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5 years old and unhandled

3K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  jaydee 
#1 ·
Looking for a bit of advice

2 weeks ago I went to look at a colt, he was not hale broke which I knew but he was supposed to be friendly and 3 years old. What I got was an untouched horse that has been in a stall for a YEAR!
I was also suspicious of his age but I could tell he was at least young.
We almost didn't get him but he has a nice build and seemed smart and neve offered to kick, my husband is also a farrier so if we are hoping to get his feet in order.
We brought him home and I got a halter on because luckily he was more scared to back out of the trailer than he was of me. Since then we have got him leading a few steps at a time and I can brush him on his neck and back and more each day.
We had him gelded yesterday and started on trimming his feet, we were also able to confirm that he is closer to 5.
However he is still very nervous when I first come out to see him and still won't let me catch him until Ive come up and he's walked away several times.
Any advice on helping him come around? I've trained since i was 14 just never one that is this old without at least beinget touchable. So this is a new or for me.
 

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#2 ·
He's beautiful. It sounds to me like you've already got the mindset to do well with him just based on how you said you've handled him so far. You could look up training techniques used on feral mustangs.

My advice is to follow your gut instinct. I know it sounds silly, but that's helped me more than not. Good luck with him.

You may find this journal and member to be helpful:
http://www.horseforum.com/member-journals/family-horse-trainers-743121/
 
#3 ·
Go back to basics with a LOT of patience.

Even though the word abuse can't be used in the real sense. This as horse was abused by being kept in stall for a year. Is that what you meant -- he was a stallion in stall for a year without any turnout?

He has not had any proper interaction with anyone or anything.

I would notlet people around him that don't know anything or think they know something about horses and they don't. For awhile, he needs consistent and fair hands.

I almost think the people you got him from haven't owned him too long or they were just flat out stupid about how to care for any horse much less a stallion.

Kudos for taking a chance on him and kudos for getting him gelded!

He looks like a Spotted Saddle Horse to me. Do you know if he is gaited?

Ditto horseluvr2524, take a look at the journal they linked. It may be helpful:)
 
#4 ·
Thanks guys! Yes he was put up last year and just left in there. The only thing he had was a horse in the stall beside him but the wall wasto tall for them to even touch. They had alot of horses but I could tell they oink messed with the ones that were already broke. They apparently bred him and showed us his mom which I do belive she looked the part anyway, so that would make him a quarter horse. He's not gaited for sure but he has a wonderful floaty trot! But they know nothing about socializing a horse especially a stud. Basically they didn't want him to breed the mares but we're to stupid or proud to just have him cut and at least be a horse with other horses.

I've Breen looking at a few techniques I'll definitely be updating.
 
#5 ·
I'd be very careful when it comes time to work on saddling him. Hopefully it is just the angle of the photo and the lighting but it looks in your pic like he has some muscle atrophy around the withers and shoulders area.
It's possible someone did force a saddle on him, and possibly he even injured himself and damaged some of the muscles there.
Sometimes horses flip over and hurt themselves on the saddle tree.

So I'd make sure he has no signs of pain or discomfort in his back and around his withers, and that he muscles up some more there before working on saddling him. Also I'd consider this if it seems very difficult to get him used to the saddle or if he bucks.

It's possible this is only from being in a stall, but it is not usual to atrophy in that area worse than the rest of the body.
 
#8 ·
Poor bloke's probably got 'muscle atrophy' all over, being cooped up for so long! Some people should be put in a box & left there!

Likely to have some body stiffness too, so I'd start exercise with long walks, once you get him leading well. Ditto to not being in a hurry to get on his back or saddle. You might have a chiropractic vet look him over too. Has he got company in a paddock where he is now? I'd definitely want him turned out with other horses, which will also help him relax & settle in. Great you've already managed to get his feet done.

He's likely got a few bad associations with people to get over, but aside from that, still a pretty clean slate, so it's up to you to *teach* him to have a good 'work ethic', to *want* to be 'caught' & play your games and everything. Older horses, particularly if they've been handled much, can be more 'tricky', if they've had lots of experience being afraid or reactive of people or learning 'wrong' behaviours - you've got to 'undo' those associations before you can start afresh. As for him being 5yo & not 3yo, no difference. Just that when you get to that point, he is physically mature enough for you to start riding. He's still a young, unhandled horse.
 
#9 ·
If you have the ability to use a rope around his hindquarters to lead, that will give you a little extra security in case he decides he doesn't want to follow you. He may decide to kick at it though, so try it in a contained area first.

