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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 902
 
Location: Qld Australia | You have just described my best mare to a T. After only three days there is no way I would be quitting on yours. Use common sense and don't let your kids near her if she is tied. We cured my mare very easily and have never regret putting the effort into her.
When we bought her, we didn't click that they never tied her while we were there. She was a young mare that had bred one foal and slipped the next, we wanted her as a riding horse at that point anyway. We got her home, tied and saddled her and well, what an explosion. Sat on her butt, broke the halter and bolted a bit because she SCARED herself. What do you expect her to do, calmly stand still after sitting on her butt and pulling back like a dillbry?
Like someone else said, we got our strongest rope halter with attached lead; NO clips and tied her to a good stout tie up post. Saddled and unsaddled. Yes she would try it for a while but once she learned that the rope and halter wouldn't break, she soon stopped trying. She very quickly got to the point that we could tie her up at the trailer no worries and treated her like every other horse.
This mare is now our best producing broodmare and I would never be without her. All it takes is a little know how and be safety conscious. I wouldn't hesitate to get another that pulls back if their bloodlines are what I want because most of the time it is a man made behavioural issue that usually is easy to fix.
Edited by rockinj 2013-11-20 4:15 AM
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 "Drank the Kool Aid"
Posts: 5496
 
Location: Iowa, LA | Just a possibility but my mare that did/does this has PSSM so the longer I go between rides or the more grass she gets, the worse it is. Now I have her on the right diet and it is a thing of the past. My gelding with PSSM was very nervous about being saddled and would dance around, so I tested him after he progressed with diet change and he had PSSM, too. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | My ulcer horse would stand for saddling until he tried to move his feet after tightening the cinch, then he would sit back and act insane. After I got his ulcers under control, he never did it again. |
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 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
| I would say work around her. My horse doesn't tie to the trailer. He'll tie at home to gates, in his stall, trees, etc. But not to the trailer. He had a couple of trailer accidents and he still remembers them obviously.
We ended up buying pens to set up at the trailer. Funny thing is, I can tie him long enough to saddle him when the pens are up. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 615
Location: kentucky | I hate that this happend to you but for the life of me I just do not understand why people go and buy a horse and do not go over all the basics with him/her. If I was buying her for a riding horse I sure would have saddled her and rode her ! If she was just for a broodmare not as much of a big deal I guess. But I see post on here all the time about people buying horses and they get them home and they have all these problems or there lame. It is a buyer beware market out there ! Horses can have so many quirks and medical issues ! We have to do our homework on whatever we buy now days ! It's sad people can not be up front and honest, I bought a mare a couple years ago that we had actually seen run a few times and really liked her so when she came up for sale I tried her out and ran her a few times and we bought her, as days went on she started getting kinda quirky and almost scarred me a little to ride her anyway a couple weeks out I took her to a show and she exploded at the gate and literally tried to take anyone out that was in her way ! I called the guy and he said SHE HAS NEVER DONE THAT BRFORE ! Yeah right, she was a pro at it ! So the fool I am I tried it again and it was worse ! So i crawled off her and never got on her again ! Come to find out from other people he kept her on Fluphenazine ! He did take her back but he had already spent 1500 of my money and gave me back what was left ! But that is a lot cheaper than my funeral or Hosp bills ! It just P's me off that people will go to the extreme of getting someone seriously hurt just to sell a horse. So I have learned my lesson |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | The ad sort of says it all.... and the price.
I bet you could get her to be manageable with time, skill and patience. If you are missing any one of those, you are in for trouble. Since you said she scared you, I'd sell with full disclosure or sent her to a trainer for a tune up. Either way, I don't think she'll make the "just have fun" horse you are wanting. I'd sell her as a broodie if you don't want to put more into her, but since she's been open for a while that might be tough. |
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | Fun2Run - 2013-11-19 11:17 PM Lunge the sap out of her before you saddle her. Then don't tie her solid. A tired horse is a better horse.
Then go from there to evaluate her.
