AboutRick Gore (www.thinklikeahorse.org) Expertise Visit Rick Gore's Horse Site: --- www.thinklikeahorse.org --Rick is a student of the horse. He can answer questions about sacking out (Desensitizing vs. Sensitizing), dealing with spooky, abused or ex-race horses, rearing, bucking, horses that won’t tie or load into a trailer, working in a round pen/round corral, starting colts, dealing with aggressive or so called "mean" horses, herd behavior, biting, kicking, hard to catch, using a bosal or hackamore, soft hands and direct reining verses neck reining. If you expect him to tell you feel good advice, you will be disappointed. 95% of all his answers will include "the problem is you and not your horse." About 95% of most answers that I give out are on my web site, so if you read it you will probably answer your own question and may learn a few other things. I am like Gordon Ramsey (Hell's Kitchen) and Simon Cowell (Idol), you may not like what I say or how I say it, but it will be pretty true and accurate, in my opinion, judging from my experience.
Experience Rick is an experienced horseman with over 35 years of riding and handling horses. Rick grew up in Texas around horses and horse people. He has started colts, ridden many horses with behavior issues and worked with problem horses. (He believes that most horse problems are really people problems)
He believes in and practices natural horsemanship and continues to read and study books by great horsemen. He routinely attends clinics, talks with and discuss horse issues with other clinicians and trainers. He has never met a horse that could not be fixed. Rick believes it is never the horse's fault and with proper handling, all problems can be worked out.
Education/Credentials Rick has over 35 years experience in being around and working with horses. Over the years he has watched good horsemen do the right thing and seen the wrong things done with bad results. Rick has a Bachelor of Science degree in Education.
Question QUESTION: I acquired my approx. 12 -13 yr old 18h percheron gelding 7 months ago
and have had him at a training barn (where I take lessons as well) for 5
months. My trainer uses natural horsemanship techniques and has been
working him (light groundwork) 5-6 days a week for 20 - 30 minutes a day
depending on the weather. When I initially got him he was very underweight
and his feet were very overgrown. The weight issue has been resolved (he is
on a daily wourmer) and his feet are progressing. There are two major
issues: he stabs his hind feet consistently and trips on his front feet fairly
regularly, some of stumbles have been pretty significant. The other issue is
he bolts and spooks at sounds in the arena and sometimes bolts at things we
can't hear or see. When lunging him he often will turn in at you with ears
back. My vet said the horse is sound as far as he could physically see. But
the vet also told me that his behavior scares him and that he thinks he may
have been abused. He said he is concerned that at times the horse exhibits
fear and forgets there are people around him. He also said he feels I may
never be able to "fix" these behaviors so that he is safe to ride. My trainer is
also concerned that for me it might not be a smart move financially to
continue training him since he has not progressed as much as she expects
from most horses in the 5 months she has worked with him. He has never
reared or kicked. He is very calm and docile around other horse and in his
paddock. He is great on the cross-ties and stands very well for grooming.
The vet is running some blood tests to rule out illnesses. I am at a loss. I am
a decent rider and have been riding consistently for 2 years (as an adult). I
am devastated because I don't think we have given him enough time but my
trainer seems to think he is not progressing enough. Other than the blood
tests for PSSM, what else can I do to see if these issues can be resolved or if
they are too big or scars too deep to make enough changes so that I can ride
him safely. I realize this email may seem a bit frenetic but I am so upset
since I really think he is a sweet horse and is acting out of fear of the
unknown. He has been in a field doing nothing for three years and before
that he was a driving horse (the wheel horse in a team of 4) but we are not
sure how much he was worked or used. I hope I have given you enough
information. I truly appreciate any insight you might be willing to share.
ANSWER: I believe no horse is past help. You want to focus on the horse as the issue, I normally focus on the people as the issue. My first guess would be the trainer is not very good, or she has not been working with the horse as much as she said. Horses get better very fast. If you have not been at each lesson and have not seen progress at each lesson then I say it is trainer and not horse. All horses are spooky and they stay spooky or get worse depending on who is handling them. His size is probably intimidating and he will know it, if someone does not push him hard.
