Grrr...horse vent!

[horsejody]

I guess it boils down to - If Dad is paying for it and taking care of it, it's his decision. Good luck in med school!

 

[turney31]

I am thinking your dad may have your best interest at heart. Just reading your post you have given 4 (serious) behavior problems. biting, kicking, throwing his head and rearing. I have been riding pretty much all my life,broke my first horse, start to finish,at 17. I have broke many since, old school style. I am 49 now. To explain how serious just head throwing and rearing can be, I was riding a green broke horse on the ranch we were working on, he had never offered to be any thing but a gentleman before, he just out of nowhere decided to break in half. when he pitched I leaned forward, he threw his head back and hit me in the face. My nose was broken in 3 places, I had an orbital fracture( the bone that holds your eye in) Reconstruction surgery on my sinus cavity and my nose that at that time was all over my face and small fracture on a vertabrae in my neck,2 black eyes and bruises from head to toe. Over $100,000 in Drs and hospital bills(thank God for insurance). I am telling you this story so that you can see a different perspective. I also have worked with many mexican cowboys, they treated their horses well and loved them. Good ranch horses usually die there. Problems are sold. No ranch hand would waste his time on a nut. The horse that hurt me was sold.

 

[lorieMN]

many good horses come out of mexico..the problem isnt necessarlly the horse..two people "training" him is a bad idea..he cant figure out oh..this guy wants it this way,and the chick wants it another way..the rearing,head throwing and other problems sound like a confused frustrated horse..he is telling you something..you need to get a profesional out to help with him..and then train you both so you know how to handle this horse..not all horses train easy..I have trained several hundred before I decided it wasnt worth the money anymore..each and every one is different,and just because something works on 99 of them..the 100th one tells you to get lost..I myself have a 5 year old paint gelding that I have owned from weaning..he is hard,tuff and determined and he needs to be approached as a work animal,not a pet..I sent him to a great trainer at 2 1/2,he works them 9-14 days twice a day,as thats all most can handle.. the trainer said that mine was the tuffest horse he had ever seen,he way outlasted the 3-4 year olds..then last summer I sent him to an amish guy to break for driving..he does tons of horses,he said about 4 hours in the first day he didnt know if he was going to get the horse broke.(he had tons of ground driving already,was ready to be hooked up), but he is broke and doing great,but is a handful and not for the weak of heart,if you pamper him and baby him he would run you over,and kick and bite while doing it..Now my other horse..the more I pet and love on him the better he is..the problems you are having with this horse are dangerous and need to be fixed before they get out of hand..but I believe the horse is telling you he doesnt like things the way they are being handled and you need to make a different approach..I wont let anyone else ride my horses..they learn bad things a zillion times faster then the good things..

 

[cdeans]

what kind of trailer are you selling? And where in NJ are you?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Thanks everyone! We definitely know he's a problem horse. We don't deny that. His problems are not quite as severe as I first made it out to be, but for example, you can never turn your back on the horse or he may just give you a nice bite in the side (Of course, your back should never be to a horse to begin with, but this horse reminds you!)

The horse is definitely showing frustration. He has a lot of training. I just think we aren't pushing the right buttons and he's showing us he's upset with that. I rarely ever handle him except to go out on the trail for a day, so right now he isn't getting any mixed signals...just the training my dad has done with him. My dad is actually training him, as the horse has shown significant improvement...with my dad that is. With everyone else, he is the same as before. I do admit I feel some fear around the horse, but I never act on the fear or show it.

Anyways, I do feel sort of badly for writing all of this out now because I sort of talked to my dad today about how I would like to find a barn to ride at or a horse to lease for a fair price. I told him how I miss riding. We were supposed to go trail riding tomorrow, but he called me around five today after leaving for work saying he found an ad for two seven month old registered paint foals (A gelding and a filly). The price on them is very, very good. So my dad is interested, and I'd be lying to say I wasn't excited too! We've been wanting a black and white paint for forever it seems and if we were to get them (Even though I really didn't want a young horse) I could begin ground work immediately, teach them to drive, etc. So we'll have to see how it goes tomorrow. Ideally, I could still take my lessons with someone who will teach me practical training tips and then train one of the two foals myself. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but maybe things will work out afterall. Bottom line is that it IS my dad's decision as it is his money. If he thinks we would be able to handle raising up a younger horse until it is either a good riding horse or the resell value is worth it, then we will take on the task.

