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Discussion on Mare shows no interest
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Monday, Jul 31, 2006 - 2:26 pm:
I have a 16 year old QH mare who not only shows no interest but total disregard for humans. I have tried everything I know of to try and get through to her. I have had her since April. She's not mean just she won't let me touch her. And I can see her dislike in her eye. What can I do to get her past this? She's teaching her filly to act the same way.
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Member:
Sunny66
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 1, 2006 - 10:35 am:
Hi Patricia, just my two cents here...
Where are they housed? If in a large pasture, can you get them to a smaller enclosure? Can you sit in their area and just read a good book? It sounds like she has no trust, you'll need to gain that and the first thing would be to let her come to you. Yes, it will take a long while, but eventually curiousity will get the better of her...probably the foal first. It would help to have a bucket of grain sitting next to you.
Once you're settled, you must not even look at her, be very aware of your body posture, no squared shoulders, round them even, bent head absolutely no eye contact. This will help as well.
It may take all afternoon, or you could do it an hour at a time. When she comes to you do not ask her for anything at ALL. Nothing. Do not even ask to scratch her neck. When she comes to you and hangs out for awhile, then you can leave and do it again the next day... and wear a helmet...just in case!
Good luck, and hopefully the posters with MUCH more knowledge than me will help you out 
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Member:
Amara
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 1, 2006 - 1:18 pm:
sounds like she's had some bad experiences with humans... but bad doesnt necessarily mean abuse like a lot of people think, or even handled by some just plain "weird" people...
the need to be treated like a horse is innate in all horses.. some horses take more or less offense to any other treatment... you will find many horses that will gladly crawl in your pocket even after they've been handled very badly.. they just have such calm, relaxed nature... others, like yours, are just a bit more "pure"...
trust comes after respect... and i dont mean respect like she leads well or stands to be groomed, i mean that innate respect where the horse says "you know what i'm about and i understand what you're about"...
we need to understand something.. the horse is a fairly "basic" animal.. it reacts to instinct and environmental stimulus... genetically, a QH is exactly the same as a wild mustang, and if you turned your QH mare loose, assuming she had no physical defects/problems, she could learn to survive in the wild...we have to understand and respect that natural ability in the horse, and base our actions on what her life is based around..
there is nothing natural about a two legged animal putting her in a pen/pasture (fences), putting a halter on it, and making it to do things that in normal "wild" life it would never do...
some horses adapt very well to this.. some horses kind of adapt, but you see what your mare is showing you.. distrust... she cant trust what she doesnt understand...
while i'm not a huge parelli fan per se, the "natural" type horsemanship guys are the ones who are talking to the horse in real horse... she needs to be talked to in her language... you might be surprised just how very very different it is from human
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 1, 2006 - 1:35 pm:
Oh, my gosh you probably hit it on the nose. She came from a 1000 acre ranch and was just that, basically wild and kept out there to fend for herself. Her and many other QH broodmares. This rancher was old and his family sold all of these broodmares. I took her because they were going to take her to this feedlot for slaughter and she was pregnant. I do have her in a I'd say 1 acre paddock with her foal. So I bet she's one of those "pure" horses you are talking about. She has never pinned or tried to kick just has this eye and moves her head so she's not seeing me. I have been able to walk gently up and stroke her shoulder but she shakes and bolts. Hope, her filly comes up for apples and will let me scratch her but mom always grunts and she runs away. The filly is 3 months old so it's too early to wean but when I do I will move her with my TB mare who is a gentle soul. But, they will still see each other and I'm kind of feel bad to leave the QH mare alone. Oh, help..
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Member:
Amara
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 1, 2006 - 6:09 pm:
honestly, i think these are the easiest ones to train... when they're pure, you can train entirely off reflexes... you can get anything you want very very quickly.. much more quickly than traditional training actually, since you work within what is natural for the horse, so in effect you dont teach the horse to understand.. the horse already does...
this kind of mare will require you to be spot on with every move you make.. in effect you need to be a horse on two legs...
one of the easiest horses i ever got to work with was a wild mustang with very limited handling... once we spoke on his level, life was easy.. what may take weeks to work with traditionally was accomplished in a few minutes...
she's not going to respond well to petting, scratching, or handfeeding... she also wont "get it" if you hang out in her paddock and just read a book.. that makes no sense to her... ("what the heck is that strange creature and what are they doing? i want NO part of that!")
when you separate them you might get some "better" response, but only because she's a herd creature and she'll no longer have a herd.. she may just be desparate enough to take "anything" in as part of her herd... depends on where she sees herself in the herd...
wish i were closer, would love to work with this mare...
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Member:
Boomer
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 2, 2006 - 4:08 pm:
AND..I would love for you to work with this mare!!
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Member:
Amara
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Posted on Wednesday, Aug 2, 2006 - 6:20 pm:
*grin*
sorry but i think washington is a bit far for a commute...
dont worry, it'll all work out...
even if she does put a lot of herself into the youngster, she wont be with the baby forever... your youngster will watch you handle your other horse, and because she's young, the instincts taught by her mother can be overridden... her natural youngster curiousity will override some of the strong instincts mom has...
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Member:
Liliana
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Posted on Thursday, Aug 3, 2006 - 7:28 pm:
Someone once said common sense makes no sense!
I agree with the above. Since I started my herd of unwanted horses with all kinds of tempers and memories. I realise that the tit bit, neck scratch, pat on the neck are no good! Some of my horses had not seen a carrot in their lives and when I offered one they shied off! They had been banged on the teeth with a bit; they had been administered electric shocks so of course they would not let me touch them!
So it is a bit like when you meet someone for the first time, you don’t kind of put your arm around their waist or shoulder, you’d be invading their personal space. I talk to them and get as near as they let me at a time when I feed I stroke their neck imitating mum’s licking (which is their first memory) also I find that always calling their name when I feed makes a connection between human and horse. They learn our language a lot faster than we learn theirs.
Personally I do not like to separate a family, i.e. Mum from filly or mum from colt! I just personally find that it creates problems later on in their adult life much like with adopted kids. But, it is just my opinion. Why not put mum and filly with TB later on! And work on gaining her trust, she will also learn that you do not mean harm to her.
All the best
Liliana
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