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Member
Posts: 31
Location: Oklahoma | Or maybe I should say downright quit running barrels? How did you get back into it? I've been "out" for about 7 1/2 years and trying to start up again, but having some difficulties!
I started riding at the age of 9 and was active in the local horse club, that turned into junior rodeos which then turned into just jackpots and open shows. When I was 13 my dad bought me a 5 year old appendix QH gelding that I did not want. He wouldn't stop bucking (I wouldn't say he did it with vicious intent, the girl that had him was mentally retarded and she didn't know any better so she let him get away with just walking) when you asked him to do something more than trot ,but they were only asking $2500 for him so my dad bought him. A few days later we hauled him to James Ward (Janae Ward had just won the NFR) and he put either 90-120 days on him and we started hauling him once we got him back. We made some decent runs (he never was a 1d horse. Usually fell into bottom of 2d crack locally and middle of 3D at larger shows), but he wasn't anything that I ever really felt like I had a bond or clicked with. Then about two years later (I was 15) We went thru a phase of about 6-8 months where I think we might could have counted our clean runs on one hand and I started getting really discouraged...and the resentment that I had for him from day one started coming back. My dad and I would really start to argue and so once I got my (drivers) permit he stopped going with my mom and I.
We went to clinics, did a lot of basic barrel work 3-4 days a week, changed bits multiple times, had him checked out by a few vets... nothing ever really came out as "this is your problem and this is what is going to fix it". I really think a big part of it was us not ever clicking. I always had an attitude around him and looking back I don't think I ever really enjoyed what I was doing. We finally stopped hitting barrels, but still didn't do anything miraculous. Right before my junior year of high school I think my parents realized it was time for a new horse and so we bought an 8 year old gelding that was running bottom of 1D, top of 2D times. We made some pretty good runs locally and even placed in the 1D a few times. I felt like the new horse and I clicked and my confidence soared. I told my parents that I wanted to try running both horses, so my dad started going with us again (my mom was always just there to make sure I wasn't alone and for moral support; she couldn't drive the truck and couldn't help me saddle a horse). My older horse (both the same age, just had one for a longer amount of time) started having serious issues in the alley (vet said he checked out fine, so we just figured he was either too excited, but now I wonder if he was just trying to get a way for me to get off him) and my dad was trying to help me get him in the alley. He reared up and came back over top of himself. I luckily just took a hard fall to the left and didn't get hit by him, but my poor dad did get knocked in the face by him. That was my last straw. I let him win and I wasn't even concerned with riding at all. Even my new gelding who I'd had for 2 months at that time.
I became that girl who got sidetracked by a boyfriend and I threw myself into FFA and my show calves (which had always been put on the back burner to make time to ride). Once show season was over I started going to the gym everyday, working more hours.. anything and everything to fill the time I would have normally spent in the saddle. My senior year came and I started taking college classes and focusing more on FFA and had an amazing year not even thinking twice about not riding. I held onto my second gelding thinking that I'd get him in shape and try to sell him while I was college if I needed the $, or just try to start back running with him again someday.... and neither of those happened! I got married a year after I graduated college and wanted to start riding again, but the timing just wasn't right since we were moving into our house and I didn't have a routine set up to know if I was going to have any free time inbetween work and my home life.
Fast forward a year and half (7 1/2 years since I stopped riding) and I'm ready to ride again. I have tried probably 4-5 times over the last 7 1/2 years to get on my older gelding, but he pulls the same rearing up crap and he knows that I'm scared to death of him so I get off and not worry with him for another year or so. I'd ride my other gelding, but that feeling of "I'm going to stick with this" never came to me and so I'd just not ride again and be okay with it. But now that feeling has hit me, and I'm determined to make it work somehow, someway.
