About two months ago I started to work with a friends horse who has not been rode in a few years probably. When I first got on her she did ok for a few minutes anyways. Then she refused to move. I had a crop and gave her a few whips and kicked nemerous time, and then she blew! Bucking, rearing, and then she fell over. It all happened so fast I dont know if she lost her footing or what. When she fell I think she hit her head on the ground because she was knocked out for atleast 5 mins, completely unresponsive. When she finally came too, she jumped up all startled, but didnt seem to be hurt. I left her alone for the next week, mostly because I couldnt walk from where she fell on my leg. I decided to start from the ground up because I felt she had lost trust in me after the incident. She has good ground manners, lunges ok, but only one way. And if I use a lunge whip, she seems to get somewhat aggressive. Coming into me with ears back when I whip it. I ex out the whip all together and she responds to me much better on the groung when lunging. I finally am able to get on her again, but she will not move forward what so ever. And i dont want to push her too much because of what happened last time. She will back up however. Ive used to saddle and got on her bare back. Still she refuses to do anything, just stands there.Shes a very sweet horse, love attention, come up to me in the pasture, follows me everywhere. I dont understand why she wont move though
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She’s obviously in pain or has a medical problem somewhere. Please don’t force her - she is telling you there is an issue, and you need to listen to her.
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This horse needs a full veterinary workup. Please do this before attempting to ride her again, before you get seriously injured or God forbid, killed.
I will not force her to do anything after our incident. After mounting her and her giving me absolutely nothing I began to wonder if she was in pain. And I will be lookin into that more. I dont want to get hurt and I definitely dont want her to get hurt either!
I agree, this horse needs a full work up.
IF and ONLY IF it turns out they can find nothing, I would treat her like she’s never been saddled. Go back to ground work for awhile.
When my mare wouldn’t go forward, I found other ways to move her feet. I did circles, even started working with side passing on the ground.
Find out what is wrong though, that sounds medical.
Pain is the first place to start on this one for sure.
Since she is willing when not on her back but totally not willing when you mount it most definitely sounds like a pain reaction.
I assume the fit of the saddle has been checked and it is not pinching or putting pressure in places that hurt.
[QUOTE=trubandloki;7776479]
I assume the fit of the saddle has been checked and it is not pinching or putting pressure in places that hurt.[/QUOTE]
Given what was said in the OP, why would you assume that? The horse was down and unconscious for 5 minutes and nobody thought to call a vet? Seriously? :rolleyes:
The saddle is not a problem. Ive tried no saddle and just got on bareback and she still will not move forward. She will back up when asked. Ive sat on her for a half hour and she probably moved 10 feet on her own, but only backwards. We didnt call the vet because she got up and seems fine! Again its not my horse. Ive just been workin with her.
[QUOTE=rcloisonne;7776502]
Given what was said in the OP, why would you assume that? The horse was down and unconscious for 5 minutes and nobody thought to call a vet? Seriously? :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]
Because it is a far more polite way to say ‘check the saddle fit’ than what you said. I figure it is best to start out polite.
Are you sure she was broke in the first place? This whole situation seems like a disaster.
im positive shes broke. Her owner has had her since she was born. Sent her to a trainer, and her grandson use to ride her. Its been 3 or so years since she been rose probably.
I would send this horse to a professional after sending her to a vet before you get yourself killedl
i agree to rule out all pain issues first.
At the same time, I am very suspicious that she is spoiled, and has enjoyed not doing much for several years
It is very typical for a horse that balks, and then is pushed to move, to blow, esp if you don’t know how to un track such a horse,. and just try to boot it foreward
My friend had her pelvis broken by such a horse. She has sent the horse to an idiot trainer, and when I went with her to see how that trainer was progressing with the horse, I saw him ‘sneak rides’ In other words, when that young horse got upset by something in the arena, he would step off instead of riding her through it. The so called ‘trainer’ was also using a mechanical hackamore to start the horse. I expressed my concerns, but my friend thought she would be fine, once home and introduced to a snaffle
She rode her maybe once or twice, and on the third day or so, the horse froze, refusing to move.
Just like in this horse’s case, when she used her legs to make the horse move, the horse exploded and bucked her off hard.
I am in no way saying there might not be a pain issue that needs to be ruled out, just the fact that a horse that balks and then is just booted forward with either a crop or legs, will often explode
Anyone that starts colts, knows that you un track that colt sideways, and never just boot that colt foreward
[QUOTE=KIloBright;7777581]
i agree to rule out all pain issues first.
