New Mare, one less problem

[MaggieSims]

Hello ya'll! Well I just bought myself my first 'Big' horse. An 11 yo QH. I have already begun to notice several things that need immediate attention, and things to be worked on.

1) my 2 mini horses hate her, she doesn't seem to care, so right now she is by herself, which she doesn't seem to mind, at least for now.
2) her feet are LONG and apparently tender. Could they be tender from overdue on trims, or is this something much worse? It seems like all feet, better on soft ground, even just gravel driveway she starts picking up her feet. I can pick out each one, and they all look fine to me, just long. I am currently trying to find a farrier in the area with openings. I am waiting on a call back for scheduling, hopefully.
-and should i just trim? should i shoe? i know nothing, teach me. will shoes help tender feet or make them worse?
3) i need direction on leading. she wants to bump into me, walk faster than me, i feel like i am pulling her to stay behind me. i don't want her to take advantage of me right way, so i want to know how to curb that behavior.
4) she is also tossing her head, often under just halter. is this just shying away from me asking too much? i've only had her 4 days now. yesterday i did get a bridle on, with about 10 minutes of constant persistence. tossed and tossed. i led her around a bit, i'm not riding her yet, due to her feet being sore.


So I know the feet issue will be first, I'm hoping a trim will return her comfort, and will walk better. I know the training will be a constant on going thing, but I'd love some tips to try or places to find good reads on the subjects.

 

[Mini Horses]

Feet -- could be just tender but, could be other issues. Are the feet hot? Is she standing oddly? Your farrier will be able to help with this situation. If she has tender soles, sometimes you can use a turpentine hardener to help, or she may need shoes. I've never had to shoe a QH, they generally have good feet. Not all. Yes, too long can cause pressure on the hoof structure and make them sore. If you don't know anything about trimming, don't. It can ruin a hoof. Put some pressure on one of those good farriers. Tell them your plight.

Leading -- has she been being handled routinely? May be just a temp thing. So, for crowing you, carry a crop or short stick and when she crowds, poke her in the shoulder& say over. She should yield to the pressure of the crop. When leading, start & stop, giving verbal commands each time. Work at backing, stopping, walk, trot, all in hand. Always praise her for a good job. Keep the sessions reasonably short, do them daily. Use same commands, leading & riding.

It sounds as if she has not been given great ground manner training OR has not been made to obey the training properly. If you have not have a lot of experience, buy a training video. Cheap & informative to do it right. Jeffers sells them.

Head tossing -- can be a habit, or from not having halters on much (as in not handled much lately) OR it could be a health issue....ears, teeth, come to mind. I would try a more intense handling session each day for a week or so and see if it subsides with re-training. Talk with her a lot, use same voice tone & phrases so she can respond to you by knowing the cues. Remember you are new to each other & will have a "honeymoon" time to know what to expect from one another & build a relationship. You might ask the seller her background with handling.

Minis. Well, some do ok with full sized horses, some don't. The most obvious issue is that a kick would hit them in the head, etc., and sheer size can literally bowl them over, injure them badly if attacked. Fence line them for a while, then introduce them in a controlled situation a few times. Then try again. May take a while. Often it is the big horse that shows shock of the little minis.

Just my thoughts from your post...not there to see it. What I am reading into this is you have a mare that has been trained and maybe not used much of late. I believe she will be a great partner once you all have 4 weeks vice 4 days together!! She needs to know what you want, trust you, that she has a job and is loved.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's great advice! And, I second the recommendation to find a good farrier. If you can't find someone you trust - call a horse vet. They can usually recommend someone that they trust.

Good luck with her!

 

[Poka_Doodle]

Yeah agree with those two. Make sure you do a lot of groundwork with her.

