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 Veteran
Posts: 140
 
| Has anyone ever delt with an abused horse before? Long story short, I met someone that has a mare that is supposedly 8 years old. The man has owned her for a year. Before he bought the mare she supposedly was a barrel horse. She wont let anyone near her when she is turned out but she let me eventually put a halter on her after she realized I had grain and didn't make any sudden moves. I brought her in the barn and she was literally trembling in fear. I worked with her for about two hours and after she figured it out that I wasn't going to hurt her she relaxed a bit. I rode her around at a walk and she was really well behaved. The people that own her live out in California but have property here in Florida. I think they have 5 horses out in Cali and they have 8 at the Fl property. My friend has started to work for them feeding horses because whoever they had feeding them didn't do their job... So after talking with the owner I made an offer to trade a rope saddle I have for this made and he said ok. But after working with her today I'm not sure if its with the trouble? Has anyone ever been successful with rehabing a horse like this? I think the current owner is the one that has been rough with her, I do feel bad for the horse but not sure if its worth it.. Sorry for the book! Thanks in advance!!! | |
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 Expert
Posts: 1857
 
| Yes I have. It is a big risk however, some will pull out of it and make jam up horses, others won't and you have to know when to quit. I would say that as long as she isn't fighting back yet, you have a good chance to gain trust and reverse the issues. My last one I had at the house was bred very nice, and had a great handle on him, but... while some of his issues I was able to work through(flighty, flipping over backwards, head shy, hard to catch), I could not get him over the bucking. I couldn't figure out what the trigger was that caused it. I would ride him everyday for a month and never have one issue and then one day he would just break into for no obvious reason. If your going to jump into trying to rehab a horse, know that their may be a time when you have to say enough is enough and cut your losses. By patient, firm but fair, babying them can make issues worse. Most troubled horses are looking for a leader, someone that gives them clear directions. | |
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Addicted to Baseball
 
Location: Where the stars at night are big and bright, TX | Yes I have, a few times. One thing you need to know is you need to work on their timeline. If you find the abuse was burnout/pain/whatever associated with barrel racing, you don't put her back to barrel racing anytime soon if at all. You rehab a horse because you want to see them become a useful, sane, happy citizen again, and that should be the only goal to start with. The specific sport is put on the backburner. | |
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