I'm a big dummy!

[JebidiahJones]

I bought a 8 year old horse without riding him. I'm now the owner of an 8 year old unridable horse . I can put a saddle on him and get on his back but that is about it. He balks and won't do anything. My wife got on him and my dog ran up to them and he thew her and broke all of her ribs on her right side . He's a real sweet loving horse that adores attention. He lets my kids (5 and 2) come up to him and he nuzzles them. He also has good cow sense. He always "works" my cows by me everytime I'm in the pasture. I don't want to get rid of him.

Does anyone know of a trainer that deals with "green broke" horses in the Houston/Galveston area? How about any advice this side of shooting him.

 

[msscamp]

I'm not sure green-broke is your problem with this horse. He sounds spoiled. If you have the experience, I would suggest starting with ground-work to establish a trusting relationship, and also to establish just who is the boss here.

 

[Chuck]

Where did you get him Jeb? Auction, private sale, or what? Were you told he was rideable? I would agree with msscamp. He sounds spoiled. If you are stuck with him, you may be able to bring him around if you have the time and patience for it. I would also consider sending him down the road unless you are really comitted to working with him. Sounds like right now he is an overgrown yard pet.

 

[Beefy]

sounds like its just a behavioral problem to me too. previous owner probably let him get away with it a few times and the horse outsmarted him or her.

 

[JebidiahJones]

The man said that his boys rode him at the local roping practices to pen the steers. We had the vet come and give him the once over and he knew our horse and said that the previous owner had never ridden him. The farrier said the same thing as the vet. I asked the farrier if the old man had any sons that rode him and he said that his sons moved away six or seven years ago.

I guess thats what I get for believing someone and taking their word on it. I went back and talked with the guy and he's not all there. He's old and lonely and he can't remember anything.

 

[msscamp]

Ok, you have learned a valuable lesson here. Now, quit kicking yourself and try to find a solution. How much experience do you have with riding/working with horses?

 

[TLCfromARK]

The horse just needs to be worked, starting with you on the ground as the other posters said. If you don't have a lot of knowledge you might check out Clinton Anderson's web site. I'm really inpressed with his methods. Here's his link, hope it helps you some.

http://www.downunderhorsemanship.com/

;-)

 

[JebidiahJones]

In my teens I trained my horses for ranching and also for team roping. That's been almost 20yrs ago. I've been out with him in the pasture everyday and he knows who the boss is. I can get him moving with a little rope/rump tap but I guess it'll take a while to get him where I can take him. I want to get a trainer because I really don't have that much time everyday to train him. I'm not the type of person that wants "instant gratification". I'm not looking for a trainer to give me back a perfectly trained horse. I want one to help me get started with this one.

 

[dcara]

So you have a horse you say YOU can't do anything with AND has seriously hurt one of your family members. But you like him because he is sweet. I can almost garuntee that you are going to spend alot more on this horse on either trainer bills, or medical bills, or vet bills, or broken equipment, or a combination of all of these. Alternately, you could put your family's safety first and spend that same money on a good horse that you and your family could enjoy AND which I'm sure would be just as sweet. I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but I was in a similar situation a few years back with a 7 year old geilding that I DID ride before I bought but showed other undesirable behaviours after I got him home. I was determined to make a "good" horse out him because I liked him. After about 18 months, a couple of trainers, endless hours working him, some cracked ribs, wife with broken finger, broken halters, etc., I realized that I had spent more on trainers and other problems related to that horse than I had paid for the horse.

We now have wonderful horses that any member of the family can enjoy only because we quite wasting our time and money on the not so wonderful ones. Also, they don't cost anymore to feed than the ones we got rid of.

There are plenty of people that specialize in dealing with the not so great horses. I recommend you sell your horse to one of those people and get one (or more) that you and your family can enjoy, safely.

 

[Alan]

So you have a horse you say YOU can't do anything with AND has seriously hurt one of your family members. But you like him because he is sweet. I can almost garuntee that you are going to spend alot more on this horse on either trainer bills, or medical bills, or vet bills, or broken equipment, or a combination of all of these. Alternately, you could put your family's safety first and spend that same money on a good horse that you and your family could enjoy AND which I'm sure would be just as sweet. I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but I was in a similar situation a few years back with a 7 year old geilding that I DID ride before I bought but showed other undesirable behaviours after I got him home. I was determined to make a "good" horse out him because I liked him. After about 18 months, a couple of trainers, endless hours working him, some cracked ribs, wife with broken finger, broken halters, etc., I realized that I had spent more on trainers and other problems related to that horse than I had paid for the horse.

We now have wonderful horses that any member of the family can enjoy only because we quite wasting our time and money on the not so wonderful ones. Also, they don't cost anymore to feed than the ones we got rid of.

There are plenty of people that specialize in dealing with the not so great horses. I recommend you sell your horse to one of those people and get one (or more) that you and your family can enjoy, safely.

I quoted the whole message because it needs to be said again, I could not agree with dcara more. Sell the horse before your wife's other side gets busted up. Too many good horses out there.

At the risk of being slammed about contracts again and trusting those little old ladies and old men ... When I buy a horse I always put in a two weeks trail period in the contract, where I can return the horse for a full refund less any reasonable charge for a vet check on return and related expenses. Again, I agree with dcara completly.

Alan