'Damaged' horses- success stories please!

slumdog

slumdog

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Feeling a bit down about the extent of crazy ponys issues :( although we had a brilliant schooling session today, her issues seem to run deeper than I first thought. After frightening herself at a filler a couple of weeks ago, which resulted in me sitting on the floor and her bolting after I fell in panic, she now seems to be terrified of fillers. Tbh, I thought she was taking the p, but even the sight of one tonight in the school reduced her to a sweating, trembling wreck. I'm sure it runs deeper than that one incident by the way she bolted in panic after I fell off. If only they could talk :(

Can I have some positive stories about damaged horses and how they've been turned around? Need some inspiration.
 
I have a several year old thread on here called Dangerous mare that you might find interesting. About 12 pages long now but basically starts with me losing the will to live followed by lots of people telling me to pts (and a couple of positive suggestions). Finishes with me gushing about what a fabulous horse I have and how lucky I am to have her!

Don't know your story but good luck and be careful to trust your judgement. Plenty of very knowledgeable people but also plenty who would give up at the first sign that things aren't going to be easy x x
 
Oh bless you, she sounds like she'd gotten herself in a right tizzy :(

I do have a success story actually where at wits end something comes right...

The horse in particular was actually in the dressage reports for his first win at BD in H&H a couple of weeks ago.

He was sent to us by a client who was at her wits end with him and didn't know what to do. The words PTS were mentioned. He's very well bred and talented and she'd paid a lot of money for him as a foal but he was a runner and would do it intermittently for no reason at all, as well as broncing when first mounted and could rear. My mother and I took a chance on him and ended up buying him and after several months of blood, sweat and tears, an incident taking on a 6ft muck heap which he jumped, he's finally come good, he's confident, willing and getting braver by the day. Sure there are days when I could kill him for being stupid and over -reacting but it's a case of getting into his mind and reading his reaction before he does it. Even now after all this, the second he does something that I would deem dangerous ie) bolting 'blind', he'll be down the road faster than the hunt wagon can collect him.

Saying this, we had an extremely good support network, a fantastic trainer that was on 24/7 speed dial for encouraging words if we needed after a bad day and people with not so kind words to keep us going. If you feel you can work through these problems with her and gain her trust carry on slowly at a pace you are both comfortable with :). I hope my little story has inspired you a little but that even ones as bad as GT can come right :)
 
I have one that we rescued as it was running down the side of the road, tangled in barbedwire. Found his owner who didn't want him and we took him to the stables. He was eight at the time, still a stallion and had only ever been ridden by a big, fat man with a piece of rope and no saddle - poor pony is 13hh on tippy toes!
He was very wary of men (particularly cypriots,) he'd never had his feet picked out and he couldn't stand sudden noises or loud sounds when being handled.
Weve had him a year and a half now - he's great with the farrier and the vet (both men, one cypriot!) Hes had a rug on for the first time and is now being rebacked but its taken nearly two years to get to this point.
Unfortunately we found out that a scar that he had since we got him will prevent him from doing much more than trot -he was shot, if you'll believe it, and there's still pellets in his leg! - but hell make a fantastic little hacking pony or for children to learn on or even a companion :D
 
Have u thought about natural horsemanship? Great for confidence giving. Ive got a section d that had had the crap beaten out of him and wouldnt let u near him. Still very headshy but i can put headcollar on, pick up front feet and pick out and brush. Still has issues with touch on face but getting there and not confident with hind feet and quaters area but getting there. Still needs sedating for farrier but my vet even said pts but i couldnt do it to him.

Also my tb would spook at tarps plastic bags etc but calm introductions using approach and retreat worked. Just a thought
 
slumdog said:
Feeling a bit down about the extent of crazy ponys issues :( although we had a brilliant schooling session today, her issues seem to run deeper than I first thought. After frightening herself at a filler a couple of weeks ago, which resulted in me sitting on the floor and her bolting after I fell in panic, she now seems to be terrified of fillers. Tbh, I thought she was taking the p, but even the sight of one tonight in the school reduced her to a sweating, trembling wreck. I'm sure it runs deeper than that one incident by the way she bolted in panic after I fell off. If only they could talk :(

Can I have some positive stories about damaged horses and how they've been turned around? Need some inspiration.
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Sounds like she's associating fillers with bad experiences. Turn it into good experience. Have you tried clicker training?
 
