Following on - how many people own previously abused horses?

[Nudibranch]

Reading LW's thread, there are a few who have been abused in past lives. I always thought it was a bit of an exaggeration and that some people perhaps attributed headshyness, etc, incorrectly to having been beaten in the past. Then I got the Fell. Her previous owner bought her from Appleby and she's a great little ride and drive. However one day she tried to rub her head on me quite vigorously so I let my elbow catch her - good grief. She was terrified. Ran back, head in the air and flinching sideways, blinking and doing that groan/exhale thing. You could see she thought she'd been hit. She is always flinchy when being brushed on the neck and head, which I've been working on, but I knew after that she'd been handled roughly to say the least. Such a shame as she is so genuine and willing to please - not that any horse deserves it but especially not one like that.

So it got me wondering. Who else has a horse who's been mistreated, and if so had they been owned by a certain group of society in the past?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I bought a rising 4 yr old, many years ago, from her breeder who had bought her back from a farmer that she had previously sold her to. She had been mistreated in that she had been starved. Unfortunately this, combined with the fact that the breeder had then fed her up quickly, meant that she developed serious food sensitivities, which made her very difficult to handle.

I later bought a Clydesdale who had been roughly handled in a RS, which I know because i witnessed a staff member hanging off her ear to try to put the bridle on, rather than asking her to bring her head down, She was very wary when we got her home but we trained her out of it (admittedly we were tall).

Then I bought the Draft horse from a private home where her tack didn't fit. She was sold to me as a horse that bit. She was very shut down when we got her home. She was petrified of having 2 people near her for the first few months that she was here, until she realised that we meant her no harm. She was always wary of my reaction if she did anything questionable while being tacked up. Needless to say she stopped threatening to bite when she got used to having tack that fitted, although she was less wary if she also had hay.

So no, they had not been mistreated by any particular group of society. Anyone can mistreat a horse and unfortunately many do. I have owned 12 horses over the years, so 1/4 of mine had been mistreated in some way by previous owners.

I hope that this figure doesn't mean that we can extrapolate that 1/4 of all horses are mistreated in some way but I do think that we have to be very careful not to think that horses are abused by 'them' and ignore/make excuses for other people.

 

[paddi22]

yep i've had a few in the past and currently have one that was an ex sulkie racer. She just completely shut out people when I got her. She is perfect now 99% of the time and a very calm, happy confident horse but the odd thing will happen and she will get very upset.

Like was she eating from a bucket on the ground, and someone swept a brush near her head, and she was reacted like they were going to wallop her on the head, she was absolutely petrifed, had never seen her react that way to anything. She also won't walk slowly out of a stable if there is a man standing at the door just outside (fine with women and kids) , she will always run forward as if she was expecting to get slapped. She also hates lurchers in general and the onloy thing she naps at on the road is men with lurchers, (other dogs shes fine with, they vaguely annoy her but shes not scared of them).

The plus side of the rescues I get in are that they are usually bombproof. The ex-trotter has absolutely no fear of fillers, or strange jumps, it's like she doesn't register that they should be scary or different from other jumps, she just sees a shape to jump over, regardless of what it is, which is amazing! The rescues I have gotten in are also a lot less jumpy - door can bang, gates swing over and bang, things fall around them and they react less than my others.

Another older rescue just absolutely hated adults, had no time and wouldn't interact or engage at all. But it absolutely lit up when small kids came near and completely transformed into a different pony.

I do feel sorry for them when I see old associations coming up unexpectedly for them. the brush thing really threw me, I had never seen her so genuinely frightened, I can only assume people walloped her with brushes on the head at some stage

 

[Ceriann]

My charity pony was quite difficult when I got her. Very sweet, shy and not sharp in any way but if something scared her she would just barge her way out. She could be dangerous in the stable and had no real ground training. A lot of this has improved but it’s always there if something upsets her and she finds change very difficult. I had her backed and whilst she took to being ridden brilliantly the whole riding experience was too much - a real handful to hack out, mix with other horses etc. I decided to revert back to companion. I knew little of what happened to her when i got het but i now know she spent 2 months in a vet hospital in a very bad way.

