[babyb]

I have been doing a lot of ground work with misty, but due to the weather I haven't been able to work with her everyday. She is now halter broke and I am wanting to move on to the next step. I don't have a round pen to lunge her in but my brother in law who has been helping me train keeps telling me lunging don't matter, but I've been reading on the Internet lunging is VERY important. I watched a Clinton Anderson video the other day and in 2 hours he had a wild mustang that never had any human contact gentle as can be. But my brother in law said I don't have to do all that with misty. She has no respect at all and I am between a rock and a hard place. He is wanting to hurry and get her ridable because riding season is coming and they are already planning a weekend campout ride. I don't want to rush her but I want to do more then I have been with her. After halter breaking what would be the next step other then lunging? And what are some training methods to teach respect?

 

[gingerscout]

lunging and groundwork is very important.. if you dont mind me asking how old is your horse.. if shes a yearling I wouldnt be in any rush to ride her.. and I think most people would shun the idea of breaking her as a yearling.. when they are that young all you do is work on leading/ grooming.. etc and let them be a horse.. there is no hurrying it up at all.. not if you want a sound horse later in life

 

[babyb]

She will be 4 in April

 

[gingerscout]

ok thats different.. I see a lot of people asking how soon to ride yearlings and it doesent go over well.. still if theres no rush to you..dont let him push you too fast into things.. its your horse

 

[draftgrl]

What I would be doing with your Misty, is getting her used to everything. Blankets, hoses, tarps, saddles, ropes, things that make noise, things that dont. Anything that would potentially get her scared out on the trail, or wherever you/she may be.

I would be ground driving her for sure though. As for lunging, thats up to you, I never did it until after my first NH clinic. Now I don't consider my self a NH person, but yes, lunging can help. If nothing else, its something more thats under Misty's belt.

How long have you had her?

For the riding part, just go at the pace YOU feel comfortable with. Granted, if she's turning 10 and you still havent gotten past a walk with her thats a bit extreme.

 

[babyb]

I have had misty a month. She was never handled before I got her. Like I said she is halter broke now. She leads good, she backs up with very little pressure, yeilds her head, I have been working with her on standing tied. She HATED being tied but now she is doing a lot better. Have been working with her on grooming, she still won't let me brush her legs, tail or her stomach but I can brush her pretty much every where else. I have been getting her used to having her face messed with I can rub her ears now. I have had a saddle on her 5-6 times but she still don't like it. She still won't let me walk up to her unless I have a feed bucket but she is now catching on to that. It just seems like I am not doing something or not doing something right.

 

[draftgrl]

I wouldn't push riding her then. Don't let your brother in law pressure you. By the sounds of it she still needs alot of work before able to ride, let alone go on a trail ride.

 

[themacpack]

Tell your brother in law to pack sand - it's your horse, right? This is not something you want to do wrong - it is far easier to start with a blank slate (which you have now) and write on it what you want than to try to re-write things by making corrections later from leaving holes in her training.

 

[themacpack]

Do you have someone (OTHER than your brother-in-law) who has experience with training that can help you and Misty?

 

[babyb]

A friend of mine has been helping me but there is only so much she can say cause she has never met misty and she lives 2 hours away so I can't just load her up and take her there to be trained all the time. My friend was wanting to come down for a day and help me but her and my brother in law don't really get a long they have dif ideas on how to train. Plus my last horse got hurt in my brother in laws care and she was left hurt 4 at least 4 days before he told me about it. Well my friend had to care for her plus when I went and got her she was WAY under weight

 

[draftgrl]

... at least 4 days before he told me about it. Well my friend had to care for her plus when I went and got her she was WAY under weight

This tells me your brother in law has no respect for you, or your animal. I wouldn't listen to a word he says.

 

[babyb]

I am in no hurry to ride her. I learned my lesson the hard way riding a horse before she was ready, I got a busted back and a huge doc bill out of it. I want to make sure she is ready before I do that.

 

[kait18]

before even thinking about putting a saddle on which i am glad your hestiant about ... i would focus on a few of these

- getting her desentized to grooming and being touched everywhere
- then work on picking up feet
- then desentize her to blankets , tarps, bags, anything and everything you can touch her with and take off and shake around her until she is no bothered by it
- then work try to do some lunging... you dont need a pen to teach her... it does help but you can do it without...
- once she goes good on the lunge i would introduce the saddle and saddle pad but not get on... just work her in it
and so forth but thats the short version and i left alot out... but until she allows you to touch her everywhere she is techincally unsafe because she is not ready for anything else imo
goodluck i hope you can find a knowledgeable person to help you other than your brother in law

 

[babyb]

I will start working with her on that. Thank you so much for your help.

 

[rob]

babyb,how much training experience do you and your brother-in-law have?

 

[babyb]

Honestly I have no training experiance I am learning right along with misty. I have owned 3 horses misty being my 3rd. My first horse was green broke when I got her but at that time I didn't know anything about ground work at that time. I just rode her and she got better each time I took her on a trail ride but she still had a really bad attitude but all she needed was ground work done I am guessing. I had no control of her at first and she ran me into a tree crushing 4 vertebrea in my back. My second horse was also green broke. I rode her a few times but she got hurt while she was here at my brother in laws house, I was still living 2 hours away at that time. She stepped on a nail, my brother in law pulled it out but just turned her back in the muddy corral. He loaded his 2 horses and went to his mothers 4 2 weeks. 4-5 days after he showed up was when he told me about Katie. By the time we was able to come get her her foot was so infected she couldn't hardly walk. We loaded her and took her to my friends house where we doctored her for 3 weeks. Ended up having to cut the absess open to let it drain. My brother in law is the one that broke her right before I got her from him.

He has worked with horses off and on his whole life but recently started it again after several years. Since he broke Katie and his own 2 horses I thought he could break misty no problem.
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[draftgrl]

Do you know of any friends or other people that can help you? Or at least give a good reference of someone who would be (IMHO) more experienced to help you?

 

[rob]

at least you admit that you are not a trainer.and just because your brother-in-law broke a couple of horses,that doesnt mean he knows what he is doing.i am just looking out for you,dont let someone mess up a horse that you cant do nothing with later.

 

[luvmyaqh]

I think it is very important to have a lot of patience with any horse. I agree with the others, tell your brother-in-law to leave you alone. I am a fan of round pen training. Is there any way you can put one up? I am also a fan of Mark Rashid. I read his first book, Considering a Horse. Great book! You should also make sure the saddle fits right, if you haven't already. If it doesn't fit Misty properly and is pinching her she will difficult to ride.

 

[kait18]

i really wondnt trust your brother in law... sorry if that is harsh but he doesnt seem to really care about what happens to you or your horse if rushed... and i am glad you admit your experience.

everything i mentioned you can pretty much do yourself... i hate youtube but some videos are actually pretty good and have some good demonstrations but they are useless if misty isn't really halter broke... which sadly i doubt and in no way is your fault. i would really suggest spending some money especially if you really want to keep her, on getting a trainer to work with you both once a week atleast to help show you what you need to do and to also help misty get proper training to be a safe mount.
remember she might have a calm disposition now but once you start nit picking on her to get things accomplished for training she could easily go back to being semi untamed and bossy and you can/will get hurt
goodluck