How to make them 'forget'?

i dont thnk you can.... except just do nice things....

if they associate the saddle with pain - (make sure they arnt) then do slow/easy schooling sessions or even better - a hack (short) and build it up

i have to dothis with my mare next month as shes associating tack with pain (shes now off work)....so will be lunging her in tack to start then get on walk/get off - babysteps :)
 
my little lass was abused to extreme battered beaten - 4 yrs on shes happy sweet but there are trigers that will set her off - i know them and i understand them i symphertise with her triggers - give quiet kind but firm love - be firm with rules but most of all be encouraging and kind - let your voice tell your horse when its so damn great - god could talk all night about just listening to our horses :)
 
I find food the most useful incentive. Closely followed by itches if they have a good scratchy spot.

I guess repetition is the key, that nice things -always- happen when the 'bad thing' happens, so it must be a good thing. Also a bit of persistence and a lot of patience.

Has she had back pain or something from her saddle/ girth? Make extra sure it's not still there.

It's a long process, or i have found so in the past anyway.
 
I have no idea what happened - but she was fine pre loan, and hasn't been fine post loan.

Think I'm going to go back to basics as she's still a bit shy in places. So I'm going to give her back rubs until she's bored of it. Meanwhile, I'm going to keep putting the surcingle (Thanks, btw, I could see it was wrong but didn't know how!) and not making a huge deal out of it (there's no way it could hurt... really!).

I'm 99% sure it's all in her head now. She hasn't had a saddle on her back in years, and rarely a rug, so there's no chance she's still sore.

If I ever catch the idiots who did this to her... I shall flay them alive!
 
Gentle persuasion...? I used a saddle for 6 months that was pressing on something and making my lad trip quite badly. Because he wasn't freaking out when I was riding him (well nothing you wouldn't expect when getting used to a new horse!) I didn't realise there was anything wrong until he tripped so badly he nearly turned a somersault. I changed saddles and things were fine, but because that saddle was a cheap rubbish one I found online I wasn't keen on using it long term, I found another saddle that was a wide fit and started riding in that, but it was causing the same problem ... eventually I found a saddle that as far as i could tell shouldn't be pressing on anything and started riding in that, but he wasn't at all keen on the idea. I kept quietly asking him to go forward until eventually he hesitantly did, then he realised "hey, that doesn't hurt!" and alls been well since, I'm back to cantering him now, and there's been no tripping, and no hysterics when I ask for an upward transition ...

good luck with your mare!
 
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