 

[jumbyjack]

The first time my hairy cob was clipped i found around 100 lash scars across her backside, these must have happened before two as I knew her history from then. She also had anger problems when it was unsafe to go in the field with her.

I have a mini Shetland who was terrified of men and would hyperventilate and run backwards. She was also frightened of horses behind her as she had been left all summer with a large colt who continually served her, her could stand over her with all four feet on the ground!

 

[pennyturner]

It's not always deliberate. One of mine was totally messed up by a jumpy owner, to the point that he was unbroken at 6, kicking out at anyone who tried to touch him. He was a typical sensitive welsh, and though I don't think she'd hit him, she over-reacted, and so did he, with catastrophic results. It took 5 days to break him ride and drive, but a further 2 years to properly settle him.

Another of mine had been allowed (quite deliberately - she had 2 others who were fine) to starve by the new girlfriend when the husband had got custody after a split... totally shameful.

How about the one with long-term back damage caused (IMO) by over-jumping a talented and willing pony way too young. How many would have recognised that as abuse at the time?

 

[Denbob]

Mine wasn't deliberately abused, he was very much loved in a "he's my pet" sort of way, but he was being overworked as a 3yo in ill fitting tack, and shared by someone who was far too heavy for him and far too nervous. As a result he learnt a lot of evasions and can nap really badly with little self-preservation, before I took over the share the owner's response was to beat it out of him with no consideration to addressing the underlying causes (pain and fear). His shoes were 4 to 6 weeks overdue (which I ended up paying for my friend's farrier to look at) and it took me 6 weeks to convince her to even hear me out about saddle fitter/physio. He was also never taught basic ground manners because he was 'too cute to tell off' (she'd owned him since 6 months) so she was scared of handling him once he got big enough to throw his weight around. Eventually she got bored of me nagging and offered to sell which I jumped at.

Ultimately he was just too young for what the owner wanted and she resented him for not being physically or mentally able to cope which has led to a lot of issues down the line.

 

[milliepops]

I definitely have a messed up one that wasn't deliberate. Just novice owners that couldn't read the signals their horse was giving.
My little welshie was kept on her own and that has really had a lasting effect on her. She's incredibly clingy and has awful separation anxiety. It took ages for her to look relaxed in the field even when she had company and she had a really strong panic-and-flee reaction whenever i tried to stable her.

4 years in and she's happy to stable/travel etc and is a really lovely soul to train, but there are still things that she just can't do and she's really happiest in wide open spaces, always seems like she's harking back to the plains where she could see predators from a long way away!

Sometimes I think you never find out what happened to them. Salty has some really weird reactions and given that I picked her up from the local bin-end sales I will never know her history between leaving her breeder and arriving with me. She's obviously been in a crash of some kind as her bum is full of scar tissue and she's terrified of trailers. So many messed up horses out there, I just hope that the ones I can have interactions with can be helped to be happy and content

 

[Celtic Fringe]

Not one of mine, but my old cob is out with a Hanoverian who was, at best, roughly handled in the past. He is normally a big gentle horse but there are a few things things which will make him blind panic. The first time my friend went to worm the horse he tried to pull back and then stood shaking in fright with his eyes rolling - he was expecting to be beaten.
As a teenager I helped at a yard where there was a small rescue TB who had been beaten and starved. I was absolutely mortified when skipping out her box I moved the fork back to pick up a dropping and she shied so hard she slipped and fell over - she thought I was about to wallop her. With careful handling she settled very well and made a very nice pony on the ground and also ridden.

 

[Damnation]

My big girl has been abused at some point.

She was mis-sold to a nervous friend, but it was an explosive situation as neither her or my friend could handle nerves, they both needed confidence. I then took her on as her last chance basically, she is 10 and has had alot of homes. Because she is not only huge, she has a nervous side, people have gotten so far with her and then I think beaten her on the ground and given up on her.

She arrived with no personality, very shut down. She loved turning her bum on you in the stable as a complete defence mechanism to "hide" in a corner. I took my time, and not only is she a million times more relaxed, the horse that was scared of people comes to call in the field even mid summer. She is a bit jumpy for a foot trim, but I don't need to have her sedated which her previous home did.

