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Horse Behavior and Training

my friends horse is not an elephant?

Hello!

hello monty,

chris
Hello!

sorry hit wrong button.. lol.. my friends horse is a registered quarter horse which is 9 years old and needs to be retrained. the previous owners were not the sharpest tools in the shed, but the horse appears to be forgetful? we can only assume that it has been belted previously and is very jumpy. as with some horse owners there is the truth and then the story that they feed you when you purchase the horse.he was suppose to have been ridden for 5yrs and then turned out. this would be true if you could mouunt him... he will take the saddle and bridle ok. you can sit on him side saddle ok but when you put your leg over him and sit he freaks out. we helped to desensitise him by laying rope over his back and by touching and rubbing him allong both sides, also by standing him besides the fence railing and standing on the bottom rung and leaning uver his back and patting his off side with our arms. this took about an hour and worked. we walked up and put the saddle on, stood him besides the fence and carefully mounting him slowly and calmly. after 15 mins of that we were able to walk up to him in the yard grab the reins and leg over the saddle and plop down with out him moving off or any hassles. we repeted it both sides get up rub get off rub get on other side rub get off. we unsaddled and turned him out thinking that some progress had been made only to find that 1 week later he was worse than before? can this be a fear thing or a forgot thing and is there any way to fix it? any help would be welcomed. cheers, chris

peanut5912
Hello!

When you say "plop down on him" what do you do after you sit on him. also are you wearing any spurs even if you are not touching him with them? just some thoughts. Some horses are sensitive how you place yourselve on them.

chris
Hello!

hello, no spurs and definitly very carefully... he just seems to forget??

Kazza
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed

I'm pretty sure he needs this training daily to get the best result, not with a week or so in between

Kimb
Hello!

Not being an authority on this or anything, but my gut instinct is that Kazza makes a good point. I expect if you'd been treated poorly in your past it would take you more than one training session to get over it, even if you have initiated a sense of trust. Be patient and take your time to build on the horse's trust. Give the horse time to understand that the old techniques are not going to be used again.