Confused!??

Hey everyone, I'm kind of flustered lately.. because my friend has a horse that she is training so she can sell him. The reason she has to sell him is because apparently he misbehaves and is too dangerous. To me, it seems like he is completely confused.

Okay, I will start from the top.... Her horse is a 5 yr old Qh gelding. He is great on the ground(most of the time), but he has troubles with rider on back. One day when I was watching my friend work with him, she just flew up on him bareback with just a halter... this is a green broke horse, and to me it seems dangerous. She was cantering around on him bareback with halter in the ring and she was screaming and going ahhhhhhh!, even though she had asked the horse to canter. She was trying to show me how well behaved her horse was by laying on him, as he is trotting.. and bouncing around screaming and shouting. I looked at her horse, and he was completely confused... he's eyes looked wild and he was prancing around with little rears. I was like... "Your not doing him any good by acting like you know nothing... it's be the same throwing a beginner on him." She was like, "he knows what im doing, I do it all the time."

She asked me if I wanted to lead him around a bit, and lunge him. I was like sure. So, I took his lead line and walked him around. My friend said that if his nose ever was in front of my shoulder I was supposed to smack him really hard in the chest. The way I have grown up around horses and trained... I was told to walk beside the horses shoulder and keep in stride with them... My friend told me to try stopping.. she said that her horse had to stop right when I did. So, I stopped.. guess what.. so did her horse.. he stopped the exact second I did. My friend said.. "Smack him." I'm like "Why? He stopped when I stopped." She was like "No, his nose is in front of your shoulder.. smack him".

When I refused to smack him, she came over and smacked him. O.o Her horse jumped back, confused. Does this make sense to any of you?? When the horse does something bad, he gets smacked... when he does something good, he gets smacked... no wonder it is impossible to get him to listen!

She hired a so called "professional" trainer to come in... ughh!! To get the horse to stop, he said you have to pull his head all the way around to touch his side... you keep pulling till he stops. He thinks he is to go in a circle so he does... The trainer said to ALWAYS pull to the side not straight... O>o

Whenever I see my friend work with her horse, all I can see if confusion... she doesn't do any good for him..

I really love her horse though, and I want to buy him, if my theory is correct, I believe with proper training, he would be a great kids horse. He is very well behaved and patient on ground, so I think he is awesome.

Could I have your guys' opinions..
I do the total opposite of what my friend does training wise...
Which way is correct??

Thanks ;D

Oh,and one more thing..

She just fools around when near horses, she runs over to him, and jumps on his back with no halter.. nothing... then she stands up on his back, lays on his butt, etc.

One day, in the winter, as she was giving him hay to eat, out in the open pasture, she decided to show me how well behaved he is... she got on him while he was eating, stood up on his back.. I mean standing on his back.. like on the ground... I moved closer in case she fell, the horse didnt know I was there and spooked... my friend fell off onto the ground.. I was like OMG.. are you okay!?? Don't worry, she was fine.. but no matter how well behaved a horse, they all can spook..

Sorry about the long posts :P

I would suggest she never show in any line classes. I have been to the Royal and you are correct. You should be at the horses shoulder.

I'm sorry, your'e friend is whacked! Her poor horse. Too bad she's into horses. Sounds like she's got some issues to work out before she can be effective with these magnificent animals. I think I'd suggest she get some therapy of call your animal protective services. She's not quite right.

Thanks for replying... she is kind of whacked.. lol.. she goes about everything her own way.. does what she wants... the problem is.. whenever I tell her that she is confusing her horse, she says that's the way ur supposed to do it... she said all of her past trainers told her that's the way to do it, I was like "maybe you should read some horse books or the internet." She said "Whenever you are around my horse, I want you to behave the same as I do around him, so he is trained properly." I'm like.. okay...

I was just wondering... Now that we've established the proper way.. Do you think he could have potential if I brought him to my trainer? She is a great trainer, and we could start him from scratch.. I'm worried about him, if he keeps being trained the way he is now, he might turn into a bucker or rearer for good..

Thanks again :)

Also, her boarder is like that too.. they don't do things the same.. they do things the cheap way, and I don't really like her boarder or her trainers.

Only the owner can decide who trains their horse. Very tricky to get involved in business that you have no legal grounds for.

Ohh.. sorry.. I forgot to mentain again

He is for sale.. If I bought him I meant.. then i'd bring him to my trainer

If he's young and just confused, not abused, sounds like he could be retrained. It's too bad you can't work with him on your own just once to see how far gone he is.

O.0 That poor horse. Your horse should be in line with your shoulder, like Spyder said.

I think if you bought him and started from scratch he would be a great horse.

More often than not, "poorly behaved horses" are the result of poorly educated humans.