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New Here - Adopted Abused Horse - Need Suggestions

2K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  Darla719 
#1 ·
Hi, I just joined this forum and am excited to meet everyone. First, let me apologize if this ends up being a long post, but I want to give as much info as possible so you get a good idea of what I'm up against. We adopted "Argy" about a month ago. He was living next door with other horses and was close to going to the slaughter house. We just moved to Missoula in November. Here are some things about Argy that we know:

Argy is 9 y/o. I'm not sure of his breed. He lived at a dude ranch for a number of years and am told he was a good working horse. I am told he was badly abused for a number of years. He has a scar on his face where a halter was left on for so long that it rubbed into his skin and left a scar. He was hobbled and beaten with a hose. His nose was twitched while they beat him with various weapons to include boards, hoses, etc. He was put in a small horse trailer and left there for several weeks with no food/water while some guy read a book to him every day for weeks on end (trying to fix him?). He was finally rescued by some rescue organization and sent to a rehab center where he was worked with for a year by a trained professional. She saw potential in Argy and never gave up on him. Eventually his trainer got him ready for adoption and he ended up next door to us with our neighbors, who had him for about another year while he was waiting to be adopted. The neighbors already have other horses, so they were running out of patience and tired of Argy being on their food bill. This is the point when we moved in next door and found out all of this information.

We looked at Argy and saw a sweet horse who was wanting to interact with us, but was terrified to approach. He would come as close as his nerves would allow and then stretch his neck out as far as it would go to try to get a sniff of us. He wanted to be near people, but could only stand there and shake and twitch. Our new house was completely set up for horses, so we took him in. We waited a few more days for his trainer to come over so she could walk Argy over to his new barn, stall, and pasture. We wanted his move to be with someone he knew and trusted. It went well. He ran all around for a few days, snorting, and neighing to his friends next door. His trainer said it would be good for him to only have us humans to bond with instead of other horses for awhile. He was used to pack cubes as treats, so I went and bought a bag :)

I asked Argy's trainer if she would be willing to keep coming over to help me work with him and show me how to interact with him so he will keep progressing and she has agreed to do that. She has been here 3 times now since he joined our family (1 month ago), but now has to leave for a month or two for a trip to South Africa. Here is a list of things Argy will alow:

He will eat pack cubes from my hand.
I can now pet his forehead (as of 2 days ago).
He let me brush his left side, ONLY, yesterday while he ate breakfast.
He will follow me around the pasture every time I go out there.
I have gotten a halter on/off him a few times, but now he yanks his head back and bolts if I try.
He KNOWS round pen exercises very well and will run/trot/canter/walk, and change directions on cue.
He is very respectful and shows no signs of aggression or being mean. He only shows major fear.
He puts his head in his halter on cue for his trainer, but not me. (I assume this will take time?)

I have spent long hours in the barn with him, just talking to him. I do not put him in a stall because I dont want him to feel trapped in any way and he always has the option to leave. Sometimes he bolts, but then comes right back. He also jumps quite a bit, but doesn't leave. Now I feel like we are at a point where neither of us is progressing. I have reached his tolerance threshold and we are at a standstill. I don't want to do ANYTHING that may make him regress in therapy, but I also want him to keep getting better and trust me. I had horses as a child, but never one that had any problems and never any that were abused. Will he get past this fear? How can I make it easier for him? What is reasonable to expect? Is he going to figure out he can "out-patience" me?

Anyway, again sorry for the long post. I really want Argy to have a good life and I do believe in this horse. I guess I just need suggestions on how to advance in his rehab. Thanks for listening :)

Darla & Argy
 
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#2 ·
Time. Its too bad on how he was treated. Do you have many months to years to form a trusting relationship with him? If so, that's a real possibility on how long it may take for him to come around. I hope your not in a hurry to ride him. Just be there for him and as suggested make him the only horse right now so he seeks you or humans as companions.

You need to be careful with a fearful animal. Anything can trigger a bad response so make sure you are in control. And as hard as it is to say please don't let him get away with negative behavior. Kicking and biting.

This is going to be hard because if he feels insecure or unsure of a situation and feels no other option than to fight he will do it. If you let him because he was abused and don't want to discipline him, he will never get better. He could be doomed.

Just take your time and spend as much time as you can with him and give him room. Make being with you the best thing in the world. Good luck and stay safe.
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#3 ·
Welcome to the forum! :)

I think you have a great start. Given he was abused so badly for long time it'll take LOTS of time for him to overcome the fears and start trusting you. Just don't loose the patience - it WILL come, just take some time.

Actually I kept my abused paint in stall for week straight (because she was unhandled), letting her to run in pen for couple hours/day, and that worked out pretty good for us both (she was my 2nd horse BTW, and almost no horsey experience). I found out that as long as you keep talking and start petting on neck, the horse quite relaxes. Just dont' go up to head to to the butt too fast. I always started with the neck/shoulder at first, and then worked my way either up or down very slowly.