Many...all I can say is training and rehabilitation is not a one size fits all solution.

Some horses need a firm rider to get them to man up, some need time away to forget, some benefit from natural horsemanship techniques.

Your horse sounds like she may hold all of her tension over her neck and back...getting very sweaty and shakey when worried by something? If that is correct, what has worked with my ex racer who used to be the same is a mixture of vervain and valerian. I bought them at my local health food shop as dried herbs and did a 50/50 mix, feeding 2tbsp morning and evening for week one. Cutting down to 1 tbsp morning and evening through week two and gradually phasing it to 1tbsp a day for the next two months. You can do this for up to three months, but then must stop for at least three months. These herbs relax the nervous system. In horses that go to a nervous response before even taking a second to think, it helps them to just cope better and not react so quickly/badly.

I had Fly on it for 6 weeks and it made such a massive difference that I took her off it then. She hasn't needed to go back on it. It helped her learn a different coping response, where at the sight of a tractor, she would spin, jump away and generally want to die, she now stands, maybe takes a few small steps away, but just snorts a little and is getting better all the time.

Only thing is, you can't use Valerian if you compete affiliated.

Speak to a few local trainers, think about the different approaches that are mentioned and work out which you think would be best for your mare, but yes...issues can be overcome.
 
_GG_ said:
Many...all I can say is training and rehabilitation is not a one size fits all solution.

Some horses need a firm rider to get them to man up, some need time away to forget, some benefit from natural horsemanship techniques.

Your horse sounds like she may hold all of her tension over her neck and back...getting very sweaty and shakey when worried by something? If that is correct, what has worked with my ex racer who used to be the same is a mixture of vervain and valerian. I bought them at my local health food shop as dried herbs and did a 50/50 mix, feeding 2tbsp morning and evening for week one. Cutting down to 1 tbsp morning and evening through week two and gradually phasing it to 1tbsp a day for the next two months. You can do this for up to three months, but then must stop for at least three months. These herbs relax the nervous system. In horses that go to a nervous response before even taking a second to think, it helps them to just cope better and not react so quickly/badly.

I had Fly on it for 6 weeks and it made such a massive difference that I took her off it then. She hasn't needed to go back on it. It helped her learn a different coping response, where at the sight of a tractor, she would spin, jump away and generally want to die, she now stands, maybe takes a few small steps away, but just snorts a little and is getting better all the time.

Only thing is, you can't use Valerian if you compete affiliated.

Speak to a few local trainers, think about the different approaches that are mentioned and work out which you think would be best for your mare, but yes...issues can be overcome.
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I've never heard of that GG, really interesting
 
The little mare I lost at Christmas was a complete nightmare when I first got her. I was just a kid and was given this wild little beast who wouldn't pick her feet up, bolted, spooked, bit, kicked, you name it.

I can't give a magical overnight miracle suggestion but I can remember that time and patience and repetition were what worked. She became an absolute school master of a pony, safe with the smallest child, bossy aunt to the naughtiest youngster.

Safe but frequent exposure to triggers always works. Can you spend time just schooling in-hand/long reining/lunging near to fillers? Keep doing it every day until she relaxes again then move on to ridden work near them. Then lunge over, then finally ride over again. It might take several weeks (or more) but if you don't rush her and be sure to consolidate each time you get a relaxed attitude before the next step, it will work!
 
I wouldn't call your horses damaged OP!! she has just had a scare. With time and confidence that will come back.

You wanted a success story, I have one. I imported a PRE stallion 3 years ago, he was supposed to have been unbacked. After 6 months of groundwork going perfectly, we then backed him.....it was then obvious that something had gone very wrong when he was in Spain as there were many issues. He was sent to the best person (warwick mclean!) at £350 per week! and he did come on well. He has HUGE fear issues of being ridden. Now, after he came back to me I had many people try and school him, he blind panic bolted over pretty much everything.....a sneeze, a cough, a leaf moving...you name it. Many GP/PSG riders could not help, I was at witts end. He is such a lovely boy too, not his fault. Anyway, sent him to PRE classical dressage yard and his rider there still rides him now, few years on! everyone told me to put him down or retire him few years ago.....but I always paid for the best and it paid off in the end.

