Training help needed

[nateabbylisadream]

Hello,

I have 2 Registered Shetland Pony's and 1 class B Mini. Dream is the boss of the herd. They have been rescued except for Tori who I got in July from Marcy Hillbrand. Dream and Tori are the shetlands and full sisters. tori deffinatly seems like she has been abused in past. She's scared of almost everything! Its crazy. She really seems like she was abused by a male. She's still afraid of my husband and if you raise your hand fast she goes through the roof and tries to jump over her stall to get away. She trusts me the most along with Dream. They are very much my horses. Abby Rose is more my hubby's horse but, since we got here to WI and have had to stay due to family issues there has been a huge change. We have to get Dream first because otherwise nobody will go anywhere. They plant their feet and refuse to move. Now some days are better then others. they will sometimes go from pasture to barn nicely and other nights you are standing out there making them run until tired and they go inside. I have never trained before and just go with what I read online or what my heart says. Now tonight is raining freezing rain and hubby went out to get them in and they played their game of Nope not doing it. So after 10 minutes or so he got on the walkie talkie and told me that they were playing games. So I got my boots on and grabbed an apple and went down. They came right to me and I got Dream and brought them inside.

Ok anyhow this will get long if I don't get to it. LOL~~ Got some questions for you all.

How do you train your horses that they should go into their stalls when its feeding time?

How should hubby try to get the girls to listen to him? ( He really is good with them )

How do you train your horse to come when called? ( Dream was doing this until we moved here and not sure why she's acting like this)

I have started Tori with her training on not being scared of things like taking a bucket, letting her sniff it and gently rubbing it all over her and lightly bumping it on her. Figured I would go with big objects and go from there. Our objective is for her to be a therapy horse like the other 2 and do pony rides.

Any help would be great!! If you have websites or books or whatever to suggest that would be wonderful also! I'd like to train myself as well, money don't grow on trees so can't afford a paid trainer.

Thanks,

Lisa

 

[MiLo Minis]

As you are new to horses and in a new situation I am going to guess that your horses were nervous about the new place, as horses tend to be, and because they acted a bit scary, even your Dream and Tori who were ordinarily okay, and it made you, or your husband, or both of you, a bit nervous. Horses are herd animals who pick up on feelings very easily. When they were being cautious and it made you nervous that feeling has transferred to them and escalated their nervousness which has escalated your nervousness and so on and so on.........

You need to take a commanding lead and say enough of this foolishness, there is nothing here to be afraid of. Take deep breaths and try to relax before going out to handle them. Your change in attitude will help immensely. If you are fine and it is your husband that is nervous, just don't let him handle them until they are more settled.

If you are going to train these horses yourself you need to find someone knowledgeable to help you OR do a LOT of reading and learning about horse behaviour. Your horses can teach you a lot if you are really observant when you are with them.

I would highly recommend that, if you don't already have one, you build yourself a round pen to work with them in. This can be as simple as putting rails across the corners of a small board paddock. Round pens are great because it is easier to keep the horse focused on you in a small area with no corners for the horse to "escape" into. Turn the horse loose in there and work on making them move off your body. Be careful not to push them so hard they attempt to escape over the fence! Watch what the horse does when you step this way or that. Find the horses' balance point on her body where you can keep her standing still by staying on that point. This will help a great deal with catching your horses. Right now there is a good likelihood that you are actually "chasing" them away from you without realizing it.

I find one of the best and most enjoyable ways to settle a horse is to groom them. There are all kinds of places on a horse that they can't get at to scratch themselves. Watch 2 horses standing head to tail mutually scratching withers - they LOVE it! You will have to be careful not to let them "groom" you but simple gruff "eh" will stop that likely. If you can tie them in their stalls safely to do this they will associate the stall with feeling good.

Put the horses feed in their stalls before going out to bring them in. If they don't get grain get yourself a good supplement or treat that you can put in their feed bin. They will eventually realize that a soft bed, good food and treats await them and associate the barn with good things, they will be eager to come in - mine lineup at the gate.

Good luck with them!

 

[txminipinto]

MiLo has some great advice.

First off, I'm going to offer some tough love. Horses are not dogs nor should they be treated like them. They are herd animals and they follow the herd boss. It sounds as if when you are feeding in the evening you are wanting the horses to run into the barn and into their stalls. While this may be convienant, it does not establish you as a herd boss nor does it do well for establishing ground manners and the like. My advice to you would be to halter each horse and bring them into the barn and put them in their stalls with food. By haltering each horse you are doing a daily training session that should become routine which will make bringing the horses in easier down the road. It also teaches respect and manners. Do not let them run into you, shove you, balk, or refuse your request. If they balk or plant their feet like a mule, move their head and shoulders side to side until they untrack moving forward and then release pressure on the halter until they willingly walk to the barn. Again....buy some BOOKS on horse training. John Lyons is a good instructor.