Good luck with him!
 
#4 ·
He lived at a dude ranch for a number of years and am told he was a good working horse. I am told he was badly abused for a number of years. He has a scar on his face where a halter was left on for so long that it rubbed into his skin and left a scar. He was hobbled and beaten with a hose. His nose was twitched while they beat him with various weapons to include boards, hoses, etc. He was put in a small horse trailer and left there for several weeks with no food/water while some guy read a book to him every day for weeks on end (trying to fix him?). He was finally rescued by some rescue organization and sent to a rehab center where he was worked with for a year by a trained professional. She saw potential in Argy and never gave up on him. Eventually his trainer got him ready for adoption and he ended up next door to us with our neighbors, who had him for about another year while he was waiting to be adopted.
Wow. I would honestly take all of the abuse stories and heavily salt them. A horse cannot survive without water for 'weeks'.

Have you confirmed his age? If he lived at a dude ranch for a number of years, then was abused for how long? Then a year at at trainer and a year with your neighbor. . .

My suggestion is to get in touch with the vet and the trainer that had him for the year and base anything you do with him off of their information. If he was abused, he may have a trigger. If he wasn't abused but simply neglected, he may just need more socializing.
 
#6 ·
Wow. I would honestly take all of the abuse stories and heavily salt them. A horse cannot survive without water for 'weeks'.
Thank you, MLS, that was my thought too.
Let me add that there are lots of un-abused horses with hairless spots on their face from their halter. It does not mean abuse just because there is a bald spot there.

OP, I am very glad you are working with a trainer. I hope things work out well.

Just curious, what do you mean by pack cubes?
 
#5 ·
it really sounds your making progress :) well done :) and its a big thing to take on any abused animal so good on ya! Again i think it will just take time, sounds your doing everything i would, take your time, dont push him but what i would say is reward him for even the slightest movement in the right direction, this will help him understand hes going in the right direction and hell begin to understand that he isnt going to get hurt in anyway anymore, also id make sure i was calm and relaxed when around him, it always amazes me how horses pick up exactly what your thinking. He really sounds like a genuine horse and i think its a given that once you get the bond with him it will be a bond for life :) goodluck :)
 
#7 ·
Well from what I understand, the person who put him in a too small trailer kept him there for about 3 weeks straight. He would get water once per day by a hose being shoved through a crack in the trailer. It's very obvious this horse was mistreated and I trust the trainer enough to believe her about the halter being left on until it left a sore and scar. The hair has grown back, but is discolored. He is terrified of humans. I'm not sure how a horse becomes this way at his age, after being a work horse at a dude ranch for so long. Nevertheless, all of that is over now, whether true or not. All I know for sure is that he is very afraid of anyone who approaches him and he does not trust anyone. If I even go to scratch my head, he jumps and starts shaking with fear. At first he would run away, but now he just jumps, but stays there and twitches everywhere. I did find that certain things do trigger him, like the sight of a brush - OMG! Not sure what happened in his past with that, but it's obviously something very traumatic for him. Will have to save that one for later.

I have all of the time in the world for him. I took him in with the acceptance that I may never be able to ride him. I work from home and make my own hours, so I can spend all day with him if I need to. He has not shown ANY sign of aggression or meanness. He seems very polite and has obviously had "space" training. I can tell he 'wants' to be near me, but is terrified. I have taken my two small dogs out there to spend time him and to see how he reacts and he is not at all afraid of barking dogs at his feet. He does follow me around the pasture, but if I stop, he keeps his distance. I can now pet his left side, but for some reason, he does not want me near his right side. His mane is getting dreadlocks from no grooming, but trying to get near them is too stressful for him and I'm not sure if I should push him. I do not have experience with an abused, fearful, or neglected horse, so I'm hoping to get all of the encouragement/suggestions, or advice anyone is willing to give. I'm a huge sucker for animals everyone else has given up on, so I really want to give this horse a chance. If he was mean or showed signs of not even being interested, then I may not have given him a second glance, but its like he is asking for a chance, even though it scares him to the point of trembling, he is still trying. Since I dont have any experience with an animal like this, I would just like to know what things I can expect and how I can help him. I dont care if it takes years.

p.s. Can someone explain what pack cubes are? I have a bag of them, but dont know how to explain them. They are these little round things about the size of a cigar. They look like compressed alfalfa? He gets perhaps a handful total per day, one chunk at a time if he lets me touch him or pet him.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Interesting. Never heard of such a thing. I could not find them on Nutrena's web site either.



OP, the best way to deal with any horse is to treat them like a horse. I know that remembering they are a heard animal and not a human is sometimes very hard for us (general human us).
 
#13 ·
Just keep doing what you are doing. Be understanding and gentle but do not be afraid to be aggressive when need be. You must be firm, otherwise this horse will learn to walk all over you. There are many, many horses in this world that people insist were once abused but that is kind of a personal label for many of them. Handled rough is what I tend to describe them as.

