Get Jin trained or find new...

[promiseacres]

Farrier has seen them blow a couple and be done. I was told this gelding could be pushy and kicked at a lunge whip.... that was it. I knew the kids couldnt handle him until he was worked with. And of course he wasn't off the farm much at all so coming here is a shock. I have seen him at a state park and he was trail riding, no problems he stood quietly at a hitching post and followed the other horses. He's not around his pal so thst may be part of the issue., or maybe he was still recovering from the founder and didn't feel good enough to misbehave.... He needs a very strong leader and my major issue is keeping his attention. He is very concerned about noises from a mile away. I know and have trained horses but not a trainer. I haven't rode him myself because frankly his reactions on the ground tells me he's not as broke as I was led to believe. In fact my mom still maintains he would be fine under saddle. If I can't keep his attention on the ground I won't ride him. While 17 years ago I was riding and working horses daily.... now not so much. Mom hassnt noticed the absesses.... (we know duke had several that blew before we got him) unfortunately she really needs to sell her farm and the horses, maybe keep 1. Her health isn't the best and I really wonder about her having early dementia. she's not close enough for me to help her much. If he stays I personally feel we need to take him to a trsiner. And now this new issue. Idk. Frustrating. A 2nd horse would be great.so the whole family can trail ride together . But we can always borrow horses from friends and family. 1 I rode last summer I rode with both daughters on with me.
In any case we are keeping him until spring, maybe he will settle more. Doubtful though as he's been here 8 weeks....

 

[NH homesteader]

Do you know anyone who could evaluate him for you? Like a trainer or something, who could look at him objectively and give you an idea of where he's at? Like I said, I'm not a horse person but just thinking maybe someone could give you an idea of what it might take to get him into a good rideable condition without having to dump the money into a trainer right off.

 

[norseofcourse]

Sorry, sounds like a tough situation all around. I've never dealt with abscesses, and only minimal dealings with founder. You'd want his feet healthy before going to a trainer, otherwise they'd be limited in what they could do with him. As far as the behavior, if I had kids I would not keep him unless his behavior improves, heck even without kids I'd rather have a well mannered horse!

 

[Baymule]

The only reason I even know about abscesses is because a big red mare I used to have blew one out her coronet band. She learned real quick to curl up her hoof so I couldn't hit it with the betadine. I kept her up in a stall as it was winter, wet and muddy. She didn't like that either. The first tip off that something wasn't right was the rotten smell, followed by the blow out.

 

[AClark]

Betadine is great. If it abscesses through the bottom, it's going to take a long time to heal (it won't really heal, it will have to grow out, like a smashed thumb with a blood blister under it). Something that dries it out if it does that are the iodine crystals - you might have to ask the farrier because I know druggies were using them to make methamphetamines and made them harder to get ahold of. Basically, you put these crystals in the abscess and turpentine and it smokes, smells bad, and does an excellent job of cleaning it out - common treatment for thrush.
If that happens, you can also do a padded shoe. I prefer barefoot, but they have these rubber soles for horseshoes that can protect an open wound like that - OR, and this is what I did for mine (he stepped on a nail and it got really gross, had a big hole right in front of his frog) is pack the abscess with gauze, pull an old sock over the hoof (make sure it is loose around the fetlock and all) and duct tape that sucker on. That keeps it clean, and regular changing plus betadine. It's a lot cheaper than an EZ boot too.

No hoof, no horse though. If he's that big of a pain, it might be best to just doctor up the hoof issues and return him. Abscesses take a long time to grow out of the hoof, and with a history of foundering, you might save yourself a lot of heart ache. Horses that founder are prone to having it happen again, and depending on how severe it is, sometimes they don't recover well at all.

ETA: If a horse founders badly enough, their coffin bone can actually rotate and come out through the bottom of the hoof. I have only seen 1 horse that got that bad, and when it is that bad, the only thing you can do for them is put them down. Usually they'll die from septic shock if it happens, and they suffer a lot.