^^^ Totally agree with this. Lunge the crap out of her, saddle and let her rest. Repeat. |
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Regular
Posts: 75
Location: Iowa | I do understand the concept of getting what you paid for which is why I got her as a project. She had been sitting on the back burner, according to the sellers, for several years without having much done. But I was told she rode out fine when she was pulled from the pasture. I rode her myself and came to the conclusion she was a project because it was going to take time to get her back on the barrels. I figured her price was reflective of that. Unfortunately in my experiences paying a higher amount doesn't always mean your getting a better deal. People lie and I can't say that they lied, but I just got a text from the previous owners this morning telling me the owners before them said she did this sometimes. I can't believe she went a year without ever doing this but who am I to judge. I do have the patience and talents but I lack the time that a problem like this requires. So that along with the fact that my kids are out in the barn with us a lot, even though they aren't near the horses much, they weren't yesterday either and she nearly wiped them out. I am a mom first and foremost and their safety comes first. I did saddle and I ride her for probably an hour at least just working on bending & flexing little things to see if she could go back to barrels. Which I believe she could and do great at it. I actually made the previous owners saddle and ride her first just to see if she had any quirks. She is very rideable but obviously there's a catch in there somewhere. We have two fantastic broodmares so I had no intentions of buying her to breed, but knew with her bloodlines that she could be a broodmare easily, which made her .ore appealing for marketability reasons if I did need to sell her, but that was not my intentions. |
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 Too Skinny
Posts: 8009
Location: LA Lower Alabama | 2 red flags in that ad. ( a few I would consider yellow flags but not terrible) 1. doesn't tie well without buddies... 2. no 'real' gate issues.... tap her with my whip... No offense but you screwed yourself so sell her cheap and remember this situation |
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Regular
Posts: 75
Location: Iowa | Where in the ad does it say she doesn't tie well? Never saw this and just checked the ad again and it didn't say this. Obviously if I would've seen that I NEVER would have even considered her. |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | hashope11 - 2013-11-20 8:52 AM I do understand the concept of getting what you paid for which is why I got her as a project. She had been sitting on the back burner, according to the sellers, for several years without having much done. But I was told she rode out fine when she was pulled from the pasture. I rode her myself and came to the conclusion she was a project because it was going to take time to get her back on the barrels. I figured her price was reflective of that. Unfortunately in my experiences paying a higher amount doesn't always mean your getting a better deal. People lie and I can't say that they lied, but I just got a text from the previous owners this morning telling me the owners before them said she did this sometimes. I can't believe she went a year without ever doing this but who am I to judge. I do have the patience and talents but I lack the time that a problem like this requires. So that along with the fact that my kids are out in the barn with us a lot, even though they aren't near the horses much, they weren't yesterday either and she nearly wiped them out. I am a mom first and foremost and their safety comes first. I did saddle and I ride her for probably an hour at least just working on bending & flexing little things to see if she could go back to barrels. Which I believe she could and do great at it. I actually made the previous owners saddle and ride her first just to see if she had any quirks. She is very rideable but obviously there's a catch in there somewhere. We have two fantastic broodmares so I had no intentions of buying her to breed, but knew with her bloodlines that she could be a broodmare easily, which made her .ore appealing for marketability reasons if I did need to sell her, but that was not my intentions.
I understand, did not mean to come across snotty FWIW
Basically it comes down to what you want to do. Sometimes ones like this never fully come around, other times they do. I understand where you need to put the kids first. At least you have some good options and you don't have much into her. I have dealt with a few "issues" horses before, and some come around. Some get better but never where you want them. If I was in your situation, I'd sell her with full disclosure most likely- no time and I would worry about the kids.
At that price, someone would buy her in my area and work out the kinks. She has a decent pedigree and is not a maiden, so she's got that going for her as well.
I wonder if they didn't text you because they read this thread....lol |
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Too Skinny
Posts: 8009
Location: LA Lower Alabama | " The only bad habit I'd say she really has is she doesn't care to be tied up alone, however we are working with her on that now " Next time you go to buy something google it. I see people paying triple for used bits all the time when a new one of the same model and year is cheaper. A quick google of a horse name will pull up old ads and results for shows etc |
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I Need a Xanax!
