Good horse turned bad by donkey UPDATED....

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b&langusfarms

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I purchased a 12 yrd old Sorrell QH mare 3 weeks ago. I rode her on two seperate days at the home with which I bought her from, and she rode fine. She was a little lazy... She had been a recipent mare for a vet for a few years and I knew it would take a little while for her to get into the swing of things. I onkly bought her to ride around my 30 acres and round up cows every now and again. Basically for pleasure.... I rode as a child but not in years... I currently have a 5 yrd old jenny in with my cows. This is where I allowed my new horse to pasture. The first week she was still ok, just lazy to do much without alot of begging.. :D The last 2 weeks she is glued to my jennies side they are always together. When I tighten her cinch now (which I do very slowly) she attempts to bite. Today when I tightened she made a very small kick movement with her back hoof. Once on her she will walk for awhile but then she only wants to go back to my jenny. When I let her know we arent going there she very slightly bucks, sometimes she just lays her ears back and bobs her head. I have read alot about what to do and I am trying to sit and wait her out and not let her go anyway but straight but she still will just stand there. If I make my kiss sound to go or squeeze with my legs, the ears go back , head bobs and if I do it again she will buck a little. I have a new cinch, blanket, have had her feet trimmed, saddle is on properly... Please help I am at my wits ends... :?: :?: :?: Forgot to mention, I took her to the vet also for a prepurchase exam and her teeth were good. The bit I am using is twisted copper on the mouth piece and I am not sure but I believe it is a Tom Thumb or very similar.
 
Is this the first time you've ridden her in the new tack? If so, she might be objecting to it.


If it were me, I would seperate her from that jenny. If she doesn't see you as the authority and gets herd bound, you aren't going to get much done with her. Break the bond now while you can. We have a borded horse that's taught two of our mares bad habits, and he's only been around a couple months. Now they run away when you need them like he does, fussy about their feet and won't stand still. Do something about it.

If the donkey is encouraging the horse, I would again, keep them seperate, but teach the horse that being in with the cattle and donkey means business. I personally would chase the donkey and the cows around for a while after.
 
Yes it is new tack to her but I purchased the same brand it wasnt exactly the same though as what she was used to.(no longer carried the other) I guess I did think that about the jenny, but I didnt know if my mare being the only mare would be ok alone with no other equine?? The 7 cow/calves and jenny (no bulls) are on about 12 arces and I have 13 goats in back on 10 acres and then 5 acres with nothing on it, but she is spooky of the goats so I did not try her in there. What do you think my best option might be? From everything I read she is definately getting herdbound. She came from a herd of 25 to 30 horses.
 
Definantly herdbound..also add into the mix the fact she hasnt been ridden and schooled recently(you mnetioned she had been a recep mare)..just adds your problems.

She is testing you..she started with the biting at tacking up time..then progresses to kicking at tacking up and now shes "threatening" to buck with you. Nip this in the bud. You are going to have to take an active approach to this. Sit and wait IMO, wont work.

She goes to bite, smack her good and hard in the muzzle..once, dont make a huge deal about it..you can verbalize too(no, Nah..we use Fooie, like our dogs)..and then go back to what youre doing. correct quickly and then forget it.

For the head bobbing and trying to buck, push her FORWARD...Ask her to walk, she starts that crap, dig you heels into her and get her moving forward. Without forward motion, youve lost and shes won. :( If you feel like shes going to act nasty and buck or crowhop, pull her head around(keeping the forward motion) and keep her like that til you feel like shes gotten the bucking idea out of her head.

I am all for being fair to a horse, but she needs to understand that YOU are the herd boss and what you say needs to be done. If you can seperate the jenny and her..ehhh, might help, but if you cant, you CAN get this mare by this..just be firm and be pro active in your approach to her. Im not one to accomodate a horse, regards to seperating them..similar to saying I can tie my horse because he pulls back :?: Im about fixing the problem. :)

Sarah
 
Spinandslide's got it.


If she bites while you're riding too, boot her in the nose until she gets the hint. We've had to fix a horse or two like that when they try for the upper hand. Same with the bucking and crowhopping issue, if a horse is turned around head to butt, they can't do much. We turn that head around and squeeze and pulse them. Also, what seems to get the horses, is the same with noise diversion with dogs. A sharp fast "at! at! at!" or "uht uht uht!" when they do something bad to back it up with the verbal. If I'm tacking and my one horse turns around and tries to "help" I just make those noises at him he thinks twice about it. Biting too, with a smack for other things. Got a bruise on my arm now from our mare I didn't catch fast enough.


If you think she's going to pull something funny when you ride her,(you said you rode years ago? have someone out to help you on the ground if you can't handle what she may be acting out at the time.

They also get some good respect and know personal space if you're on ground and you start waving a rope at them getting them to back up a lot and yield to you. The horses lower in the herd yield to the lead horse, when she moves for you you're making more progress.
 
