and calms down.  Keep working on desensitizing her.  You can try lots of ground work and lunging.  Teach her to trust you when it comes to doing things she's unsure about - so play wtih plastic bags, tarps, set up logs, etc.

Keep up the good work!

Answer 4

I had the same issues with my mare, and now we are inseperatable. We are running in rodeos and every thing. Really all you have to do is start off by gaining her trust and respect. When going out to catch her get her favorite treat and put in the halter. Talk to her alot! Let her know your not going to hurt her. i had to do alot of training with the horse i have now. How u said she didnt liked to be touched, well thats were desensitizing comes in. It comes in GREAT handy! It really gets her respect and she wont be tuchy. I didnt even start riding for a month or so. Ground work builds on the horse, and she will soon find out that if she can trust you on the ground she can trust you in the saddle! Act like she is your only love in the world. She will soon think of you as her mother, just as what happened to me and my horse. The trainer i got all my information from is Cliton Anderson, his exercises are easy, and transforms your horse in days. Go to his website @ clintonanderson.com!! This is how i trained my abused mare, and i believe if you truley love this horse you can accomplish great things! I hope you take my word for it, and i wish you great luck!!!

Answer 5

Tellington Jones T TOUCH .. its Great for this sort of problem and getting them to trust on the ground again.  Check it out on the web,  It dosen't get the publicity of the horse whisperers or the "natural horsemen" .. but it's a great tool

Answer 6

I've got one such creature.  She was a basket case when I got her.  She was scared of anything and terrified of people.

She would rear and strike out in fear.  

I  never had the mouth problem but I'm sure she would have bit me if I pushed her.

They said she could ride and drive (poor thing not even 3!)

so I think she was trained too hard, too fast.  Her mind wasn't given time to adjust to situations and she was scared.  She learned fear out of her training.

This is what I did

Took that d**n halter off that was almost imbedded into her nose!  yeah, I knew I'd never catch her but I needed her nose to heal.

Warming up to her by no eye contact, standing with my side to her and just waiting for her to look at me.  Once she did I walked away.  I did this over and over til she would walk up a couple of steps.  Finally she let me rub her between the eyes over the fence.

Time to round pen.  I herded her in.  Worked with her on her 'hooking on' and showing her that I was calm, not attacking, and I had nothing in my hands.  Just me, her, and the sky.

Once she started hooking on (a week or so) with no fear I brought in the halter.

Let her smell it, rubbed it on her withers and shoulders....rub rub...retreat, smell....rub rub.

Now to get it on her (insert wild mustang here)

More hooking on exercises. If she turned her butt to me to hide I took my leadline and whacked her on the butt.  When they hide their head and give you their butt it's a form of flipping you off...very disrespectful. * If they do that to you in the stall..whack them out of the corner til they face you...then step back and let them calm and think*

Finally able to get it on.

Left it on.  Every day I grabbed her halter and moved it around...rubbed her all over.  If she got scared about an area I didn't pursue it.  I just rubbed til I got to the scary part then stayed there...then she was ok with me venturing farther.

Her eyes wrinkle and her ears lop to the sides, scared and worried.

When I accomplished something I rubbed between the eyes and walked away.

She licked her lips and followed.

I can now hold up a finger and take one step back and she will come to me.  She can be 50 feet away and she walks right up...now with no halter again.  I can halter her without a fuss.  She drops her head on her own (no training)

because she accepts and trusts whatever I want to do.  She knows I am not cheating or lying to her.  I am honest.

I tossed a saddle on her.  She lopped her ears over and wrinkled her eyes but didn't bolt.

I slipped it right back off and she sighed and licked her lips.

I haven't put it back on her yet.  No rush.

I want her mind with me first before having to deal with other things.  I want her mind sound and sane.

So...deal with the trust issues on the ground with her before you attack her back.  That is how she is feeling.  You are attacking her.  She doesn't even know you yet.

Lots of brushing, touching, talking, walking away.

That is my thoughts.  It's worked for my mental case and she's now accepting me tossing a rope around her back legs (she used to rodeo buck if I did this)

Now she just picks her foot up and wrinkles her eye.

Good luck!

Answer 7

I BUY QUITE ALOT OF ABUSED HORSES AND BUILD UP THEIR TRUST AGAIN.

I THINK YOUR GOING ABOUT IT FINE, YOUR DOING A GREAT JOB SO FAR. HORSES TAKE TIME TO LEARN TO TRUST YOU. JUST KEEP DOING WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING AND OFFER HER A TREAT EVERYTIME YOU GO INTO THE FIELD AND APPROUCH HER SLOWLY, WITH SOOTHING WORDS.

IT SOUNDS LIKE SHE NEEDS TO BE RIDDEN MORE TO BUILD UP HER STAMINA. RIDE HER LIGHTLY AND DONT WORRY IF SHE BREAKS INTO A SWEAT JUST STOP RIDING LET HER HAVE A REST AND MABEY WALK HER ROUND FOR ANOTHER 10 MINS.

