My horse's terrible past

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hollyflower

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Hi, I met my horse 4 1/2 months ago at a dressage centre where I was going for a job and we just fell in love, he is a 6 year old Percheron x who was newly backed and has the biggest heart. I knew that he had been to someone for re schooling a year earlier and he had apparently done something awful and the trainer had said he needed to be shot on the spot! But not knowing we carried on regardless and have found him to be nothing other than brave, trusting and calm. He has spooked in this time and run forwards but always stopped within five strides and calmed down almost immediately. We took him to his first show and although terrified, he didn't do anything nasty. I decided to contact the old owner when the other day I had a nasty scare on him, he got spooked, jumped up a five foot bank, ran along it, jumped blind back into the road and stopped at a gateway, no idea how I stayed on but just about managed to. He calmed down we rode past the scary thing twice again and continued our hack, albeit shakily. Rang the owner and found out that he had been backed by her and then sent to a lady for training and he bolted in the school and the trainer bailed out and was injured. The owner thinks there was way more to it as she couldn't even touch him for weeks when he came back and he had cuts all inside his mouth, he was so traumatised it took 8 months for him to calm down. And after took to bolting every time he spooked, even with her on the ground, he would run blind into traffic etc. Now that I know this I am finding it hard to have confidence in him, even though he has never done anything like this before to me. Please help I really don't want to ruin how far he has come!
 
Horses live in the now, not the past. He may have memories triggered in certain situations but otherwise he's not spending all day planning when to bolt with you. It sounds like it was clearly a trainer issue and while he may have some confidence issues you seem to know how to deal with them and make the situation better. Look at the horse you have in front of you. carry on exactly as you are and Onwards and upwards.
 
Wow it really does sound as if your boy has had a very nasty experience whilst supposedly being 'trained' - I'm suspecting that the so called training was extremely heavy handed.

I would say keep on as you are - nice calm and steady, with lots of reasurrance and, if you don't do it already, then groundwork. The more he trusts you the less likely he will be to panic. Now that you are sure though that he has had a trauma it's something you can take into consideration when working with him.

Good luck
 
Thanks so much, turns out, ignorance is bliss after all! I just need to make sure I don't get really nervous, expecting him to revert back because I now know how he has dealt with situations in the past. Which would be totally unfair to him, bearing in mind he appears to be getting over it. Easier said than done.
 
Well, I used to ride a horse who had KILLED someone (which I only found out a year after taking him on). Seems he was a wild youngster with a serious buck-and-bolt habit; we sorted that out and were quite happily riding him when we heard the story. It did set us back for a week or two, then we just got on with it and he turned out to be a great hunt horse with no homicidal tendencies. Best to just ride the horse you have and not speculate on what he "might" do - every horse has the capability to be dangerous.
 
Agree with everyone else..

I had a "dangerous" BD horse who almost killed a man, through no fault of his own, and who was known to fight other horses and nap and rear in hand (other horses out with his social group - previously also used as a teaser stallion, and stress related to other horses).. He was not ridden..

This horse never put a foot wrong in several years with me, either in the saddle or on the ground.. He had the odd minor nap because he could.. But a more gentle and loving horse would not be easy to find.. I lost him 2 years ago to a ruptured bowel..

Have faith in your horse and he will almost definitely have faith in you, I suspect..

Good luck and stay safe :)
 
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I agree with everyone too. i'm inclined to think he was running away from mouth pain - cuts all inside his mouth??!with his previous trainer and it does him credit that he has overcome this and moved on.
He is still a young horse and he sounds like a nice one. : )
 
My baby was dangerous and unrideable when i bought her but with kindness and understanding and patience she proved to be the horse of my life and my best friend. we hacked jumped galloped even after she was diagonised going blind. Take your time, be consistent about your "rules" with kindness and understanding and enjoy the journey together the highs and lows . as someone has said have faith in your horse they are a very forgiving animal . Please keep us updatedx x
 
I brought my horse from a local lady, she was at a training yard and when I went to try her the lady didn't want to get on first so I just jumped on and off we went. Lady said she was selling as she was goin through a messy divorce so horse had been sent to trainer to sell. Fair enough!!