I am greatful for all the help so for. Is there a problem usually with just one horse? Loneliness? (or something similar?) I am going to move the Jenny this weekend to my brothers land and we will see.. Hopefully we will start to see some improvements..thx again
 
There are plenty of horses that do just fine by themselves, and could really care less if they had a buddy or not, others at the most will have an anxiety episode and scream and have a fit. How far away is you brother? You don't have a place somewhere where you can keep her on yours? Even if you got a few panels and made a stall or rigged up electric fencing in a corner of the pasture?
 
Yes I have a corral area I could put her in as well as a back pasture, but he is only about 1/2 a mile down the rode and I just thought that if I put her down there for a few weeks then I would have time to work with Amber (my mare) and if her disposition improves then I would probaly need to go ahead and sell my jenny. My jenny is very possibly pregnate right now and due in late Dec or early Jan from a visiting Jack that was on our property early this year. So I would wait till then to sell her. Also her has a Jenny over there also and they get along well together.
 
Well it is not the donkey's fault. The horse was probably that way when you bought her.

A new horse goes through a "honeymoon" period where everything is hunky dory. Then as the horse becomes familiar with it's new surroundings and feels confident or safe in them, the true nature of the horse appears.

There may have been a reason that she was used as a recipient mare and not a riding horse.
wink.gif


I would suggest getting rid of the broken mouthpiece bit (tom thumb) and try her with a low port curb grazing bit. Some horses do not tolerate a tom thumb or broken mouth shank bit.

http://www.todayshorse.com/Articles/Tro ... mThumb.htm

To have respect, you must have discipline, so don't feel bad if you have to whack her one when she threatens or misbehaves. You won't hurt her and you won't stop her from liking you. You are only doing what another horse would do to her should she try to hurt it.

Good luck.
 
Spinandslide hit the nail on the head. A horse is a large animal and a smack isn't going to hurt it. I'm not advocating animal abuse or cruelty, but when my two year old gelding that I'm starting turns to bite my stirrup/feet, he gets a quick one in the kisser. When my four year old mare started testing me the summer of her third year when roping, when got the knot end between her ears. Right now she's as reliable as the sun coming up in the east. I agree with everyone that you need to stop this NOW. Get your self a pair of spurs and use them responsibly. If she stops and refuses to go, start with verbal commands, progress to squeezing with your legs, then moving to the spurs. I think Spinandslide also said to turn the animals head to the side with forward motion. Again I agree. When a horse won't go forward you have to disengage their front end to get them moving. Turning, don't always go to the same side though, is a great way to get them to move. If you need any other help, please ask! Everyone here is very helpful and knowledgeable!
 
:heart: Thank you thank you thank you.... :heart: :heart: I will get my jenny moved out on Sun. and will work with my mare with all the suggestions you all have given and will be back on here for more updates...
 
Animals and people alike learn to act like the animals and people that they are around.

I have a guinea that hangs out with my turkeys that acts just like a turkey.

I have employees that hang out with my other employees that learn to follow the path of my older employees.

Now on to the subject at hand:

Perhaps if your horse hangs out with the jenny long enough, it will act like the jenny.


*** The jenny is called a jacka$$ for a good reason.***
 
I totally agree with everyone concerning you being the boss and the mare becoming herd bound. But I think that the symptoms you describe that happen when you saddle your horse are more along the lines of a poorly fitting saddle.

There is a website that has a good explanation on saddle fit... http//paintedhillsranch.net
It also describes several symptoms of bad fit-most of which you describe. You might be able to get away with just choosing a different pad without having to switch saddles. But if you have to your horse (and you) will be sooooooooooooo glad you did!
 
I can see it possibly being a saddle fit..but with the other behavior issues and lack of respect this horse already exhibits, Id get respect down and then go from there.

My mare, when she is "out" in her back, acts girthy. She gets re-adjusted by the chiropractor and shes good for another year or so.
 
OK well we moved our Jenny down the rode a few weeks ago..(boy what an experiance that was) My mare has daily gotten better and better about all her bad habits. She still tries to test me and run back to my cattle as if she is one of them, but not to the extent as when the jenny was there. We have had only one other bucking episode and some stubborness but she is a mare and she has been a recipent mare for the last few years. So needless to say she is a little rusty on her people skills I guess. She now is much more trusting of me and we are currently working on loading in the trailer which she will do as long as someone else stands behind her and holds a rope. They dont have to do anything with it, just hold it. We are working on that though.. At least she will load and unload now and isnt scared to be inside it and to travel in it. I dont ride her daily like I am sure I probaly should but she is in the pasture and I ride her a couple times a week. But I do something with her daily, even if it is only to brush her while I feed her. She is very sweet (when she isnt in heat)
 
Good to hear she's doing better. It would help if you rode her everyday, but probably don't need to. As long as she still views you as the leader and listens to you, you're on the right path.
 

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