New Mare was sold as "bombproof" How do I...

[Kelly G]

The most fun you can get out of your horse is to take lessons! Find a professional that you respect & learn as much as you can...you'll never regret it!

I have been riding for more than 30 years, and I still take lessons whenever I can - my students are invited to watch me take a lesson...and they love it!

Having a horse is a tremendous amount of fun - but it can be dangerous. You will see many people who have never had lessons, ride without safety precautions, basically - they have a horse & no knowledge...sometimes everything goes okay - for a while...and maybe forever...but sometimes things don't go well. And when they don't go well, it can be very, very bad.

As far as the foal - they can be dangerous, too. At the very least, they are a lot of work, a big nuisance, and useless for two years or more (God bless the responsible breeders who breed nice horses, take the time to make them nice citezens, and sell them to us with honesty!). One of the best things you can do is (in my opinion!!!) to see if you can get this foal to a trainer/rescue willing to train as soon as it's weaned. It takes years of experience to raise a nice member of society - really!

If you don't take the time/spend the money to train the foal (or re-home it to someone who can/will) you will really be raising another horse for slaughter. I am not lying or exaggerating - these are truths - and those of us who have spent a lot of time around horses will not disagree on all this.

I cast no judgement - and I would be willing to talk/email with you anytime.

Welcome to the wonderful of horse-ownership - there is no better way to spend a TON of money

 

[dianneS]

I bought a 15 year old OTTB mare a year ago. I am her fifth owner. She's a sweet horse and doesn't spook much either (for a thoroughbred!).

I knew that her previous owner had used her for a once a week, one hour lesson with her only advanced level student. That is all I knew of her training.

We've just been working things out as we go along. I know there are various training methods, different trainers use different cues and now that verbal commands are more popular, they can all vary.

My mare has been around the block, I was not about to start all over with her and some particular training method so that we would both be speaking the same language. For the first few months, it didn't seem like we were understanding one another at all! But over time, we're figuring each other out.

I've determined what cues work for me and her and as long as I use them consistently, she catches on really fast. For the most part however, I just communicate with her using my body, my energy, my thoughts and my mind. The non-verbal, non-tactile communication is the best anyway. When you start to read each other's minds, it is awesome!

As I continue to improve my riding skills, I'm discovering that this horse has had some really good training in her past. The more I improve, the easier it is for me to bring out that awesome horse within her!

Just ride well, make your intentions clear, concise and be consistent and the horse will catch on. It won't matter if it is the same methods or cues that the previous owner used or not. Just don't give the horse mixed messages and you will both be fine!


Take your time, you will both begin to figure each other out!

BTW what's with "Farrier" and the helmet lecture and "novice" cracks?? I didn't even read anything about you putting any children on the horse???

 

[ducks4you]

Hmm, I ride English and bareback and was never trained to use any word commands at all. Sometimes I use clucks and clicks, but I let my body do the real driving. Everything is body language, which both Western and English horses understand quite well, in my experiences. My trainers all pounded into me that I should be able to guide just about any horse completely with my legs, barely any reins at all. And I have, whether they were hunter/jumpers, barrel racers or pleasure riders.

I used to believe that was all that was necessary to control your horse. DH finally agreed to get horses in 1985, with the express purpose of Civil War Reenacting, which we began the next year and we continue to do. For 10 years I supported our horse habit by running a small riding academy and I taught English Pleasure, Hunt Seat, Beginning Jumping, and Western Pleasure. DH studied the mid-19th century US Cavalry Manual(s), especially, Cook's. Although my herd (which varied from 3 horses to 7) greatly benefitted by the handling of numerous riders and from being worked 5-20 hours/week, they also benefitted from verbal commands given during our weekly close-order drill with our Cavalry Unit.
There was a huge Cavalry Unit not 2 hours away from our house which (although didn't allow any women), DID have an open spring warmup. There were several hundred riders/mounts that, under their officer's tutelege learned closed order drill. We performed in file, by 2's, 4's, wheels (50 horses in a wheel is AWESOME!!) during the morning session. In the afternoon we learned mounting with a carbine--you choke yourself with it so it doesn't hit the horse as you get on--dismount and fight on foot, with 1 rider controlling 4 horses (See the movie "Gettsyburg" if you want to see what THAT looks like), and manuevers by company, among ALL of the other skills that the 7th Illinois Cavalry had studied and then we learned. Years after the lessons ended, my horses remembered the drill. As we train in our 3 yr old KMH, we work him with the drill. He is beginning to associate "turn left" , "turn right" and "halt" with the leg and body commands. (Currently he is learning to neck rein, so we won't advance beyond these until he's mastered them.)
I believe that horses like to be talked to, sung to and soothed by the human voice.

 

[Lil' Ramona]

This thread has been both interesting and helpful to me. I am somewhat of a newbie. I have had lease horses for about a year and a half and have taken English lessons for that period. I have recently purchased Blue, a western trained mare. I did ride her thou it was like we were speaking different languages! lol Once she is delivered I was planning on having a trainer come in and teach both Blue and myself until we learn to communicate effectively with one another for safety's sake and so I don't inadvertently teach her any bad habits. It sounds like I've got the right idea.

Thanks!