My older gelding (he's 16 now) still pulls the rearing up IF I can get him to walk. He either walks and rears, or just will not budge no matter much leg pressure, kicking, or whipping you do. After one week of unsuccessful "riding" a friend suggested I get him in a round pen and make him listen on a line and maybe he'll be too tired to pull his antics after that. Two weeks into the round pen (still no saddle time) and he still isn't listening. The first day in the pen he did pretty nicely, but ever since then he won't budge. Just stands. My husband isn't too keen on me trying to look for a new horse (and I can see why, my track record for the last 7 1/2 years obviously hasn't been worth investing in), but I'm not too keen on spending the money to send this horse (that I have never liked since day one!) to someone who can re-train him or whatever it is that he needs.
My other gelding has some soundness issues (so I've not tried riding him) and the vet (who has been having some family medical emergency issues the past couple of weeks) hasn't been able to come out and check out either horse for me. I really don't think my older gelding has any health issues that are keeping him from moving because as soon as I let him out of the round pen he'll take off running, with NO issues, to my other gelding. I think it's a willpower game and he's coming out on top.
Any suggestions? Should I try to send him to someone who can turn him around, or just shop for something new? What can a vet do for a horse that limps/isn't sound? Is it something that can be fixed with the right approach or will my other gelding not be able to be ridden? My horses when I first started riding were 19-20, but didn't have any soundness issues. I don't want to push him and cause him any more pain, but I would like a horse that I can just ride and get back into being in the saddle with.
Sorry this is so long, I'm just one for details!! |
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  Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
  
Location: ND | I've never quit riding but I did quit running barrels and roping seriously over 10 years ago now (truly hard to believe it's been that long!) I quit because I'd hit the point that it wasn't fun anymore if I didn't win. I retired my barrel horse & turned my good rope horse over to my dad. Got a young horse & started back into doing open shows & playdays. It didn't take long for me to figure out again why I loved competing & it wasn't the winning that mattered. I trained several really nice all around horses for myself & just had fun. And spent a ton of time starting & training colts for myself & customers.
A year & a half ago my dad talked me into trying mounted shooting with him. I haven't been to a horse show since then & all my horses are gradually getting patterend for shooting. I didn't think I'd ever really enjoy competing at something that was more serious than a local show again. I was honestly afraid my "must win" side would come out again. But I LOVE what I'm doing now regardless of if I win or not.
If I was you I'd sell the horse that you don't click with. You don't like him & he's dangerous so why waste time & money on him? Find a good lameness vet to look at your other one & see if you can help him to be sound and ridable. I would look for another horse once the one is gone, one that you click with and can truly enjoy. Riding in general is supposed to be FUN, and if you don't enjoy the horse you have to ride there's no reason to keep him. Once you've got the right horse you might get the itch to run barrels again. If so great, and if not just enjoy riding & having a fun horse.
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 Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
 
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Considering you've got one with behavior problems and one that's gimpy, I'd get them both checked out by the vet and then go from there.
As far as the behavior problem horse, rule out pain and I'd get with a very good trainer that deals with problem horses. Let them evaluate. They can tell you whether or not you need to sell or it can be salvaged. Most likely, just guessing they'll say you need to sell, but they can help you find a horse that will be a good fit.
EDITED TO ADD -- here's the thing when it comes to horses with issues -- In order to work through issues of bucking, rearing, etc you've got to be the type of person that loves a good challenge and isn't phased by it and doesn't quit just because things go bad. It takes dedication to be that way. Not everyone is cut out to do that.
Edited by Fairweather 2014-01-26 12:20 PM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 357
| I have been out for two years now. Quit when I got prego for my son and didnt have a good first show back. Fell off and got knocked out so decided to take another year off. I recently just bought a fun horse to start back with not ready for the other ones yet.. I plan to just have a fun year and maybe run in 4d.. the gelding I bought is safe as they come anyone could ride him.. I am just over riding hot heads that only run barrels..
Find something that makes you enjoy it again.. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | I took a break from riding for 7 years. Prior to that I had rode for 15 years competitively. When I finally walked away and sold my horses I'd had enough of it. Granted I rode English and didn't run barrels but it wasn't until I met my husband (who rodeos) that I started back to riding.
