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Post by schwung on Aug 26, 2009 12:06:17 GMT -5
Hi Countrygirl, sorry I missed this. Yes we do allow adopted horses to be boarded.
Wishes is doing great! Under saddle, she has walk/trot/cantered and has done really well, no real issues at all. She is now fine with having her ears handled and being bridled. On the lungeline, she still occasionally tries her running backwards trick. This seems to be an evasion she learned some time ago and Andrea believes she was handled abusively in the past. She will probably keep her 2-3 more weeks and during that time push her a little more under saddle to make sure that she does not try running backwards under saddle. She has a very sensitive mouth and also appears to have had some abusive riding before. But she's doing really well and Andrea REALLY likes this mare. She has a lot of potential!
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Post by fanaberia on Aug 26, 2009 14:30:17 GMT -5
The girls that these horses came from were VERY abuse to all of their horses. I never saw the "running backwards" trick when Wishes was here, so I imagine its something she learned during the course of her life when they boarded the horses together. Yet another reason the county should have taken all the horses....
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Post by schwung on Sept 4, 2009 19:43:26 GMT -5
Wishes is coming along well with her training. She will still try her going backwards trick on the lunge and also seems generally very nervous about lunging, like something bad has happened to her...its even worse in the round pen. So the last two rides they did not lunge her at all and she actually did a little bit better. However, they are riding her with almost no contact. After she relaxes a bit she will drop her head down and accept a light contact but she has to offer it. At the canter she likes to throw her head up in a purely defensive fashion and they have just been dropping the contact and riding her very forward - today she actually finally relaxed a bit and dropped her head and rounded her back. Andrea does feel that if someone really took hold of her mouth either by accident because they got off balance or on purpose she has the potential to go backwards and maybe even up but she is getting more confident every day and they are making sure every ride is positive for her. She absolutely loves the attention and seems to like being ridden as well and is very sweet as well. She'll need an experienced, balanced rider because of her issues with her mouth but other than that she is sensible, not spooky, and very smooth to ride. She's hoping to get her out on the trails soon.
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Post by schwung on Sept 22, 2009 13:21:45 GMT -5
Wishes is wrapping up her training and will probably be coming home in a couple of weeks. She's come along really well but the mouth issue is something that her adopter will have to be aware of and willing to work with. It's pretty simple, you just start her out on a loose rein and ride her very forward until she relaxes into the bridle. If the head goes up, you drop the contact and push her forward and she will come right out of it. In time she will probably come around once she learns to trust, because at this point its really just an ingrained defense response and on the lungeline she has done it even just wearing a halter with no bit in her mouth. She's super sweet on the ground, very easy to handle, tack up, bathe, clip, great for the farrier. She's really a lovely horse for the right person! I am hoping to be able to get some video of her under saddle when I go to pick her up in a couple of weeks.
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Post by Sara on Sept 23, 2009 10:19:53 GMT -5
Jaime- what about putting her in a jumping hackamore (or a sidepull, or some other bitless bridle) until she gets less fearful? Just a thought...
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Post by schwung on Sept 23, 2009 10:41:54 GMT -5
It's something to try but as she does the same thing in a halter I think it is a response to pressure on her face of any kind. But again its something to try.
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Post by schwung on Oct 1, 2009 19:36:46 GMT -5
Wishes had an emergency vet call today. Andrea has been working with her in long lines because she's been getting increasingly crabby under saddle and she will throw her head up and threaten to rear, and has reared once under saddle and of course many times on the lunge line (including throwing herself over backwards). The idea with the long lines is to try and get her a little more accepting of the bridle and more consistent with her transitions without being on her back in case she does flip herself over - which she has done twice before on the lungeline. Wishes was pretty unhappy about the long lining, mainly because she was unable to get away with her running backwards trick as Andrea would shake the lines at her butt and keep her from going backwards. So today they were just doing some very simple walk/trot transitions and then she asked her to halt and Wishes didn't just flip over - she reared straight up, actually leapt up off the ground and then did a backflip crashing down onto her back and side, right into the door of the round pen (breaking the door). She got up right away and trotted off soundly but Andrea quickly noticed her lip was badly cut. Turns out she managed to bite her lower lip in half in the fall - about 2 1/2 inches long and all the way through her lip, necessitating about 15 stitches on the inside and 15 stitches on the outside. She may end up losing part of her lip, we shall see. The most disturbing part about this is Wishes' complete lack of self-preservation when she pulls this stunt. Andrea and I had a long talk about this and we are both of the mindset that she is not going to be a safe riding horse. She is fine walking on a loose rein but as soon as you pick up any contact, or even pick up no contact but ask her to go forward out of a walk on a loose rein, she will throw her head up and threaten to go up. We hate to give up on her because she is very sweet on the ground, very pretty, a nice mover and sound, but this is sadly probably one of the reasons she was getting passed around from home to home and ended up at a rescue. So not a very good update on Wishes, sadly.
