I don’t know how anyone can help here over the internet. There are so many questions and very little information. Perhaps there is a problem with the tack, the horse is in pain ??etc. Is the horse boarded out or is it kept at home by itself. Could someone else watch, walk with the horse while it is being ridden to give it confidence. How skilled is the rider ??
Surely there must be some experienced horseperson around that could come to see the OP and give some constructive advice.
She says she is in British Columbia, Canada but that is a very large area. If the OP would be more specific about her location we could possibly give suggestions where to go for help.
I did just this at our boarding stable for boarders who were having " issues" with their naughty horses and when the BO bought TB’s off the track for retraining. Of course that was a long time ago. We( i & another girl) rode anything offered and it paid off in the skills department.
We don’t know what this horses problems are. All we have is an OP who obviously never rode the horse before purchase and who has little experience in riding anything that isn’t an easy ride.
It could be a number of reasons from saddle fit ,to feeding, to lack of real exercise, to lack of any foundation in training when the horse was started. Is it really anxiety or a horse who has learned to get out of work by throwing a tantrum?
We don’t know because the OP won’t go into anything more than the horse supposedly gets anxious and rears and bucks.
An experienced, good rider should be able to see what the horse was doing prior to the meltdown and see the difference between anxiety/ fear and a tantrum and proceed ( or not) accordingly.
I don’t see anyone suggesting just throwing a teenager on without any thought.
I answered those questions further back and thanks for making assumptions about me. I have no interest dealing with a horse that reacts that way. Doesnt mean im a crappy rider.
I do not have an arena. I do not have time to work this horse on a daily basis. It is better for her in the long run to find someone that wants to work on her. Shes in a dry paddock with hay with one other horse no grain, saddle fits. She has an insane amount of energy which probably contributes. She rides good when she is in a good frame of mind ive followed clinton andersons online videos and i have worked with nervous horses before, my last horse was a ottb that was lightly restarted after coming off the track and she went from being a nut on the trail to the best trail horse ive ever owned but puting her to work calmed her down and i had more time back then. Ive always been taught to move their feet get them focused on working but that doesnt work with this horse. She has a lot of holes in her training. Ive gone back and have been working her on the ground but then the clinic i took her to set her back worse than where i started from. Ifs she not what i was looking for in a horse were obviously not a good fit at this time so id rather just move her on. Riding horses is a hobby for me its supposed to be fun so if im not enjoying it im not going to do it.
Not looking to fix her, looking to move her along. I said cariboo region of bc so thats not a huge area. But i only want to move her.
Ive had people walk with her, ive tried taking her out with other horses, it makes no difference to her. Any time i make any kind of progress with her, it doesnt last because then she has to sit while im working
OK, what did the sellers lie about? And did you try her before buying? What did they sell her as, and what is she really (in your opinion)? It’s hard to know whether these are holes in training or if they are rider issues. Again - lots of great horses are not great trail horses, especially alone.
What can/can’t the horse do?
To be honest, you’re kind of over a barrel on this one. You’re probably going to have to put some money into her to get rid of her. But compared to owning a horse you never ride…it still may be cheaper. Even if it’s only a month of training board, it might make the sale price better and the sale faster. Plus, having an arena available for someone to try her is likely to make people actually show up to try her out.
They had her advertised as a solid trail horse. They told me they let her 3 year old daughter ride her, that they rode her all over the mountains, that she goes out alone and with other horses, and was used for barrels/poles as well as trails by the previous owner. They sent lots of photos. They said she neck reins and moves off leg. (She does neither)drove over 6 hours and had to stay in a hotel to see her. When i got there they said they had to go to work so i decided to trust what they told me about her since i had put a deposit to hold her until i could see her and had already spent all the money renting a trailer and hotel and gas.
She only knows the basics under saddle. Left, right, stop, back. She tries to evade pressure so i put her in a rope halter and have been working on pressure/release.
Even if i wanted to spend the money on training, i dont have the money to do it. Its cheaper for me to feed her until i find a buyer.
Well, that was your first mistake. Don’t feel bad. I fell in love with a pretty face, didn’t get a PPE and subsequently had to spend thousands on a surgery. It happens. Horses are a continuing education no matter how long you have been around them.
