I have a little Mare who seems to have some past issues, I have had her here nearly 2 months and she is settling down really well and seems to be trusting me a bit more.
When I first got her when she was being lead she would take off in front of you and rip the lead out of my hands, we worked out that it seemed to be the float parked near her and took it away she seemed to get better and stopped doing it.
I had her out the other day and she did it again, but there was nothing around and wasn't bothered by anything we were just walking and she cut infront of me and bolted off, she has pulled me over before and I have ended up with some injuries.
I don't know what to do, she has had issues with people in the past forcing her to do things and gets agressive. I never do anything mean, just go back up again and catch her (which sometimes takes a while) and try again. I am very stuck. Any help?
Renae
After watching all of the videos and lessons the one thing that is constant in Monty's training is backing a horse up. If you watch him in the round pen he will stop and back the horse a few steps. This usually happens when the horses head goes past his shoulder. Once a horse gets a head of you he is in control and you are at a disadvantage. If you have a Duelly halter, this will aid you in controlling your mares movements. I found that you cannot force a horse to do anything that they don't want to do. If they do something against their will, the next time they will figure out how to avoid doing what you ask. Join up will establish a mutual relationship with your horse and you will have a better chance at training your mare.
Good luck and be careful. Make sure that you are safe and your horse is safe.
Cheers!
HI RENAE
I WOULD DO ALOT OF GROUND WORK WITH MONTYS DULLY HALTER ON.IN A SMALL PEN SO IF THE HORSE DOES GET LOOSE HE WILL BE SAFE.I THINK I WOULD START AT BENDING AT THE POLE IN BOTH DIRECTIONS FIRST. YOU CAN JUST STAND ON THE SIDE OF YOUR HORSE AND TEACH THE HORSE TO SOFTEN AND BEND HIS NECK.ALSO DOING SMALL CIRCLES THIS ALSO HELPS TO MOVE THE HINDQUARTERS.I WOULD ALSO TEACH THE HORSE TO DISENGAGE HIS HIND QUARTERS. THEN START OUT WITH LEADING AND EVERYTIME THE HORSE GETS IN FRONT OF YOU OR AHEAD OF YOU I WOULD SCHOOL HIM BACKWARDS. SO WHEN HE GETS IN FRONT OF YOU . YOU CAN DISENGAGE HIS HIND QUARTERS AND BE IN A SAFER PLACE.JOIN UP ALSO HELPS. HORSES NATURALLY RUN OFF TO BE IN A SURRIVAL SITUATION. I AM NOT GOOD AT WRITING ALL THIS SO STAY SAFE WITH YOUR HORSE.
Hi guys, thanks. I do need to get a duelly halter. She doesn't do anything wrong in the round yard, she is quite forward but she only takes off when I lead her from her yard. I will try backing up and just do a lot more ground work with her.
Thanks
Hi Renae
Just a thought: I have a big mare that has done this exact same thing (except she would rear as well) and it is very disconcerting. I have given her all sorts of excuses; trailers that she is scared of, windy day, something she didn't like the look of in the distance. To be honest I don't know if any of these were the root cause, but they may have contributed. I did however discover, (as she was on livery when she was at her very worst) that she was not being fed enough and was often pulling away and running off to eat the grass. I realise that this is probably not your problem and I totally agree with all that have suggested that you need to train her to a Dually halter and build up a trusting relationship between the two of you. My thought is however, if this behaviour seems a little extreme there maybe an answer that is not immediately obvious, so it is worth just thinking intelligently around the problem. Coincidently my horse has subsequently suffered from hepititis, did this have anything to do with her extreme behaviour, one can only speculate!
I don't think its feed, as she just runs up and down the driveway, although I do have another pony here that did do that to get to feed, at the same time as running away he would kick me funnily enough they both came from the same place and I did not know they did this until I got them home! May it all started with feed though, where they were they were locked in stables 24/7 and now they are able to graze all day and night and get fed so one has stopped, but its just the mare I cant figure out. It seems its years of a bad habit and handling that is going to take a long time to help.
I think you will find the dually really helps here and the training that goes with it. I would start in a yard and over time take her through all Monty's 4 essentials in training. It is a scary situation you have and very dangerous. Once I had a large strong necked chestnut gelding who used to swing his neck and body away from me and take off. Like you I was pulled over numerous times and had no idea that he was so bad when I purchased him. It was years ago and I didn't know about Monty and the dually at the time but I believe I could have corrected him with these aids. Do take care as it is a very dangerous situation you have and let us know how you progress once you have a dually. Once you have trained her effectively in an enclosed yard with the dually try progressing then to a small paddock and only take her out into the open once you are sure she is going to behave. Good luck with it.
I agree completely that the dually halter is the thing to use! It's the best thing for your horse and for you. Also, make sure you have joined up well with your mare before using the dually.
Hope it works out!!
You must be careful with the Dually. It happened to me that I requested too much of the horse. As a consequence he did not understand what I wanted and reared up. On fine signals the horse did much better.