Probably he hasn't been beaten, but just trained in a way that went too fast and was too rough so he still has fears about being handled. He sounds shut down, which is what happens to some horses if they are trained using a technique called flooding. That is when the horse is exposed to something until he is quiet, even if he is still terrified inside.
I agree with the others who say the horse needs slow restarting, without being flooded so he can feel fear and react to things, but then slowly learn those things won't hurt him and get over his fear. The guarding of the right side is a sign of a horse that has been barely started. It means the time hasn't been put in yet to desensitize him to handling on both sides. Regardless of what they were able to do to him physically, such as put a saddle on, he hasn't mentally accepted training yet.
Some really spooky horses can appear as if they have been beaten. One of my mares was always handled gently and no one ever mistreated her, but she was very reactive. At one place where I boarded, the owner told me my mare had been beaten, because whenever she raised the pitchfork suddenly, she would flinch and cower. This horse had never been beaten with a pitchfork or anything else, she was just very reactive and even after years of exposure to things, she'd have that reaction to anything that startled her suddenly.
I agree with the others who say the horse needs slow restarting, without being flooded so he can feel fear and react to things, but then slowly learn those things won't hurt him and get over his fear. The guarding of the right side is a sign of a horse that has been barely started. It means the time hasn't been put in yet to desensitize him to handling on both sides. Regardless of what they were able to do to him physically, such as put a saddle on, he hasn't mentally accepted training yet.
Some really spooky horses can appear as if they have been beaten. One of my mares was always handled gently and no one ever mistreated her, but she was very reactive. At one place where I boarded, the owner told me my mare had been beaten, because whenever she raised the pitchfork suddenly, she would flinch and cower. This horse had never been beaten with a pitchfork or anything else, she was just very reactive and even after years of exposure to things, she'd have that reaction to anything that startled her suddenly.
