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| I've been asked to tune an 11 year old mare who runs with her nose in the air and does not rate for any barrel, ever. The girl who gave her to me recently had surgery so that's why she can't ride her. BUT she strongly disagrees with bits. Therefore, this mare gets ran in a Jim Warner Hackamore because the mare "hates bits". She's typically a 1D local/3D big show mare but does NOT sit down and turn any barrel at all.. Seems like she just scurries around it. I asked an older friend of mine what she thinks and she said it looks like she anticipates someone to seriously jerk on her face at every barrel, which is why her head is always in the clouds in every turning picture taken.
I rode her last weekend and legit ran a 4D time locally on her, because she was that awkward to run. All my horses are super light mouthed, etc. Anyways, she's a pretty hot mare. Only knows two speeds, trot and run. I also personally believe she is a schizophrenic. Oh and the horse knows no bend. Shes very stiff.
(I've tried to tell the owner it needs a bit but apparently that and tie downs are out of the question. Even a simple snaffle)
Any suggestions to help her stop anticipating such a major yank on the face/calm her down/teach her to bend/etc? |
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 Gotta Have a Gray
Posts: 899
Location: Tex. Panhandle | If she puts those kinds of restrictions while asking someone else to work with her horse, i'd send her back. However, i'd suggest getting the mare checked head to tail before I put much of my time on her. When mine started throwing her nose out, her hocks needed injected. If she is anticipating something, it could very well be pain. She could have teeth issues, hence the "hates bites" idea the owner has or her hocks or stifles could be hurting her, causing her to not rate for her turns.
Also sounds like she is top dog at home and isnt made to respect her rider. |
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| I had her checked by my vet last week. Was super foot sore and so we got shoes on her, as per vet suggestion. I'm very close to sending her back because every idea I want to try gets thrown out. The mare doesn't listen to the majority of what the rider says, but the owner doesn't listen to the majority of what every one else says! Lol go figure! |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | achildres - 2014-05-30 10:48 PM I had her checked by my vet last week. Was super foot sore and so we got shoes on her, as per vet suggestion. I'm very close to sending her back because every idea I want to try gets thrown out. The mare doesn't listen to the majority of what the rider says, but the owner doesn't listen to the majority of what every one else says! Lol go figure!
Sounds like they were made for each other, lol. |
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Expert
Posts: 1414
| achildres - 2014-05-30 11:48 PM I had her checked by my vet last week. Was super foot sore and so we got shoes on her, as per vet suggestion. I'm very close to sending her back because every idea I want to try gets thrown out. The mare doesn't listen to the majority of what the rider says, but the owner doesn't listen to the majority of what every one else says! Lol go figure!
Poor horse... |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 304
Location: Up and over to the right | I agree, send her back. Clearly it's a case of "owner knows everything". The mare need to be back in a snaffle walking/trotting patterns working on bending/flexing/etc. Poor horse indeed. |
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 Works Hard For The Money
Posts: 4469
Location: Memphis, TN | I would only keep working with this mare if you are okay with watching everything you fix go down the drain when you return her to the owner. It sounds like the poor girl needs to be taught how to use herself which with work can be done. Unfortunately though it sounds like the owner isn't going to appreciate it and will go back to her way in the end. I would at the most keep her exercised and in shape but I would not bother to run her or try to fix her pattern. Just wouldn't be worth the heartache to me. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | I would also send her back. Just not worth your time and effort to deal with an owner that doesn't want the help. |
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  Fact Checker
Posts: 16575
Location: Displaced Iowegian | I would consider it a valuable waste of my time to put any work in on this mare......and would tell the owner..."You won't listen, so I CAN'T and WON'T help you and your horse"....PERIOD! |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| I would simply ask the owners why they brought the horse to you. When they say they want help, tell them you can't help them if they aren't willing to try new things, when every idea gets shot down, there is absolutely no point in wasting your time trying to figure out how to fix the problem with no new tools. You wouldn't repair your roof with the same busted up shingles. |
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 Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | roanrider - 2014-05-31 6:36 AM achildres - 2014-05-30 11:48 PM I had her checked by my vet last week. Was super foot sore and so we got shoes on her, as per vet suggestion. I'm very close to sending her back because every idea I want to try gets thrown out. The mare doesn't listen to the majority of what the rider says, but the owner doesn't listen to the majority of what every one else says! Lol go figure! Poor horse...
Yes poor horse. |
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 Keeper of the King Snake
Posts: 7622
Location: Dubach, LA | IMHO, which isn't worth much, if the mare runs 1D times with the owner, there is nothing for you to fix. Just keep her legged up. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I agree POOR horse, sounds like this horse needs a really good vet check to make darn sure this mare is pain free, and teeth are good, see a chiro and then she needs to go back to basic's, and get away from barrels for awhile and the know it all OWNER needs to take lessons on horsemanship.
But I bet all that would be a waste of time for you, so I say send this horse home and let the so called OWNER figure it all out since shes so smart.
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 Expert
Posts: 1454
Location: kellyville ok | I was helping a friend and her horse once and she kept telling me 'he doesn't like this, he doesn't like that'. I finally told her he doesn't like anything so I'm going to pick what he hates least and go with it. He will just have to deal with it. Funny thing was, he dealt with it just fine and started working for me, and eventually for her. You will either have to send her back or tell your friend she has to be open to some different methods because nothing is going to change if she won't. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1718
Location: Southeast Louisiana | Sounds like whether the poor horse has anything physically wrong with her or not, she will almost certainly have some serious mental issues to overcome. Time will only heal those wounds, and it doesn't sound like you'll have time with her to even begin to address those issues. That's probably the only thing that will get her to stop anticipating the yank. If you feel compelled to do something to help the horse, you can try being brutally honest with the owner about her horsemanship problems and what the horse's problems are. Sad thing is, if the horse is winning locally with major issues, she could probably be 1D at big shows, if she'd make an effort to improve. You can have some success with almost anything if you're doing it consistently. If she'd make the effort to get correct, who knows how good she could be. |
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| If you put you time in to correct problems with this horse and it goes back to the owner it will just be back in the same situation. Just keep the horse legged up and don't worry about it. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Tell the owner of this mare to stop yanking on her face. |
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Horse anticipates a major yank on the face?