About a year later I was on a hack and a lady in front kept turning round and looking. Eventually she asked what my horses name was a almost fell off her horse when she realised who it was. Apparently my horse was a complete lunatic with the old owner and had ended up putting her in hospital for several weeks with head injuries, broken collar bone etc. it all fell into place as to why she wouldn't get on and why my horse was at the trainers yard etc.

My horse has had to be retired now due to SI but in 8 years she has been the best horse ever!! Competing BSJA, XC, ODE and dressage. She has never done anything malicious even when she was in pain with her back.

I've heard her previous owner is not a very nice person and quite heavy handed despite being a dressage judge and her and my horse just didn't get on and I believe that was my horses way of saying enough is enough.

Your horse is obviously starting to gain trust in you so just carry on as you are, keep building on that trust and you will have a wonderful partnership.
 
I actually spoke to the trainer and she said he was sent to her because the owner had backed him and he was already bolting constantly, when long reined, lead out and ridden and that when he started to go the owner would slide off and let go. Then the trainer did the same. So as a youngster he learnt that when he was most scared he was left alone to deal with it without guidance. Emma Tarrant helped the owner after he came home and I spoke to her too, she said the owner was terrified of him and let him walk all over her on the ground, she finally sold him because she says he would not allow her on his back. Which is strange. I have noticed that when he is scared he becomes quite rude and bargy, which he never is with me normally. He I feel is always pushing boundaries to check if I really mean what I say or know what I am doing. He will stop occassionally on a a hack and test you, the second you are really strong and tell him to get on he relaxes, its like he says "thank god. I thought I was alone for a minute there!" Dressage is really good for him as it is constant direction. Thanks for all your comments!
 
If he was to bolt like this with me, is there anything I can do to stop him quickly, I have four young children and just can't be hurtling down a road and into traffic! And I would never want him to think running off with me is a good way out! When he has spooked I usually had him on a loose rein, so had to shorten them quickly and once he felt the pressure he stopped but the day he jumped up the bank there was nothing I could do except try and keep my balance! Thought I was literally going to die!
 
It sounds more like the bolting would have escalated from a constant lac of boundaries on the ground, he would have felt insecure with no clear leader, and then possibly getting told off inconsistently? Something that was ignored one day maybe punished the next. I don't know, and you are unlikely to know the full extent. If you're still worried about this, I would go back to basics on the ground, make sure there are no gaps in his education on the ground, make sure he is confident and trusting you in all situations you can prepare him for on the ground, then get back into the saddle and start from scratch again, going right through the basics, expecting nothing from him and make every experience as if it's his first time and very positive. It's no use trying to force a big young horse. I would also teach him the one rein stop so if you really feel you're in a potential bolting situation you an disengage his hindquarters. Horses that run as a result of fear or insecurity are usually right brain animals, and asking him to stand still in a scary situation for him is worse, if you can allow him to move but on your terms he would be more likely to calm down as he won't feel trapped but instead moving his feet. The bank incident was scary but he DIDN'T bolt, you took him back to the place and gave him a good experience. I know it's easier said than done but try not to worry or hold on to his past. It won't help you, and it won't help him. Deal with the horse you have in front of you.
 
ridefast said:
It sounds more like the bolting would have escalated from a constant lac of boundaries on the ground, he would have felt insecure with no clear leader, and then possibly getting told off inconsistently? Something that was ignored one day maybe punished the next. I don't know, and you are unlikely to know the full extent. If you're still worried about this, I would go back to basics on the ground, make sure there are no gaps in his education on the ground, make sure he is confident and trusting you in all situations you can prepare him for on the ground, then get back into the saddle and start from scratch again, going right through the basics, expecting nothing from him and make every experience as if it's his first time and very positive. It's no use trying to force a big young horse. I would also teach him the one rein stop so if you really feel you're in a potential bolting situation you an disengage his hindquarters. Horses that run as a result of fear or insecurity are usually right brain animals, and asking him to stand still in a scary situation for him is worse, if you can allow him to move but on your terms he would be more likely to calm down as he won't feel trapped but instead moving his feet. The bank incident was scary but he DIDN'T bolt, you took him back to the place and gave him a good experience. I know it's easier said than done but try not to worry or hold on to his past. It won't help you, and it won't help him. Deal with the horse you have in front of you.
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Thank you so much, that is brilliant advice. :)
 
Your right about the moving thong, he really does calm easier if he keeps moving, when he sticks he gets really stressed and looks like he is bottling up to explode!
 
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