So I can keep this straight the horse you had first and don't like is gelding A, the second you did like better is gelding B.
You never liked Gelding A from day one and if you're honest with yourself you still don't like him. He knows it, you know it, so that is likely never going to change. In my opinion there is little point in sending him to the trainers in the hopes that he turns around and you fall in love with him. His old antics have scared you (and there is certainly nothing wrong with that) so it's time to move on. You can send him to the trainers and see if they can fix the issue and then try to resell but in my opinion the 30/60/90 days you spend money on won't prove the behavior is gone. You'd need to keep him and ride him (and you don't like him) so if it were me - I'd list him as a pasture pet available on free lease (non-riding contract) and let him go to a new home if you can't keep him.
Your gelding B who I think I read is lame - you liked this horse so why don't you invest the money and find out what is causing him to be sore by having a good lameness vet check him out. If it's something manageable why don't you do what the vet recommends and then start riding him when given the all clear. You aren't going to go out and Win the 1D (if you do good for you) on your first time out so use this horse as your confidence builder and go have some fun. This will also help to convince your husband that you are serious about getting back into riding. If it turns out the horse is only pasture sound you now have at least taken steps to show hubby your serious and that both horses you have will not fit what you need.
Lastly FIND A COACH -- you're an adult now so go out and find a coach to help you both get back to riding and to be there in case any little issues under saddle pop up. A good coach will help evaluate your riding, give you on and off the horse exercises to build your strength, and provide you with exercises under saddle to help fit up your horse and get him ready for the season. You can find the coach and start riding (if they have lesson horses) immediately so that if your gelding can be made riding sound you're ready to start when he is, and if he isn't sound that you are both showing your husband you are serious, and getting yourself tuned up so when it's time to look for a horse you are more informed and tuned to find what you need.
Best of luck :)
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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | I understand where you are coming from. I took a break since this past June, and hope to get into barrel racing again this year. Last April I had a nasty horse fall (no one's fault, just one of those fluke things). Went to a barrel race the first part of June, hit a barrel with my leg and my feet came out of the stirrups and all of a sudden had a "flashback" to my accident. I decided I wasn't ready to compete at that point, I needed more time to heal emotionally and mentally, even though I was pretty much physically healed. So this year I am going to try to work with another barrel racer with some lessons and get back into it.
Like others have said, I'd probably get rid of gelding A...if you don't like something (including a horse) you probably never will. Perhaps a new owner would be able to click with him. And depending on the lameness of gelding B, I'd look into whether or not you could get him sound and go have fun and compete on him again. |
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Member
Posts: 31
Location: Oklahoma | Thanks so much, everyone!!
I went again this afternoon to work gelding A... and got nowhere. He has absolutely no respect on the ground in the round pen and he won't accept me as his leader and I'm not experienced enough to know how to get him to that point. He has no issues being caught, led, loading, standing, brushed, having his feet messed with, being saddled, etc...I would say he would make a great kid's horse... with the major exception that you don't ever actually get in the saddle.
I'm going to ask some local people if they can suggest anyone around here that can try to get Gelding A sent to for a few weeks/months and then try to just sell him (preferably in a ride-able condition). I will call my old equine vet first thing tomorrow morning and see when I can get Gelding B in. I've never dealt with a lame horse before (we've had to do injections before on Gelding A, but he never actually went lame so I'm finding it strange that the situation isn't vise versa!), but I'm glad to see that it sounds like it's something that can be manageable and not just a "retirement only" sentence.
Thanks so much! I know it's gonna be a long journey to get back to where I was at when I quit cold turkey, but I'm really looking forward to it! |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Sell the dink, get the lame one looked at and decide from there if you keep and fix or sell...then buy one you can build confidence on. |
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| hammer_time - 2014-01-26 9:23 PM
 Sell the dink, get the lame one looked at and decide from there if you keep and fix or sell...then buy one you can build confidence on.
Yep - I agree!