 

[alsea1]

The founder issue is going to be lifelong thing. It can be managed though.
Have you looked into the Clinton Anderson methods of training. Look for Clinton Anderson on you tube. The basic fundamentals will help immensely. He did a tv series where he worked with a rescue mare that had been let down by its owners. By the time he was done this mare was awesome. With horse like the one you describe the best place to start is the beginning. Get a good foundation on him. The rest will slip in place.
The great thing is that the method he uses is easy enough and pretty safe if done as he prescribes.

 

[promiseacres]

He is fine at the moment, never did find another absess... but lameness symptoms were identical. Guess we'll continue to watch and see. He is here until Spring in any case. So I guess who knows if or when he will have issues again.
Have done parelli type training prior. Idk we will see. Not sure I have enough time to dedicate to him as bad as that sounds. I agree a solid foundation is what he needs.

 

[Kusanar]

He is fine at the moment, never did find another absess... but lameness symptoms were identical. Guess we'll continue to watch and see. He is here until Spring in any case. So I guess who knows if or when he will have issues again.
Have done parelli type training prior. Idk we will see. Not sure I have enough time to dedicate to him as bad as that sounds. I agree a solid foundation is what he needs.

I tried to tag both you and alsea1, but for some reason it won't work right now, I have done it in the past...

Anyway, I agree with her, do the Clinton Anderson method with him, Parelli gets results on the horses he personally works with, but from my experience, he tells people to be really lovie dovie on the horses and ask the horse if it wants to do things all the time, but when he actually works with horses as I have seen in videos and in person, he's a lot more dominant and insists that the horse do what he wants, but he never tells you that in words, he just does it...

Clinton is much more straight forward and easy to understand, he insists on safety above all else and his method leaves you with a broke to death horse that will run up to you in the field because it wants to be near you.

I have a 10 year old stallion that I got when he was a yearling. He was already close to 15 hands, kicked, bit, and tried to chase people. I started using Clinton's method on him shortly after I got him and he is a dream to handle. He has never had a chain over his nose, he can be handled by small kids, and I can get him to load in or on anything I want, including asking him to jump over a round bale from a slow trot in the mud. He hears my car and comes running when I show up, and I DO NOT feed him grain or treats, he wants my company, not food. When I work with him regularly, I can longe him at a walk and trot with no rope on him, he maintains a circle about 30 feet across on his own and changes direction when asked. It's amazing what that method can do, and I'm not as serious about working with my horses as I should be.

Let me know if you want more information about his method, I'll be glad to chat in PM's or on here

 

[promiseacres]

Well... talked to Mom, talked to local trustworthy trainer. Now if I can get my DH on board am going to see about getting him evaluated.... Mom says she will help pay for training.... so we will see. If can keep his attention I would feel better...
might look at you tube also.

 

[AClark]

As long as the trainer is trustworthy, I think it's worth a shot. Someone who can be honest about the horse AND the rider capabilities. Not saying you aren't a good rider, but everyone has their own shortcomings and a trainer that can recognize that a horse isn't going to work out so well for someone is the best thing that can happen.

I'm trying to remember the name of a horse trainer who had some excellent books that I used as a teen to break a snotty mare I had. I want to say his name was Durrant, but wouldn't swear to it now. She ended up being a handful for someone else, this guy begged and begged my parents to sell her to him and I finally said to go ahead. He never could ride her, his farrier couldn't trim her, and she ended up a brood mare. Sad really, I rode her and could trim all her feet before she left, I never had any real issues, I just knew she was a snot and needed someone who wouldn't put up with her garbage. I know he sunk quite a bit into a trainer for her before she ended up a brood mare. The gelding I got after her was a complete nutcase, and even after 60 days at the trainer, he was nothing but a dangerous nerve bag. I wanted him for a barrel horse, and if the trainer had been honest about it, he'd have known that horse was never going to be sane to ride, let alone take places and do things with.