Her main issues were tack and being mounted, I've ridden her several times with no real issues!

 

[ShowJumperL95]

My bay gelding had definitely been abused in some way down his life because he is aggressive in the stable and around food, we have got a very strong bond now as I have had him for 4 years and he just likes to pull faces now no teeth baring and I can brush him and skip out his stable with him in there eating his food.

 

[zaminda]

My new forest has issues. He is utterly lovely most of the time, but if he does anything which could be seen as naughty he leaps back expecting you to beat the living daylights out of him. Ditto if you shout at him, and I find I just have to be quieter than normal. He also has stick issues, you can hack out with one, but if carrying one in the school, you have to warm up first, then carry one. He is also far worse in the school. He came from a dealer who mainly rides in the school, but the lady who bought him was told she hadn't really ridden him in there, and showed him out round open fields instead, where he is perfect.
My Irish mare has serious issues, again came from a dealer and went to a family as a teenagers first horse (at 6!). I worked for them and it was always obvious there were no basics, but they pushed for results when her behaviour was showing she needed being patient with, because she was terrified, and she simply got worse, which is hardly surprising. She is now mine, and is simply bad tempered rather than being fearful, with progress being made all the time. I will say as attack was always her form of defence, I would happily have shot it myself when trying to work with her on a deadline!

 

[Chinchilla]

My little New Forest was beaten as a foal. She used to be very, very nervous, but is much better now, though she does worry about some odd things.

 

[SEL]

I just don't know about Militaire but there is something in his background which makes him as anxious as he is. He's not a very demonstrative horse so the signs of being unhappy are more subtle. With smoke and the smell of hot shoeing though it's sheer terror. He ran into a breeze block wall in panic when I first knew him.

His background in the UK is well known and positive reinforcement was used for the trick training, so I think his trauma was before then. He has a strong flight response, which is why I've never put him into harness - no debating with 750kg of scared draft horse. Having him spook and bolt for home long reining showed me that.

Luckily his main job is to be a pet and given he adores kids he does it very well.

 

[Merrymoles]

My horse has lots of issues, some of which have more or less resolved, but as I know very little about his history I have no real idea if he has been abused, ignored and never taught anything or just has a very anxious nature!

As mentioned it the other thread, I tried riding with a stick last night for the first time in the six years I have owned him and he appeared to be terrified.

When I bought him he was a biter - quite a nasty one - but that has been resolved over the years and, although he is still very mouthy, he seldom uses his teeth these days.

He was headshy and I think the two were related. He is no longer headshy to the point where he can cope with a reminder tap on the nose if the teeth appear.

He does not like his legs handled at all, although he is pretty good with his feet so not a problem for the farrier. I have to sedate to clip and even getting cream on his ever-present mallenders results in river dancing around the yard. He is terrified at the sight of a twitch to the point of breaking his tie ring so I prefer to sedate.

Shooting, fireworks and any unexpected noises upset him a lot.

But can I put it all down to abuse? I don't know. He is a slow learner and was as green as grass when I bought him, supposedly aged ten. He may have just run with a herd and never been educated. On the plus side, he is brilliant in traffic, seems to like children, is non-confrontational with other horses (although he did chase the sheep last night) and loves some human company, although nervous of strangers.

 

[maisie06]

So it got me wondering. Who else has a horse who's been mistreated, and if so had they been owned by a certain group of society in the past?

The one I bought that had been owned by travellers was rock solid, fantastic in traffic, took everything in his stride was outgoing and eager to please...

The one I bought from a nervous novice on a livery yard who used to shout and scream at the pony when she got nervous was a nightmare!! Scared of everything and very reactive..

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I couldn't say whether mine has been abused or not but he is terrified of men esp. my husband (who swears blind he hasn't beaten him secretly!!). Its not ideal as it means OH can't do anything helpful like get horse in or turn out etc. I wouldn't dream of using a whip with him as it would make him panic but he's fine with a hunting whip, I think as he knows its what I use for opening gates.