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Post by Angel62197 on Oct 2, 2009 0:33:50 GMT -5
It's a disappointment, but sounds like a responsible decision. Good for SAFE for making the hard choice.
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shekaberry
SAFE Volunteer
SAFE Volunteer Coordinator
Posts: 1,521
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Post by shekaberry on Oct 6, 2009 15:36:43 GMT -5
Another Honeycutt... so sad; she had so much potential
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Post by schwung on Oct 6, 2009 15:42:39 GMT -5
Andrea just called, vet from Pilchuck is on her way back out, Wishes stitches are not holding and her lip is opening up again. She may end up losing part of her lip.
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Post by kdunham on Oct 6, 2009 22:04:24 GMT -5
It sounds to me like she has a mental block about giving to pressure. It is scaring her and she is flipping in self defense. She doesn't understand to drop her head and there will be release. A good exercise for her that you don't need a trainer to do because its really simple would be to get her a little tired so she can relax. Maybe just free lunge her in that big arena for a while if she is so scared of lunging or round penning. Then put a junky saddle on her, tie a side rein to one side with her neck just bent a foot or so to that side and just leave her like that to walk around for an hour. Then do the same thing with the other side. I usually do it when I am doing chores around the place that way I'm not taking any time out of my riding other horses and can keep an eye on the horse. She will learn to get off the pressure on her own with no other distractions and no one to blame except herself. When she gets relaxed with her head to the side (over the course of a few days, Not hours) then check her up vertically (pretty loose at first) and do the same thing. Just kick her out in the arena to wander around and figure out she can go forward and give to the bit on her own. Oh and I suggest tieing the side reins closer to where a riders hands would be not way low on the horses side.
Just a thought seeing how it is cheap and easy its worth a try.
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Post by schwung on Oct 6, 2009 23:14:49 GMT -5
Kathleen, with all due respect I have to disagree with your suggestions. What you are suggesting will SURELY cause her to flip again. And every time she flips, rider or not, she runs the risk of seriously hurting herself or killing herself. She's very lucky that this last time she ONLY bit her lip in half. She could have broke her back, neck or smashed her skull. Also, no one is putting ANY pressure on her or forcing the issue of bringing her head down at all. Sometimes she reacts to light contact and sometimes she reacts to being asked to go forward with no contact at all. Most of the time when being ridden the reins are thrown away until she lowers her defenses, relaxes, and stretches into the bridle on her own.
Your way might work but to me it sounds way too dangerous for the horse, knowing the horse and how she reacts to any perceived pressure.
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Post by cat67 on Oct 7, 2009 10:49:30 GMT -5
Has anyone tried to ride this mare in a bitless bridle or sidepull? If she fears pain/pressure in her mouth due to past abuse, sometimes that is the solution. I have had it work on other horses who reared in a bit. Sunline, my old CBER mare, got freaked out and light in front in a bit and my chiro said she had damage showing she had flipped over repeatedly in the past. I kept her in the bitless and she rode nicely (until her vision deteriorated too greatly).
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Post by kdunham on Oct 7, 2009 11:22:15 GMT -5
I think Jamie posted earlier that she had responded to pressure on a halter the same way as a bit. Like I said, I think it is a mental block about giving to pressure and she overreacts to any pressure at all. Either that or she is really stubborn and this is a huge evasion she has figured out. Might be the case seeing how a month ago it was said that; "Under saddle, she has walk/trot/cantered and has done really well, no real issues at all."
Anyway, not trying to be critical, just brainstorming. You never know when someone might have an idea that could work you hadn't thought of yet. I am certainly always open to any suggestions or advise anyone here has to offer.
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Post by zebradreams07 on Oct 7, 2009 11:25:18 GMT -5
At this point I would agree with Jamie, if she is willing to hurt herself to get out of it it's just not safe for anyone involved to keep trying - unless someone has a solution that will prevent her from going over.
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