Hi. You seem to have just joined us on the Uni - welcome. Are you a new student of Monty's methods? If so there is a wealth of information in the lessons, which are also great fun. You have no accreditations as yet so either you have not done 100 yet or you haven't taken Monty's Challenge afterwards. That's how you earn rosettes. I like to read the notes whilst the lesson loads. Your horse sounds interesting. Great that you did not give up on him! Have you tried Join up? If not, study the lessons & give it a try. Do not be put off if you do not have a round pen- it's not necessary. I am helping two people, one with an untouched 2 year old & another with a mostly untouched 4 yr old (see the thread in horse behaviour). The 2 yr old was haltered but wouldn't be touched at all. I visited twice. There are others in the field who like humans but this guy was having none of it. The first time I managed to have him take a piece of apple from my hand but that was all. The second time I persisted in following him & then breaking off & overting my eyes when he looked back. With the help of the other ponies eventually I scratched his neck & walked away. After about 3 hours he was sceptically accepting both his owner & I scratching him on his face, chin, neck, shoulder, back, ribs, rump, tail & upper legs. That was a week ago & reports are that he can now be groomed almost all over. So, we can make extraordinary progress. You need to find as many like minded friends as possible & have a BBQ near your horse, in a safe place. I used this method to proof one of mine against fireworks. Have a confident friend accompany you to visit your horse, give him a treat & have them scratch him firmly but gently on the withers, briefly. Then leave, calmly. Return a couple of minutes later & repeat. Gradually have your guests come with you, 1 at a time & repeat. Then have 2 guests, once his reaction relaxes. Eventually he will work out that people just want to give him treats & scratch him. Hopefully, you can have a couple of people visit him the next few days, at different times so the good association is not time or place based. Yes, he will be very stressed initially but not all stress is bad & he will be so happy to shed his fear it will be worth it. Keep us posted on your progress & good luck. Cheers, Jo.

Thank you for posting, you have some great ideas and I will try them. Yes, I did an my first Join Up with him about 2 weeks ago in the large outdoor arena (round pen was too small for my Clydesdale)It went pretty good,I saw his four gestures (was amazing to see)and he came in for join up and follow up! funny thing was I couldn't get rid of him after that lol. every time I turned around - there he was :) When I first got him he acted like a wild horse and was scared of everything. Funny thing was I was told he was bottle fed (Mare died giving birth)and family raised. Good news is he has consistently gotten better. I have only used natural(meaning no harm) methods with him and following another system of natural horsemanship but found something to be missing in that approach. I started researching other trainers and Monty's methods seemed sound so I gave it a try. My Horse responded like majic! So my horse told me to continue this way. I have brought other people to my horse but now that I reflect, they looked him in the eyes and did not retreat......hmmmmmm. I will keep you updated. Thanks again

Great that you stuck by him. Jo' s advice great as always except for the treats by hand bit, we will always disagree on that one hahaah (no big deal) - I would put the treat on the floor. Congratulations on getting such success with a bottle reared horse - need to wean him off you a bit now ;-)
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Remember that he will take his cue from you in terms of leadership - if you approach the scary thing and show him it's ok he will learn to trust your judgement. Advance/Retreat essential. Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Hi. Vicci, where do I say treat from hand? I hand feed mine lots & none of them bite. The yearling colt still nibbles a bit but blowing raspberries when he does is dealing with it. When Holy Moley got loose next to a busy road I panicked, managed to get between her & the traffic but had no way to catch this 5 month old, then, filly foal. Then I realised I had a pocket full of mints. Offered her one, showed her I had more & she trotted back through the gate to safety. By the way, a tip for any of you who struggle a bit with worming your horses. Give 4 or 5 extra strong mints first then the paste tastes less yuk. Usually my lot won't accept a treat afterwards but now they do! Sadly we lost Bella last Thursday- too sore & disabled to go on. She put up a real battle to bring Holy Moley into the world & give her a fantastic start in life - she fractured her knee last Christmas & was given less than a 50/50 chance to give birth at full term. Bella was kind, intelligent, feisty, brave & understood people, especially me. She was an exceptional mother & I owe her so much. My herd is down to 4 but I have so many happy memories. Now Bella (2001 - 2014) is with Apollo Le Sheik (1967 - 2005) & they are running free.