He was a pretty sad creature when he came although he looked absolutely fine in himself. He's got a character now but he's still fairly special needs.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I had an Exmoor on loan from a lovely lady, who told me she'd bought him at a sale as she felt sorry for him-as a 2yo, still entire so she gelded him. She'd never bothered to check the brands-when I got him and checked with the breeder, found out that he had been sold at auction as a weanling and owner bought him when he was actually 5. I expect he'd done the rounds of sales and low end dealers for all of that time. I took him when he was 14-22. she used him as a professional companion pony.
Couldn't get near him with any form of whip and could only be bridled initially but taking bridle apart (fixed that by giving him a cue to have bridle put on and taken off), if he saw anyone in a flat cap or with a walking stick he would have a complete melt down (which happened when FiL came to visit). I once encountered a group of Nordic walkers out hacking with him which was fun! Exmoors are a funny breed, they forget nothing and don't like anything new -even mine which I've had since a weanling. so possibly not abused but probably treated quite roughly. At least for the rest of his life, apart from being allowed to get too fat before I got him, he has been kindly treated.
I went to Southall Sales as a kid-for some reason my parents thought it would be a good day out-still can't abide auctions for anything, everything looks so stressed or shut down.

 

[Annagain]

We have one who we know has never had so much of a finger raised to him or been ruined by nervous/novice owners but he's still the most jumpy, nervy pony to handle yet he's rock solid under saddle. You have to put a headcollar on him so carefully, give him 5 minutes warning that you're going to pick up a leg, show him the brush before you start brushing him - every time - and we're just about managing to spray fly spray on him after 2 years of building up from a sponge - he freezes and shakes but has stopped running round the stable now! To be fair all he does is run away and hide in the corner so he's not difficult to handle or in any way dangerous, I just feel so sorry for him. Especially because when he trusts you, he's the sweetest pony going, loves nothing more than a bit of mututal grooming (you have to be careful not to shriek if he accidentally nips you or it terrifies him!) and giving you kisses and is the first to greet you when you arrive at the yard. He also loves taking your t-shirt off while you're bending down picking his feet out or trimming his feathers - grabs hold of the end and flicks it over your head!

 

[Chippers1]

This makes me so sad my old pony was the best little pony ever but when I first got him he was scared of men and whips, he gradually got over the whip fear (he was amazing!) but still was wary of men. He also used to shoot off if he ever knocked a pole as if he was expecting to be beaten I never in the 10 years I had him hit him for knocking a pole so it was sad that it was so ingrained in him.

 

[Ddraig_wen]

I've a 6yr sports horse who is genuinely terrified of people. I have got to the point that he will come up to sniff me but he's genuinely terrified of hands. He's done nothing as far as I know except be gelded in the 2 years before he came to me. Before then, only god knows. He has a healed deep puncture wound in his side which is only obvious when hes trotting. At the seam of his hind leg where is meets his body. I haven't found anything else yet as he is liable to run off. He is petrified of moving hands but if you lean on the side of the gate and he forgets himself he'll come up and touch you.

I had one who had been given issues by novice owners letting sweat congeal in a winter coat so when the previous owner took him on she bathed him and all the hair and skin came off round his girth and sides. He was retired as an ornament due to unpredictability.

Had 2 section Bs come in who were terrified of anyone going near their heads or of raised hands. One came round, one is still a little funny and is not suited to a ridden job.

One that came in from a questionable background who would try and physically climb the stable walls to get away from you. It took over 8 months to get him to allow a headcollar to be put on. He was terrified of blue piping going to the drinker and to the taps in the field

 

[NinjaPony]

My welsh came to me having had bad treatment-he has a scar on his withers from a badly fitting saddle, and has had arthritis from 9 onwards due to heavy riders putting pressure on his hocks. He was extremely headshy, and very territorial about food having come to me very underweight. Many years later he is far more trusting-the headshy behaviour has all but gone, he is fine with me long reining him with a schooling whip-but having said that, he is still territorial over food to an extent, and still requires sympathetic but firm handling. Overall though a much happier, more trusting pony.

