Please help

[RxCate]

We have all given you solid, advice, most of which you’ve chosen to ignore.

My advice to you is this:

1. Get a job as soon as you can, no matter where it is, to get ANY money towards training/lessons.

2. In the meantime, google trainers in your discipline of choice, and in horsemanship in general and READ. Your mare is laid up right now, take this time to spend time grooming her and being around her, don’t worry about ground work, let her heal. Spend you free time reading all you can and absorbing all you can about riding.
   Watch the recent George Morris Horsemastership clinic on USEFNetwork.com - They are riding english, but EVERYTHING that is being taught can be used across any discipline.

3. Ask questions whenever you are around other horse people/at shows. Just ask and find out why certain things are done and watch and LISTEN to what they tell you. Be an observer while your mare is healing and just take in all information you can.

[partlycloudy]

just as an aside, I once had to care for a brood mare that had fistulous withers…never been ridden, so it is not always caused by poor fitting saddle.

[Jackie_Cochran]

Dear Wish,

It can be done. I had trail ridden for 4 years (once a week, no lessons), then not ridden for nearly a decade, got my first horse–a freshly gelded 5 yr. old Anglo-Arab with three weeks under saddle. I got around 3 months of lessons, then I was on my own. I sporadically got lessons for around 8 years, had to move to a stable where I was the most knowledgable person on riding and training (not that I knew much back then.) My wonderful first horse became super responsive to my aids, and I could still put complete beginners on his back.

The way I did it–I followed Forward Seat, Littauer’s “Common Sense Horsemanship” and other Forward Seat authors.

You ride Western? I greatly recommend “The Schooling of the Horse” by John Richard Young, it is about Western training. This is NOT a book of how to train for modern Western Pleasure show classes, this is a book on how to train a horse that is reliable, calm, responsive, and well prepared to go on to specialized training.

John Richard Young also wrote “Schooling for Young Riders”, another book I highly recommend. It has a very good discussion on how to effectively use a bosal, though most of the riding is hunt seat. It also covers the necessary ground work thoroughly. The author describes, explains, and gives his solutions in detail of how he and his daughter trained a completely bratty spoiled untrained pony stallion (a 2 yr. old not even halter broke to tie). This is the book I would go to when I had an “unsolvable” problem.

Both books are available throught the Amazon web site for less that $10.00 USD each.

Let the wither heal. Be REALLY careful about saddle fit. Not only will you have to worry about saddle fit at first, you are going to have to check the saddle fit and padding at least every six months because, with good riding, her back muscles will grow. Until the wither heals work from the ground, leading, lunging, round pen work, ground driving, you can do LOTS of things with a horse from the ground.

As for riding and training, it can be done, and it will really help if you can draft someone to do cell phone pictures and videos, then you can compare yourself to the pictures in the above books.

Oh, and by the way, I was suffering from my undiagnosed Multiple Sclerosis for my first 22 years of riding seriously when I finally became too disabled to train young horses. It can be done.

Good luck, you have my best wishes.

[zipperfoot]

Have you considered joining 4-H or Pony Club? When I was a kid in Arizona–back in the olden days–I had a few years of lessons, then was pretty much on my own with my backyard horse. I joined 4-H and learned a ton from my participation in the horse project. Unlike many clubs, ours was almost exclusively horse projects and one of our leaders was a professional trainer. Don’t know about the situation these days, but a pro trainer leads the horse project in the club I’m associated with, so you may find something similar in your area. I was never involved with Pony Club, but others on this board were so they can probably give you more information.

I’m old enough to be your grandmother and I’m STILL horse-crazy and I STILL love the bond I share with my critters!

Best of luck working all of this out!

Zip

[zipperfoot]

Have you considered joining 4-H or Pony Club? When I was a kid in Arizona–back in the olden days–I had a few years of lessons, then was pretty much on my own with my backyard horse. I joined 4-H and learned a ton from my participation in the horse project. Unlike many clubs, ours was almost exclusively horse projects and one of our leaders was a professional trainer. Don’t know about the situation these days, but a pro trainer leads the horse project in the club I’m associated with, so you may find something similar in your area. I was never involved with Pony Club, but others on this board were so they can probably give you more information.