At the same time, I am very suspicious that she is spoiled, and has enjoyed not doing much for several years
It is very typical for a horse that balks, and then is pushed to move, to blow, esp if you don’t know how to un track such a horse,. and just try to boot it foreward
My friend had her pelvis broken by such a horse. She has sent the horse to an idiot trainer, and when I went with her to see how that trainer was progressing with the horse, I saw him ‘sneak rides’ In other words, when that young horse got upset by something in the arena, he would step off instead of riding her through it. The so called ‘trainer’ was also using a mechanical hackamore to start the horse. I expressed my concerns, but my friend thought she would be fine, once home and introduced to a snaffle
She rode her maybe once or twice, and on the third day or so, the horse froze, refusing to move.
Just like in this horse’s case, when she used her legs to make the horse move, the horse exploded and bucked her off hard.
I am in no way saying there might not be a pain issue that needs to be ruled out, just the fact that a horse that balks and then is just booted forward with either a crop or legs, will often explode
Anyone that starts colts, knows that you un track that colt sideways, and never just boot that colt foreward[/QUOTE]
See above. This situation sounds like a recipe for disaster. Makes me wonder if the horse has something neurological going on, especially the flipping over and being unconscious. Did you think a horse being unconscious is normal?
If you were restarting the horse why didn’t you start on the ground, in hand exercises and lunging, ground driving?
Agree w/ others there’s probably PAIN somewhere now after passing out “unconscious” after the flipping over. If there wasn’t pain initially, there probably is now.
Get the VET to thoroughly go over the horse- head, poll, neck, back, pelvis, etc. Besides a possible head injuiry, the horse could have broken bones somewhere even though it looks fine on the outside.
She was worked on the ground and lunged before I first mounted her. Shes been trained and rode a lot, its just been a while!
Im beginning to think its more mental and her not trusting me more than anything after the spill we had. Shes been checked, its not pain shes fine physically.
Ive worked her on the ground for the past month trying to build her confidence and trust in me. The thing is, once she decides she does not want to work any more, thats it! She will only lunge one way, period! And ive tried many different approaches to change that and nothings worked. She does not like a lung whip at all either. If I use one she was run stright towards me with ears pined back as if shes goin to run me over. But I dont think she ever actually would because once shes face to face she stops and puts her ears up. So I use my hands and voice when on the ground, and it took a while, but shes finally responding to me very well. While on the ground.
I just started to mount her again in just in the past week and its been two months just about since the last time. She was very sceptical about me being on her back, so thats why I took it slow. But now I can get on her, and :eek:shes calm, but will not move forward at all, or even turn. She just stands there. I think she wo just ld probably stand there all day. I dont want to give up on her just yet. Weve made small progress, and thats a start.
[QUOTE=craz4crtrs;7778018]
See above. This situation sounds like a recipe for disaster. Makes me wonder if the horse has something neurological going on, especially the flipping over and being unconscious. Did you think a horse being unconscious is normal?
If you were restarting the horse why didn’t you start on the ground, in hand exercises and lunging, ground driving?[/QUOTE]
Don’t know if this post was a reply to my post, but if so, note that I said to rule out all pain first, and then ,and only then, to get a horse that is balking to move, you un track them sideways, and you do not just boot them ahead
[QUOTE=kfallon;7778909]
Im beginning to think its more mental and her not trusting me more than anything after the spill we had. Shes been checked, its not pain shes fine physically. [/QUOTE]
How are you 100% sure she’s not in pain? Even after spending thousands on tests, it’s impossible to definitely rule out a source of pain. And from your description, it doesn’t sound the like the owner shelled out for a thorough vet exam. Or a new saddle fitting. Or any diagnostic tests.
(but please, tell me I’m wrong!)
The horse definitely has your number, though… I would get a few lessons to help you two get over this roadblock once you’ve done more searching for a source of pain.
Based on your questions and descriptions, and your responses, you cannot help this horse.
If the horse was trained, it was not trained well. Even if some pain is involved, the horse would have some more try, if she ever had any given to her. She doesn’t have a clue what to do, except what she is doing. Your lost, she is lost. It is not a recipe for disaster, it is a disaster. Braced, shut down, confused, clueless. Nothing to do with whether she trust you. Most likely, she learned to be that way from the last untrained and inexperienced person who handled her.
You are over your head, and need to find the right horseman with the right experience, and referrals, to help you, before she flips over on you and hurts you, because that is usually what happens next.
Find someone who is really good at young horses and unhandled horses and problem horses.
What part of the country are you in?
I’ve seen it with a rider who was too heavy/big for the horse and the horse wouldn’t move because horse couldn’t balance himself. Horse was, rightly, choosing not to move.
Horses have to build up back strength to carry a rider and learn how to balance under a rider.
This could also explain why the horse can carry a child but not an adult.
I end up starting and restarting horses alone on occasion. Not something I like or want to do but necessary. I make CERTAIN the horse will move off a cluck or chirp no matter where I am in proximity to the horse. I don’t use leg at all the first time I move them off at the mounting block. A helper leads or I cluck (and sometimes turn a little). It really does sound like you are in over your head 
