Bringing on a horse with no stables and the basics.

[CobSunshine]

A lot of people told me at the stables I left i'd find it hard to bring on a horse without a stable, as this helps them to rely on humans for food/gain trust very quickly etc, then others have told me most behavioural problems stem from stabling horses :-S

I'm looking after a 5 year old mare on my new field, she's a Nebo black magic stallion crossed with a gypsy cob mare, her temperament is superb. Lets me pick up all feet, groom anywhere, fine being tethered up, washed with hose, happy to just stand with you and be a complete companion, but I need to learn her how to walk away from the herd initially when I lead her with the rope, so i'm after some advice on this.

She's already been broken in, but only ridden a couple of times.

I have a large empty field I can use, and a long stretch of empty road, but no stables - she's been wintered out for 5 years.

Is it likely to hinder/help my progress with her living out with the herd 24/7? and would it be best to take her off the field onto the seperate field to work with?

 

[Tinypony]

Depends on the horse. Why not take her for a walk and see what happens? Generally I'd avoid taking a horse away to live on it's own just to get it trained, you can set yourself up for even more problems when you return it to company.

 

[CobSunshine]

Depends on the horse. Why not take her for a walk and see what happens? Generally I'd avoid taking a horse away to live on it's own just to get it trained, you can set yourself up for even more problems when you return it to company.

sorry i was meaning would it be better to use the field away from the other horses for training only, or the road where she can see the rest of the herd?

 

[Tickles]

Is the road a safe place? e.g. a private one with on your own land with no traffic/access to 'real' roads? Obviously you don't plan on her getting loose but safety of your horse/other road users has to be taken into account just in case.

 

[siennamum]

sorry i was meaning would it be better to use the field away from the other horses for training only, or the road where she can see the rest of the herd?

I have no arena and am limited with facilities. You just have to plan things a bit more. Set yourself some simple objectives. For instance, bring her up, create a space - by the gate maybe, where you can groom, pick out feet, tack up & then take her into the spare field as her work area. I woudl want her lunging sweetly in your spare field before you do anything on board. Get her used to your voice commands and going forwards calmly. You could try fencing a work area off in your field if she is silly in a big area.

In time I would ride her first in the field and then with a friend on foot along your lane. You could lead her up & down the lane a bit or long rein her if you are confident.

Make sure you stay safe & have someone either with you or knowing when you are expected home while you are working with her.

Don't change anything about her management. So long as it is safe and she is happy it's fine to hoik her in away from the others and expect her to work. Give her lots of fuss and rewards and she'll really enjoy her time with you and is unlikely to be bothered about leaving the others.

 

[Festive_Felicitations]

I would work her in the seperate field so that she gets used to being on her own and it should help her focus on you and not be distracted by the others.

Also hopefully if you take her out when she is older you won't have less/no trouble with her napping towards the others/back to her friends/the warm-up etc.

 

[celia]

I'd try both and see which she prefers! Our lot live out all year round, although we do use the stables occasionally if the weather is really bad. Obviously you have to be aware that sometimes you are going to have ground which is frozen or muddy and unsuitable for working on but in your horses mind a fenced field is no different from an arena as long as you establish that it is where you work. Most horses will not be easy to work with in their own field as this is where they eat, sleep, play etc.

For introducing her to doing things on her own I would just take her out on short walks, a little further each time, until she's happy with it. You could let her have a little graze at the furthest point if she's inclined to nap as this gives her a 'reward' for coming out on her own with you.

 

[CobSunshine]

Is the road a safe place? e.g. a private one with on your own land with no traffic/access to 'real' roads? Obviously you don't plan on her getting loose but safety of your horse/other road users has to be taken into account just in case.

Hi,

its a private road, so no traffic/people whatsoever, but a view of x2 stallions on the ajoining field, and the rest of the herd on the other field. The stallions would usually come right upto the fence as you walk down the road, getting quite excited if another horse comes close by.

I have no arena and am limited with facilities. You just have to plan things a bit more. Set yourself some simple objectives. For instance, bring her up, create a space - by the gate maybe, where you can groom, pick out feet, tack up & then take her into the spare field as her work area. I woudl want her lunging sweetly in your spare field before you do anything on board. Get her used to your voice commands and going forwards calmly. You could try fencing a work area off in your field if she is silly in a big area.

In time I would ride her first in the field and then with a friend on foot along your lane. You could lead her up & down the lane a bit or long rein her if you are confident.

Make sure you stay safe & have someone either with you or knowing when you are expected home while you are working with her.

Don't change anything about her management. So long as it is safe and she is happy it's fine to hoik her in away from the others and expect her to work. Give her lots of fuss and rewards and she'll really enjoy her time with you and is unlikely to be bothered about leaving the others.

thanks, i will denote a set area for this so she associates it.

When I use the lead rope to bring her away from the herd, if she doesn't walk on initially - is the best thing to circle her and then try again?

I would work her in the seperate field so that she gets used to being on her own and it should help her focus on you and not be distracted by the others.

Also hopefully if you take her out when she is older you won't have less/no trouble with her napping towards the others/back to her friends/the warm-up etc.

good advice

I'd try both and see which she prefers! Our lot live out all year round, although we do use the stables occasionally if the weather is really bad. Obviously you have to be aware that sometimes you are going to have ground which is frozen or muddy and unsuitable for working on but in your horses mind a fenced field is no different from an arena as long as you establish that it is where you work. Most horses will not be easy to work with in their own field as this is where they eat, sleep, play etc.

For introducing her to doing things on her own I would just take her out on short walks, a little further each time, until she's happy with it. You could let her have a little graze at the furthest point if she's inclined to nap as this gives her a 'reward' for coming out on her own with you.

would giving her a carrot for example or some pony cubes at the furthest point be a good reward?

