Advice needed for 20yr mare, and me!

Hey there, I have an older OTTB mare that I rescued and am rehabing. She is every day getting better (healthy) and is a total sweet heart..Will let me do anything with her handling wise. I do not have any plans with her work wise in the future, but I need any advise to help with her.. I have let a child sit on her with just a saddle pad while I lead her out while grazing, no problems. But yesterday I did have a scare she stepped on her lead rope and Freaked out when she tried to raise her head. I simply stepped back and told her OK, OK. She immediately calmed down and acted as if it never happened. She is my only horse and its been many moons since my last. As I have really done nothing more than bareback and halter EVER. Just wondering when she is back to health would it be too much too late to try just simple training? Right now I pretty much treat her like a big puppy, and she is very 'hokey pokey' I guess you'd say, but I have noticed that now getting healthier she is also getting more of a spirit. What should I be on the look out for? Mainly just want to make Im not going to push her, no lunging or running ect. I don't think she really has it in her, also I was worried that she could be pregnant, but just hay belly . Thanks in advance. Also I want to gain her trust bottom line, as I do hand walk her for an hour or so every evening. So far so good, Im just praying that her calm temperment will stay.ps I don't have the extra funds for a pro trainer, so it all has to be done by me who has to learn myself.Thanks again.

Regardless of age, if a horse is awake you can train it. In fact, every time you interact with a horse you are training it.

I'm a little concerned that you are "treating her like a big puppy." She's a horse (as you know), 20 isn't that old, and she needs to behave like a good horse or someone will get hurt. Possibly her. Most likely you or whatever little one you are giving pony rides to. Put a saddle with a cinch on her when you do that, please. Give the kid a chance. Gosh, a big sneeze could knock the child and a blanket off.

I don't mean to be harsh, but you really need to demand good behavior whenever you are with her. Not too concerned about her pulling back when she stepped on the lead. That's a normal reaction. I suppose even that could be trained out of her, but I've never bothered.

You say she is becoming "more spirited" as she recovers. That's great. Be sure she is clear on what behavior is expected when humans are around.

You should start lunging her, she is not too old for that (depending on her physical condition). Do lots more ground work. This will help when on board. I would pretty well restart her under saddle. You need to lunge her to build up her topline and muscle before she is fit to be ridden again, she is OTT, and this should be done with any OTT.
Posted via Mobile Device

20 years old is not all that old these days. There are many people here on the forum that still use their horses well into their 20's and sometimes beyond. I have a mare that I got two years ago and after getting some weight on her and got all the health stuff out of the way, I began riding her. She fell right back into riding as if she never had a day off (Though she had at the very least, 7 years of sitting in a pasture doing nothing before I got her).

She is now 24 and going strong. I run around with her and lunge her almost as I would a younger horse. I do allow for extra warm up time, but she is still happy to be out on the trail and doing something. She is running circles around some of the younger horses I ride with.

Don't count her off just yet. Barring any health issues, she should still have several good, productive years left in her. She may even come to enjoy having a "job" to do again.

Good luck! And, of course, I have to ask for pictures because we love our senior horses around here.

Hehehe...

20 isn't old. The vets say that nowadays with nutrition, dentistry, hoof care, parasite control, etc. "senior" doesn't even start until 25 years old. My boy is 18, and he gets worked into a sweat five times a week. Your horse is something like 60-65 in People Years. That was really old...a couple hundred years ago. Now? It's on the upper end of middle age.

This concern about how she freaked when she stepped on her own lead rope? If I had a buck for every time my horse has done that, I'd be able to buy five pounds of Jamaican coffee. I deal with it by looping the rope up over his withers when he's in the cross ties, by not knotting the rope in or on the hitching post but making sure that it's got some slack if he starts pulling back, and when I hand graze him on the lead rope, I make sure to watch just where that rope is hanging and keep it way away from his feet.

I know exactly how startling it is when a horse does that. Silly drama queens. A MONSTER IS EATING MY HEAD!!!! They panic, and as soon as they back up while wigging out, the Head Eating Monster vanishes and they go back to being mellow. So yeah, it can be very dramatic and very sudden, but IMO it doesn't mean anything about their personality or their reliability under saddle.