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| Your story sounds so familiar to me... I went through a very similar thing. When I was a teenager the horse my dad bought me was also a real source of frustration. We would win the 1D one run but would then have like 10 bad runs. He would plow over barrels, rear and run off, anything you could think of he tried it I think. I was so discouraged and frusterated and I quit riding completely at 16 for like 6 years and didn't look at a barrel for almost 8 years. When I got back into riding, I sold my old horse and started fresh with a rope horse that a friend of mine owned and I eventually bought. Honestly the rearing horse is dangerous if you don't know how to handle him right, and you just need to ask yourself what you want to get out of this. If you feel like you can put in the time and enjoy a challenge then continue with him but if you really just want to enjoy riding then get rid of him and start on something that is more suited to what you want to do. You don't need to go out and spend a fortune on a new horse if you don't want to, there are tons of nice quiet horses around for very reasonable prices. Selling the old horse was the best move I think I could've made even though it was tough to let him go because I had so much blood, sweat and tears invested in him. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | justgofaster - 2014-01-27 11:00 AM Your story sounds so familiar to me... I went through a very similar thing. When I was a teenager the horse my dad bought me was also a real source of frustration. We would win the 1D one run but would then have like 10 bad runs. He would plow over barrels, rear and run off, anything you could think of he tried it I think. I was so discouraged and frusterated and I quit riding completely at 16 for like 6 years and didn't look at a barrel for almost 8 years. When I got back into riding, I sold my old horse and started fresh with a rope horse that a friend of mine owned and I eventually bought. Honestly the rearing horse is dangerous if you don't know how to handle him right, and you just need to ask yourself what you want to get out of this. If you feel like you can put in the time and enjoy a challenge then continue with him but if you really just want to enjoy riding then get rid of him and start on something that is more suited to what you want to do. You don't need to go out and spend a fortune on a new horse if you don't want to, there are tons of nice quiet horses around for very reasonable prices. Selling the old horse was the best move I think I could've made even though it was tough to let him go because I had so much blood, sweat and tears invested in him.
Thanks! I definitely do NOT plan on keeping him just for kicks... I feel resentment ever just being around him on the ground...
May I ask how long it took you to get back into things and how long it was before you were back to your competitive self?
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Gail was able to help me log back into my old account I had years ago... so I will be posting from Longneck insead of landis. |
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 Certified Snake Wrangler
Posts: 1672
Location: North MS | Can I suggest you look into a vet that specializes in lameness and not your regular vet. I ended up hauling one of mine 3 hours one way last friday for an x ray of his gaskin and received excellent service and now have a treatment plan for the remaining flesh wound mine has. Thankfully bone has healed but none of my local vets could have offered this service. It was $50 per xray just as an FYI. Maybe you can find a helpful clinic. Also sell gelding A is my opinion as well. You can consign them with a trainer for them to ride and market for you. |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| I have not read all the responses so sorry if I repeat anything.
My first thing is, I guarantee that horse has some kind of pain issue. Maybe it started back when alley issues started and hes since healed but now its a mental scar. He could just be a jerk and have your number but I think odds are it was an issue or still is. With that being said, be very careful about selling him if he has these tendencies.
2nd, a good lameness exam can help your other gelding most likely. Many many different lamenesses can be treated with proper care, shoeing, etc.
Its tough when you get discouraged and I was almost at that point before I found the right horse for me. Maybe you're best to go back and take some lessons from a reputable trainer and just see if that passion reignites.
Good luck!!!  |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 902
Location: Qld Australia | Get rid of the first one. He is dangerous and you never got along. I wouldn't waste money on him, sell him with full disclosure or give him away with full disclosure.
I would be inclined to either sell the second one too so you can look for a new quiet gelding with no issues to start back on. If that is not an option, as someone else said, you need a lameness vet to try and pin point the problem. This does not mean however that you can fix this issue, you need to keep that in ind too. Or it may be something very simple.