Posts: 2774
| You sound like a great mom! Get rid of her...you know its only a matter of time till someone gets hurt and you don't need any horse that's unpredictable around your kids. It really doesn't matter how she's bred or what kind of potential she has if she is a danger to you or your kids. Get rid of her, give her away if you have to, and replace her with a fun family friendly horse. It probably won't be bred nice, may not have really nice conformation, or have any real NFR potential but just knowing its safe around your kids makes it priceless. |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
Location: Opelousas, LA | I wouldn't blame you for wanting to just get rid of her, you have to do what feels right for you and your family.
That said, any horse can blow up at any time, until your kids are old enough to get out of the way they need to be in a safe area where a loose horse can't run over them. Mine spent lots of time in the truck, dressing room of the trailer or tack room in the barn until I was reasonably confident they could move quickly out of the way if needed.
We train racehorses so just getting rid of a silly one is not usually an option.
If she rode, tied, saddled etc. good when you tried her I would bet she just needs time to acclimate to her new surroundings. Are you feeding different than what she is used to, that right there can make all the difference in the world to some horses.
Most of the time when we bring a new one home it takes about two weeks to a month to see what the horse is really like. If she was mine I would do lots of groundwork and let her stand tied with something she can't break along with giving grass hay and minimal feed. Re-evaluate in a couple of weeks, if she really has issues they will still be there. |
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I Need a Xanax!
Posts: 2774
| One more thought...you probably are capable of fixing her but at what cost? And what do you have to prove by doing so? After becoming a mommy I think the only thing you have to prove is that you do a good job protecting your children and making all your decisions in the best interest of them. I am a stay at home mom too and don't have much "kid free" time to work with my horses either so nowdays my horses have to be "easy" and family friendly. They have to be somewhat lazy and laid back and be ok going 3 months without being ridden. My horses have no names you have ever heard of on their papers and have no real winning barrel horse potential but they are exactly what I need at this point in my life. Unless you put food on the table by winning barrel races who cares what kind of potential the horse has? As a mom with young children its always a time struggle to ride and I wont have one with any extra energy or issues I have to spend hours working out before I can just saddle up and go for a nice little ride. |
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | This is a long shot, but I had a gelding suddenly start doing that after being treated for EPM. His back was so sensitive that he paniced. Get a vet or chiro to look at her. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2135
Location: Somewhere else | I had one that would tie to anything BUT the horse trailer. Finally a pick-up man made me a 'gut rope'. Worked like a charm. He pulled back twice & when he couldn't breath he figured out that if he stood there like he was suppose to that he was fine. Without the gut rope he was cutting flips, pull back then run head on into the trailer. Awesome horse that would do anything but stand tied to the trailer. Only downfall is that you couldn't saddle him with the gut rope on. And trust me I tried everything before getting the gut rope.
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | Here's an old ad for her that has her listed as a trail horse. You might contact these people and see what they say about her. She might not be dangerous at all, just a little spoiled.
http://www.equinehits.com/horses-for-sale/horse-166627 |
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Regular
Posts: 75
Location: Iowa | Still can't get that to come up when I googled it but I fault myself for not doing it this time because that is normally one of the first things I do when looking at a horse and I didn't this time. I spent all night beating myself up over the deal because I wanted a project but knew we couldn't afford much. After 5 years without barrel racing my mare, due to her being a broodmare & me having kids too, I pulled her out this year and ran her and she ended up winning the 2d without me pushing her at all. This was a mare that wouldn't even think about walking in the gate let alone turn a barrel. She did awesome, but she can't be pushed or she'll blow up. I've come so far with her I won't take the chance of ruining her, so we check a lot of cows and fence and its worked great. I can't practice barrels either, although I can walk around them or do a few other slow exercises to get her to bend she doesn't need the practice, I do. So I got bit by the barrel racing bug and decided to get something I could play with on the barrels. I still plan on running my mare sometimes but not much, that's why I got this mare. My mistake and I fully take the blame. |
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  The Color Specialist
Posts: 7530
Location: Washington. (The DRY side.) | As a broodmare, and to the right home, not tying wouldn't be an issue. For instance, I literally can't remember the last time I tied one of my mares. (And they DO tie.) |
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