 

[MaggieSims]

Feet- Yes, she is standing oddly, but not foundering odd. she keeps lifting feet. but my husband thinks he sees a limp when i lead her, he can see it, i cant. Back left leg, when standing behind her. No the feet don't feel abnormally warm/hot, and once picked, look like healthy soles. im not an expert, but they look like they could loose 3/4 to a full inch of hoof. i have a much softer pasture than she just came from, if the previous place hurt her, would it just take some time? I'm going to call the vet tomorrow, i figured they could tell me who to call. The farrier I was waiting on still hasn't returned my calls. I'd rather not shoe, if I could avoid it. I would hate to loose a shoe up in the mountains and have a soft tender footed limping horse to hobble home on.

 

[MaggieSims]

as far as training, she apparently was a barrel horse. this gal i just bought her from just got her, maybe 3 months ago, but she just lost her place to keep her horses (boyfriend and her broke up/she and her animals got out) but the barrel racer I guess was one of the mean ones. So this mare needs some love and reassurance. I knew that going in. Im not trying to get on her and clock on the miles, but I want to do something with her everyday. Even if its just leading.... properly, that is. I've heard of new horses 'testing' their owners, maybe something that will pass as she learns I won't take it? Basically, I just want to make sure I am doing the right things to improve her, not teach her more bad habits

 

[MaggieSims]

Oh yes, and the minis... well, they were pastured with bigs before. And the mare wasn't the one afraid, it's like they had the little dog syndrome, acting super tough to make a statement. But I know this will be a process, i'm ok with that. I just want everyone to get along, even if they wont be housed together, they need to be civil when paths cross.

 

[MaggieSims]

MY GIRL GOT HER NAILS DID!

I called the vet, who referred me to their favorite, the guy was in my neighborhood (well, 8 miles away, but thats super close when everyone else i was calling was 30-50 miles) and he was able to come to me right away, only about 2 hours after i called. He was an older cowboy type, very gentle, and so fast. Snip snip, rasp rasp, done, next! All were easy, apart from one on the back. She just didn't have much flex, or range of movement? He knew she was new for me, so i wouldn't know why, but he's hoping she will work out of it, now being on a bigger pasture where she can actually run around. She didn't want to give the foot, and he was so patient. She actually tried to lay her weight on him, not in a mean manner, just leaning on him until she was all there. Silly girl.

Definitely using him for all my horses.

I have pictures of her and the pieces, but i cant get them to load right now... i'll figure it out soon!

 

[MaggieSims]

Leading -- has she been being handled routinely? May be just a temp thing. So, for crowing you, carry a crop or short stick and when she crowds, poke her in the shoulder& say over. She should yield to the pressure of the crop. When leading, start & stop, giving verbal commands each time. Work at backing, stopping, walk, trot, all in hand. Always praise her for a good job. Keep the sessions reasonably short, do them daily. Use same commands, leading & riding.

What words or sounds to use? i hear so many variations, don't know what she is trained on? just pick something i like or is there a preferred verbal cue for each?

 

[TAH]

Feet
Glad you got them trimmed. Our horse was left 2 years without a trim and her nails were extremely overgrown. We had them cut 2 times and they were never a able to heal properly due to being left for so long but we did get them under control.

Leading
First of all you want her to be okay with you putting the halter on her. Daisy out horse was very abused. When we got her and I first reached for her halter to hook her up to a lead rope she fought a bunch (I later learned that when she disobeyed she was grab by her halter and slapped in the face a bunch). I took her halter off and left it off for a 2 days just to give her a brake in it. Then a started with petting her with it. She did not like this at first but was quickly okay with it. Then I moved to have her touch it with her nose pretty soon I could slip it on and off with no issue. Don't just leave it on her, each time you go to work her put her halter on then when you are done working her take her halter off.
Daisy also had a issue with pulling a did not use a stick or anything or the sort. I started with holding on to her halter for walking around. This makes it so she can't pull at all. Then I put the lead rope on giving her only a little bit of slack. From there she pretty much didn't pull at all but when she did I would make her halt and start at my side once again. It took her a bit to be okay with me leading her not her leading me.

Daisy tossed her head at me a lot.