Saturday, May 22, 2010

My horse use to not be afraid and now is scared of objects.?

My horse went to trainer for 30 days to be broke to ride and before he left he walked with me down the road, would follow or go check things out with me. When he came back, trainer said he never bucked, but you couldn't steer him with direct rein and he is scared of everything. He is almost to the point of panic, What happened? Needless to say, I didn't take him back after the holidays. It's been a year now and he's gotten better, but is still scared to death of objects.
Answers:
Sounds like you did not have a good trainer. Go back to the basics. Spend a lot of time on the ground work. Take hime on walks again as much as you can. Introducing objects he is afraid of. (in a safe environment) It sounds like you are beginning to gain his trust again. Alternatively find a good natural horsemanship trainer and seek advice. These people are very caring and can help. I think you r doing a good job by the sound of it. Keep up the good work
I can't say for sure but my guess would be that the trainer used abusive techniques to break your horse. Horses should NEVER be broken, they should be trained %26 gentled. Some of the cruelty I have seen in the name of "training" animals has made me cry.

I am not against training animals.I have a very well trained dog that I show in obedience and am just starting in rally. But there are some pretty nasty training methods out there.
WHAT KIND OF OBJECTS? FIND OUT WHO ELSE USED THIS TRAINER AND ASK THEM SOME QUESTIONS. SEE IF ANY ONE ELSE HAS CONCERNS. MAYBE HE NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN. HE COULD HAVE AN ASSISTANT THAT NEEDS TO BE LET GO.
I agree with answer #1 sound's like the guy used abusive techniques. Your horse is now afraid of thin's. That could cause it to buck somebody off or at least get out of control.I suggest looking up a qualified trianer to retrain your horse. Try using slow introduction's and treat's to reward your horse.
IMHO You send your horse to a professional predator *clears throat* whoopsy I meant trainer.
I think you should try parelli every aspect of your relationship with your horse will get better!
I know I sound know-it-ally but it made everything better with my horse!

GOOD LUCK!
You don't state how old he is but I would get his eyesite checked. He may be going blind and things don't look the same way to him as they used to, or they are blurry which makes him scared.
Good thing you didn't take your horse back to that trainer. In 30 days your horse should accept a rider, have some reining experience and able to put trust in his rider. Since he is frightened of objects it's obvious the trainer did not spend any time with your horse and rushed the process. It is a different perspective for the horse, when you mount. They cannot see you anymore to feel safe. They have to learn another way by putting trust in you while your mounted. It's a long process.but one that can be fixed. Most important is when your riding him and he comes across an object that frightens him..stop, with your horse still facing the object, rub his neck, talk to him until he calms down saying things like "it's ok, good boy, etc". A good sign they have calmed down, is when they drop their heads down. Then move him alittle closer to the object.but stop again when he shows abit of fear, rub neck again, comforting words, etc. when he calms down move closer again. Keep doing this until the horse is able to get close enough to smell the object and shows no fear anymore. Always keep rubbing his neck and giving comforting words. This will help your horse to trust in you that the object won't hurt him. If when you leave the object and your horse shys from it again.do the process over again until you can walk by the object and your horse is uninterested. Do this to every single thing that frightens him. I would advise against walking around an object to avoid it. Your horse needs to confront what he is afraid of.with your help of course.

It will take alot of time and patience on your part, but you and your horse can over come any fearful object this way and form a wonderful bond together. Pretty soon your horse will no longer have fear in anything and will totally trust what you ask of him.

Hope this helps some. Good luck.

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