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 Expert
Posts: 1432
  
Location: Never in one place long | I have a 8yr mare I am working with, it is obvious she has been allowed to get away with many things with her previous owner/riders. She has come a long way for me but still has such a long ways to go. When I first got her, I couldn't get her to take her correct lead and she'd fight me trying to veer toward her buddy whenever I rode her. no control of her shoulders, didn't know how to sidepass etc.
She has started to move her shoulders and bending better, loping circles pretty consistently now but she still tries pretty hard to swing out in that direction and if I don't really work at keeping her moving, she will switch leads when she goes around and she shakes her head when I hold her in place because she wants to go back to her pasture buddy and is somewhat lazy. I'm wearing spurs and have an over n under I use, I'm riding her in a loomis because she needs work setting her head also.
Is there anything else I should be doing to help her get over this and what are the chances a kid could ride her someday? Just wondered if anyone else has worked with herd bound/spoiled horses and if they get better with time or if there are additional things I can do to get her over it, it's SO annoying!! | |
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 Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | Round pen work, get her butt moving and respect you. It takes some time because they don't change over night, but you will get her attention and she will take you more seriously. Even after some time off and she's been with her buddy's she do it again. Letting a child ride her would be up to your judgement and the experience the child has. Personally if she can be nasty I wouldn't take any chances until she shows you that she has changed and respects your directions. JMO | |
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 Regular
Posts: 96
| What I have found that works for the buddy sour horses is work their butts off next to their friends, basically anywhere they WANT to be, make them WORK...then rest them away from whatever they are attracted to. At first you may only be able to comfortably rest them a few feet away from their friends, but over time build it up to completely out of sight. Every time she wants to buddy up with another horse, work her butt off close to that horse. She will soon learn that being next to her buddies means WORK, and she will change her mind pretty quickly about being next to them. I agree with the above comment as well, do lots of round pen work with her. Get her facing you, and really make those feet hustle. Over time it will teach her that it's a lot easier to just ride off without a fuss than it is to try and buddy up with something. Carry it over to ground work as well. If you lead her away from her friends and she throws a fit, take her back and work her close to them. Then try and lead her off again. Do it over and over until she knows throwing a fit to get back to them means she has to really work. Hope that makes sense! Good luck!! She will come out of it in time, just be consistent and she will turn into a good horse I'm sure. | |
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Expert
Posts: 1432
Location: Never in one place long | Oh these are both really good points, I spend time fighting her to keep her away from him but maybe I should just keep her close and work her! I will try these both, I really should be spending more time round penning her too, I just hadn't because she's very broke and safe but just has these issues. Thanks! | |
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 Veteran
Posts: 149
Location: Mississippi | theerebel - 2015-02-26 9:01 AM
What I have found that works for the buddy sour horses is work their butts off next to their friends, basically anywhere they WANT to be, make them WORK...then rest them away from whatever they are attracted to. At first you may only be able to comfortably rest them a few feet away from their friends, but over time build it up to completely out of sight. Every time she wants to buddy up with another horse, work her butt off close to that horse. She will soon learn that being next to her buddies means WORK, and she will change her mind pretty quickly about being next to them. I agree with the above comment as well, do lots of round pen work with her. Get her facing you, and really make those feet hustle. Over time it will teach her that it's a lot easier to just ride off without a fuss than it is to try and buddy up with something. Carry it over to ground work as well. If you lead her away from her friends and she throws a fit, take her back and work her close to them. Then try and lead her off again. Do it over and over until she knows throwing a fit to get back to them means she has to really work. Hope that makes sense! Good luck!! She will come out of it in time, just be consistent and she will turn into a good horse I'm sure.
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | theerebel - 2015-02-26 9:01 AM
What I have found that works for the buddy sour horses is work their butts off next to their friends, basically anywhere they WANT to be, make them WORK...then rest them away from whatever they are attracted to. At first you may only be able to comfortably rest them a few feet away from their friends, but over time build it up to completely out of sight. Every time she wants to buddy up with another horse, work her butt off close to that horse. She will soon learn that being next to her buddies means WORK, and she will change her mind pretty quickly about being next to them. I agree with the above comment as well, do lots of round pen work with her. Get her facing you, and really make those feet hustle. Over time it will teach her that it's a lot easier to just ride off without a fuss than it is to try and buddy up with something. Carry it over to ground work as well. If you lead her away from her friends and she throws a fit, take her back and work her close to them. Then try and lead her off again. Do it over and over until she knows throwing a fit to get back to them means she has to really work. Hope that makes sense! Good luck!! She will come out of it in time, just be consistent and she will turn into a good horse I'm sure.
I have seen some horses that reform and do fine in the right hands but quickly and easily revert with someone that isn't confident & firm enough. | |
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 Veteran
Posts: 246
Location: Idaho | I have a friends horse who was very buddy sour, throwing a fit and getting away with it and being allowed to go back before the ride was over. When i took him, i knew he had this issue. I didnt want him buddying up to my horses to i put him in a pen off by himself. He could see my horses off in the distance if they were in the right place but otherwise he had a couple steers sharing a dividing fence. He paced... alot. I thought, in a couple days he will settle in and get over it.... but no. He paced more, tried to jump the panels, body slammed them. With feed or without, after a week he was still a nervous nelly. When id ride he would occationally whinny back. When i hauled i put him on the other side of he trailer, away from my horses. He would paw, slam himself into my trailer and be an overall idiot. This horse is 8 and has had a lot of training but has sat and had no job for the past 3 years. I finally decided to evaluate things differently. Since he is 8 and hasnt had a job for years, there are some habits that may or may not be set. I decided not to fight him. I put a mini with him and we have a different animal! Calm, no pacing, happy. I realized he wasnt being bad to be bad, he was truly nervous to be alone. He just had no confidence in himself to know that he would be fine without others. I now haul the mini with him everywhere. He stays calms and is actually working better and getting more out of our training because he isnt worried about buddies. Now he could care less about my horses. As long as his mini is in sight he is fine. He rides away without issue. And i never ride off on the mini :) so he is never left at the trailer alone. I can ride away on my horse without a problem. And it is so easy to haul his little friend, he can be tucked in the trailer very easily. I do feel this is something we can wean him away from but for the sake of making progress and not fighting , ive made a compromise. Obviously, your situation is a little different. I guess my overall point is, you have to figure out why they are buddy sour and go from there. Some are being naughty, some have a true separation anxiety, some need alone time, some need a "little" friend.... :) | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1056
Location: somewhere in the middle | Kids by nature like to buddy up. Picture this at a barrel race,all the kids ride together talking and they all stand together on their horses next to the arena watching the barrel race. Kids can get one buddy sour really quick so just be careful | |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| DLV - 2015-02-26 9:13 AM
Oh these are both really good points, I spend time fighting her to keep her away from him but maybe I should just keep her close and work her! I will try these both, I really should be spending more time round penning her too, I just hadn't because she's very broke and safe but just has these issues. Thanks!
To add make sure where you end is not her favorite spot.
Stop get off loosen cinch, take boots off, give crunchy in the spot farthest away from where she is misbehaving, and change it up daily.
I had one herd bound horse, for the first month, I walked home 1/2 mile every time as my barrel patch is 1/4-1/2 mile depending on how I go away from the tack shed.
This one I would even ride in the pasture with the horses, walk up to them, then lope away, I would work circles in the pasture opposite of where the horses were. Even then I would stop farthest away loosen cinch and walk all the way back.
Now she is perfect, no herd bound.
As for kids horse, yes it is possible, but it takes a lot of time 3-4 yrs to make a broke horse a kids horse | |
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