 

[JJS]

I do think we have a tendency to assume when we don't know our horse's histories. Sixpence is a prime example. I know that he's been around the local area, and either owned by or loaned from the same owner until I got him, for the last 20 years, but watch his reaction to his rider falling off and you'd be convinced that he'd been beaten silly at some point. I do, in fairness, think he's probably had a good wallop or two when child riders have come off, but he certainly hasn't been abused: he's just a clever, sensitive soul who remembers everything.

Tudor, on the other hand, actually has a history that makes you want to cry, but it's Sixpence who can be head-shy if you move your hand too quickly. When he was rescued aged two, Tudor had been starved, beaten, and left to stand knee-deep in his own excrement for God knows how long. He had the worst worm burden the vets and his rescuers had ever seen and really wasn't expected to make it. By some miracle, he did, and there are only three real giveaways that anything like that ever happened to him. Firstly, men don't get the same instant trust as women, and men with sticks are always to be treated with extreme suspicion. Sticks in general, in his head, are best kept as far away from him as possible, but can be tolerated when it's someone he knows handling them. Secondly, he has a very overdeveloped fight response. If he trusts you, you're fine, but I know for a fact that if anyone ever tried to beat him again, they wouldn't be walking away from it in one piece. Thirdly, he has an awful, jagged scar on one of his back legs. I'm almost certain that it's from being tangled in barbed wire at some point, as you can see the individual spokes, and have a strong suspicion that it was left untreated at the time. It's purely cosmetic but very noticeable.

Then, of course, there's Mary, who also defies the stereotypes. She's a proper traveller horse - bred by gypsies and left in a field unhandled until four. She's a shy, sensitive little soul who takes a while to come out of her shell, but I can honestly say that I don't think anyone has ever raised a hand to her. People, for her, are always a bit of an unknown element because of her beginnings, but she doesn't have any real expectation of something bad happening to her at the hands of humans. That makes it very easy to introduce new things, as she's willing to give almost anything a go because there's no inherent fear or suspicion in her.

So, three horses, three different histories, but if I wrote them down and asked someone to match the history to the horse, I don't know that they'd get it right.

 

[tatty_v]

I definitely have a messed up one that wasn't deliberate. Just novice owners that couldn't read the signals their horse was giving.
My little welshie was kept on her own and that has really had a lasting effect on her. She's incredibly clingy and has awful separation anxiety. It took ages for her to look relaxed in the field even when she had company and she had a really strong panic-and-flee reaction whenever i tried to stable her.

4 years in and she's happy to stable/travel etc and is a really lovely soul to train, but there are still things that she just can't do and she's really happiest in wide open spaces, always seems like she's harking back to the plains where she could see predators from a long way away!

Sometimes I think you never find out what happened to them. Salty has some really weird reactions and given that I picked her up from the local bin-end sales I will never know her history between leaving her breeder and arriving with me. She's obviously been in a crash of some kind as her bum is full of scar tissue and she's terrified of trailers. So many messed up horses out there, I just hope that the ones I can have interactions with can be helped to be happy and content

I have a very similar situation to milliepops - my pony hasn't been abused by any stretch of the imagination and has had a series of very loving owners, but he does suffer from fairly extreme separation anxiety due to being suddenly removed from his companion aged 2 and kept alone in his formative years. We manage it very carefully now but occasionally we still accidentally hit a trigger and it's horrible to watch - he will just gallop and scream in sheer panic at being alone. Other than that (and some slightly dubious ground manners at times!) he is an absolute pleasure to own. Just shows you that even the most well-intentioned of us can cause issues!

 

[Landcruiser]

I have 2 criollos, and like many who came over from South America it's clear both were abused over there and maybe through their long journey over on the meat boat, and their cattle truck trip across europe. Tortuga used to self harm when I first got him, and even now is terrified around his back end - he totally tenses if you touch his tail. He used to rip at his front legs with his teeth if asked to do anything outside his comfort zone - bless his big heart, he's the kindest, gentlest horse and he'd have been pretty easy to break in, although he must have been terrified.

Pat on the other hand is covered in every kind of scar, has broken teeth, and joint/muscle issues that point to overwork, abuse, beatings, and almost certainly being "broken" by tying up to a post, having a hind leg tied up, then jumped on by a gaucho and spurred to a standstill. He has a vicious scar on his hind leg (as do a lot of criollos), from the rope. He would have fought them every step of the way.