ALSO ANOTHER THING I DO IS STAND AT THE FIELD GATE AND WAIT FOR HER OR HIM TO COME TO ME. A TREAT OR A SUGARCUBE ALWAYS HELPS. LET HER KNOW YOUR GOOD AND HER FRIEND.

YOU SOUND LIKE YOUR OING A BRILL JOB ALREADY JUST BRING SOME TREATS INTO IT AND SOOTHING WORDS, DON'T WORRY IT SOMETIMES TAKES YEARS TO BUILD A FULL TRUST. KEEP GOING!!! =]

Answer 8

Sounds like you read the mare right, she is unconfident about what is going on, the sweating undersaddle is a huge clue about her state-of-mind.  If she were mine, and I knew she was that scared, I would not be riding her yet.

The most effective means of gaining a horse's trust is a technique a lot of folks refer to as approac and retreat.

For the first day, just go out into her pen and be with her.  Stand in the pen without a halter or lead, or intent to catch her and watch her.  This tells you a lot.  Does she look at you?  If she makes eye contact and looks at you, she is at least curious, and you have something to work with.  If she looks away, and - or moves away and avoids eye contact, she isn't even comfortable with you being in the pen.  This would mean you have a lot of work to do.

I would come in, give her a carrot, and leave for a few hours.  Come in and stand in the pen and wait until she looks at you, (as long as it takes) and leave.  Repeat this several times a day until she can at least consistently look at you.  You are building the relationship/trust at this point.

When she is consistently looking at you, and coming for carrots, halter her up with a long leadrope, and rub her all over.  If you can't touch her with your hand, use a dressage whip.  Rub the horse with your hand/whip until she relaxes.  Then stop.  Let her think about what happened for a few seconds, then rub again.  Only stop when she relaxes.  Rub her body/neck/head/legs/belly/hip - every part of her, even by her udder.  Progress slowly, build on one part at a time, and only move on when the part you started with no longer bothers her.

When you have finished rubbing with your hand, do the same thing with a saddle pad, or a bag tied to the end of the whip.  Rub and rub and only stop when she relaxes.  When you stop rubbing, you take away the pressure.  When you take away the pressure, you give her a chance to think.  When you take away the pressure at the exact moment she relaxes, she learns that you want her to relax.  Taking away the pressure is the reward.  So, she learns that you aren't going to hurt her.  Timing is crucial.

depending on the severity of her past, this could take a long time.  Don't rush.  Don't saddle up and go for a ride just until you can touch every part of her without her becoming worried.

When you do go for a ride, make sure you do the approach-retreat with the saddle and pad.  Get her comfortable with everything.  Put the saddle on, take it off, put it on, take it off.  cinch up a little at a time, not all at once.

When you start getting on, so that in stages, too.  Stand up in the stirrup, get off.  Stand up in the stirrup, get off - until she is comfortable with that.  When you do get on, just sit there for a while and relax.  Make every part of training her slow and easy.  Don't ask for too much too fast, or you will take big steps backwards.  Once you gain her trust, you training will progress faster and faster uintil she realizes she wants to be with you and likes to learn.

keep sessions short at first.  The  better she gets, the longer you can make them.  As sessions get longer, you will have to find ways to make them interesting for her.  The key is to keep her thinking.  Keep her motivated.  Keep her INTERESTED.

Always end on a posative note.  If you are working on something new, and can't get her to figure it out, or if you start geting frustrated, back down and do something that is easy for you both.  end on the good note.  If you get frustrated/mad, she will feed off of you, and things will go downhill quickly from there.

Good luck with your mare!

also check out www.parelli.com

sounds like checking into the level one set parelli puts out will also answer a lot of your questiosn as well as provide great ideas for the two of you to better your relationship and clarify your communication to her.

Answer 9

I'd try bringing her and just doing something with her that she likes, either grooming or a small feed, then put her back out again. She will learn that being caught doesn't necessarily mean being worked. Also, when you do work her, try to vary what you do so she doesn't get bored, figure 8's for half an hour most certainly isn't fun! I'm not having a go, but the more fun things you can do with her the better. The trust will come, a month probably isn't long enough for an abused horse to get over her past life.

Answer 10

Go really slow and gentle.  Alot of brushing, hands on by you. She has got to learn to trust you. If she comes at you with teeth bared, a small needle or push pin in your hand, which she will get stuck with when she comes to near should help with the biting. It has to seem to her that it hurts her if she tries to bite you.

Answer 11

First off it sounds like you're making excellent progress with her. You've already received alot of good advice.

Two points I wanted to mention though. First off biting and kicking are both aggressive behaviors. Seen by a dominate type horse. I'm not saying she hasn't been abused (the excess sweating is a good sign she was as it demonstrates extreme nervousness while in the control of humans)

Many horses that have been abused reach a point that they feel they have no where else to retreat to and even though acting aggressive (biting or threatening to kick) are in fact doing it out of what they perceive as self defense.

