I want to hear EVERYTHING anyone has to say about.....

My horse Blu. He was terribly abused. If you would like to know his story I would love to tell so just let me know. Blu is a Quarab mix, age 9, and stands 16.1hh.

Here we are at the Apache County Pioneer Days Rodeo. He was acting up after a while. You can tell where he was trying to go up. He had to wear a tie-down that day. I am working with him with a running martingale and I am teaching him barrels. He is a left-side horse so I think it is just taking me longer to adjust! Wait is there anyone else out there that rides Western?









I know he's pretty ugly but I love him! Can you figure out why his name is Blu???


*Resized by sparky to allow easier viewing and less load time.

He's cute. I run barrels and the games too. I have a buckskin mare. You can see her in my post.

Tie downs imo are never the answer. I think it is lack of ground work is why we need them and use them. I would really work on his trust issues before taking him out of his normal routine (i'm paying attention to my spelling its late) clearly he is not having confidence in you enough to trust you that you won't hurt him or make him go through anything that will. I would really work on flexion as well so if he does try to go up you can flex him around.

I would really make sure he is confortable w/ you before taking him anywhere.

But do whatever you feel comfortable doing I don't knw you or the horse.

And btw he is very cute!

Honestly, I'd remove the tie down. I've seen horses got even worse with it after while. Does he rears or something?

In any case good luck with him! The abused horses requires TONS of time and patience (from own experience lol!).

When you use a tie down, it is helpful to run it through looped string in the center ring of a breast plate to help keep it in the center and positioned correctly. It will also keep it safer because it will keep it from dropping too low and him accidentally getting a foot through.

I know of a lot of barrel racers who do use tie downs to give their horse something to brace against as they make their fast hard turns - it can be used as a tool to help them keep their frame in their turn and keep from getting strung out.

I would not suggest using a tie down on a regular basis, but in high energy places and events like a rodeo, it might be helpful. Horses can get very excited at events like these, but also remember to keep encouraging a calm attitude from him. Like any other restricting tool, a tie down will not fix the problem of head tossing or even rearing if that is the case. All training and other riding would be most beneficial if done without a tie down (or a running martingale for that matter). There is a lot of groundwork and bridle work that can be done to help a horse learn to keep its head down on its own - without restricting tools.

If a tie down is used all the time, and the horse is not worked with to show him the proper frame he should be in, the problem will not go away with the use of a tie down, and might even get worse.

I agree that your horse should be very comfortable with you before taking him to a high energy place like a rodeo, but once he is, attending as many as possibe and encouraging him to just stand and relax a lot will help him get used to it. Any new place (rodeo or otherwise) will create some anxiety in a horse, so him trusting you and feeding off of your own calmness is very important. I don't know if I see lack of confidence in you by your horse in those pictures as much as a very worked up and excited horse - but that is pretty hard to tell when you are not the one actually there on the horse at the time.

I would definitely do a lot of flexion work and a lot of work exposing him to new places with relaxing in mind. Good luck and have fun :)

How long have you had him by the way? It also might be helpful to hear the basics of the abuse (how long ago, for how long a period of time, just the basic jist of what happened). History of a horse is a pretty big factor that should be played into how you plan to proceed with training.

Is his name Blu because of that blue scarring on his chest. He isn't very.. pretty, but that's not important. If I owned a horse like Blu, I wouldn't care if the horse had a different look. Anyway, its kinda boring when you a 1000 chestnut horses these days.

Are you sure he is a Quarab? He looks like he could be an Appaloosa (which actually could be very similarly bred to a Quarab).

I think he is beautiful. I see why his name is Blu.

That is not scarring on his chest, that is pigmented (black) skin. If he is not an Appallosa (in which case he would be called a "fewspot"), he has a Paint gene called sabino and he would be called a "maximum white sabino". Max whites usually have all pink skin, but occasionally have some dark skin mixed in like this guy. Note that his ears are colored... that is very typical of max whites.

ACC

I know he doesn't have scars on his chest! Just blue and pink skin! Lol. Ya, he's not full-blooded. He's a mix.(says the vet plus lots of others ) Ya. I love him!!! I just rode today and he did really good. It was too late to jump some so I just worked on flexing and stuff...Thanks!

Vets don't know much about breeds... not to mention most people can not tell you without a shadow of a doubt what breed a horse is. I believe he is an Appaloosa based on your story of him. If he is an Appaloosa he is a fewspot... which means he had to have had two Appaloosa parents... NOT a mixed breed.

ACC

So he is pure? Oh, well that's great! He might not be the best looking horse but sometimes I wish he was a stallion! I have never heard of an Appaloosa being so....different I guess. Its weird...every horse I've had was an Appaloosa. One gray leopard, one chestnut blanketed, and now Boo a fewspot!