Anyone else have...

[Field-of-Dreams]

We have a yearling, bred and foaled on our farm, that is just, well, crazy. You have to literally corner him to catch him. Then once you have him, he just shakes, like he thinks you're gotta hurt him. The ONLY time we have ever gotten after him is when he kicked at us. THAT is NOT permitted! His dam is a sweetie, sire can be flightly, so I think the colt got it from dad. I had to trim his feet yesterday, you'd think I was gonna roast him for dinner. He leads and ties no problem, hooves were a bit flighty...

but I did get him trimmed up. I then sat and petted him for a good while- he just shook and shook... I feed this guy every day, he eats out of my scoop before it gets dumped, but boy, DON'T TOUCH ME!

Anyone else got a crazy like this, and what do you do with them? He's destined to be gelded, and we want to sell him, but nobody in their right mind would buy a crazy like this one.

Lucy

 

[littlehorse2]

I did. My gelding. When we went to look at the babies 2 out of the 3 mini babies came right up to us. Silverbell and her half brother Rory. Smarty's mom wouldn't let us touch Smarty. She didn't even want the owners to touch him, even when they were in the stall with them. We visited almost every weekend and it was always the same run and hide. Towards the end I could touch him alittle. When he got to our house we just made sure to spend alot of time with him. He was scared of everything! He will only come to me or my mom, he runs like the wind away from my husband. It's kind of funny

. I can tell you just keep spending as much time with him as possible and give him lots of treats when he does a good job. Now Smarty is lovable still a little skiddish, but better than he as last September when they came. Hang in there it will work out.

Christy

 

[Songcatcher]

We have a colt this year that doesn't want to be touched. We were there when he was born. We handled and played with him. My wife remarked how he was friendlier than the first foal (he was second). When we turned him and his mother out in the pasture with the other mares, ZOOM, he was gone. Doesn't want anything to do with us. He has never bit or kicked, never got close enough for that.

All our other foals will come right up to us, but not Elvis. We did catch him to bathe and clip him and haltered and took pictures. He was a little better after that, but not much. Within a week, he will be weaned and I hope by keeping him up in a lot, things will get better.

 

[justaboutgeese]

We had a Morgan foal like that . We could not touch him for love nor money. The only way to catch him was to get him and the mare in a stall then corner him. Once you had him it was like holding on to a wildcat !!!! The mare was calm enough to do anything with. Once we got him weaned I went to work on him. I got in the stall and stayed with him. No other horses, all food came from me, water was given in a pail and he drank then removed. He was watered by me every two hours , if he drank fine if not it was taken away again. AFter the third day I was able to touch him virtually anyplace on his body. Now it was time to go outdoors. Him and me in a pen on a longe line. No other horses in sight and no other company. Just me, feed water, and either the pen or stall. It was a long week but it was posative. he would come when called and stand to be handled brushed and went on to be a first rate driving horse. He was shown for atleast three years in the New York State fair and did well.

 

[Relic]

The only one we have like that we got as a 2 year old she's now in her middle twenties. Nothing including trainers that worked with her made her come around so we adjusted to her. She's very good once caught which is the tricky part and haltered but she sure is no love me kiss me type of mare if she thinks thats going to happen she gives the look and you back of. She's one of the few mares that was never taught to drive because she didn't like anyone to handle her for some reason l never felt the need to push past that just something l felt when l looked into her big black eyes..

 

[Minimor]

We've got one teenage mare that we bought from a friend, who in turn had bought her from a relative...who had picked her up at a sale. So, I don't know the mare's history prior to that, but I get the impression that somewhere back in her formative years someone was very mean to this little horse. We generally have to corner her to catch her, and before she's even caught this mare is hyperventilating. I feel bad for her every time she starts hyperventilating....I talk to her & scratch her forehead & she does quiet down, but then the next time I go to catch her, it's the same thing all over again.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I have a few!! Honey my Appy mare has always been a headcase- I never got a hand on her till she was a yearling!! I called her Honey as a positive reinforcement thing- give it a good name and it will be good- up till then she had been called "The Bimbo". For a week I had to corner her to worm her every day, and that was the turning point. I'm afraid her feet were a little long by then

