My Latest Run-around...Did I do the Right Thing?

Well last weekend was an interesting one. Bause...the arab mare/ "problem horse" as Danielle puts it...is now officially mine. I don't have a place to move her yet so her old owner, Danielle, is keeping her for me until I have a place. Im just starting to work with her really...so we havent really bonded yet though there was an instant connection between us (ill explain if asked)...ANYWAY there were five of us going on a trail ride...we have five horses...bause being one of them...so I decided to ride her because a. No one else will, an b. The only other person "barve" enough doesnt have the experience so she had to ride my gelding. Now I have ridden bause before...the first time I rode her we went on a nine mile trail ride and she was a perfect angel for me...something danielle had never seen lol

Anyway we had issues before the ride even started. Before we even had the trailer loaded really... it started that we noticed the girth on bause's saddle had some broken strings...not good with bause. So I needed to run back down to the barn for another girth...so Danielle offered to hold bause while I did. Bad choice #1 lol bause absolutely hates and disrespects danielle. So my oh so wonderful horse got mad that I had handed her to danie and reared then lunded at danie as soon as I was out of sight. I ran back and took bause back...settled her down after a short dissaplineing (made her spin circles rope wasnt long enough to send her on a lunge) after this I thought she was fine...she wasnt..she was still mad. As we walked up to the trailer she began to rear and mock lunge at me.

See bause does this thing were she rears an bounces at you but its only like a half rear an bounce. Then it gets progressively worse until she is strait up an down then lunging at you...its like she is saying "You scared? How about now? No...ok how about now?"

Well I didnt get scared... I didnt flinch...I continued to just move aside and spin her with me to get her back on her feet. But when she didnt stop I got a tad irritated and decided to the round pen we would go... after fighting her the entire way there and having to have someone else open the gate because I was having to keep both hands on the lead I finally got her in the pen an the lead off. Went to lunge her but she ignored me so had a friend go get a lunge whip. That got her attention. I made her run both directions at a steady lope until she was slightly winded and sweaty...then made her trot a bit more. She didnt give me any of the really good submissive signs like chewing or lip licking but she did eventually drop her head a bit and had both ears focused on me. Then again I didnt have that much time to sit there and go through a full blown join up...though I wish I culd have. (plan to the next day its not below freezing)

Well after this I walked up to her and reatached her lead. I said "Are you ready to behave?" and I didnt have any more problems...loading unloading leading or riding...so did I do right? I think I did but I would love opinions...I can also post up details on her training...which is one of her issues lol

Sorry about the novel...thanks for reading!

I have to say that I would have done the exact thing you did. So in my opinion...I think you did the right thing. Obviously, someone is going to say that you should have done this, or that, but in all actuallity, whether someone say's you should have done this, or that, you did the right thing. I'm sure there are other ways you could have handled it, but the way you did was one of the ways a lot of people would have handled it, in my opinion. Good Job!!

I might have handled it differently but if you liked the results then what you did was right.

Thanks guys! I thought I was on the right track...any more opinions or suggestions? Tips?

And if anyone thinks I did the wrong thing please speak up! I would like to hear what you would have done differently... Bause is very smart! If I discipline her the same every time she's going to figure it out and it wont be pretty lol so ideas are wanted!

I agree with Kevin. Sounds like that would did worked just fine and that's the point, there is not one right way.

I would have approached the actual issue of her rearing and lounging at me rather than round penned her... As soon as she starts I would "get bigger" raise my arms, thawp her on the top of the head with my palm and this would send her back. I am learning this to be a knee jerk reaction when I'm about to be run over, shown to me by a good friend of mine. Works like a charm and addresses the actual issues saying "I can get bigger than you"

Personally, I would've sent my friends on the ride without me, and attended to the rearing issue right then and there. But like others have said, if you got the result you wanted, then in your books you did it right. Glad she behaved for the rest, but if training's not complete, then you have to be prepared to drop previous plans (riding) to focus on the training. It will pay off in the end.

I think you made some good decisions. What important is what works for you and your horse. Clearly you did well if she respected you and listened nicely at the end, especially on a trail ride with 4 other horses. I'd say well donw.

Thank you guys lol

New Image- I like and understand the idea you gave but I have an issue....I stand at barely 5'4 and she is a very proud 15'2 or so arab who holds her head slightly up an proud....as far as being able to reach her head an twarp her...it is nearly impossible while trying to keep a hold of her...But Once I have a better handle on her and keep her from going litterally strait up an down this might be a good idea. Lord knows I just really need to work on all the gaps in her training...

EveningShadows- I agree with your responce...I would have loved to have just stayed home and done ground work for the rest of the day but my friends were not going to leave without me...and I didnt want to ruin their ride...had it only been me I would have stayed home... this is were I figured I messed up...if I was going to do it right I would have needed to stay home and focus on her respect issues...thats really what they are. She isnt scared of anything a person does...she just has no respect for people...certain ones in perticular. But that's also sorta danies fault...she use to run from Bause when they first got her so Bause learned early she could push danie around. She wont learn to push me around lol im going to make that clear to her very soon.

As for an update on my plans...The next day its warm enough (currently in the teens an negative at night) I am going to have a "respect" day with miss Bause... Im going to focus on lounging for respect and maybe getting a join up with her...It worked wonders with my stubborn gelding so hopefully it has similar results with her...if not ill have to think of another plan lol

Anyone have good tips for gaining respect? A friend and I have both used the join up technique with great success...but I know there are bound to be other ways...and if the join up doesnt go well with Bause I want a back up plan...

How long did you say you've had Bause for? I've personally found Join Up to be a helpful tool with every horse I've worked with. If nothing else, it builds a relationship, if done right it builds trust and respect. Another thing I like to do is ask them to turn on the haunches/fores from a standstill - shows them where my personal bubble is and how to move out of it. I find they're alot more respectful of personal space after an exersize like that.

My mare rears, but it's when I'm on her and give her the cue. :) Very much intentional and precise, but I've rarely held a rearer on the ground. I'm curious to hear how others would've handled a situation like that.

In the book True Horsemanship through Feel Bill Dorrance talks about the importance of being able to move a horses feet using feel. A horse rears because it gets confused and doesn't know where to move it's feet. Your not offering enough feel for the horse to be able to follow it. There are several exercises in the book. They seem quite simple and you think it's almost not worth trying then when you try them you can't do it. One of them is getting your horse to take just one step forward and one step backward without pulling the lead tight. Sounds easy but it's not. I have a pretty good library of horse books but Bill's is by far the best.