Personally, if I have horses that exhibit these issues I prefer to seperate them removing the herd mentality. It's extremely difficult to bond with a horse that is bonding with herd mates. Stalling these horses, working with them daily, and offering individual turn out time can do wonders for the horse-human bond. They become focused on you and are much more willing to look for guideance from the new herd boss. That's not to say that they can't be turned out together ever again, but initially, they all must bond with you seperately and individually. I have 4 broodmares: 2 former show mares with me, 1 former show mare for someone else, and 1 broodmare that's done nothing else. This is how they rank in order of easiest to catch: 2 my show mares (have to practically beat them off), 1 someone else's show mare, and the professional broodmare. If you factor in the mule that guards - can't catch her to save my life and never will be able to without a chute - why? Because I've never bonded with her and she wants to be with the herd.

Coming when called? Again, horses aren't dogs but they can be conditioned to come up for feeding in a herd situation when fed OUTSIDE. At home, all of my broodmares (which most were at one time show horses so already have an established bond with me) are out together. When it's time to feed, I can't always see them, so I yell "come on girls" and shake the feed bucket. With in 5 minutes, they are all at the feed pans which have been filled with grain.

Your husband also needs some one on one time with the horses doing the things I've mentioned. In my experience, I've noticed that a lot of people are afraid to be dominant over their horses for fear the horses won't "love" them or bond with them. Horse crave and need a dominant figure in "their" herd. If YOU aren't the dominant one, you just become another member of the herd that can be ignored, kicked, bit, etc. They're alot like kids.

In closing, it's harder to get a herd of horses to do something than it is to get one horse alone to do something.

 

[nateabbylisadream]

Thank you very much for responding. We have had Dream and Abby ROse for almost 3 yrs. now. They have had more training ( round pen, 1 on 1 attention, treats , ect.) They didn't act up really until we got to WI which was a great introduction for them and they loved it and we played and so forth but, we goofed and I'll admit that and haven't had them in a round pen since we have moved and that was May 08. I know Bad Horse mommy and daddy! I feel awful myself. I love them to peices. Dream really acted up when we brought Tori home in July 08. We tried hard to introduce them the way we were told to. Its almost like the new addition set off a herd instinct and now Dream is really big boss and if she doesn't come to me ( which she does 90% of the time) then they run around. We normally just go into the barn then and start the feeding process and get those type of chores done and they come inside and then we get them into proper stalls. I have NOT round penned Tori yet. She does come to me but, will not walk with me unless Dream walks with or is inhead of her. I do try treats. It does work. Tori does trust me and will let me groom her with no trouble and hubby can pick her hooves and clip her with no problem. However they do tend to play games with hubby and now thinking of it its usually when he's in a hurry. I do think we goofed by making them run until they go inside. I agree to that fault:-(

We really want to do right by them and is why I came here for added suggestions.

Tori is the one that was more abused we feel. If you raise your hand fast she bolts. If hubby goes into the stall she bolts and bucks. I will take a video this week of it and somehow post it so you all can see. He has NEVER hurt her and tries hard to gain her trust but, she doesn't want anything to do with him. I'm lucky that she trusts me. I have put a lot of work into her of sitting by her and talking while scratching her and grooming her. Giving her kisses and doing some mild training of getting her to be not so scared. I feel sooooo bad for her. I'd LOVE to know who abused her so baddly and somehow send them to jail! Makes me so mad. I have thought of getting an animal communicator but, also don't want to get ripped off so need someone trustworthy for it. We are going to set up the round pen this spring as its really icy out now and don't want them to slip and hurt themselves plus us! Hate this time of year!! Wish there was a big barn or corral to go to and train there but, haven't heard of anything. I will try to do that video soon. Any other suggestions are welcomed!

Hugs,

Lisa

 

[muffntuf]

You have a PM. It mirrors much what Carin and Milo Minis describe to do. I don't think we need videos, your description was very good.

Just start to rebuild from here. Take your time.

 

[txminipinto]

You may want to try Bonnie Fogg - she's on the forum. I used her for a particular problem horse I had and she was right on the money. It was very interesting to see how on target she was. I would do it again in a heart beat.