I did get them done, and I do do them regularly now- although not as regularly as the other mares. I did her the other day and she thought about kicking me then thought better of it!! Her daughter, who I have shown this year, nearly killed me two days ago when I went to clip her fetlocks- she stood like a lamb and I dropped my guard and I swear i felt the wind as her hoof skimmed my eyebrow. Now I've had both brows split open my horses heads on two occasions and I can tell you - IT HURTS!!! I just sat on the floor and said all the bad words I know a few times. Then I twitched her and did it anyway. You have to watch this line when you let them go, too, as they will have you when they are free- Honey kicked me when I untwitched her the time before last, so now I try not to have to do it as if she can threaten a bit whilst I'm paring her she seems to be better. Pagan, her daughter, is very well named. I have had a few offers for her too, temperament and all, but she's not for sale. I actually like them all, and I admire their indomitable spirit , even if it is a pain in the backside when I'm trying to pare or worm!! I have a couple of matriarchs who will not be caught and fly around in a tizz when I try- if I do not want them they are lambs!!! Their kids are absolutely fine- no hysterics, nothing. Now, I bred all my stock, except my younger Stallion, and I bred their mothers, and theirs, and theirs, so I can't blame someone being mean to them- unless I'm sleepwalking

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

We have a few that way! A couple have legitimate reasons for their actions - not that I like it - but it's inherited from previous owners and/or neglect.

We did just have Bonnie Fogg do a reading on one mare that I had assumed had been abused, but she apparently is just a 'Deva' and wants things her way. I've had the mare six years, and Bonnie did give us a couple of ideas to make things easier, although she'll likely never be an easy mare to deal with on a daily basis.

As for selling them, you'd be surprised! I had a lady contact me about one that I advertised as having an attitude (in tact stallion), that treated everyone like another stallion - body slamming, etc., he never bit or kicked, but you could tell he was thinking about it! The lady raises Quarterhorses, took one look at him and said he was her type of guy - build and attitude! She called him 'Butthead' for awhile, which apparently he's not anymore. He tried all his antics on her and she called him on each one and is now very easy to handle. She did 3 or 4 days of continous brushing on him to get him to mellow out.

For our younger horses, 1-5 year old, we have a pen by the house that we use to isolate sick horses, and they go in there for a week or so for 'attitude readjustment' as needed. All our younger horses, under 5 have been raised here pretty much, so I know they've not been abused, hurt, injured, etc. So I'm not willing to cut them any slack on game playing, biting, kicking or general bad behavior they've developed on their own.

 

[victoria]

Yes we have one just like that... born and bred here, no one has ever layed a finger on her but her dam had an awful start to life and does NOT trust anyone too much... Does not trust MEN at ALL. However none of her other kids have been like this except Trinity.. This filly had a wonderful show career and to start with seemed to love being admired - just not touched, however we had an animal communicator talk to her as we were worried about her, and she said Trinty had never really bonded with any of the horses she grazed with (the show team) and that she hated being shown and she thought she'd won enough.... If we put her out with the broodmares (ie her mother) she'd let us catch her and do things needed to her but she did not want to be primmped or played with anymore and she most certainly didn't want to be dragged all over the country side... To start with we thought this lady had to be off her rocker, took the filly to 2 more shows, 1 she coliced at, the other she scowled in the ring and WOULD not even look interested. So we got home and turned her out with another filly by the same sire, who needed to go mature and the rest of the broodmares and guess what... those 2 bonded instantly, they sleep just about on top of each other, eat the same blade of grass, play, frolic and cavort together, but the best thing is You can't get rid of this mare now.. she follows you round the paddock... She has also bonded with the other broodmares now too so I hope it wont be a major when we take the other filly away when its time to bring her in and start preping her.

 

[Magic]

Oh yeah, I've had a few!!! My best show mare, purchased as a weanling, was flighty and jumpy, as was her second-born (my now-gelding Magic Mist AMayZingly Rowdy). They are both so sensitive that it took a LOT of time and desensitizing to get them to trust. At first, "Rowdy" was nearly impossible to body clip, was hard to catch, and leaped in the ring if the judge got too close.

He gradually got better and better, now he comes to me in the field and follows me around, he's mellow and has finally realized that it's ok, people are NOT going to eat him for lunch, lol!

I also bought a mare as a yearling, wow this one was WILD, you couldn't even TOUCH her, much less anything else. It took a long time to get her to trust me enough to catch her, deworm her, clip her bridle path, etc, and let the farrier trim her. She's still extremely sensitive but I can do everything I need to with her, without her being frightened. Most of her foals have been quite bold, not flighty, but one, a filly I named "Wildfire", is very much like her dam. It didn't help that she spent summers up on pasture near my in-laws' and had next to nothing done to her. She is extremely intelligent, very sensitive, but is now pulling a cart and doing quite well. Earlier this spring my vet couldn't even get a blood sample from her for a Coggins test (major rearing and acting up)-- now she stands quietly to be harnessed and hitched to a cart and has been in the show ring. Seeing progress like this really pleases me, and I am so happy for the horses, because being afraid all the time has to be a really miserable thing.