 

[Toffee44]

I have broken one pony in and am bringing on my mare, Samba as we speak. I have grazing and a shelter, however I think its definately a summer job not one for the winter. I tend to fence off a part of my field with electric fencing, dont let them graze it and keep it as a "work area". All I can do in the Winter is hack really.


sorry to hi jack, Me and Samba are going on our first solo hack this afternoon eeeee excited. Just a bit actually

 

[thinlizzy]

yes you can and in my case was better way i kept him in a field miles away from home 3yo newly backed no school why just straight out hacking and leading out for walks on foot and a long track on a nearby farm and im a novice there was a big flat field nearby id do large circles etc did this ayear he had to hack out solo we had no one there was older horses /unbroken ones in field for company but hes a very confident young chap

 

[siennamum]

When I use the lead rope to bring her away from the herd, if she doesn't walk on initially - is the best thing to circle her and then try again?

would giving her a carrot for example or some pony cubes at the furthest point be a good reward?

I would be reluctant to circle her. You have to tread a fine line between being assertive and making her want to spend time with you. If you think she will be nappy & rude going away from the others it might be a good idea to take her into her 'work' field and giving her a small feed, even if it's only chaff, to encourage her in there and have her settle in there.

If she plants when you lead her, personally I just keep a mild pressure on the headcollar, keep facing forward, and then release it immediately as she moves forward. If you find she is a pain to lead then that's lesson no 1. If this is intimidating tho, it would be a good idea to have someone give you some pointers on the ground. It can be a bit scary, if they are being rude and it's easy to make mistakes and give them mixed messages.

If she is being good though, I would bring her up for a few days, give her a pretend feed (in the other field) and a bit of fuss. She will start coming to you - makes life a lot easier.

 

[Faro]

When my boys were young I simply ran then on in a field with no facilities whatsoever, on a steep hill and with just a track leading to a quiet residential road beside the field. I walked them in hand and long-lined in a part of the field separated by electric fencing (rotated every so often) as well as up and down the track. I even did my very first ridden work with them there (until the time came to move them away to somewhere where I could ride on the flat and hack out properly). Mine got used to going out alone - they also got used to (on the quiet residential road) very light traffic, roadsigns, wheelie bins, lawnmovers, drains, you name it...

It can easily be done - even if you have (as I had) nowhere apart from a field on a very sttep hill (no flat areas whatsoever) and roads to ride on - although as I said, in order to bring them on further, I did eventually need to move them elsewhere to somewhere I could expand the options as to where and how I could ride.

I didn't "work" them every day - nor at the same time very day. Some people prefer routine, but my deliberate choice was to keep things varied, so that they didn't start to become evasive if they anticipated it was "work" time. So of course some days they just got fusses and cuddles instead.

As for not wanting to leave the others - if that is the case, whether in-hand or ridden, it sometimes helps to get them moving forwards (after they have planted themselves) if you take control of the shoulders. If you can encourage them to take a step sideways with the front feet (but not allow them to turn all the way around) then that sideways motion is often enough to encourage a forward motion as well. (Sorry, I know exactly what I mean, but I'm just being useless today at trying to put it into words).

 

[CobSunshine]

Update :


she's now following me after giving her a welcoming treat when I approach her on the field.

She will follow me for 2-3 mins away from the herd to a gate in the corner of the field where i groom her.

Saturday morning I put her head collar on at the gate and led her down the private road, she stopped once next to the rest of the herd by the fence and pulled her head up high when I encouraged her to walk on, like she didn't want to budge. - I walked her a little sideways and she walked on.

She seems to like being praised and patted on her side neck.

Took her for a 45 minute walk in total, good as gold.

The only hurdles (literally!) were some kind of bridleway antimoped gate, which had a 6" step she had to go over. She wouldn't and stopped in front of it with puppy dog eyes not knowing how to get past it. Used a carrot to eventually lure her over - and she did a crude mini hop.

The next one over straight away, so gave her loads of praise, on the way back she went over them like second nature.

Going under motorway bridges didn't bother her with very loud traffic, loose dogs were fine, as were a loud bang in one of the old train tunnels on the bridleway.

The only issue on her first outing was puddles! she just wouldn't get her feet wet and would skirt round them, any tips? (i don't think she's ever seen them on the 24/7 grazing field before)

 

[turkana]

It is possible, I bought an unbroken 3 year old when I was 17; I had no facilities just a shared field.
I broke her in & schooled her (alone) in a corner of the field with other horses in the field with us, they would be distracting sometimes but we just had to deal with it.
I made up a schooling area with traffic cones & bits of wood in a corner; being alone like that in some ways made things easier, we could make mistakes & bumble along together without know it all bizzy bodies watching over us.
It worked out fine though I kept her for another 27 years & had a lot of fun with her, so it didn't have a negative effect on her training at all.

 

[badgerdog]

Just because your horse won't have a stable doesn't mean that your horse can't be handled, have a routine and rely on humans. I brought on a youngster from 7 months to 3 1/2 and she lived out 24/7 with a herd. I took her out of the field every day, tied her up, groomed her and gave her a little feed. I sold her on very well handled and lightly backed. She's doing really well now and her new owner can't believe how well she copes with everything as a 4 year old and often uses her as a lead for her daughters considerably older pony!
I didn't have an arena either, just a field for part of the year, a quiet road and the car park which was useful for long reining.
It can be done, it just takes more planning. Good luck!

 

[siennamum]

Don't worry about the puddle thing, or make an issue of it. In time she'll realise they aren't scary. Ideally you need lots of little ones to splash through & the odd one she has to go in to get where she's going.

Sounds like it's going great guns tho.