I’m old enough to be your grandmother and I’m STILL horse-crazy and I STILL love the bond I share with my critters!

Best of luck working all of this out!

Zip

[meupatdoes]

Ok, this is great that we are all supposed to be nice to the 15 year old, but can I just see if I am following along correctly?

We have a horse owner who claims her horses “don’t cost money.”
Trims are allegedly done by dad, but it appears the money spent on dental = ZERO. Money spent on vaccinations =ZERO. Money spent on maintaining a stall= ZERO. Money spent of food other than what is growing in the pasture =ZERO. Money spent on training or lessons=ZERO. Willingness to get job in store= ZERO.

Horse is now standing around foraging in its field with a fistulous wither, a condition which is hard to come by unless you have a serious accident or otherwise seriously eff stuff up. A pretty good indicator of neglect people if I have to spell it out for you!!

Dad the trimmer is now also Dad the vet who figures they can probably take it from here, all in the interests, one presumes, of spending ZERO.

At what point do we actually get to determine that someone is a bad horse owner?? Like, how LITTLE CARE can someone actually get away with before we are allowed to be like, dude, seriously???

But let’s not be mean to the 15 year old.

[Bogie]

As an equestrian and a mother, I worry that your parents aren’t giving you the tools you need to stay safe, but I guess that’s something you need to keep discussing with them.

If you have no $$ for lessons, try to find a trainer in the area who will let you watch them teach. Ride your bike to the barn or ask your parents to drive you over and leave you there for several hours. Watch, listen and absorb as much as you can. Maybe you can find a place where you can help with the barn work and get lessons in return. Even if they aren’t on your own horse the trainer can give you “homework”.

I agree that you should get a job as soon as you can so that you can spend the money on things you want. My daughter started working when she was 13 and she loved having her own spending money.

It’s great that you can have horses at home – just make sure you stay safe and that your horse is really, truly recovered before you try to ride her. I have no experience with fistula of the withers so I know that I wouldn’t feel comfortable declaring my horse “recovered” without having a vet confirm it. I do agree that horses can live just fine being “horses”, but when there is a veterinary condition like this one, you need to be careful.

As for shoes, I’ve never known a horse to object to wearing them! If your horses are fine being barefoot, that’s great. Just remember that their hooves still need to be balanced and trimmed regularly.

[Bluey]

I didn’t read thru the pages, but caught that the horse has fistulous withers and a vet has seen/treated it?

That doesn’t make much sense with what else is being reported.
A vet presented with fistulous withers will take samples and send them to the state veterinary laboratory, as that can possibly be brucellosis and that is a reportable disease:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahss/disease_status.htm

The vet should have warned to be very clean, use rubber gloves and disinfect any and all carefully, at least until the tests come back.
That disease is undulant fever in people and they can get it from an infected animal.

Just wondering if this is a real story or one more imagined drama thread.

[Windsor1]

[QUOTE=meupatdoes;7961770]
Ok, this is great that we are all supposed to be nice to the 15 year old, but can I just see if I am following along correctly?

We have a horse owner who claims her horses “don’t cost money.”
Trims are allegedly done by dad, but it appears the money spent on dental = ZERO. Money spent on vaccinations =ZERO. Money spent on maintaining a stall= ZERO. Money spent of food other than what is growing in the pasture =ZERO. Money spent on training or lessons=ZERO. Willingness to get job in store= ZERO.

Horse is now standing around foraging in its field with a fistulous wither, a condition which is hard to come by unless you have a serious accident or otherwise seriously eff stuff up. A pretty good indicator of neglect people if I have to spell it out for you!!

Dad the trimmer is now also Dad the vet who figures they can probably take it from here, all in the interests, one presumes, of spending ZERO.

