Young Horses? Please help?

Question

My 3 year old missouri fox trotter that i just got is jumpy. If i raise my hand to touch her she shys away. and any sudden movment i make towards her scares her. Is this normal?

And she wasnt abused at all, i know the people that trained her and they are excelent with horses.

thank you :)

Answer 1

My little 2 y/o is BOMB PROOF i swear. she wont flinch over nuthin. not fifeworks not thunder-nuthin'

read this i promise there will be a difference:  Training your young horse

        and                                                    

                                    Unlock your horses talent in 20 minutes a day

both books are by Richard Maxwell- and both books will make a difference- just try it! your horse will no longer be head shy or anything of the such!

Answer 2

She is a baby still and needs a boost in confidence.  Even people who've spent years with horses and think they are very good with them (or others think they are) - if they aren't in touch with how confident a horse is, the horse will not ever be a sound one to be on.

I have a 7 year old mare that I have had to about 4 trainers with impeccable reputations.  She still is very un-confident and spooks when riding even to the point of bucking and bolting.  These trainers, in retrospect, focused on stay on and getting her to do what they asked of her, not how she perceived what they asked.  The rode her through scary situations to "get experience" vs. understanding why there was fright and how to teach her to understand and accept the scary things.  Just last evening I talked to her current trainer, a person VERY focused on underestanding the horse's communication needs, nature and how they perceive all aspects of life.  He's worked with her a good 2+ weeks now - she's riding out with others and by herself but still looking for things that scare her.  She is taking a great amount of time more than normal to build confidence - due to a natural lack of it (I think because of physical issues caused by locking patella which could be making her feel more vulnerable than a "normal" horse) as well as increased fear from being forced to do things she was afraid of.

You need to take some time with her very slowly and methodically to get her used to quick movements - first from the ground.  Focus on desinsitizing her by touching her all over slowly.  When she'll stand quietly placed and allow you to touch her anywhere with your hand - this means head NOT held high, but nearly asleep with boredom - that's when she's become comfortable with what you're doing.  The next step is to take a rigid object like a broom stick or something and do the same with her - after that perhaps attaching something scary like a plastic shopping bag to the end of the stick and doing the same thing slowly and methodically.  When she's got this accepted and is unfaxed by any of it you can progress to other scary things and build up to quick movements.  

I just read a great article about a texas police group that conditions their horses to accept quick movements from the ground or air.  They play "excercise ball" soccer - by riding their horses and pushing one of those big exercise balls around with the horses (must be slowly conditioned to accept this from the ground first).  Also by playing "broomstick polo" with brooms and a ball.  They play football throwing nerf footballs back and forth between them to condition the horse to flying objects and also basketball (imagine that dribble).  All these things are done slowly and methodically then consistently to keep a horse accepting of such experiences - then people throwing beer bottles or running around or tossing balls won't alarm them when they must do control of groups of people.

So even if she wasn't technically "abused" if she hasn't been conditioned to these things and specifically trained to accept then, she'll be wary of them - which is actually quite normal.

One last little example is my yearling filly.  I have been unable to separate her and her mom until a couple weeks ago due to space and lodging issues.  The first year I spent a lot of time with her desensitizing her to many things.  Waved hands at her never bothered her and stuff like that.  Now that she's separated from her mom and all alone, it's as if those things never happened - she raises her head way up if I simply raise a hand to push her face away from me.  Other things as well bother her that we'd focused on before.  I believe this is because now she's alone and feels very vulnerable to predator attack.  

You must also understand that since a horse is a prey animals and we are naturally predators they will respond to us as if we were going to eat them.  So you have to work at making them understand you are not going to eat or hurt them and help them to gain confidence in you and in themselves to think first before reacting.

A 3 year old horse is about the speed of a 12 year old kid mentally.  They are not yet capable of understanding many things that older horses can understand - it is easy to expect too much of them at this age which makes our interaction with them harder because we can't really tell when we've gone too far.

Any education through books, videos or in person clinics on natural horsemanship and communication tactics with horses would benefit you and help you understand the difference between a person that "is good with horses" and a person who can interact with them on a whole different plane - actually interacting with them and listening to what the horse is teaching them.

Good luck!

Answer 3

for one as much as you know the people you don't know 100 percent for sure

most horses are afraid of suden movements which is why no sudden movements should be made around them

some horses just aren't very people friendly, this could be the case, however it should get better as she gets older

remember that each horse has its own personality just like humans do

Answer 4

She's just a bit flighty and head shy.  

Since you know it isn't abuse related, it is part of her individual nature.  That may make her a little slower to come around, so be patient.

The first thing for you to do is to concentrate on making slow, deliberate moves around her.

If she's particularly head shy, then don't reach initially for her head.  Start at the shoulder and work your way up, lots of quiet talking, lots of motion on the skin, without a lot of animation.

She should eventually associate your contact with enjoyable, pleasurable experiences and it should gradually get better.

Answer 5

I know lots of horses like that. Just be slow and kind with your movements, and let her trust you, and it'll go away eventually.

Answer 6

Just be slow and calm, and don't make any sudden movements