About Solange Rian Expertise I specialize in breaking and training difficult horses. I can provide advice on correcting behavior issues - cribbing, rearing, spinning; along with tack recommendations. I can also suggest feed programs, hoof care and explain dental care requirements.
Experience I have owned Horsehaven Stables since 2000 and will break 5 horses this year alone!! I believe in a humane, safe and intelligent method when breaking horses that is based on results and not time. I have gained a reputaion in the area for taking in dangerous horses that no one else wants and fixing them up. I keep them as personal riding horses for years and if I see improvement I will sell one eventually to the right owner and situtaion. I believe every horse deserves a chance to prove themselves. More often than not they prove it was the human's fault!!
Question Hi, I have a 6 year old QH gelding. I have had him for about a year and a half.Currently he is out in the pasture with my 5 other horses and is brought into the barn twice a day for feeding. My five other horses consit of 2 geldings(one polish arabin and one QH/TB/Arabian) and 3 mares(a polish arabian, an egyptian arabian, and a TB). His previous owner got him when he was 2, rode him once and then turned him out to pasture and never touched him again. When I got him he did not know how to load in a trailer, tie, take a halter, allow a person to touch him and he was covered in ticks head to hoof. I have been teaching him to trust people again and it has been a complete success. He doesn't shy away from anything any more, rarely spooks and doesn't stiffin up when you touch him any more. He loads in a trailer just fine and tacks up just fine. There are no issues with any of the above. The problem is after he is tacked up. When I attempt to mount him he becomes very tense and very nervous. When I do step up into the saddle he starts to spin in circles and will not calm down, even when I have another person there, or another horse. It's not the weight that bothers him because I have tacked him up and then put feed bags and sand bags on him to represent myself and he takes the weight just fine. I don't know what else to try with him, I do ground work with him everyday to keep building up the trust and I tack him up a few days a week to make him more comfortable with the tack, but everytime I attempt to step up on him he starts freaking out and I don't know how to break him of that and how to get him to trust me on his back.
Answer Hi Jackie!
I recommend you immediately stop attempting to ride this horse and instead concentrate on breaking him as if he was a completely unbroke baby horse...because that is what he is....in his mind. Forget that he is 6 years old and look at how he acts.
Go back to the absolute basics. I am going to assume you have never broken a horse to ride...because if you had, you would have quickly seen that this horse is not broke to saddle. Do not attempt this yourself. So, you need some hands-on help from a professional.
Speak to your vet, farrier or tack shop and ask them to recommend a local QH trainer who has experience in breaking horses. Have him/her out to evaluate your situation and discuss your goals. Put this baby in training and educate yourself at the same time. That is a win-win situation.
Taking the time now to break him correctly....after you have already invested so much in bringing him as far as you have...is well worth it. Then, you will have a trusted AND trusting working partner for the next 20 years :)
Good luck and remember to always wear an ASTM/SEI approved helmet!