He has been showing for 3 years now and winning and being placed top 3 in breed showing, going to championships and qualifying. He goes to county shows and always gets high 60's/70's and placed in dressage now, even from first show. He is a quirky-superstar :D you still cant do your girth up when on him or adjust your stirrups when you're on him....but he is enjoying being ridden now which makes me the happiest mummy in the world :D
 
Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. She does seem pretty damaged, this sudden fear of fillers is the tip of a large iceberg.

What I know, I've had her a month now, she's a reasonably experienced 13.2 jumping pony and has been registered bs. She is 8 and has 10 previous owners (I'm number 11) from what I've found out, a girl had her and sold her to a friend, the friend had her a few weeks and either sold her back to the girl who sold her to a dealer or friend sold her to a dealer. Either way pony ended up with a dealer who wasn't very honest and sold her to a lovely lady as a child's riding pony. Pony went brilliantly when they tried it, they bought it and within a week of having it, pony had terrified the poor kid. At some point another girl had her on loan but she's done pretty much nothing since last summer.

She is a diamond on the ground, lovely manners, comes when you call her, practically loads herself, not marish. She is also an extremely talented jumping pony.

To ride she is extremely highly strung, she will 'throw the towel in' and rear if forced to do something. She fires herself at jumps at 900mph and will cat leap and bounce on the spot. It took me a week just to get her to trot. I've not been jumping her at home because its pointless and we don't achieve anything. She seems quite whip shy and she has a very exaggerated 'tuck' when she jumps, she hates to touch a pole. I think she's had her brains blown by someone who's wound her up and took advantage of her talent, it's now almost as if she's had some sort of mental breakdown.

(p.s All physical aspects have been checked- no such thing as a cheap horse lol!)
 
Hey OP
Your mare sounds similar to my gelding when I got him. He was whip shy, would not let you near his head with anything other than your hand, had no mouth and had two speeds - stop and warp speed. He would not go near water (puddles, the beach, water jumps, etc)

It has taken me 18 months of working with him to get him to where he is now. He is now working in a correct frame consistently, he has ground manners, doesn't hoon over jumps at light speed, will let you do what ever you like with his head and can be ridden with a whip. He has changed so much in 18 months that I even use him to give friends children rides on. He has a wonderful energy around kids, is very patient and they adore him. People who knew him from when his old owner had him cannot believe he is the same horse, he has changed that much.

I used my own mash up of join-up, natural horsemanship and conventional training methods - mostly conventional schooling methods :) My advice would be to take your time, explore other methods of training and use common sense.
 
slumdog said:
Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. She does seem pretty damaged, this sudden fear of fillers is the tip of a large iceberg.

What I know, I've had her a month now, she's a reasonably experienced 13.2 jumping pony and has been registered bs. She is 8 and has 10 previous owners (I'm number 11) from what I've found out, a girl had her and sold her to a friend, the friend had her a few weeks and either sold her back to the girl who sold her to a dealer or friend sold her to a dealer. Either way pony ended up with a dealer who wasn't very honest and sold her to a lovely lady as a child's riding pony. Pony went brilliantly when they tried it, they bought it and within a week of having it, pony had terrified the poor kid. At some point another girl had her on loan but she's done pretty much nothing since last summer.

She is a diamond on the ground, lovely manners, comes when you call her, practically loads herself, not marish. She is also an extremely talented jumping pony.

To ride she is extremely highly strung, she will 'throw the towel in' and rear if forced to do something. She fires herself at jumps at 900mph and will cat leap and bounce on the spot. It took me a week just to get her to trot. I've not been jumping her at home because its pointless and we don't achieve anything. She seems quite whip shy and she has a very exaggerated 'tuck' when she jumps, she hates to touch a pole. I think she's had her brains blown by someone who's wound her up and took advantage of her talent, it's now almost as if she's had some sort of mental breakdown.

(p.s All physical aspects have been checked- no such thing as a cheap horse lol!)
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First of all a month is not very long, and if she's had so many owners she could just be feeling generally unsure of you.
Apologies if I'm wrong but it sounds like you want this pony because of her jumping talent. I would try maybe giving her a break from jumping and just let her chill for a while, hack out for a bit then slowly start to school her again then slowly start to jump but take her right back to basics and let her take as long as she needs. Listen to her, give her a chance to explain to you how she's feeling (I know this is sounding a bit woo-woo but I don't mean it to) It does sound like she may have been forced when not feeling confident so now she feels like she has to rush through everything. Spend time desensitising her to the stick as well. A riding whip is a great training tool and it's a shame that she should fear it.
 