Good luck!! |
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I'll Be Your Huckleberry
Posts: 1488
Location: Arizona | SaraJean - 2014-01-26 12:13 PM
I've never quit riding but I did quit running barrels and roping seriously over 10 years ago now (truly hard to believe it's been that long!) I quit because I'd hit the point that it wasn't fun anymore if I didn't win. I retired my barrel horse & turned my good rope horse over to my dad. Got a young horse & started back into doing open shows & playdays. It didn't take long for me to figure out again why I loved competing & it wasn't the winning that mattered. I trained several really nice all around horses for myself & just had fun. And spent a ton of time starting & training colts for myself & customers.
A year & a half ago my dad talked me into trying mounted shooting with him. I haven't been to a horse show since then & all my horses are gradually getting patterend for shooting. I didn't think I'd ever really enjoy competing at something that was more serious than a local show again. I was honestly afraid my "must win" side would come out again. But I LOVE what I'm doing now regardless of if I win or not.
If I was you I'd sell the horse that you don't click with. You don't like him & he's dangerous so why waste time & money on him? Find a good lameness vet to look at your other one & see if you can help him to be sound and ridable. I would look for another horse once the one is gone, one that you click with and can truly enjoy. Riding in general is supposed to be FUN, and if you don't enjoy the horse you have to ride there's no reason to keep him. Once you've got the right horse you might get the itch to run barrels again. If so great, and if not just enjoy riding & having a fun horse.
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 Ditch the Stirrups
Posts: 5369
Location: Sorrow Not! Defending against workplace bullies | I would keep both horses. It is going to be very difficult to sell the problem horse and u would have to sell with full disclosure to a very experienced rider. Since you know his problem is respect on the ground, get a good trainer to help you work out all his issues on the ground first. This will make u a better horsewoman and it is something u can do without getting hurt. Also there is plenty that potentially could be done for the lame horse. It will probably cost a lot of $$ but again u would have a hard time selling him.
From your post I get the impression u are only satisfied with the 1D and don't enjoy barrels or horses really that much unless the horse is a star performer. If that is true u may just need to save enough to buy a proven horse and keep the other two for other reasons (trails maybe and gaining training experience). |
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I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | I would not spend the money on a horse that has had problems for so many years because you will never trust him anyway!!! I would sell both horses or donate them as pasture ornaments and get a solid confidence builder, even if it is just a trail horse. don't try to get an expensive barrel horse get a solid all around horse that you can train on barrels yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you don't have the expense of the other two horses you CAN afford a new horse. Oh, you are extremely LUCKY to have had parents that were willing to haul and try to help you with horses.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | Thanks so much everyone for the ongoing responses!!
I was hit with a shocker this weekend from my parents that I won't be able to sell gelding A. My dad 'promised' him to my newphew (purely as a pasture ornament, absolutely no intentions of him being a "kids" horse to be ridden.... he is a big lovebug as long as isn't under a saddle. He will literally run up to the fence for attention and won't move out of the way. My newphew (who is about to be 5) loves horses and I do know with all my being that he won't ever try to harm him on the ground.
I have really fallen back in love with gelding B of the last couple of weeks. He's a bit hard to catch (thought it's easily solved with treats in hand), but he has such a good disposition and is very respectful. He does have Thrush (I also have another thread started on that) and it looks like some hoof structure problems, but I am making contact with a farrier to see if we can get it cleared up. He has already started walking better and we're only about 5 days into trying to clear the thrush up. I'm still a ways away from knowing if he's going to be okay to be rode (going to clear it thru a vet and farrier first), and even then I'm not sure what way we'll go. I hope to be able to get him back into shape and start back on barrels, but it seems so far away from the stage we're in right now.
I will say that I was very unhappy with how things were going (on a competitive level) right before I quit. I think I got burnt out with spending so many years on gelding A and never really progressing. I am really kicking myself for not sticking with it and clicking with gelding B years ago as I now know that we could have had great potential together. Hindsight really is 20/20! |
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