I have a horse that would truley fit the abused/neglected category and believe it or not, he never feared humans. He has very little respect for them, men especially. He's not an agressive animal but he will fight if he feels the need. I personally saw him beaten with a 2x4. I saw the owners (teenaged boys) sit on their back deck and shoot him with a beebee gun. They thought it was funny when he bucked.

When I got him home he was over 200 lbs under weight and had a hole in his face about the size of the tip of my pinky that oozed puss and was covered with gnats. He had several loose teeth and this horrible scab on his withers from ill fitting tack. Biggest mistake I made? I forgave him. For EVERYTHING. I went to put the halter on and he ran... My though? Oh, he's scared. Nope, didn't want to be caught. But I walked away because he was scared. I taught him how to avoid being haltered. No halter, no work. Don't do that.

He would rear. Terrible rearer. I never got firm, he was abused. Can't be firm with an abused horse. Wrong! Be firm. I'm not saying be rough, just let him know there ARE boundaries or you are going to have issues. He's probably smart and if he is, he'll learn your buttons really fast.

As for the halter, treat it like a bridel when you are removing it. Don't pull it off, unhook the latch and let him pull out of it gently. Just like the bit, you let him drop it rather then banging his teeth.

I would get a vet out for a quick health check and as they said, age check but be gentle and firm. You'll do great.
 
#14 ·
Thank you so much for your input cause I was actually wondering when or if he will learn he can use the "Oh, I've been abused, so don't push me" trick. I had to leave town for a few hours this afternoon and decided to give him one of those treats before I left. He met me at the gate as I opened it and walked in. All of a sudden, he JUMPED to the left, snorted, and bolted off about 40 yards. His eyes looked like he saw a ghost! I stood there for about 30 seconds just puzzled why he would suddenly act like that. Then I realized I had my purse on my arm. Duh! I put my purse down, walked forward about 10 yards, and then invited him to me. He came to me with no problem and accepted his treat. I pet his forehead and then left.

My question is: How do I determine when to be firm and when to give him a break due to him being so afraid? I don't want this to become a crutch for him and I definitely dont want him thinking he can push me around. He did turn his bum to me one time. I firmly and loudly told him "NO!" (instructions from trainer) and he turned back around. He hasn't done it again, but what if "NO!" doesn't cut it next time? I guess I'm concerned about him out-smarting me, lol since I have no idea how clever he is, but also do not want to traumatize him or make things worse. I'm just glad I have you folks here to guide me through this process. I hope its okay to keep asking questions and documenting our progress.

Thank you all SOOO SOOOOO much!

Darla & Argy
 
#15 ·
Congrats on taking on an abused horse. I did too, and it took about 6 months before Whiskey would stand to be groomed- before that, he screamed for his horsey friends, and his buddies neighed right back. He danced from side to side, acted like a general pain. Even though he was abused, I never hesitated to give him a firm, deserved smack when he was trying to pin me to the hitching post. If he would step on my heels when I was trying to lead him, he got a smack on the nose with the lead rope.
I guess what I'm trying to say is- yes, treat him like a horse. Take things slowly with haltering, and coming around to his left side and such, but if he ever strikes out at you in any way- kicking, biting etc.- do as any herd animal would do back to him- kick back.
Good luck with him. After two years, my horse trusts me now, and is an unbelievable trail partner. I hope yours turns out the same.
 
#16 ·
I've got a youngster who was from the same kinda back ground. He was only young so it it didn't take long for him to come around, i spent time on the bond with him. I have been very lucky that he bonded with he very really from the first time he came off the trailer. I spent hours in with him, mucking out around him, reading books (re-reading them), singing songs. I left the radio on alot so there was always some kind of noise going on around him. I didn't touch or groom him for a few days, I found that when he was looked after but left to figure out "what the strange woman" was doing he willing came to me.
With the head collar, i'd make it a very positive thing so be confident and if you put it on before you feed him that way its not a bad thing that he will want to fight.
start of with little bites that way you won't flood him, but remember at point if your not in control he will see it as a way of reacting thats reasonable reaction.
good luck, I know I've now got a youngster who grounded, very sweet and is happy and willing to learn new things.
 
#17 ·
Those cubes are very common feed used by outfitters going back to hunting camps for weeks on end. They can haul in tons of it by packhorse instead of trying to pack in bales of hay. some camps are so far back they are on able to be reached by horseback, so getting feed to the horses during the time they are in camps is best done by hay cubes.
Alot of folks actually feed hay cubes during winter instead of hay, easier to store and feed out and takes less room than hay. They use cubes to feed the elk at the feedgrounds also.
 
#18 ·
Wow, thank you Wyominggrandma for this information! I knew they were used for people who went hunting but didn't know how or why or any of the interesting details you provided :) Thank you for that because now I feel better giving them to him knowing they aren't really "treats". He just thinks they are. WIN!
 
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