finding a horse trainer

[fancy]

"I feed good green grass hay 2 times per day 1 flake am and pm and started giving a bit more cause it is colder out."

I hate to be the one to point out the obvious, but maybe this horse really is hungry. The horse is getting 2 flakes of hay a day, how much do 2 flakes weigh?
I only know that my girls would be snaking at me if that's all they got! LOL

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
Now she is getting 3-4 flakes per day....but she don't look skinny no ribs showing never has. No reason for her to do that....just the way she is and I don't mind the snaking it don't bug me. They rearing however does when I am just trying to pet her and it is not feeding time anyways.

These are recent pics within a month. She don't look like she is starving to me. I think she looks great and I am not stingy with food. I would be the first to give her more if I thought she needed it.

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
Your right and she did great and did not seem to be too hard for her. She did not fight she stood there very patiently. Not a working lesson/training type not lunging etc is what I meant.

 

[welsummerchicks]

The horse does not look thin. Two year olds should be kept looking just very slightly slim - the trend in some breeds to keep them beef-cattle fat and round with tons of grain as yearlings and two year olds, causes metabolic disorders as well as serious developmental problems with their legs. It has also been linked to later insulin resistance and other serious disorders. It is very important to not put a lot of weight on developing legs. At the same time, the owner needs to make absolutely sure the animal is getting sufficient calcium and protein for growth, which it will not get from two flakes of grass hay a day. A vitamin/mineral/protein supplement should be fed. The trick is to feed protein and minerals without over-supplying fat and carbohydrates. Which would get the animal hog fat and/or acting like a nutbar.

To get to work more effectively with your horse, you will need to question and change some of the stubbornly fixed ideas you have. I don't know how to say it so that it is understood - it doesn't matter if the animal stands there quietly or not - it is work for them, it is mentally stressful, and time they are deprived of moving around naturally - it is too long for a young horse. It has an overall toll.

It would be different, perhaps if the animal had been in a consistent program since it was young, but it was not. When an animal is worked with infrequently, sporadically, unevenly, the animal is far more mentally immature than its age indicates. With sporadic, inconsistent work, especially with some of the details you shared privately with me with some of the negative experiences she has had, the filly is more like a weanling or yearling than a two year old and in addition has been subjected to a lot of stress so isn't even going to be very sure what the most basic things she should be doing are...and the negative experiences are going to make her behavior just as erratic as the handling she has had. I don't know how else to say this.

Also, the first time one does something with a horse it almost always 'works out fine'. It is later when the horse realizes what's going to happen that it is a problem. You said subsequently the horse was not good in situations like this and you don't understand why; I'm telling you why - because the overall pattern of work is not right. The key to learning to work with horses is to say, 'what is going on isn'working, i need to change what i do'. Working a young mentally immature horse for four hours once in a few months is NOT the way to get good results. Brief periods frequently is. It is less stressful overall. You have an animal that is behaving as if it is under a lot of stress. Reducing the amount of stress by keeping to a consistent, predictable routine of DAILY, brief periods, is the way to go, and the way all legitimate, successful trainers work with young horses...horses of any age, to be truthful.

 

[arabianequine]

I do understand what you are saying about working with her in short periods and I usually do when I do. This thread is about trying to find a good trainer so I can do that more with her safely and comfortably. Anyone can tell me anything. The last trainer did some good work with her right in front of us but at times was to rough on her imo. I am just saying how well she did do with this example and I said in another post it was a very rare thing to have her tied for that long. She did however have to be contained while we worked so did what we had to do. She use to be tied all the time but had not in some time.

What kind of supplement should she be getting? Are you saying she looks fat? I watch her look very closely. I think sometimes she looks a bit fat sometimes. She is not being worked presently either something to think of....if she was she would probably need more food.

I will start adding some whole oats and/or alfalfa through the winter at times when really cold to help keep her warm and get some more protein.

Been really cold here last day or so over night for sure we had a lot of wind and snow. When I went out today she was definitely excited prancing around she wanted to eat. I would not say she is acting like a nut. Some of it I understand is her breed, age, and not being worked.

What I want to know is what to do when she rears like that when I am right there? I am not even in the pasture w/ her when she does it.

 

[cjatthefarm]

Quote:
Please don't use a chain for a young horse that just needs training. Especially when your knowledge is limited. You can do way more harm than good.

I just jumped in here--sorry--but, I tend to agree w/ what I'm reading here; you need a different horse to start on. I would hate for you or the horse to be hurt. Just sayin'

Best of luck in your horsey endeavors!

 

[cjatthefarm]

Horses in the wild will eat 22-23 hours out of a day! I am glad you changed your feeding schedule! If allowed to have 'free feed' most horses will self-regulate. They will eat what their body wants, and walk away.

And as Forrest Gump would say, 'that's all I have to say 'bout that'!