At what point do we actually get to determine that someone is a bad horse owner. Like, how LITTLE CARE can someone actually get away with before we are allowed to be like, dude, seriously???

But let’s not be mean to the 15 year old.[/QUOTE]

Okay, forget just being nice. What do you think is going to be more effective, or has the best chance to be more effective (in terms of getting her to take action to benefit both herself and her horse) – getting into a pissing match with her, making her defensive and alienating her, or trying to be nice and persuading her to come around that way?

I mean no guarantees that she’ll listen either way, but generally you catch more flies with honey.

[jetsmom]

Make sure you wear a helmet. Surely your parents would buy you one to protect your brain. They have western ones.

Re earning money…can you babysit/petsit? Walk dogs, pick up dog poop? Wash/clean cars? Iron? Clean houses? wash windows?

[SaddlebredHunter]

Okay, so I’m just getting into this.

However, I want you to know that I see your heart trying to be in the right place. People on here can be harsh, but you should truly take into consideration everything they say. They have a point. You can personal message me and i will try to give you some advice on it all. I am 19 and have been in the same space as you, believing that I knew a lot more than i actually did. In the horse world you never stop learning! It’s okay to be wrong and this is a good place for advice.

Regarding your situation, I would first have your vet check your saddle fit on your horse just to make absolute SURE that it isn’t causing your horse any pain and is the correct fit for your horse.

Secondly, take whatever job, money, and experience you can get. Yes, you can learn a lot online but true experience comes from real life events. This may be hard to hear but I think you might have overloaded yourself with this new horse. You love her to death, i know, but when you are a horse owner you have to put the horses needs first before your own. NO MATTER how much you love them. She could be too much horse for you and be better suited for a more experienced rider and owner. It’s hard to hear but it’s my honest opinion.

As a teenager in the horse world, people will not give you much credit. Try and look at it from their perspective. Everyone on this site is looking out for the best interest of the horses.

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice on here. I would much rather you get help rather than do nothing…

You can never get enough experience. If you can find someone who has a lot more experience than you in your area that is willing to work with you, that will greatly benefit you and your horses.

Good Luck

[zipperfoot]

[QUOTE=Bluey;7961778]
I didn’t read thru the pages, but caught that the horse has fistulous withers and a vet has seen/treated it?

That doesn’t make much sense with what else is being reported.
A vet presented with fistulous withers will take samples and send them to the state veterinary laboratory, as that can possibly be brucellosis and that is a reportable disease:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahss/disease_status.htm

The vet should have warned to be very clean, use rubber gloves and disinfect any and all carefully, at least until the tests come back.
That disease is undulant fever in people and they can get it from an infected animal.

Just wondering if this is a real story or one more imagined drama thread.[/QUOTE]

According to your reference, brucellosis in horses is not a reportable disease. Cattle, bison and pigs, yes, but not horses. Any large animal DVMs care to comment?

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=zipperfoot;7961822]
According to your reference, brucellosis in horses is not a reportable disease. Cattle, bison and pigs, yes, but not horses. Any large animal DVMs care to comment?[/QUOTE]

Well, that is what our vet told us, but that was years ago, maybe today it has changed?
The local cattle feedlot manager needed a horse on short notice and asked us to loan them one, we did and he did have brucellosis and was kept in isolation at the vet clinic until cleared, which took several weeks, best I remember.

[Kwill]

Let’s just assume her vet isn’t a complete idiot and did take a sample to make sure it wasn’t caused by brucellosis. This is Montana, which is cattle country, I am sure they know to look for this.

Secondly, this is Montana. All I can say is I vacationed there on a dude ranch place, and their horse care was very different than what I was used to in the midwest. There’s land, and a lot of it, and the horses are kept more on rough board if it’s a ranch situation. So the horses probably don’t cost nearly what they do where I live, in the midwest – and certainly not what some of you pay on the east coast.

