From: Rachel
Hi Jessica, Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom & knowledge of horses. I have owned an Arabian mare for 14 years. This Arab has been my best friend. I have only used her for trail riding. She will do anything I ask her to do. I have road her for many years with just a halter & reins many times bareback also. She is a wonderful example of her breed & as a result many people have purchased an Arabian. (not popular in these parts) Unfortunately she is now almost 23 and retired to the pasture because of ringbone.
I purchased an Arabian 4 months ago. I broke my own rule trusted the person & only rode in a controlled area. (I know, foolish!) She described her as my mare & said she is beginner safe. A beginner was leasing her. She said she doesn't like to lead on trail.
Later I found out it's not just that she doesn't like to, she never has and is dangerous if you try it. She is 14 years old and has never been out on the trail by herself in her life. She is extremely spooky but getting better. My main concern is that I do not have control of this horse. She depends on the other horses and I am just on for the ride. Her past owner claims she has many trail miles on her and has even crossed a bear. We are bonding on the ground, I can do anything to her but when I am on her back it's a different relationship. It amazes me that a 14 year old horse with so much experience can be so flighty. I know Arabs have a reputation for being spooky. My experience has been good with them I always chalked it up as the people not understanding them needing one owner and trust etc. now I own one that acts like what I have heard rumors of "that's a typical Arab". I have only owned her for 4 months. We are getting close but I need a horse that is safe.
I am pregnant with my 6th child and we plan on having more children so I need a horse that is safe on the trail. I understand there is not a completely safe horse out their but I need a level-headed horse that doesn't flight first and think last. There is a Quarter Horse for sale at my barn that is safer but is not as affectionate as my new horse is. I wanted you opinion on if you think there is hope for my new Arab with patience, work and trail experience. If she doesn't have many miles on her I can understand her spooking and understand that time plus experience will help.On the other hand I am concerned that she is 14 years old with plenty of experience and this is her. What is your experience with Arabians? I was also considering sending her to a trainer but again I am afraid to invest money & find out this is her.
I want it to work out because in just 4 months we have come a long way. (on the ground) I also am fearful at some point of every ride when I feel her levels rise. I am not going to take her out on trail anymore for the 2 facts she is not in my control & I am pregnant so I am fearful of working with her.Do you think I should sell her & find a better trained horse or give her a chance. She is 14 but looks and acts like she is 5. Again I don't want to give up on her if there is hope because she is a very loving horse. thanks so much Jessica I need your professional opinion Rachel
First, I don't think that being jumpy and spooky is "typical Arabian behaviour". It's something I've seen with a good many Arabians AND horses of other breeds, whenever they were anxious, fearful, overfaced, overfed, and/or underexercised - but that's just a reflection of their circumstances, not of their breed or type. I haven't had much experience with Arabians bred for high-dollar halter competitions, so can't say much about those, but the Arabians I've worked with over the years have made a good impression on me. They have typically been pleasure horses, trail horses, endurance horses, hunters, and dressage horses, and they have been intelligent, sensitive, affectionate animals. It IS true, however, that some breeds are typically more volatile and quick to react than others, and that, I suspect, is often the source of the "typical Arabian" label. Some horses - Arabians and Thoroughbreds in particular - respond particularly badly to heavy-handed, forceful training and riding tactics, and will become agitated and explosive, whereas an old-style Quarter Horse or a Warmblood might be equally unhappy, but react by becoming resigned and sullen instead of violently agitated.
All that said, you've had this mare for only four months, which really isn't very long. She's had fourteen years of experience that you don't know about, and only four months of experience that you DO know about. Your best bet with her, as with ANY new horse, is to treat her as though she knows NOTHING, and take the time to teach her every single thing that you'd like her to know. After all, even if you knew exactly how many miles she had spent on the trail, you still wouldn't know the details, such as whether she was comfortable or uncomfortable, or whether she enjoyed the experience or hated it. It's quite possible that your new mare may simply not have had much experience on the trail - or she may have had bad experiences on the trail. I'm not just thinking about bears. Most horses DO enjoy going out on the trail, but they can learn to dislike the whole idea if they begin to associate trail-riding with pain. Wearing the wrong tack for forty minutes in the ring can be very uncomfortable - wearing it for three or four hours on the trail can be agonizing. Being asked to move in an unnatural way in the ring is uncomfortable for a horse, but what many people don't realize is that horses are often asked to do this on trails as well! For an energetic, long-strided horse, being held in behind a shorter-strided, less athletic horse and asked to take short steps for several hours on a trail ride is frustrating, exhausting, and leads to very sore muscles. You can try this yourself - as you walk around your house or barn, try shortening your own stride by a third. You'll quickly become very uncomfortable and unhappy.
You can't know. All you can do is help her build a lot of trust in you, by spending time with her and working with her in a kind and correct way. And that's going to mean working with her from the ground - and from her back. You'll need to change your plans a little, and remember that under-saddle work is not a seamless transition from work on the ground. It can be and should be seamless, but outside the realm of classical horsemanship, it very rarely IS.
One of the great things about the popularity of "natural horsemanship" is that more and more horse-owners are learning to build a relationship with their horses on the ground. One of the difficulties it often brings out, though, is the fact that many people are frustrated and upset when they finally get on their horses' backs and find that the friendly relationship doesn't carry over to mounted work. I've observed that this tends to happen for several reasons. Sometimes the relationship on the ground isn't quite as relaxed or trusting as the human thinks it is. Sometimes the relationship on the ground is wonderful, but when the rider mounts, the RIDER is tense, and that puts an end to the atmosphere of relaxation and trust. Sometimes the HORSE is tense, because it understands "person-over-there-on-the-ground", someone it can WATCH, someone who controls it by gesture and posture, and someone who is kind and consistent and understandable, but it does NOT understand "invisible-person-on-my-back", someone whose gestures and posture it cannot see, much less obey, and someone who may be causing pain (not from unkindness or aggression, but from the use of an ill-fitting saddle or a poorly-chosen bit) or great anxiety (because the horse can feel the rider's nervousness and tension). The solution is to build a very solid relationship on the ground, and then make a gradual progressive transition to ridden work. This is one reason I love classical dressage - the classical trainers understood this very well indeed. A horse would progress from work in hand to work on the longe line (working at a distance from the rider), then to long-lining (working at a distance and accepting signals from someone it could not always SEE), and finally to riding. Riding wasn't just a matter of the handler climbing onto the horse's back and riding off! Riding usually began on the longe, with the horse's familiar handler holding the longe line and someone very quiet and calm in the saddle. In this way, the horse could learn to deal with the unfamiliar sensation of a rider on its back, learn to balance itself whilst carrying the rider, and THEN begin to learn to associate familiar verbal or visible signals with new physical signals from the rider's seat, legs, and weight.
I don't expect you to do all of this, of course.
If I were you, I would ask myself two questions: first, how much time would be reasonable to invest in building a relationship with and training the mare; and second, whether I would still like her enough to want to keep her if it turned out that she really, truly disliked going on the trail.
I really think that when you make the final decision to keep this mare or not to keep her, the deciding factor will have to be the fact that you will soon have six children and intend to have more. You aren't just responsible to yourself; you have responsibilities to your children, and your safety is all-important.
What truly amazes me is that with five children already, and a sixth one on the way, you have ANY time or energy left for riding! I'm very impressed. ;-)
Jessica
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