 

[welsummerchicks]

Horses in the wild eat so many hours a day when they are on starvation ground. When they are on good grassland, they do most of their eating in a few hours in the morning, and a little picking around in the afternoon, depending. Sometimes they prefer to find a shady area (a stand of trees or in the shadow of a rise or hill) to get out of the sun and swat flies off each other.

Horses do not need to be fed constantly. But, if the meals they do get are small and frequent and evenly spaced out over a 24 hour period, they do better. There is a lower incidence of colic, and less problem with chewing wood and other habits that involve a 'lack of chewing satisfaction'. Feeding 3x a day is what most people do - some will add a last bit of hay at 9 or 10 pm. If a horse is grazing, hay and supplements have to be give with that in mind.

to Arabian Equine, I can't tell from the pictures if your filly is at the right weight, she doesn't look extremely 'thin' to me,when I say 'thin', I mean there are ribs, backbone and hip bones sticking out and the neck loses some of its shape(some of its shape being due to fat).

A 'thin' horse could lack muscle, body fat or both. Horses confined to a small area or underfed protein, can lack muscle. Horses lacking calories overall, can lack body fat.

Young horses lacking in calcium, other minerals, protein, tend to look more immature than their age. They may look like they have a big head and a thin, pencil-like neck. They may appear to have a shorter back and longer legs than usual for their age (a 'foal like' look inappropriate to age). They may actually have a very full, round looking big belly(due to parasites) but they still lack muscle and fat over their body.

I feel 2 yr olds should be 'slim', not 'thin', not 'fat'.

To me, 'slim' means, no pads of fat on the neck, rump and belly, and the last 3 ribs can just barely be seen when the animal breathes, but no other ribs can be seen.

Fat animals are either 'round' overall or have pads of fat or both. Fat pads actually look like pillows or pads, with obvious edges. Some horses get hog fat overall and very 'round', rather than laying on pads of fat - most get to a point where they've laid down some 'round smooth' looking fat, and are starting to make pads of fat.

Pictures can be deceiving, so I hesitate. Pictures are good for spotting extremes, but otherwise, are deceiving. Horses have a 'poofy' coat this time of year. A knowledgeable vet can show you how to 'condition score' your filly. I prefer to put my hands on a horse and feel the muscle and fat under the coat to be sure.

As far as what else to feed the horse in addition to two flakes of grass hay, does she get any grazing? There doesn't look to be any grass in the field where the pictures are taken.

To know what she should eat or how much, one needs to know what she weighs. Then you can consult the charts in the Merck manual or other standard source. Following the chart on a horse feed feedbag generally results in too much concentrated feed and a very fat horse; they are trying to sell a lot of their product. Many bagged feeds are very high in sugar and are basically 'junk food', buying a good horse feed is better.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Arabianequine,

As far as finding a trainer, ask ask and ask. I'm not in your area so I don't have recommendations on a specific trainer. Again, check out www.arabianhorses.org for Arab trainers on there. If nothing else, it might put you in touch with someone who knows someone. Things like that have happened to me before. I posted an ad in a Michigan magazine for a half-Arab mare for sale that I was selling for a friend since I had trained it. A woman called on it, wanting the horse for her granddaughter. I knew the horse wasn't suitable for a beginner, but I did know of someone who was selling a kid's safe horse since the rider had gone off to college. She ended up buying the older kid safe horse.

Another case in point, when I was selling my Arabian mare, I replied to a CL ad that was a horse wanted. Woman said that my Arab would be a bit too small for her, but she had a friend with a 12 yr old daughter that wanted a horse that she could trail ride with and do small shows. The people with the 12 yr old daughter bought my horse.

So much of the horse world is a network

--Hang out in tack stores, look at the bulletin boards there
--Check out dreamhorse.com for trainers
--Again, the www.arabianhorses.org Go to mentor network, boarding stables, and Arabian farms for possible leads

My degree is History and Spanish, so I personally love to research ANYTHING ... but do your own research, make calls, ask, look, heck even google "Arabian horse trainers Washington State"

But YOU have to find the trainer, none of us can do it for you.

 

[arabianequine]

I understand that I need to find a trainer. I did not have the best of experience with the previous trainer and want to know what to look for in a trainer to get the best closest one I can. I looked have looked on the arab site before and all those stables and trainers are farther away then my last trainer. Over an hour a way to any....I am located in the middle of everything pretty much.

What kind of credentials should they have? How do I know if someone is gonna be rough with my horse...and when I say rough I mean make marks on her. What should I look for? Also how do I know the next trainer I get is gonna work with me and the horse? They may say this and that but is there signs I can look for to help assure this will happen?


I have some video of Daizy from today....playing in the snow. I will up load in a bit. I am headed to the store. She had just got done eating 2 flakes.....and doing the snake thing at times and got antsier as I went to go inside but my fingers were freezing . I seen her pawing in the snow....I was waiting for her to lay down and roll in it she never did though.

@ cjatthefarm I did not say I changed the way I feed....I will add some different feed and more for the winter though.

@ welsummerchicks no nothing grows out her in the early spring and she can graze a bit. She tries though.