Well, they may have lied. Or it may have been true to an extent. They might have ridden her all over in a group - and the one off or occasional quick hack on familiar territory by herself. And they might be more confident than you. In a different situation her trail skills might be fine…and their definition of “neck reins” and “moves off leg” might be totally different than yours - especially if they were just riding her out in a group - sure, you can turn her around…that might have been good enough to say “moves off leg” to them.
So, I guess you are pretty much putting in the training time as best you can and/or advertising her and being patient. I would pretend she was totally unstarted and start her again…and advertise her as essentially just started/green broke.
OP I say this kindly as we have all made mistakes, but after reading your posting history please look at horses with someone who has a lot of experience. If I were in your shoes I would be looking at a lease or just plain lessons after selling this current horse.
In in three years time you went from barely making ends meet and wanting to sell your older mare to buying a two year old to buying this horse. I get making sacrifices for horses. I do it. Just from your posting history you seem to not have the experience to shop alone and we all need that person with us that will help us remove the rose colored glasses.
OP, my heart goes out to you in this situation. If I had to work 12 hours a day, I would have nothing to give to even the best horse, at the end of the day, let alone one that has scary issues.
It’s possible they were telling God’s own truth about the 3-year old riding this horse. I had a very green OTTB who was way too much for me, but he was calm as glass around small children. His eyes would partially close whenever he was in the company of a child, and brave teenagers with confidence could ride him anywhere.
I hope you find a place for this horse. I know one trainer,here in Texas, who loves getting his hands on horses like this and giving them a total makeover. Maybe there is such a cowboy up your way? Anyhow, best wishes.
yes i get that but i did take someone with me to look at the 2 year old, and i paid to have some training put into him, but then i realized that i no longer enjoyed working with green horses, plus adjusting to the hours with my job, paying way too much for board and not having access to trails when he was getting bored of the arena (he was 3’at this point and being lightly ridden) so it was causing a lot of frustration for me. I wish i had that colt back now because he was so so quiet and loved the trails. I took a break didnt ride for a while then i had to bring my older mare home anyways where she would be by herself so i decided it was a good time to get a solid horse to ride trails at home. Yes i realize i really
made a mistake taking their word about their mare. As mentioned earlier i ran into someone that knows the lady i bought her from. she said she was crazy for putting her child on some of the horses she does and that most of her horses have known behavioural issues.
Have you done the ‘5 panel’ test to check for or rule out HYPP and/or other myopathies? Quite often, with a horse that has physical problems. resistant behavior is the first symptom.
I never said you were a crappy rider. It takes riding challenging horses to learn to do so and by your own admission you don’t deal with that.
I don’t think you have a problem horse or she would be a problem no matter what. If she gets in the right frame of mind when worked daily then that is most likely your answer. Find a buyer who has the time to give her what she needs and I am fairly positive her problem behaviors will vanish.
A horse with an “insane amount of energy” ( i quote) will never do well with sporadic riding and having no arena contributes to your problem. Ground work can solve issues but not this one. Like you said she needs daily riding and probably to be restarted slowly . Something that the right buyer would be willing to do.
If the Object of the Exercise is to move the horse down the road then auction is your best bet. It will provide a lower price BUT once the horse is gone you no longer have the costs of maintenance. Many posters will have a case of the “vapors” combined with a “pearl clutching moment” and will tell you how cruel, thoughtless, hopeless, evil, nasty, and generally despicable you are for even considering such a thing. You could give them the same question that came up in Jeopardy (of all places) last night when people are giving you bad or unhelpful advice: What is “Tell it to the Marines.”
Seriously, if you are over matched and are not interested in a project horse then sell it for what you can get and move on. You have NO moral, ethical, religious, social, humanitarian or other duty to the horse once it’s not yours. A lot of evil, and equine cruelty, lives in today’s horse world because people don’t move horses on once they don’t work out. Control what you can, but don’t obsess over what you can’t.
Sorry, i dont mean daily riding makes it better. I wouldnt know because i cant ride her daily. Its anything that makes her nervous that sets her off. If shes not nervous shes not bad to work with. But it can be as much as the wind changing that sets her off. But i agree she would do much better in a home that could offer that just seems most people that have asked about her cant get past the fact she will try to rear.
