mares!

[meghanlh]

mares are amazing. they can be super moody and mean, but when a mare is nice to you they seem to mean it. i like that you have to earn their trust and show them whos boss sometimes.

anyway, i rode the worst little mare today. apparently she is my new "project" for the barn. shes a pretty little thing, but she is so snobby! this horse thinks she is amazing, seriously. i go to get her out of her stall and i had my brand new saddle on my arm. so i get her on a lead and before we even walk out of the stall, she knocks my saddle off my arm three times. so then i set it down and take her out to cross tie her. the whole time im brushing her she is pawing.then i put on her saddle and she tries to kick me, so i beat the crap out of her. then we go into the ringand i end up having to jump on her. so we ride a little and she is afraid of everything. then she tried to buck me off, so i rode her longer. basically, this horse was being a total butt for no reason.

it sort of ruined my day, because all of the other "projects" helen has given me [cloud, seeyamon, rena and shooter] have been sweet little rides who need to learn. i mean, rena has some kinks. but she is still a good girl. oh well, maybe tessa will get to know me. though with rena, cloud and now dd [yay she isnt lame anymore] to worry about and showing them all, i dont know if i can take on such a challenge.

the picture is of tessa.

[tagg02]

Wow, sounds like you have your hands full. I only have one mare. my gelding is more of a handful cos he was cut proud, he has a bit of pig in him. But i still love him to death. Horses can be very frustrating creatures. i have been owned by my mare for 2 years now and only in the last 6 mths have we clicked. we can work together and it is a completely relaxing experince, a definate joy. 18mths of not so much joy thought lol. she came off a station, and had not had the best start, now she is great. I'm Jess by the way, i live in central queensland, australia. i have three horses a black QH gelding, Chestnut Australian stock horse mare and a blue dun shetland, cos he was cute and needed a loving home!! :lol:

[letsride]

The mare sounds like she needs some ground work to me...are you familiar with Natural Horsemanship techniques? The groundwork will help you gain her respect on the ground as well as in the saddle. She sounds like she's a little fresh and lacking some confidence in herself as well, groundwork will helpe with these issues too. Good Luck and stay safe!

[Dasho]

I stopped reading at "so i beat the crap out of her" your put me off. :angry:

[tagg02]

Natural horsemanship is the only way to go. I use various methods, most rotate around monty roberts - he is a truly amazing man. i use it with every horse, can't go wrong, doesn't matter what the temperament, you will get a better response if you listen to your horse, study your horse. a wise person once told me that 90% of what you need to know is on the ground. if you dont have respect there dont even bother with a saddle. When you start using nat. horsemanship you will see the results almost immediately, when i finally clicked with my mare and understood ho we could work together it is the most calming and relaxing experiance ever. Do try it, if you dont' you will end up hating horses.

[tagg02]

Hey meghanlh i was just thinking apart from ground work, maybe she is a little sore, or had a bad experiance.

[HorseAreMyLife]

Yup im the same as you Dasho.....

..._....:blink:

[NaiadSpirou]

Two things.

1] beat the crap out of... even for a kick I find that a no-no. Yes, I will say discipline [because you watch horses interact, it is okay to 'discipline' but not to beat :/] is fine. If you meant that over 'beat' I think you should really specify.

2] Natural horsemanship is a good thing, and it isn't. That's a personal opinion and choice. I don't really appreciate people pointing fingers and saying "if you do this, you're not a good horse person" I'm getting so bloody tired of it and it just irks me when I do see it, even if it is coming from somebody who doesn't mean to sound like ... yyyea. But I'm sure there's a lot of teenage girls out there who "wuv their horses soooo much" and don't know the first thing about natural horsemanship...

Otherwise, I don't know either of your riding levels, maybe this mare is a little out of your league? Maybe you should seek help with her? And ground work is a must, but respect on the ground and respect on the saddle are still two different things. Yes, by all means, you should get the respect on the ground first, but this does *not* sound like a horse that you can just hop up on and ride.

And all horses are a challenge o_O geldings, mares, stallions, colts. They all do it to see how far they can push us, or just because they don't know how else to act sometimes.

I dunno... I'm finished... ^^;

[luvallbreeds]

I can completely understand the moody or flighty mare. I also understand being hired to ride horses, not train them. But for your own safety the next time you have to ride this mare or come across a spooky frightened or agressive horse. Do yourself a favor and take the time to do as folks mentioned above. Some ground work first to get the horse focused and thinking, not so much reacting. So it is ready to learn and take direction. If you are not able to do that as you are only hired to ride, send it back and let the trainers know the horse needs more ground time to settle. If you get hurt you won't be riding anyone.

When you say you "beat the crap out of her" I am hoping that is a figure of speech and I did not take it to mean literaly, at least I hope. As I do know a horse kicking at you is to be taken seriously and you can not let it slide, you have 3 seconds to make that horse think it is going to die if it ever tries to kick you again. Then you go about your business like nothing happened.

[luvallbreeds]

Oh and horses are not total butts for no reason ..they have a reason. It is our job as owners/trainers to give them a reason to behave.