Couple of things, she isn't very big is she being ridden by a/for a child? The reason I'm asking is because if time is a factor (i.e. being out grown by kid) then that adds an additional pressure. If she is for an adult and you'll have her for a while then I would echo the idea of time, she's been pushed around from pillar to post and probably had lots of confusing and contradictory training and riding.
For now I'd leave the jumping entirely focus on ground work, in hand stuff and schooling until you feel she is settled and responsive to you in those situations then slowly reintroduce poles and jumping.
I re-schooled a JA pony many moons ago as a loopy teenager. He'd had a terrible time of it, he was very very scopey and super careful so would stop rather than risking a pole which lead to him being battered by the former owner he kept dumping him on duff strides. The whole thing became so stressful for him that he'd shut down completely and was in a right mess. He did eventually come good but I don't think he ever completely lost the association and I think if I'd tried to BS him again we'd have been back to square one. He found a very lovely RC/PC home and did little bits of everything but mainly games and WH.
Something Tarrsteps said in a thread the other day about bolting to a fence out of anxiety rather than keenness really struck a chord with me. I think it is legitimate to say that some horses can not cope with competition pressure, although physically able it's mentally too much for them. If that's the case it's not fair to keep pushing.
This is a long and ramblely way of saying take time, get help, approach it from a different angle and see what happens. Either it'll relax, forget and come good or you'll have a pony that is safe and workable but not for jumping. Good Luck! :)
 
Waffles said:
seconded. It's brilliant for conquering scary stuff.
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Clickers all the way :-)

I feel a hypcrite posting here as I am the author of another live post at the mo called 'when is a horse 'dangerous'' - so clearly mine is not a total success (well, not with other people anyway, he's mainly fine with me). But yeh God, the things we've overcome. Fear of rugs, that took four years to get right, coloured poles, being mounted, saddles, boots, velcro, farriers, coloured headcollars (well we can do some colours nowadays - not anything too bright though).... anyway you get the idea. Mine's a welsh D so food oriented anyway but the clicker training was the thing that really made the difference. Even now, if I can see him tensing up, I just go back to the first few clicker things I taught him (even if i don't have a clicker on me) and jusdt quickly make him give a kiss, lift his leg, respond to 'back' and 'over' - it really chills him out becuase he knows it's 'fun' (i.e., it's easy, he can do it, and it means he gets rewarded). Even if you don't have treats or anything. I'd completely recommend it. Start with something not related to the filler at all so she can learn what's involved - touching a football is a good one. It's v easy, plenty of yuotube videos showing you what to do, but very straightforward.

Would love to hear how you get on.
 
Spanishneddy you stole my horse I too have a Spanish horse badley beaten he used blind panic bolt used to rear and box normally at your head bite then bolt or explode over nothing two years on he better no where near perfect but getting there and doing very well in dressage. Time and a lot of one step forward then two back he still explodes a lot but no where near as bad and doesn't try and kill you everytime now.
 
When I first got my horse I was literally a novice owner, competent enough on board but had no confidence on the ground, so I guess you can say a 16hh competition fit Dutch Warmblood was a bad first horse! He was beaten to a pulp at the first yard I kept him at, causing him to be utterly terrified of people and any small enclosed space (trailer, stable etc).

Moved him to another yard and had several dealers come to view him, I was offering peanuts for a horse who a few weeks ago was regularly competing. The only word I could use to describe him was unhandleable. He jumped over car bonnets onto concrete, reared on top of people, reared so high and so violently he'd flip onto his back, spin and buck to try and kick you in the face. List is honestly endless, I cannot describe how bad my horse was. It got to the point where a dealer told me 'the only money I'd pay for that horse is the bullet to put in its head'

Well, 2 and a half years later with a lot of blood sweat and tears, he is my best friend and my soulmate. Could not have asked for a more wonderful horse at all. He still does have the odd moment but on the whole he is perfection on four legs.