Either way, with horses like these, you have to walk a very fine line between still being her boss (the alpha mare) and yet still let her know that you have no intention of hurting her. Basicly, never back down, if she threatens to bite or be aggressive (a loud AACCKKK!) and move towards her not away, same with the threatening to kick. You have to let her know that she is in the wrong and it won't be tolerated, make her believe (for about 3 seconds) that you are going to go after her, as soon as she shows submissive behavior it's over and forgotten.

As soon as she stops do not reward her though, simply go on about what you were doing like it never happened. If she tries to follow through  and bite stick your finger out and jab her nose when she gets close with her mouth, an elbow works well to, she gets instant feedback of "I tried to bite and hurt my nose", the key here being she'll think "she" hurt her nose. It won't actually hurt her but should surprise her into backing off, again act like it never happened and just keep going about your business.

On the other hand, never hurt her, spend lots of quiet quality time with her. Sitting with her while she eats is a great method. Chewing actually releases endorphines inside a horses brain that makes them "happy" if you are present at those times she'll come to equate those feelings with you as well.

Put her grain into a bucket in front of you. If she gets dominate or threatens you do as above and then move away with the grain. When her attitude changes back and she stops being aggressive/dominate then return with the grain. Do it as many times as it takes until she stops. Again, instant gratification for doing what's right without actually hurting her for doing what's wrong.

Regarding catching her, sounds like you've made tons of progress there already. Keep up what you're doing. Catch her up, groom her, feed her, let her graze while on the lead (all the time working on desensitizing her without it being an actual "training session". We're all training every horse every time we're around it whether we realize it or not, it doesn't matter where we do it at) She'll soon come to look forward to you catching her.

Right now I probably wouldn't be riding her either. Sounds like she has a lot of things that she needs to get straight in her mind right now and she probably isn't really safe to ride, although I have saw a couple abused horses that were trained to ride properly and never abused from the saddle only the ground that were great solid horses while riding but just paniced around humans on the ground. (Actually have one here now that was that way when he came.)

Still I think I'd give her time to confront and get over her issues from the ground before asking more of her. No sense in asking for more problems than she has already, you never know when those ground problems will bleed over undersaddle.

Spend tons of time desensitizing her as well. Let her know what ever happens you are the one she needs to look towards for security not get away from. Those lessons will naturally follow through to when she's undersaddle.

EDITED TO ADD...Just re-read my post and it sounds like I meant to stand in the open with the grain. With a aggressive type biting horse that threatens to kick don't do that. Stand on the opposite side of a fence, preferably a strong board fence. If she tries to "run you off from the grain" make her move back then remove it. If you'll watch horses in their natural environment interacting with one another you'll soon notice that the alpha mare controls the food, she tells the other horses when and where they can eat. By establishing that you are the leader there (regarding food) you'll be making a huge step towards her respecting you in all things.

Answer 12

DON"T stick her with a needle!! what the heck!? thats the craziest thing i've ever heard

anyways she just needs to trust you and submit to you

in a heard when a horse turns it's haunches on another horse

it means that she is the higher ranking one of that other horse

when your horse follows you without you even leading it that means she has accepted you and will do as YOU say

you can acheive this by demanding you leadership in the the round pen!

you try to get her hind end to move AWAY from you, so maybe by tapping a whip on the ground behind her or twirling a rope towards her hind end.. whatever just get her to move away from you

eventually when she start moving away from you you can stop and if she accepts you she will turn in to you

make sense?  I did this with my dominant mare now she follows me through the pastures and everything!

Answer 13

in a situation like this you need to let time heal

do lots of brushing and grooming and spend as much of your time with her as possible

try sitting in her stall and giving her treats and get her used to you being around her

since you bought her from the sale you most likely con't get in touch with her owners to ask how they treated her but they obviously didn't treat her the right way so you need to let her know you are not a threat

to get her to trust you you can go into her field and hold out something like an apple and just stand by the gate and let her come get it when she is ready

also talk very calmly to her and when she improve let her know it by giving her what she likes like if she has a favorite spot she likes rubbed of a certain treat she enjoys then she will be eager to please you and you 2 will be able to work together easier and you will be getting the very best side of eachother

Answer 14

Dealing with a horse who's had some mind games played with them is NEVER easy.

You can't put a time limit on it, unfortunately.  I have a now 18 year old Azteca (Andalusian and Quarter Horse cross) who I'd known for about 2 years before I ended up with him.  He'd been badly abused before my friend got him and once she did, didn't know how to fix the problem (He can spin on the forehand as fast as he can roll on the hocks and had a few other quirky issues.).

I got him to basically behave under saddle, he was always a gentleman on the ground.  BUT outside of being a good, basically kind horse, the only thing he seemed attached to was his next meal.  Then, about after owning him for over 6 years, one day as I had him tied up to my float (No hitching posts where I had all my horses.) eating his goodies, he ignored his goodies and just kept watching me as I went off to do other things.  Nowadays, he can have his food sitting in his feeder and will still rather hang out with me instead of going into his stall and eating.  It's a real special feeling when you finally cross that last barrier!  Keep up the good work.