Imprinting probably didn’t help either. A lot of this can happen when they are weaned incorrectly. Good luck with her.
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Poor gal. She is just worried shes never going to see another horse again, and if shes been in solitary for 8 years, that seems like a fair assumption on her part.
Start by leaving your emotions at the door, this girl needs reassurance and some coping skills instilled, don’t get mad, ever.
I would work her where she is quiet and good to start, do some simple ground work stuff (rope halter would be ideal), desensitizing, teaching her some self soothing techniques. If you’re not familiar or handy with this kind of stuff and rope work, I’d spend some time looking into some cowboys that teach it.
Slowly move the sessions farther away from where she is most comfortable. Doing round pen work will help her learn confidence in herself for sure, but it’s not a chasing them around until they’re tired (to be honest I don’t exactly know what ‘pulling Monty Roberts out on her ass’ entails) kind of thing, and using the pen properly will really help teach them they can be calm and relaxed on their own. It works so well that I can grab one of mine that have been turned out for the winter and largely un-handled (beyond turn in and out), and if they fuss being in the barn on their own… I’ll throw them in the pen for a matter of 5 mins, and it totally brings them right back to earth.
In other words… trying to work on the separation anxiety while they are in the middle of a melt down is about as useful as throwing someone with arachnophobia into a pit of spiders and then telling them they’ll be fine. You’re only going to damage them further, and also make them resent you. :lol:
Believe me, I’ve dealt with the exact horse you are describing. There are a lot of great ideas already on the thread, like just spending time hand grazing her out of the field will help her associate you with good things.
Good luck! You can absolutely turn this one around with enough time and patience.
ETA: there is a big difference between an anxious and worried horse, and a horse having an impatient tantrum in the aisle. You just have to be savvy enough to know the difference. I wouldn’t recommend tying a scared horse and letting them sort themselves out, that will probably result in learned-helplessness (best case scenario). And the anxiety will most likely re-surface again while attempting other things with the horse.
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I can tell you what I did in a similar situation. Part of it was due to herd bound behavior, the other part was due to this particular horse not liking the trailer. This was successful for me, but each situation is different.
Rusty, my horse, has always been a brat about trailering. Honestly, most of it was my fault when I purchased him because I didn’t know what I was doing, but I digress. Anyway, I always tied him in the trailer, but he started pulling back before I could get the divider latched, breaking the halter and flying out of the trailer - much like your horse, who takes advantage of the lag time.
I got tired of buying new halters and having my horse fly out backwards without regard to my space. So this is what I did:
I set new boundaries regarding trailering with Rusty. He was to go in, stand, and not move until I was done. When I unloaded him, he was not to step anywhere until I grabbed his lead and was ready. I would no longer tie him in the trailer but rather, drape the lead rope over his back and disconnect the lead once he was locked in as his head was still accessible once the divider was closed. Anytime Rusty did not follow the new boundaries, I would shut him back in the trailer, trying if at all possible to not even let him off. I’d lock the divider, shut the doors, and make him stand. Basically, do the entire process over and over again until he had the right answer, and then the reward was getting off the trailer. I taught him that me putting my hand or finger up and saying “stand” meant he was not to move as I just made sure to do this every single time as I was training him.
Guess who stands like a stone 99% of the time?! He knows he’ll have to go back into the trailer again and again until he is respectful. You can try this with your horse - each time she takes advantage of you shutting the door and leaves, just repeat the process and teach her that a certain word or cue means stand. I’d suggest working on ground manners too - but basically just make sure you can catch her quickly if she pulls this stunt so you can immediately let her know that her behavior is not acceptable. Maybe not the most common way of training, but worked for my goofy horse. His trailering manners are near phenomenal and everyone is surprised that I don’t tie him. But why should I when he will stand and wait?
She’s 21 years old and has limited exposure to people other than whomever raised her.
She hasn’t seen another horse in the last 8 years.
Before that she lived with her dam from birth ro age 13 so her social skills were retarded by that arrangement. She literally doesn’t know how to cope with being a horse among horses.
your other thread describes a dangerous barn and too few stalls.
and you’re largely alone handling this mare and you’re 16 years old.
is all of the above accurate ?
OMG I thought you were joking and then I went back and read the OP’s update.
LOL. Yeah, ok. Not exactly a “beginner project”. Good lord.
OP: you need a trainer. I would find one to start this horse and board it there. This is not going to be easy, cheap or safe.
Well trained horses are expensive for a reason. There are hours of training every week put into them from the day they are born. This horse might be rideable IF a seasoned professional gets involved. But for what it will cost to get her there - and given her age…why would you try?
Bingo. I was struck by the OP’s language skills at age 16, she stayed with me for that reason. When I noticed this dramatic thread title, I clicked it and read the first post, and only then recognized that it was from the same poster.