I guess all we can do is take our time and reassure them that they can trust us.

 

[HGFarm]

I've had some that just were snotty and didnt care to be handled that much, but never one that shook!! Have his thyroid tested. Our neighbors had a mare or two over the years that were like this and they were thyroid problems. The meds made them normal.

 

[ohmt]

We have a bunch of teen-mares that we bought from a farm where their foals were born in the pasture and left in the pasture til weaning. They weren't handled at all just left in the pasture-they were like wild horses. I have all of my mares on 20 acres of grass and trees and I go out back and I just sit there and watch them. Eventually they all get curious and come and let me pet them or they just watch me. I've been doing it for years-now they all trust me. They still don't like to be handled much but every once in a while they'll come up and let me pet them-just the noses though! They are fine once they're caught and are perfect little ladies. They just like to be out in the "wild". Some of them did shake when we first got them. Because they were so scared. We adjusted and gave them their room. Kicking is NOT tolerable though. Always reinforce that as well as biting.

 

[OhHorsePee]

Try a four year old.

It has gotten better and it has been (knock on wood) 3 days no kicks/no bites. And that is with a lot of work and a huge amount of help from this board!

Fran

 

[Miniv]

We have an unusual case here........

Long story on how we got this mare. She's over 20 years old and comes with a history....Most of what I know of her -- SHE has told me....like in a child's picture-book. Frankly I feel honored that she trusted me that much to share with me!

What she "told" me is in the next paragraph:

She was in a herd of a lot of horses and rarely handled except for when necessary, ie, worming and feet.... Her worth was in her foals and the owner yanked the foals away from her to sell, when they were only a couple of months old. She did a lot of grieving over that. She still remembers them..... Oh, and she showed me what her original owner looked like. He was an older man who wore overalls a lot.

Consequently her trust of humans isn't very high. I'm still working on it. She is extremely protective of the filly she had this year. The filly is HER'S and she wants HER time with her.

Although, we did imprint and spent time with the filly while they were stalled, the filly is on the wild side. I am allowing it for now.

I have promised mom (Misty) that we would not take her filly from her too early. And Larry has agreed that we would keep them together for longer than 4 or 5 months -- probably by 6 months, Misty will hopefully be ready by then.

The filly (we named her Phooey....long story) will be 4 months old this week and her mom still does not allow her out of her sight! This is very unusual for us. By now, most mares are allowing their foals to wander off and be much more independent!

Not Misty! All we can do is play it by ear......

MA

 

[CyndiD]

I have one too...

My yearling filly, was handled from birth..but not willingly. I had to catch her each time..loved on her and did all the usual things. She did not let me do anything without a fuss. During last winter I did not handle her as often and this spring she was even worse. I would catch her, with help, tie her up...brush on her, talk to her..and she would stand there quivering like I had just brought out a bullwhip.

I often thought of contacting Bonnie Fogg.

Then a few weeks ago, the farrier was here with his daughter and it was time to trim her, so I tied her up and walked away for a moment, the daughter (9 yr. old) went up to her and that filly stood there like an Angel had just landed

Ciera talked to the filly, brushed on her..and I just stood back with my mouth hanging open.

Just this last week, she is FINALLY letting me pet her rump without taking off..and tonight I put her in the barn for grooming and she stood quivering again till I got her haltered..but then she settled down.

Do you think Bonnie would be able to tell me just what is going on in her head????

 

[Miniv]

A quick answer......Bonnie can ALWAYS help with what is inside a horse's head (as long as the horse wants to communicate.)

I've had Bonnie read several of our horses over both simple and very complicated situations. If you want to know your horse, do it.

MA

 

[Jill]

My pony, Sundance, is my real big problem.

I can touch him. I can brush him. I can HUG him. I CANNOT halter him.

He will see that I have a halter regardless of how I try to hide it and I can't come within 10 feet of him after that. I've even tried leaving it in his paddock on a post so he won't see me carrying it (even put it under my shirt...), but it didn't work. When I have gotten him into a small area he acts like a nut and I'm afraid he will break his legs on the gate or fence and seriously hurt or kill himself.

I think this started out as a game to him. He's never been hurt, never mistreated, nothing like that at all. I've owned him since he was less than 3mos old. He's very stubborn, which is what happens when you live your whole life not having to do anything you didn't decide to do.