Very true. Some horses are just like that. It’s no fault of the OP. Just the way the horse is.
I have had 2 horses who had problems that I could not correct
- I could not (nor could several top trainers) – get his lead changes. I had vets look at him/x-ray, inject – I could not even sell him without his changes. A friend suggested I send him off to a cowboy she had used. I went to the farm, watched a lot of horses get ridden/trained, and I approved of everything that was done. The cowboy said to come back in 2 weeks, and he would be fixed.!!! Sure enough, he had his changes – never had a problem. He is now 17 and he barn name is Hi-I’m–Petey-Wanna-see-a-lead-change?
- The other one had a wicked “drop shoulder and do a 180*”. The same cowboy also had him fixed in 2 weeks.
Neither horse came back with a mark on him. Nor any fear of people/accepting the bit/ etc. They were happy horses, just minus their problem.
The one thing I did learn is that they were treated like horses, not like an oversized toy. The cowboy didn’t give a god damn if the horse liked him or not. Or had flies on him. Or wanted anything he was not supposed to do at that time.
I would use a cowboy again in a minute. He was just a horse, and the cowboy was the captain of the ship.
I see that you sold him and are now happy. Congrats to you. But I am not going to delete this post because of my great experience.
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Good for you that your problems were solved, really, but do you not think I sent him to every professional I could get in contact with? Do you not think I sent him to charros, cowboys, professional riders? To even dressage masters to eventing riders, I TRIED EVERYTHING. Congrats your horses were easy to solve, sadly my old horse never obeyed me and was never able to get his issue fixed because we learned there was nothing to fix, that was just his style of jumping and he needed a stronger rider. the only reason he is doing so well now is because his current rider is incredibly strong and can hold him back while Winchester runs at the fences. Your comment is incredibly rude and in a way ignorant and its people like you that made me actually think I wasn’t doing enough for Winchester when in reality I gave him EVERYTHING. I gave him so much it actually cost me my health and safety, I spilled actual blood over this horse and I couldn’t fix him.
@Lord Helpus i’ve learned to stand up to people like you because I used to let them get me down and convince me I was an inadequate rider, when I’m not. For months I kept winchester when my trainer begged me to get ride of him because of people like you who insisted I was just giving up on him, when really I gave him a chance to be happy and gave myself a chance as well. You never met my horse and you’ve never met me, don’t assume things. I’ve learned to stand up for myself and I won’t let people like you get me down. I know I did my best for him and for me, your story Would have never worked on my horse
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I really don’t see anything in the post of Lord Helpus that smacks of putting you down. I read her post, like most of her posts, as sharing her many years of experience riding and showing horses. I appreciate her input and did not see anything judgmental in the post, just a suggestion to a problem you faced.
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No, they never once said a suggestion just talked about an experience that had nothing to do with my past situation. It was a useless comment that nobody asked for and unnecessary. They didn’t input anything except a story about an experience she had that had nothing to do with my posts and looking at the last thing they wrote its obvious they know that what they are saying has nothing to do with my past situation or this thread in general. There were no suggestions and she shouldn’t have posted on the thread especially when the situation has thankfully ended after a year of struggle
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It’s a useful skill to learn to listen to a lot of people’s input and then make the decision that is best for you. It sounds like you learned that last year through your experience with Winchester and I’m glad that your decision has worked out well for both of you. But it’s also a useful skill to learn when to ignore posts and/or people that you don’t find helpful. Just move on, no need to lambast someone for advice you don’t find useful.
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I am a very experienced, strong rider and I once had the opportunity to have a fabulous jumper. I went to try him and the horse dragged me everywhere. Even to the smallest crossrails. Forget about it. There was no stopping him. My arms were sore afterward. I never thought I’d say it but the horse was too much for me to enjoy. Could I handle him? For the most part. But it wasn’t fun and at times it was scary. No thanks. I want to enjoy jumping my animal.
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What a great update.
I am so happy for you and Luta. You learned a lot.
You still have a lesson to learn though.
Your attack on Lord Helpus was unnecessary and an apology is in order.
You choose how you treat people. Choose to he helpful, not to drag people down.
You learned you did not like people doing it to you.
Now don’t you do that to other people.
You can learn from anyone, even if what you learn is that you would never do that ever in your life. It is by sharing anecdotes like Lord Helpus that we learn.
It may not have helped you, but you are not the only one reading this thread. People in Lord Helpus’ neck of the woods might be very interested in finding out who her cowboy is. I enjoyed reading their post as much as I enjoyed reading your update.
I was saddened reading your attack. You still sound very young. I forgive you this one time, but not if I ever see you do it again.
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I was surprised to see this thread show up again and happy to learn that you had found a solution.
There are many many different ways to help a horse and rider combination. When you have a tricky horse and rider combination, you try lots of things. You tried lots of things. I did not see that you tried a cowboy, which was what Lord Helpus suggested. It was good for other people to read that experience. You could have politely said that you tried one (or a few) and it didn’t work, instead you got salty about it. Or said nothing at all.
Anecdotally, I have whatever the opposite of an electric butt is. I tend to be really good at making horses relaxed. A step in my education had to be figuring out how to wake a lazy horse up. I always had hot and strong horses and had to learn to be the opposite way (I’m also a very low energy person, so even that was a struggle for me). My husband is much higher energy and much better at it naturally. But he struggles if a horse is too energetic. It’s not always about strength. These are things you learn with time.
With all horse & rider pairs you have choices. One choice is to persist and learn the skills you need with an instructor’s help. One choice is to get a trainer’s help. One choice is to get a better horse for you. None of them are wrong. The first one is a long path. Not everyone will choose that one. The second one is hard when you don’t know what the right help will be. Not everyone will choose that one. The last path is also a fine path. There should be no judgement of others who choose a different path.
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A hand is 4 inches. You measure from the ground to the top of the withers. So a 16 hand horse is 64 inches to the wither. Which is about 5 foot 3 inches or 1.6 meters…which is what you described him as in your original post. 
Oops. read the update. Removing my note