(We have spoken about doing this before and we would not be training these horses ourselves. We have experience, but we don't want ruined horses either. My dad would spend the money for an outside trainer to train both ourselves and the horses.)

I'm hoping to take pictures tomorrow and I will keep you updated on how it goes! Unfortunately we are finally seeing the effects of the recession here in jersey and people are losing jobs and can't keep their horses. Even if we were to "foster" these horses, we'd still be doing a service, as they would have an excellent home here. At the price they are being sold, anyone anywhere could buy them and give a terrible home.

Cdeans, I will get the info from my dad. I think he is asking around $3000 for the trailer. It's an Adams in very good condition. White and I think it's a 2000 model.

 

[lorieMN]

Quote:
if you feel fear from this horse..he knows it and is being a bully..because he can and its a horse thing..I would suggest you look for an older horse then the yearlings you are going to look at..you think the older one is a handfull you havent seen anything yet if those yearlings get the upper hand.Please dont be offended because it sounds like you have been around horses for some time,but it also sounds like you and your dad arent really horse savy in horse language,and thats whats getting you in trouble.If you cannot "read" a horse it doesnt matter how much training you have,you may still have trouble..thats where "horsewhisper" type of trainers are a huge help.

 

[farrier!]

<<ive today after leaving for work saying he found an ad for two seven month old registered paint foals (A gelding and a filly)>>

Around here they would bring 20 to 150 . If they are thin they they are giving them away.

Glad to hear you two are talking!

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Honestly, I would much rather buy an older horse that is fully trained and trail ready. My dad has other thoughts in his mind. He retires in less than a year and wants projects. So I don't really know. I guess he's thinking that the older horse will have another few years in him and he will be able to train stetson more by then.

If my dad allowed me to work with stetson, I would be able to really work him into a better horse. I mean, I don't claim to be a horse trainer or anything else other than a person with experience riding horses, but I do have fun learning. That's how I did it with my mare. We learned together. She was a great horse and it really hit me super hard when we had to put her down. She was only 13. I did a lot of training with her and she respected me and I trusted her. Its just a matter of being able to WORK with the horses and I don't get that chance with stetson.

I have a feeling my dad will make stetson into a good horse with a good year of work. Problem is, he will be a good horse for him and I will still be horseless. I think I will still look around for a barn to ride at for lessons. I don't know what my dad will decide to do with these two horses tomorrow, but whatever he decides hopefully it will work out in the end. Back before my mare was put down, we were throwing around the idea of breeding her...so it was a project we had already discussed taking on. I guess what my dad is thinking is that even though he does not have thousands of dollars now to put into a horse (My brother is entering college in the fall and does not have scholarships like I do) he will have the money to spend on a trainer in two or three years.

Haha, I figure it will be fun to go look at them tomorrow anyways! I just keep telling myself that whatever happens, in a few years I can have whatever animals I like...I just have to get a good job first!

 

[beak]

Your Dad just loves you and is having seperation anxiety. Can't you work together with the training? You can't take the horse to school with you. If you're going to med school you'll be in school what 8 years. You have to cut the ties over time. Dad's have a hard time letting daughters go. He's probably worried about you getting hurt too. It's not easy letting your kid ride on a horse you think is dangerous. Yes you'll always be his kid.

Good Luck

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

If I go to med school, it will be another six years of schooling. Two more to get my bachelors degree in bio and then another two for med school and two for an internship. It all depends on where I decide to go though. If I stay close to home, I will live on campus only during the months I am in school. I will be home the rest of the year. If I go far away, I will probably get an off campus apartment and live there for most of the year.

That's why I'm not really pushing the idea of getting my own horse. Whatever we get has to be something that will work for him as it will essentially become his horse when I leave for school. I do like to ride during the summer and I rode fairly often when I had my mare. I would participate in fun shows and I would love to show in halter and showmanship again. The one nice thing about a younger horse is I could easily work with and train it for yearling showmanship over the summer.

What makes this so hard for me was the loss of such a good horse so abruptly. I was really getting into riding and training and I was planning to work on driving that summer. Then BAM and she was gone. This summer I will try to work with my dad more as far as stetson goes, but basically all I can do is watch without getting into an argument with him. We just see differently when it comes to horses. I like pressure release and my dad is all into treating the horse like a horse. We correct differently, and work the horses differently. i don't think either of our methods are wrong, but its very easy to get into an argument when training! Even when I had my mare, we'd often have arguments about showing, training, barrel racing, etc. Granted, the arguments lasted only a short while and I consider my dad and I very close, but I hate feeling angry over something so silly!