I have had the experience you are having a couple times. One was twelve, one was six, one was two. I will say the younger they are, the better. I treated them just like foals, but they have more power than a foal does so you have to be more cautious and go a little slower - They also already have their own idea of the world around them, and that can sometimes make it a LOT harder to work with one.

If you have a round pen, what I would usually start with was them living in there. If they were a total mess I'd keep a rope and halter with me and get them moving around the pen, and when I got them to stop I'd start approaching them. If they tried to run off or leave me, I'd send them away again. Eventually they figure out that trying to move away from me results in more work. So I just advance, to taking a few steps towards them, to walking all the way up to them, to touching them, to getting a rope around their neck, to haltering them.

Once I get the halter on I leave them with the rope dragging so they can feel it, step on it, and learn how to give to pressure themselves by stepping on the rope and stopping themselves. After they've done that for a bit, I'll go take the halter off, and rinse and repeat as many days as necessary.

After they are consistently allowing me to halter them, then I worry about leading, and I always get a rope around their butt too, and have the halter on a long line, so that if I need to back away while they run and jump and be stupid then I can let them do that without actually letting go of the horse.

This just advances, and I desensitize them to more stuff, and I try to spend time with them just being around while they are eating and such. I think just being a part of their life makes a huge difference, because then they just get used to you without any pressure added.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for the encouragement! He's doing better every day. He was feeling much better yesterday if say, he was running around his little one acre pasture and kept jumping a small tree we cut down and haven't gotten rid of yet. I also pulled his halter off and he let me put it back on so now he doesn't have to wear it constantly. He will turn in to me when I Lunge him too but won't "join up" just yet. Here is his he looks right now.
 

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#11 ·
Ok so I've been sick for the last few days but I got back to it today. I can get him moving and he's turning toward me every time. I was able today to walk up to him and pet him a bit then walk away without him taking off but he will only let me if I go to his shoulder first not his face. I did get him out and lead him. He's not perfect but I'd say he's just shy of being lead broke at least. I feel like I'm a bit stuck though with getting him to really be comfortable with me....
 
#14 ·
I feel like I'm a bit stuck though with getting him to really be comfortable with me....
Bit of bribery & corruption doesn't go astray, especially in early days. ;-) Be it just a bit of grass, carrot, whatever, if you've often got goodies, he'll associate you with Good Stuff. Once he's at the point of trusting/enjoying being scratched & groomed, you can use that as rewards too. **Just ensure you never reinforce 'rude' behaviour with anything.

He looks a nice sort. Glad you've started on his feet especially looking at that last pic. Can't tell much just from that pic, except that his toes are all looong and he's possibly down on crushed heels - maybe pic angle, but he appears slightly sickle hocked, which might need some bodywork along with good farriery to correct his 'conformation'.
 
#13 ·
Let him get comfortable at his own pace ----- some abused or neglected horses can take as long as a year.

It helps for the horse to be home and to watch you interact with your other horses.
 
#15 ·
I agree with not expecting too much too soon and not being worried about using some bribery - as long as treats come with rules they don't create the problems that some people get all anxious about.
We've had a lot of untouched semi feral horses over the years - I say semi feral because these horses, unlike those living completely 'wild' are used to seeing humans around even if they haven't been handled by them. I actually prefer that to a horse that's been badly handled though you might have a combination of both there.
Take it a day at a time, you'll probably be surprised at some point at how fast the progress will suddenly be, its just the early stages when you're gaining their trust that seem to drag.
 
#18 ·
He looks great. I have had some experience with working with unhandled older horses and always appreciated that their thought process was a little more mature than the younger horses.

just keep taking things slowly. He has not been allowed to be a part of a herd and is trying to figure out if you are the leader. Goodjob with eating from the bucket.
 
#19 ·
He sure is a cutie:)

I know you said he's a Paint. BUT he sure looks SSH to me, plus you said he has a "floaty" trot and he's sickle-hocked. Sickle hock is not totally common in gaited horses but it isn't uncommon either. One of mine is sickle-hocked.

It would be neat to see a video of him trotting. Young gaited horses very often trot and do other crazy things until they get set in their intermediate gait.

I have also learned a gaited horse is more prone to trot if their skeletal system is out of place.

My long three year old could not hold his run walk and would quickly break into a trot. I had the chiro out, his head/neck and sacrum needed adjusted. The chiro wanted him to have a week off but work got in the way and he got two weeks. When I did get back on him, he had a beautiful head bobbing run-walk that he never broke from:)

Regardless, your fella is a cutie and seems very eager to trust someone who is fair and he wants to learn:)
 
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