Youngster help

[palmermanson]

Heya,
I recently rescued a 14.2hh 2 1/2 year old andalusian colt. When we picked him up he was fine you could touch him etc and because we only have fields i thought he would be fine so we let them in the field and instantly he would not come near you its been 5 weeks and the only progress i have is him now eating out a bucket i hold we have manage to get him into another field on his own he is so independant he doesnt care about other horses or anything but you cant even walk up to him to stroke him or even catch him. we are now having some shelters built but because i cant catch him i cant get a rug on him or anything im out of ideas. when we first tried catch him he turned his bum to kick me.. i am not sure what else i can do i have been calm and paient with him i am just getting worried he is getting cold due to this being his first uk winter and the tempreture difference. any advice would be great x

 

[Cortez]

I suggest you get him into one of the shelters, catch him, put a headcollar on and keep him in until you are sure you can handle him properly. If you are not experienced with Iberian horses, PLEASE get some advice from someone who is. PRE horses are super intelligent and very quick learners - that also means they learn bad things quickly too. What were the circumstances from which you rescued him? I am interested because I have (sort of inadvertantly) rescued 7 PRE horses over the past 3 years, and worry about the results of inexperienced owners with these rather specialist horses. Oh, and he'll probably cope with the weather fine; they're also quite tough!

 

[Herts05]

Sue Barber at Pine Lodge is probably your nearest experienced Iberian person. Give her a call and I am sure she will be able to give you some advice.

 

[palmermanson]

i have experience we have 4 andalusian geldings that i compete and do alot of things with they are all fab. basically i wanted a youngster and someone was advertising that these 2 colts were gonna be killed at slaughter if they were not sold by 2 days time. i felt really bad and how could anyone possibly want 2 kill 2 lovely boys so me and my friend baught the 2 boys and they were great when we had them but my boy has suddenly turned into not wanting 2 know people. he is so intellegent he knows he comes for his food but just wont let you touch him. i have had this problem with a youngster we bred but he cam round with in a week he had been shot in the face by a bb gun. the boys were terribly under weight and neglected and starved so i just left him and try to feed him up he has put on so much weight and looks great with in the last 5 weeks, he has such a soft eye and he sniffs me and is trying to get close to you but he is petrified and he has never been turned out i dont want 2 force him into a small space and he causes himself and injury. i just want him 2 know he is going 2 be ok and can trust people.. x

 

[Cobiau Cymreig Wyllt]

I do not have experience of Iberians...BUT this year I rescued an 20mth old Welsh D who had been traumatically weaned then abandoned and left to go feral...he had no horse social skills and no human-skills..he is a very bright boy but had used all his wits purely to survive, so was incredibly sharp and untrusting...my OH and I had got quite a long way with him whilst he was indoors at a friend's (could now touch him, and lead him and stopped him from leering over the stable door trying to bite etc etc) and decided to take him on..he came to us and was turned out with an older mare who was perfect for him, mellow but bossy in a motherly way...and what did I spend the first 5 weeks or so doing with him? Mainly standing near him, staring at him because I could not get near him. He was not exactly running off if I went near him, but basically he was turned out at grass with a horse friend for the first time since it all went wrong, and he basically did not need me for anything and did not have any particular reason to consider trusting me. It was very frustrating but I quickly realised I needed to be really patient with him and allow him to have a bit of time in a safe nice space where he was able to be a horse and not be mithered by anything or anyone...he'd been through a lot, and despite me being desperately keen to do something with him and prove to him (and myself) I'd done the right thing by taking him on, I just had to wait it out.
Provided you can get near enough to see to his basic needs ie sufficient food, that you can check him over at least visually, that he has shelter and companionship, it will be worth being patient...fast forward 5 months with my boy and he is still very much a work in progress but he is basically catchable, leadable, has done groundwork, can be handled and groomed, has had a few in-hand walks and is slowly coming down after spending most of his short life on the edge of his nerves.
Come spring when your boy has just got used to your presence and seen you doing normal non-threatening things with your other horses and you've fed him and been around him, even at a distance, he will be starting to trust you...it might take a while with this kind of rescue-case, but it is really worth it as the bond is huge in the end...
Good luck, keep us posted

 

[palmermanson]

Thank u so much i will keep u updated xx

 

[Cobiau Cymreig Wyllt]

Oh and two other things which are really similar from with my boy...his body language was awful and turned his bum at me constantly. Every time he did I never let him get away with it and sent him off (even though I was dying to get near him, still couldn't let him do that and think it was ok)...and the other thing was, soon as he got his head down eating and started chunking on some weight, he just did not even want to look up, he was so busy making up for lost time, and after having had to struggle for food alone through a winter previously, I couldn't really blame him for that, so just let him get on with it and get some serious eating done..once he'd done that for a few weeks he began to realise no one was going to take the field away from him!!