Five months of training is crazy in my book, you should cutting cattle and doing advanced trails by now. I have an article on picking a trainer that you may want to read, it is on my articles page of my site.
The ear pinning is normal horse behavior, he is doing it since it has not been make clear that he cannot do it. I don't care if he was abused or not, he is a horse and needs to be treated like a horse, a lower horse and the people handling him need to make it clear if he threatens or pushes he gets pushed and moved fast and hard so it is clear that he does not push people.
I hear your story over and over, I can bet, with a 90% chance of being right, that this is a people problem and not a horse problem. This horse may need some tough love to teach it and not so much feeling sorry for it. Too many people think being tough on a horse is mean, it is needed and will save their life. You cannot expect the horse to change if you keep doing the same thing. Your trainer should have figured this out by now, but it sounds like she is doing the same thing since the horse is doing the same thing and not getting better.
It could be medical, it could mental, but I would bet it is people.
When I hear about horses like this, if they are close and I go work with them, the horse changes in about 10 mins and the owners can't believe it. This horse needs strong leadership, good direction, good sacking out to help him deal with his fear and not so many excuses on why he can't get better.
Read my web sit, take some notes and then ask your trainer some educated questions and see if you get reasonable answers or if you get double talk about this horse is different, this horse was abused, this horse has something wrong with him..... this is an easy way to blame the horse and not admit that you (the trainer) are doing something wrong.
Don't give up on this guy, get involved, read, learn and understand horses so you can help this horse and not depend on others to tell you what they cannot do.
that is my take,
Rick
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you so much for your recent help! I moved my horse from the training
barn here he was exhibiting the bad behaviors and the tripping and we
haven't seen a sign of them since! He is back to being the sweet horse I
purchased last fall. It was definitely a trainer issue. While he is very sweet on
the ground he still needs a very confident rider on his back. I recently took
two pretty bad falls off another horse and my confidence is shot (now that I
am 40 the fearlessness of my youth has been taken over by the realization
that horse riding is still a high risk activity and the nerves set in!) I am not
comfortable getting on him now since he senses my nervousness and then
becomes worried and "spooky". I am now looking for a new place to take
lessons for myself to get my confidence and my balance back. The trainer
who works with my horse doesn't have lesson horses so I can't take lessons
with her and my old instructor was the bad one who "worked" with my "bad"
horse . Since I am not riding him right now I'd like to know what are some
activities I can do with him on the ground to build our relationship and trust?
I am continuing to have my trainer work with him in the saddle but I would
like to work with him as well on the ground. Outside of lounging, what are
some other activities that would help us build a relationship and allow me to
really understand him on the ground and for him to understand me. Again, I
really appreciate your opinion and insights on horsemanship and I look
forward to your reply. Below are the answers to the questions you request we
answer when submitting a question: I am 40 yrs old. I started riding two
years ago. My horse is a 12 yr old percheron gelding (he was a driving horse
for approx. 9 yrs - not sure how much he worked as a wheel horse- then sold
to someone who rode him for a few months then stopped, he was just
hanging out in a pasture for 2 years when I picked him up. I realize I broke
the golden rule of buying "too much" horse as a rider who is green but I am
trying to make the best of the situation since I think he deserves it and I enjoy
spending time with him.
Answer Admitting it is you is the first step. All older riders (over 30) change since we become more concerned about getting hurt and healing takes longer. Time with this horse is key. You don't have to lounge him, just spend time with him, take him for walks, learn him, sack him out and learn his fear, teach him to deal with his fear, teach him that you can put pressure on and take it away, walk or crawl under him, lay down with him, spend time trusting him, he will learn to trust you. Watch my videos on sacking out and read my horsemanship page.
Just remember when you are with him make him do things, accept things and stand, stop, back up, lower his head, there are 100 things you can, and you will figure them out if you spend time with him, read a book with him, groom him, clean his sheath, pick his feet, get under him and scratch his belly, the more you do with him, the more your confidence will grow and the more his will grow. It is a partnership, you get out want you put in.
