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Horse Behavior and Training

poor girl is so frightened of the saddle now.

By:
jpdbergeron
Date:
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My poor mare was boarded for the harsh winter months. While there the owner did a number on her confidence!
Within a day of being home with us she was back to her old self.
Now it is spring and the ground is dry and save again.
We took her out to the training pen and bring in all of her equipment and she will not permit her saddle on. She dances and runs in circles.
I found out that this barn owner thought she would teach my horse a lesson by putting the saddle on her over 30 times, over and over again. Talk about overkill. Finally I went into the training pen, relieved the helper. Picked up the blanket and saddle and had them on her first try. I am very small and not strong enough to lift the saddle up onto her easily,that is why I asked my husband to help me.
She is so afraid of anyone but me. If anything frightens her she runs to my side. I cannot have this, if we are to sell her she will just keep coming back because she won't settle with others.
Any helpful suggestions.

JoHewittVINTA
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Hi. Sorry you're having a problem. Have you tried introducing her to several new people, one at a time? You can be near her & they could each approach her, give her a rub & then walk away. This would convince her that they weren't going to hurt her or frighten her. As one person walks away the next one could be approaching her from the other side. Perhaps someone you know could perform Join up - not you as she clearly trusts you. That would help broaden her concept of trustable humans. Isn't it hard when other people interfere ( even when they think they are doing you a favour ). I think there is more to your mares story than simply sitting the saddle on her & birthing up repeatedly. Good luck & keep posting. Cheers, Jo.

JoHewittVINTA
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Hi. Sorry. That should be birthing up - silly me! Cheers, Jo.

JoHewittVINTA
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Third time lucky - girthing up ( don't you just hate it when technology corrects us ). Cheers, Jo.

jpdbergeron
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Thank you. She will allow others to approach her and pat her. She seems fine with them. Her problem is the saddle. I can put it on her and she's fine but when someone else come into her training pen with it she starts dancing.
Would you mind telling me what you think it might be? What you think might be behind it? I simply am not strong enough to lift it onto her back? Thanks so much for any suggestions.

JoHewittVINTA
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Hi. Judging from what you've said it seems Uthe problem is your mare has been intimidated by the barn manager. My suggestion would be to use the same process but with different people bringing in the saddle & approaching you & the mare. When she starts to show concern have them stop, reverse one step & wait - with no one looking her in the eye. When she settles, much praise. The helper walks away., then repeat. Your mare should soon pick up that no one wants to press her further than she feels comfortable - which is what I believe has happened at the barn during winter. If everyone stays very calm & consistent throughout this procedure your mare should regain her confidence quite quickly, once the mindset changes. Good luck & keep in touch. Cheers, Jo.

JoHewittVINTA
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Hi. You could make it more incremental by starting with a saddle cloth or a broad strap. Cheers, Jo.

vicci - UK (North Wales)
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed

Hi - great advice from Jo as always, couple of quick points to add
:
1) Get her back checked for any signs of injury/pain just to rule that out. Even if there is no pain now there may be a memory of some pain in addition to the poor treatment she had had.
2) Approach from the other side and see what she thinks; don't forget, we have a tendency to do things one sided, approaching from the other side can have a positive effect but be very careful as this will be a brand new experience for her but the advantage is that it won't have been a negative one. It has the added benefit of giving you new information about her reactions
3) Try a different saddle - not to wear, just to see how she reacts, is it the saddle or the person carrying it - again, this will give you valuable information. If she is more tolerant of a different saddle then this tells you a lot.
4)Finally, in preparation for the future I suggest that once this is resolved you then start to introduce being able to saddle her from a raised platform/step of some kind so that you can saddle her but not yet...in time :-)

Miriam (Holland&Germany)
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed 450 lessons completed 500 lessons completed 550 lessons completed 600 lessons completed 650 lessons completed

Hi jpdbergeron and all,

Since you already got so much good advice there's only one thing I'd like to add:
- Your horse accepts you approaching her, but not when your husband does it.
We've had good results with "the three armed person", which means you're standing next to your mare, your husband stands behind you, so he can come out with one arm as if it were yours. This way he can start to help her getting used to another person. Next step is letting him come out of your shadow some more, touching her with a saddleblanket or similar. The distance between you and the second person can grow slowly, or become smaller, depending on how she takes it.
This is another incremental way of learning you're helping her with.
Keep us posted,
Miriam

Mel - Ramsgate UK
Hello! 100 lessons completed 150 lessons completed 200 lessons completed 250 lessons completed 300 lessons completed 350 lessons completed 400 lessons completed

Hi Guys, just adding a little more. If your husband hasn't done join up, it would be of help. Plus let your mare see both of you handling the saddle before it goes on her back. If she sees your husband handing you the saddle and you putting it on her back, you taking the saddle off and handing it back to your husband she will start to associate positive behavior.
Remember slow is fast & it's all about the horse. ;)
Mel
x

jpdbergeron
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Thank you everyone. Thank you Miriam we will give that a try. My husband has done a very successful join up with her a long time ago. She will allow him to groom her completely, her feet and all. He is a very gentle man and she feels safe with him but she seems to have attached herself to me since her boarding. We have had her for 5 1/2 years now and that was her first time away because of the harsh winter.
This is difficult because I can no longer lift her saddle. We will keep trying.
Thank you again.

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