Also, places are far apart, and bicycling is something I wouldn’t want my kid doing on those lonely country roads out there. Heck, there wasn’t cell service half the places I was. I love Montana, but it really is a different kind of place. At the ranch, the horses were just turned out for the winter and sort of fended for themselves. I realize it’s not the case for everyone there, and there are eventing and fancy barns, but there are also plenty of ranch horses.

Sounds like you have more than one horse, and your parents are trying to be supportive by buying you a new horse from a trainer that is well-trained to replace the one that didn’t work out (but you still have that one, too). I am sure they have seen some scary things growing up with barrel racing and rodeos, and the crowd that competes in rodeos, so I can understand their hesitation.

It does appear your parents are caring and protective of you, which is a good thing. I think if you tell them that you would like XX dollars in a budget to take a riding lesson once a week, they might agree to that, if you explain that you have lost some of your confidence and would like to learn more. Maybe you could do some chores around the farm to earn the money. Find out what the cost is, where you would go, and then approach your parents for a commitment.

They need to feel confident you aren’t spending money where you shouldn’t and that you will be safe, with a reasonable crowd of people.

[french_fry]

It is beyond me why anyone engages with this type of troll.

In the age of the internet there is absolutely no excuse for absolute and total ignorance when it comes to basic horse care. If someone can navigate a Google search well enough to find a horse BB to post on, she can certainly read the first four or five hits that come up when you search “fistulous withers” and understand that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM says to call the vet.

People who disregard the vast amount of reputable information out there aren’t innocently ignorant; they just don’t give a damn.

[Appsolute]

Yeah I am a big meanie too - and on her other thread basically said if you do not have money to call a vet, then you shouldn’t have a horse. I have always had horses on a shoe string budget - but there are limits. I have also been working consistently since I was 13 years old…

And by 15 I was a B Pony Clubber. 15 year olds are not helpless - and not clueless unless they choose to be.

[equiniphile]

[QUOTE=Wish_Upon_a_Star2000;7961669]
and they hate shoes!they do NOT need to be shod![/QUOTE]

If your horses “hate” shoes, your farrier (dad?) is doing something SERIOUSLY wrong when shoeing them…

[HunterJumper_3]

I don’t have much to add, but I agree that you need a trainer. You’ve never had proper riding lessons, and you have a green horse…that’s an accident waiting to happen. If your dad knows horses and doesn’t see that…something’s wrong!

Push to get that job, pay for lessons, have a trainer come to you, etc. But at this point your horse needs training now - at a young age horses are very easily influenced and the wrong “training” (or lack of it) can really screw stuff up. Good luck!

[Kwill]

[QUOTE=french fry;7961886]
It is beyond me why anyone engages with this type of troll.

In the age of the internet there is absolutely no excuse for absolute and total ignorance when it comes to basic horse care. If someone can navigate a Google search well enough to find a horse BB to post on, she can certainly read the first four or five hits that come up when you search “fistulous withers” and understand that EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM says to call the vet.

People who disregard the vast amount of reputable information out there aren’t innocently ignorant; they just don’t give a damn.[/QUOTE]

She did call the vet, and the horse is under vet care. I have to assume the vet knows what he is doing (I think OP said he) and gave her a reasonable course of action, which was bute and rest, for months.

So please don’t yell about trolls when the OP isn’t doing all that much wrong…

[Kwill]

[QUOTE=HunterJumper<3;7961934]
I don’t have much to add, but I agree that you need a trainer. You’ve never had proper riding lessons, and you have a green horse…that’s an accident waiting to happen. If your dad knows horses and doesn’t see that something’s wrong!

Push to get that job, pay for lessons, have a trainer come to you, etc. But at this point your horse needs training now - at a young age horses are very easily influenced and the wrong “training” (or lack of it) can really screw stuff up. Good luck![/QUOTE]

This thread is getting like the board game Telestrations … the horse is trained, she said, and not young. She has had this horse since September 2014. That’s what, three months?

She bought the horse from a trainer. I think it was her worry that she would ruin the training of the horse, not that the horse was green.

We can give all the advice in the world but not for things that aren’t actually the case here!