I'd like to share a little more. Bella fought really hard to bring Moley into the world & then a load more to give her the best start in life. This came at a cost, to both of us! She suffered pain every day - despite my best efforts & that of the Dick Vet Large Animal Clinic. I suffered too, expecting to find her on the ground, in great distress, on a daily basis. My vet, Tess, suffered also. She had to live with the doubt that perhaps I was being too soft & just prolonging the agony. I can tell you, without doubt, that Bella valued every day she had & that she was the one who told me, today is the day, it no longer seems worth it. THIS IS THE LAST KIND THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR HORSE. Poor Bella was only 13 but she has left legacy, a colt & a filly & more than that, they "recovered her leg" in order to investigate further what had happened. Hopefully, this will increase vetinary knowledge so horses are better served in similar circumstances. What a mare! Yes, I'm very emotional about her loss. It wouldn't be me to be otherwise, but my brave, valiant Bella will help medical science & could be helping other horses for decades. That's one hell of a legacy! I think I can live with it. Cheers, Jo.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Jo! But it is good to hear that Bella is free from suffering and that you where brave enough to take that final decision, that is the hardest and most difficult decision we make for our four-legged friends.
Sending you lots of hugs!!!!!

Thanks Kicki. I still have Kirk, her son, Holy Moley, her daughter & Dad of both of them, Humphrey as well as Max, who is currently in hospital to find out why this little foody went off his nosh - likely to be an infection or a virus. He's comfy today with some pain relief, in an isolation stable. Life & vets bills go on! Cheers, Jo.

Bless you Jo & Bless Bella & the rest of your little herd too.
It's so hard isn't it!
As you said, it's the last & kindest thing you can do for the love of your life.
It takes a long while to get to the point where you feel better, but keep in mind, you did your absolute best for her.
Hugs, Beryl

Thank you Beryl. Yes, it's hard but it has to be done. Then, in the aftermath, you realise things like, the herd came at Bella's pace coz now they come at full speed. You watch the joys in just being really speedy again. The quirky things like, Humphrey has never knotted his mane but Bella got hers in knots & then yesterday I took a Matt out of his mane. Kirk too has a tiny matt in his mane for the first time! I'd cut off the knot from Bella's mane to keep before she was taken. I've put Humphery's with it as it seems like a tribute. I've kept Humphrey's tooth that he put in my hand & Kirk's first foot trimming, so tiny. My family seem to be sentimental - like me, or because of me. Perhaps they feel they have that freedom. I hope so. We go into the future, together. Cheers, Jo.

Oh boy, do they ever!!!
My Libby when she was a baby rode out with her friend Zara who was 20 years older than her; at first, when Za was still "young", she bolted everywhere in front of us but in the innocence of youth, Libby used to ask me if we should go with her, but I'd talk to her & say no, stay with me gently & she did. AS Za grew older, she got slower & Libby would go in front as she'd got stronger & faster, ( Zara was furious!!!) The time came when Za was unable to maintain her Alpha status & walked a lot slower, Libby would NOT go faster than her, no way, she was looking after her friend & i could do what i liked, it made no difference.
Za wasn't a friendly horse & Libby is an Alpha mare but the ywo of them bonded so strongly, they absolutely loved each other.
One day, Za threw a wobbly on the road & bolted after trying to get Lib to go with her, My friend made a split second decision to turn her sharply up the hill at the next junction risking falling on the road, but if she hadn't, i dread to think where Za might have stopped!!! She's definitely gone in her brain! We had to go down a steep hill at the other end & she was trying to sod off again!! I got Lib in front to block her way & held onto her while EE got off her otherwise, they'd have both ended up dead!!!
That was our last ride with her, she wasn't safe to ride any more sadly.
Not quite sure why i told that story, but it must have come to me for a reason.
Your herd has shown you how they do look after each other, I'm glad they're doing ok, you will too.

So sorry to hear of your loss Jo. What a brave little horse she was and she has left a great legacy. My thoughts are with you.

Thank you Maggie. The pain is subsiding - it was the right call. I know that & Moley is coping really well, she is paying more attention to her big bro, Kirk, than Dad, Humphrey. Typical, well, she's a chestnut mare in the making. I have too much good stuff in life just now to be too far down for long. Yes, the loss of Bella hurts, but she left me with so much - I have to go on! She's left me with no choice! Typical Bella. Uncompromising. She really was something else. She's left me with a legacy I need to nurture & allow to evolve. No pressure then! Her precious babies will be with me for life. Now I need to be + 80. OK, I can do that. We can all live the life Bella should have had. Her's was cut short, but we can stand the testament of time that her region should have been much longer. I can't wait until Kirk is 3 - he will be a monumental individual. Cheers, Jo.