Advice re. horse with TERRIBLE stable manners...
So I started taking riding lessons last year after almost twenty years out of the saddle. It's great to get back to it, and I've really been enjoying myself, and I'm looking to get more involved than my one-or-two lessons a week.
So, maybe I'll just try to part board a horse, but...
The horse that I often ride in my lessons is probably going to be put up for sale soon, and I'm thinking about buying her. The barn has mostly beginner riders, and this mare really isn't suitable for beginners. I love riding her - I need to be firm with her and insist on her respecting me, but once she's accepted that I'm in charge, she relaxes and is incredibly athletic and sensitive and great.
The problem is that she has REALLY bad ground manners. She was apparently abused in the past, but I really don't see fear in her behaviour - maybe she got the bad habits back when she was afraid, but now she just seems like she's doing a lot of the same 'take charge' stuff that she does when she's being ridden, but when she's being ridden, she will eventually accept her rider's authority, and she really doesn't seem inclined to do that when the human is on the ground. She'll bite, hard enough to bruise and break skin through several layers of clothing. She also cow-kicks, for no apparent reason. These aren't things that she does when I'm doing something that she might not like, as far as I can tell - she'll try to bite when I'm grooming her, but sometimes I'll just be standing near her and she'll reach out and chomp.
So, I've learned to deal with these behaviours - I just have to be really alert ALL the time. The problem is that it's really not enjoyable to work around her. There's certainly no sense of affection, or appreciation for being groomed, or any sort of bonding. She'll eat treats, but still seems to want me dead immediately afterwards.
Her price will probably be lower because of all this, so I'm tempted to make an offer, but this would be the first horse that I've owned, and I'd really like it to be one that I could enjoy spending time with out of the saddle. My question for you all is - does this seem like something that could be trained out of her? I can accept that she's probably never going to be one of those dog-like horses that just love to be around people, but I really don't like the idea of owning an animal that seems to hate me (and everyone else).
She's a 13 year old quarter horse mare, has had one foal several years ago, and is aggressive/dominant with other horses (she has one pasture buddy, but she can't be turned out with anyone but that mare, and she pins her ears at any horse that comes anywhere near her in lessons - they all avoid her). Any suggestions?
ETA: One great response already, and it's got me thinking...I've never owned a horse before, so I've always worked with horses that are also being handled by others. And this horse would be boarded, so there would be other people handling her, but I really like the staff at the barn and I think they'd be respectful and compliant with whatever system of training I set up. But how much of this is likely to be a person-by-person issue (ie. I could train her to respect me, but she'd still be aggressive with other people)? I feel like I have to earn her respect fresh every time I ride her, but there are other people riding her when I'm not, so maybe she's just not being consistently trained? Or would I likely have to earn her respect every time I went to handle her out of the saddle, as well?
So, maybe I'll just try to part board a horse, but...
The horse that I often ride in my lessons is probably going to be put up for sale soon, and I'm thinking about buying her. The barn has mostly beginner riders, and this mare really isn't suitable for beginners. I love riding her - I need to be firm with her and insist on her respecting me, but once she's accepted that I'm in charge, she relaxes and is incredibly athletic and sensitive and great.
The problem is that she has REALLY bad ground manners. She was apparently abused in the past, but I really don't see fear in her behaviour - maybe she got the bad habits back when she was afraid, but now she just seems like she's doing a lot of the same 'take charge' stuff that she does when she's being ridden, but when she's being ridden, she will eventually accept her rider's authority, and she really doesn't seem inclined to do that when the human is on the ground. She'll bite, hard enough to bruise and break skin through several layers of clothing. She also cow-kicks, for no apparent reason. These aren't things that she does when I'm doing something that she might not like, as far as I can tell - she'll try to bite when I'm grooming her, but sometimes I'll just be standing near her and she'll reach out and chomp.
So, I've learned to deal with these behaviours - I just have to be really alert ALL the time. The problem is that it's really not enjoyable to work around her. There's certainly no sense of affection, or appreciation for being groomed, or any sort of bonding. She'll eat treats, but still seems to want me dead immediately afterwards.
Her price will probably be lower because of all this, so I'm tempted to make an offer, but this would be the first horse that I've owned, and I'd really like it to be one that I could enjoy spending time with out of the saddle. My question for you all is - does this seem like something that could be trained out of her? I can accept that she's probably never going to be one of those dog-like horses that just love to be around people, but I really don't like the idea of owning an animal that seems to hate me (and everyone else).
She's a 13 year old quarter horse mare, has had one foal several years ago, and is aggressive/dominant with other horses (she has one pasture buddy, but she can't be turned out with anyone but that mare, and she pins her ears at any horse that comes anywhere near her in lessons - they all avoid her). Any suggestions?
ETA: One great response already, and it's got me thinking...I've never owned a horse before, so I've always worked with horses that are also being handled by others. And this horse would be boarded, so there would be other people handling her, but I really like the staff at the barn and I think they'd be respectful and compliant with whatever system of training I set up. But how much of this is likely to be a person-by-person issue (ie. I could train her to respect me, but she'd still be aggressive with other people)? I feel like I have to earn her respect fresh every time I ride her, but there are other people riding her when I'm not, so maybe she's just not being consistently trained? Or would I likely have to earn her respect every time I went to handle her out of the saddle, as well?