do horses ever lose their fear of abuse?

QR

I think it takes a long time and a lot of patience.

One of our horses was abused, not by the dealer we got him from but before that(I was told by someone who worked with him at the time and was disgusted). He was weathered out at 630 ft no rugs and no hard feed, he is a very poor doer and is a WB, he looked like a charity case when we got him. Was hit with anything the owner could get his hands on eg a wheel barrow or spade and generally physically and emotionally abused.

When we got him he was so head shy you could not get his bridle on in less than 1/2 hour. We had to work very hard to gain his trust, even now he will not allow E. to touch his ears, but will allow me because I literally spent hours with him stroking his shoulder and neck and gradually moving up until he objected and then moved hand down and started again.

However please don't get an idea of a horse quaking in the corner of his stable, he went the other way and would attack if he even thought he was under threat. He mistrusted and still mistrusts men, he will not take any kind of shouting or physical punishment.

Now though we have a horse that is kind and gentle, a real gentleman. But behind that are his memories, he will be very standoffish with anyone, especially men, he does not know and will be defensive if approached too boldly. Will flinch if you wave your hands.

It is heart breaking because underneath he is a kind gentle boy made to defend himself by humans.


So I believe if you stick with the kind and gentle touch your lovely mare will come round, but she may never forget her past.
FDC
 
Don't agonise - this isn't YOUR fault. There's no quick fix here. I took a horse on loan from a lovely owner whose family had owned him since he was 7. He was then 25, and had been loaned out to 2 short-term homes over the previous 2 years (again, both really nice people). From day 1 he was totally switched off to me and anyone else on the yard and showed some dangerous behaviour when being caught. He was also very protective of his body and resented any change to his routine, presenting anorexia. He was like a lamb under saddle, though. It's taken a long time (10 years!) but I've brought him home enough times, nursed him through some nasty injuries, and just given him the stability he craves and now he's a loving boy with very little tension. He's even coped with losing his 10-year pair bond this year with no apparent ill-effects. Just keep plugging away, you'll get there!
 
QR

When I first got my girl she'd had a rough time of it; she was horribly whip shy and trembled if you patted her. I got her over some of this by firmly patting her down all over - if she twitched her skin away I'd keep patting gently until she realised I wouldn't hurt her. The rest was just treating her with kindness.

Yours will come around :)
 
ok i havent read all replies but my little lass - sec d - was battered abused whipped beaten before i bought her - i bought her simply because i believed she was asking for help. now half blind (shes 12) shes my rock my friend and just the sweetest kindest horse - there is always a way when you give love :) unrideable never shes a blast arnt you babyxxx
 
I haven't read the replies you've had, but will tell you of a pony I know that belongs to a friend of mine that I look after several times a week.

She bought him 5 years ago, he's a fab little fella, but if you open his stable door, he shoots to the back of it in fear.
His previous owner was scared of him, so used to enter the stable with a whip and beat him to the back of the stable :(
5 years on he's still the same, also difficult to catch, he's constantly uncertain of humans.
His owner has made huge progress, he's now fine with her and her son who the pony was bought for, but any fast sudden movements still makes him react the same.
I've been looking after him for about 6 months on and off now, he's only just started to trust me, and will now even pop his head over the stable door to say hello.

I've spent months playing a game with him, he has to let me give him a pet and he gets his sweetie. From this he has learnt that he's no reason to fear me, but it has taken ages.

I dont think he will ever forget what he has been through and will always be untrusting of humans, but he is able to learn to trust individuals in time x
 
I don't think any animal ever forgets serious abuse. Some friends of our rescued their dog when she was still quite a young puppy - she had been beaten by the owners son simply for being young and bouncy (who gives a puppy to an elderly person???) and was terrified of men full stop. The only man outside her immediate family she trusted was my dad and she was totally ok wiht him. Our friend's husband only had to say "EMMA!" crossly and she would cringe and crawl away on her belly to her basket and Bob would no more have lifted a finger to her than fly to the moon. My own cat has been with me for 6 years now and I still cannot reach out to stroke her head as she just draws herself back, and I've barely even had to tell her off as she is so well behaved, but that old distrust is still there. My horse was totally headshy where her left ear is concerned when I got her. It took over 10 years for her to show real affection for me (she was rather aloof although she could be cheeky) and although I can do almost anything with both her ears now, if she gets upset that ear goes out of bounds again. I've had her for 16 years. In the summer you can see all the whip marks on her left flank. I think all you can do is live with it and do your best to help them, but understand when they get apparently irrational that they aren't being naughty or awkward.
 
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