New Mustang and issues with her...

[tinklebinkle]

Hey everyone! I am new to the community but will try to make a long story short

Comments

[moontoad]

Normal to have sores? I know little about horses, but that seems wrong wrong wrong.

[tinklebinkle]

That is the same thing my gut is telling me, but I tend to be hyper sensitive. It is like the first thing you learn when you get a horse...bit and girth sores are BAD! I just wanted to make sure my instinct was right.

[creseis_acicula]

My trainer was appalled when one of the horses she had trained went off to another trainer for a while and then came back with girth sores. It is really unacceptable and I hope you can find a new trainer soon!!!

[appolonia]

If I went to any trainer's place where they thought it was in ANY way acceptable for my horses to be covered in sores because THEY could not do their job and train my horse without abuse, you'd better believe I would have my horses out of there within the day, with instructions that said "trainer" was not to touch my horse until (s)he was removed from the property.

And, another question.. how the hell does a horse learn to "obey the girth" anyway? If she has saddle sores, she's either in a saddle that doesn't fit her or she's not being ridden with any padding under the saddle- or both. neither of which is going to in any way help the horse to learn that being ridden isn't a terrible thing.

I would find a new trainer.

[tinklebinkle]

That is my biggest fear...if she is getting hurt while learing to obey those things, I do not want her saddle or bridle shy!! I know the trainer uses a "one size fits all" tack set...and will not allow me to bring my stuff down for him to use.

Thanks for the input. I am super in love with her and want her to get the right start, especially with her herd bound issues, I was just worried that I was being extra sensitive and over protective.

[appolonia]

First of all, there is NO such thing as "one size fits all" tack. Your mustang is going to be a different shape and build than say, a 16H QH that might also be in training. That and the fact that he will not allow you to bring your own equipment out for your horse should be HUGE warning flags.. especially combined with the fact that your trainer thinks that body and mouth sores are a normal part of training- ITS ABSOLUTELY NOT. I'm sorry to say that this sounds like a case of borderline abuse. You are by NO means being overprotective- I cannot stress that enough. Having poor experiences in "training" is, if anything, going to make her heard-bound issues worse. Think of it this way- would YOU want to leave your buddies to go get ridden in equipment that hurts you by someone who I would be willing to bet money is an agressive, rough rider? I sure wouldn't. You're either going to end up with a whole new slew of behavior problems, or your horse is going to end up seriously hurt or with a dead, shut-down mind. Please seriously consider

[tinklebinkle]

Thanks. This is my first experience with having a horse in training (versus a trainer working on my riding abilities.) I should have known to follow my instincts and with the advice of everyone on this board will be looking to get her out of there fast!

[sm923]

Get a new trainer ASAP and never, ever look back.

It's normal for horses to get occassional sores, bumps, scrapes, etc during the training process (well, during the life process for that matter!)

But everytime you go, and as you say they are "huge", take her out of there and go somewhere else. This trainer's lack of sympathy scares me and it should scare you as well.

And don't let the "trainer" feed you a line of bull about her being a BLM mustang. i've got two of them who were both trained with the lack of ANY sores.

I'd also be concerned with whether or not the sores were being taken care of.

[tinklebinkle]

Yeah, like I said above, I just wanted to make sure my concerns weren't just me being over protective. To correct her herd boundness, he had me tie her to a tree where she freaked out and rubbed huge sores in her face. I went down there every day and treated them, and thought that he would lay her up for a day or two...no such luck. The sores just get bigger and worse.

How old were your mustangs when you got them? Have you heard anything about herd boundness? I have always wanted to own one and she is my first. The lady I got her from literally threatened to shoot her if I didn't want her so I had to give her a chance, but I just fear my "trainer" is going to cause more problems in the long run. All of my horses (I have two others, my QH passes in March) are pets and companions that we love very much.

[sm923]

We got the mare when she was about 3 or 4 and she came with her son who was born just a few weeks after we got her(they came straight from Nevada). They show no signs of herd boundness except to each other because he was never weaned (not my choice-they were my grandpa's horses at the time). If you take the mom or son away, they yell and scream. Any of the others, and they just don't care.

The mare was easily broken and the son was alittle tougher but they were no different than most other horses.

[agentotter]

As everyone has said... your trainer is a jackass. And yes, seconded, don't ever let anybody feed you a line about "you have to do it this way with mustangs"... we have about 200 of them here, and all are started with natural horsemanship techniques, no sores in sight. If your trainer can't work with your horse without causing it physical harm, all they're doing is creating a dangerous horse, and one who's bitter and angry about being with humans.

[significance_0]

ABANDON TRAINER!
That's horrible that she would say that was normal.
Obey the girth my ass.

[foalstory]

I can't say I've ever been anywhere where such sores were normal.

In fact, the ASPCA wrote up a fellow at my old barn who had spur marks (bleeding) on his young horse. He got kicked out of the barn.