Help/Advice needed! Rude/Pushy horse

[Charmer91]

Hi all, my first post so please forgive me for lack of details or rambling on!

So a little background, I currently own a 17hh warmblood who I've had since she was 4, shes now 18. She's been a great allrounder that was a piece of cake to deal with on the ground and ride, you could hunt her one day and let your granny go for a hack the next and she'd be fine. For the last few years she's been on loan at a hacking home due to lack of time due to work commitments and she enjoyed her work too much to be retired.

She came back off loan recently due to the loaner moving abroad without any complaints regarding the horse. Unfortunately she'd had the last 6/8 months off work and living out. She has come home incredibly fat, happy and rather spoilt. Who would complain about that right? However she has come back incredibly rude, pushy and with no respect for my own personal space at all on the ground. With ridden work she's been shall i say difficult (she was a mothers dream previous to loan) shes nappy and extremely dead to the leg and hesitant. She never rears/bucks/bolts so no issues there but extremely hesitant.

Since coming home, she's had an MOT from the vet including blood work, she's had her teeth done, farrier see her twice, she's had her back checked by a chiropractor and is currently having physio to help loosen her up. Both vet/physio have agreed to bring her back to work to improve her lost muscle tone and fitness.

I've started doing some groundwork and she seems very not interested, it's very hard to get her attention and I don't want to resort to suing treats/food. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Or had a new horse they've struggled to get more respectful? Another livery mentioned the TRT method but I have absolutely no knowledge of this?

I know this takes time, but I'd rather seek help/advice at the start rather than run into trouble! Previously I'd have my Mum who was my saving grace and fountain of knowledge for anything horse related however she passed away whilst the horse was on loan. Any advice would be much appreciated!

TIA!

 

[twiggy2]

Go back to treating her how you did before she went on loan.
Take a breath, be patient, give her time but your boundaries remain fixes. No means no, no flexibility, no treats, it will come back but will take time, she may get worse before she gets better.
I would start getting the weight of by changing her diet to low calorie intake, walking out in hand and long reining, have her living out if possible. I would want some fitness and weight of before working her under saddle as I would want to be sure she was not really struggling with fitness before I insisted on a good response when I ask for forward movement.
Ask by squeezing, if you don't get the response you want instantly back it up with a tap from the whip, don't hesitate and only use the pressure on the first ask that you are willing to have her responding to first time long term.
You polite responsive mare is still in there and hopefully she will come right back to how she used to be.

 

[Charmer91]

Go back to treating her how you did before she went on loan.
Take a breath, be patient, give her time but your boundaries remain fixes. No means no, no flexibility, no treats, it will come back but will take time, she may get worse before she gets better.
I would start getting the weight of by changing her diet to low calorie intake, walking out in hand and long reining, have her living out if possible. I would want some fitness and weight of before working her under saddle as I would want to be sure she was not really struggling with fitness before I insisted on a good response when I ask for forward movement.
Ask by squeezing, if you don't get the response you want instantly back it up with a tap from the whip, don't hesitate and only use the pressure on the first ask that you are willing to have her responding to first time long term.
You polite responsive mare is still in there and hopefully she will come right back to how she used to be.

Thank you, that's really helpful. she is due the saddler to come out at the end of the month to give her a chance to lose some more weight. We're currently 80kg down