When I got him he was very shut down and distrustful. It took a long time for him to realise I was OK and to "trust" me. He won't lunge or send away - he's strangely not scared of whips or ropes, tarps, anything waved at or around him, I guess due to the "sacking out" during his "training." He's not scared of much - totally bomb proof. Very quirky and odd, clever and wily. He's far from shut down now, and is enjoying his early retirement due to his creaky joints and other issues. He has the life of riley, and is also usefully "Whatever..." about being left alone when I go away for weekends and take his mate Tortuga with me to do TREC.

 

[Pippity]

I think it's very tempting to put unwanted behaviour down to a horse having been abused/mistreated. My share horse is scared of his own shadow. (Literally. He has shot right across the school on occasion because his shadow startled him.) He will have an eye-rolling, sidling, ears-flat-back hissy fit if I carry a short crop rather than a schooling whip. On the one occasion I've come off him (he cleared a trotting pole by about 5' and jumped me right off his back) he stood there trembling as though he was expecting to be beaten. He's also got some interesting scars.

His owner knows his entire history from birth, and the absolute worst he's experienced is an owner who more than met all his physical needs, but didn't spend a lot of time just hanging out with him and showing him affection. The scars are about five years old, so with his current owner, and are a result of him spooking at his own rug.

Some horses just are what they are, and there was no abuse involved in making them that way.

 

[Crazy_cat_lady]

I think mine has had some sort of harsh treatment in the past before old yo who I bought him off got him. He is headshy you couldn't brush his face when I got him and had to scrape the mud off with your hands. I can now with a face brush or rubber curry comb most of the time brush his cheeks and up to his ears.

Trimming ears or a bridle path he will completely freak out I don't even attempt it unless he's heavily sedated for something.

He is scared of men especially big loud men.

On having him vetted to buy him initially the vet said they feel he has too many psychological issues to reccomend i buy him as he would probably struggle massively with a new yard or routine.

He won't go in a stable that is quite narrow or dark. Due to this I haven't tried travelling but I think it would fail massively

A vet I've had out to him in the past said they think he may have been ear twitched before which would explain the head shy and fear of anything involving his ears.

 

[laura_nash]

I don't know any history on my daughters rescue pony, he was picked up abandoned on some rough land. I suspect he has had some unfortunate experiences, but whether they were deliberate abuse or just things he saw as abuse (e.g. being grabbed and wormed by a farmer-type owner who never handled him otherwise), or maybe things that happened after he was abandoned (kids throwing stones etc.) I don't know. He was very shut down when I got him and impossible to catch, and would freeze and totally switch off at anything remotely scary. Luckily that has always been his reaction, he never gets aggressive and will only flee if completely unrestrained (never under saddle or even when led). He's not headshy, has no "no-go" areas and for some things is surprisingly good (happy to be clipped all over first time he saw clippers).

These days he is normal and outgoing most of the time, but will have sudden over-the-top reactions to things. For instance when I shouted angrily at my dog in his field (not even near him) I couldn't catch him for two days afterwards.

 

[jumbyjack]

As Pippity says, some are just that way. My mini shets daughter who came with mum at 4 weeks old has major problems, she bites and I mean bites hard. She has smashed her stable door several times by double barreling it, she will run at anyone passing her turnout, then spin and lash out. She's never had a hand raised to her, she's just a troubled soul. I'm glad she's 38 inches and not 16hh!

 

[holeymoley]

I’ve owned my gelding for 13years since he was 2/3years old. We have a great bond and I trust him as much as he does me. He is very good natured. However to this day he is still very wary of men. He will go to the back of his stable if a man approaches his stable that he doesn’t know. Out hacking he will pass the majority of men however if they stop etc he does get a bit worried- the other week 2 men out walking had stood in at the side to let us past and he stood rock solid until I reassured and spoke to him that it was okay. I’ll never know what had happened to him as a youngster however I can imagine. The only other thing he has always done is if you jump at his side (as if you took a jump to get on) he turns round ears back and teeth baring. He is perfect to mount in tack although I did do a lot of work when I bought him.