So stick at it, you will get there no matter how hard it seems!
 
slumdog said:
Feeling a bit down about the extent of crazy ponys issues :( although we had a brilliant schooling session today, her issues seem to run deeper than I first thought. After frightening herself at a filler a couple of weeks ago, which resulted in me sitting on the floor and her bolting after I fell in panic, she now seems to be terrified of fillers. Tbh, I thought she was taking the p, but even the sight of one tonight in the school reduced her to a sweating, trembling wreck. I'm sure it runs deeper than that one incident by the way she bolted in panic after I fell off. If only they could talk :(

Can I have some positive stories about damaged horses and how they've been turned around? Need some inspiration.
Click to expand...

I have an old thread on here called .. put to sleep or sell, never!!

this boy is now out on loan with wonderful people...whom just text to say hed been to the beach for a blast at weekend and was fab !

I also have a damaged mare, shes got lots of baggage but is one of the best horses I have ever had the pleasure to own !

Chin up xx
 
Can't quote because I'm on my phone :) I did buy the pony because of her talent, but not in a bad way. The lady who was wrongly sold her has known me for years, I used to compete against her daughter when we were on ponies and back then I had a very difficult pony. She contacted me and said she has potential but also had issues and let me have her for pennies. I bought her for her potential, but its not the be all and end all if I can never compete her. I have a lovely youngster as well and wasn't really looking for another, but she really wanted me to see her and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm also not on a time scale and I'm lucky to have my own place so even if it takes two years to get her sorted its fine. I was just loosing a bit of moral after being dumped for the 5th time lol (she's perfected the stop 'n' spin, unfortunately I haven't!)

I've clicker trained my dog but never heard it being used for horses! Is it the same principle?
 
I don't have a damaged horse success story but I just wondered whether loose schooling incremental of course with lots of praise and treats would help get your horse to a position where you were then safe to ride over them. I know horses get really spooked and scared when the rider has a fall so maybe your problem is two fold. The drive to get in the saddle sometimes can get in the way of progress. Good Luck
 
I have a pony who developed issues as a result of a series of events when he was young. He was neglected as a youngster, affiliated very young and jumped every weekend for years, stabled for 23 hrs a day which sent him loopy, then stuck out in a field and left which sent him loopier!

I started part loaning him 4-5 years ago, took him on full loan because I felt sorry for him then eventually bought him for the same reason.

He has been a nightmare at times - breaks out of fields, ******s off, dragged me and everyone else, once bolted when I was turning him out and ran literally over the top of me flattening me into the sand school.mive fallen off countless times, he's dumped me at jumps, knocked me over loading, nearly broken my cheek bone.... He weaves, has awful separation anxiety from my horse, stresses, has sweet itch you name it. I tried to find a new loan home for him as he was too much and I thought he might want a quiet companion home instead and he came back in a matter of weeks. I also tried finding a younger rider to loan him as thought that he might want to do more instead - but his legs are not up to that much after being over jumped when he was young.

Today he is my little dream pony. He still has his moments but we have a lovely bond and most of the time he is so calm and happy. I ride 5 times a week and enjoy relaxing hacks, he lets me put ointment onnhisvface for sweet itch without trying to head but me and when I go to get him in I call his name and his big face appears and he comes running.

I'm so glad I never gave up on him. He is worth every day that I used to want to kill him after he'd done something horrid.

This icing onnthe cake was when his physio (who has treated him for years and knows how bad he was when I first got him) commented on how happy he is now with me.

He's a gremlin but I wouldn't change him for the world and love him dearly.
 
We had one who was scared of fillers! He was THE steadiest horse I've ever met, but try and jump a filler? Nope, you're more than likely going on the floor.
He was scared of them, because another horse got his leg stuck in a ladder filler and bolted, chasing this poor horse around the school with it!!!
Neither were hurt, but he was left with terrible mental scarring.
He did get better in the end and would jump one with a bit of asking. I know he would have got there, but sadly died before we got a chance to finish what we started.

Have you thought about introducing your horse to fillers again from the ground? Maybe lead over a couple? :)
 
I bought my niece (who wanted to do Working Hunters) a pony she'd seen at a dealers for her 15th birthday. They live a distance from me and it didn't go well - they decided to sell him but understandably no one wanted him. Long story short he turned into a super star (so it can happen) he spooked at everything - but quick tip re. fillers - long line/loose school over first until they are a piece of cake to him - when you ride jump the scarey filler maybe 20 times in one session (I'm assuming it's not 5 feet high!) the key with overcoming fear is to finish with adrenalin/pulse rate low - otherwise it goes up again as soon as they get into same situation.
Good Luck!
 
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