I'd suggest having a serious conversation with your horse's vet and getting that person to suggest an exercise program. Or you might want to talk to a trainer and get some schooling yourself for how to handle the horse effectively on the ground, and get that person to suggest an exercise program.

But if your horse is not actively lame with something bad and permanent, there's no reason at all to baby her along, and no reason at all to assume you can't ride her. She needs to be brought back into work sensibly, but that ought to involve being ridden at some point. And *definitely* lunged.

Make sure she minds you, too. No shoving, no pushing, no nasty faces, no ear pinning. Don't put up with that kind of sass. It's like giving in to a toddler's tantrum - only effect of that is to teach the toddler that Tantrums Work.

BTW, you don't have to commit to a long stream of training, you might be able to get by with just one or two sessions at home. Groundwork, for sure. And a soundness evaluation, maybe, for the exercise program.

I just wanted to say thank you because I thought that because of her age she was 'ending the road'. But vet has all cleared, just needing groceries. I now have hope for her as I have two boys and I really want them to have a couple of good years for them, I think other than the head eating monster she is un averagely doscile(sp?) I will now start to look into saddles for her future as all I have now is a pad that does have a strap to secure it on (Im sorry not good at horsey lingo) and a halter. She is just a BIG brown Eyore gal (personality). That is why I have only puppy dogged her, (I know somebody is laughing at me now, because that's all I have done is taken her for walks. Im glad to know that she can be more than a lawn ornament that eats a LOT! She has never pinned ears or anything accept follow me on walks, in the beginning she hung her head on walks and now she'll hold her head up and sniff the wind!That's her spirit showing now, maybe she has been trained in her past that I don't know much of, because she knows to pick her feet up turn when I tell her to and puts her nose in the halter because that means a walk!MMM the grass is greener on the other side of my fence I guess she thinks.She's as new to me as I am to her and I tell her, but I have heard of SCARY horses, I guess mine's just greatful? Head eatin Monster!! I gotta tell the old man that one!!HaHa!

Sigh. My horse is "hot" and we spend a LOT of time with the Head Eating Monster. We had a trail ride on Friday, and it was the Hoof Eating Hole. Or, rather, the HOOF EATING HOLE!!!!!!!!!!! And there was Much Drama. Fortunately, at 18, at least Huey has a Thought Circuit that cuts in pretty quickly and he's able to calm himself down relatively fast. That's one of the benefits of having an older horse.

Be aware that it is not uncommon for a horse that has been neglected or abused to the point where they are underweight and majorly under condition to start perking up and getting...hmm...assertive as they start to feel better. So she may be super-sweet now, but do be alert for signs of sassiness and Attitude, and be ready to nip that stuff in the bud if it starts to show up as she gets healthier. And if she's really undercondition, she may not have been going into season - and at her age, she ought to still be going into and out of season. May get snippy then.

Nothing to be worried about, just to stay on top of...

First off, get rid of the thought that you rescued this horse. Why? Because then you become the victim. The worst mistakes you can make is to molly coddle her or treat her like a small child with lots of lovies and a soothing voice. Horses interpret this as a reward and all too often people inadvertently reward unwanted behaviour. Don't pussy foot around her either or she will think something is up and her flight mechanism will begin to kick in. Find a good trainer, let the person know of budget constraints and even if it is only once a month you will learn much.

It's nice that you take her for walks. Walking with a horse can be really great for creating a good relationship. You might want to start creating a good , firm leading position and all. Where in she neither passes you nor lags and pulls on the line. I suggest you look at Julie Goodnight's video "leadline leadership"

Don't let yourself fall victium the "cuteness" factor of your Eeyore eyed sweetie. Cute as she is, she can still step on you, so she must know where she can stand and where she cannot and don't be too "gray" about this stuff. She will NOT hold resentment if you correct her (unlike children!)

Also, you can let her train herself how to release herself from a leadline by putting her in a small paddock with a short leadline , not long enough to tangle on things, but long enough that a couple of feet of it drage on the ground when she walks, and she WILL step on it. She'll do it enough times, and eventually figure out how to not panick and how to release herself. She should know this.


AND post pictures!