From: Kathy
Hi, I just brought a filly that is about 5 years old that has never been broke and I am sure she has been abused. I have had her and been working with her for a month now. I now have her in a small pasture and can get her to come up for feed but not when you're any where close. When you make the slightest move or noise she panics.
Is there a way that I can give her a drug to help calm her down to get a halter on her and to be able to show her that all mankind is not cruel. I have other horse around that I love in front of her trying to show her that no one will hurt her.
Thanks for any help
Kathy
Hi Kathy! I've been in this situation, and I can tell you that what you will need most is patience. If this filly is five years old and has been abused, there's a good chance that she doesn't know much about people other than the fact that she should stay away from them. You're going to have to convince her otherwise, but you can't force her to trust you, you're going to have to spend time showing her that you can be trusted.
First, be careful what you're feeding her. If she's in a good pasture, she may not need anything beyond that pasture, a salt block and water. If the pasture isn't good, you may need to supplement it with hay, but I'd suggest using grass hay or a grass mix, not alfalfa. Talk to your vet about a suitable feeding program.
Second, get her used to your presence. Take a lawn chair and a book and a radio out to the pasture, sit down, turn on the radio, and settle in. Don't chase her, don't try to catch her, don't stare at her, just SIT. For the first few days, she may stay as far from you as she can get. But horses are sociable animals, and when she becomes less afraid, she will become more curious, and she'll want to see what you are doing. When she starts to work her way closer to where you are sitting, it'll be harder for you to just go on sitting, reading, and listening to the radio, but DO IT. Again, don't try to chase or catch her; she needs to learn that she can come near you, run away, and come back, and you'll still be doing whatever you were doing. Do homework if you have homework, write letters if you do that, otherwise books are always handy. The radio will help her get used to voices and music. If she comes nearby, talk to her if you like, but don't get up, and don't stare.
This may go on for WEEKS. It's worth taking the time to do it, because
if she's already been abused and you have someone rope her for you and
snub her down so that you can force a halter onto her head, it may be months
before you can get close enough to get that halter off again. Don't be
in a hurry.
Let her learn about YOU -- what you look like and sound like and smell
like, how you move when you pick up your book or put it down, or get up
and stretch and walk around the edge of the pasture, but let HER approach
YOU.
When she finally approaches -- and she will -- don't grab her, let her sniff you and run off. She'll come back. If you grab, it will take a lot longer for her to come back. ;-) Just smile, and the next day, bring a nice scratchy brush out with you.
When she comes back and stands, you can pet her, but do it in a way that will feel good to HER: stroke her neck and scratch her withers, don't try to pat her nose or stroke her forehead. If you get a chance to use the brush, use it in the same areas -- most horses, even nervous ones, get itchy in those places and really enjoy a scratchy brushing.
If your other horse is turned out with her, so that she has a companion, she can learn from that horse too. Your other horse approaches you -- talk to it, pat it, use the scratchy brush, go back to your book. Don't use treats at this point, because you may create a situation you don't want. Let her see that the other horse can come to you, get scratched, and go away when it wants to, without being caught or chased. And let her see that you can get up, sit down, cough, sneeze, talk, sing, walk the fenceline, or whatever -- and that none of this behaviour is dangerous to her.
Even the most nervous, most mistreated horses will usually respond to this routine. Drugs aren't the answer -- talk to your vet! Anyone who has ever tried to inject a frightened, nervous horse with a tranquilizer can tell you that a horse with surging adrenaline will respond to the tranq by getting more agitated instead of less. And in any case, you have to keep thinking ahead -- your goal is NOT to get your hands on her TODAY, your goal is to sit down in your chair today, watch her run away, and then have her run away less enthusastically tomorrow when you sit down again. ;-)
You can't say: "Mare, come here, let me catch you and put a halter on you and force you to learn that I am a nice person." But you CAN say "I'm just part of this pasture and part of your life, I'm here all day (or for a few hours a day) and I don't try to chase you or harm you, I'm just sitting here reading my book and listening to my radio, and when my other horse comes over, he gets his itchy neck scratched." Then let HER make the decision, let HER be in control -- she can decide when to come to you and how near to come and when to leave again.
When she understands that it's up to her, she'll be able to relax, and then she'll be ready for more grooming, and eventually for that halter, and the leadrope, and all the rest. At that point, it would be great if you could take her to a Ray Hunt clinic or a Buck Brannaman clinic -- but if these folks aren't available near you, be very careful whom you invite to help you. Round-pen work can be useful if it's done well, and it would almost certainly benefit this mare, but right now there are far too many people running around claiming to be "natural trainers" or even "horse whisperers", and a lot of them are nothing of the kind. As long as you don't feel threatened by the mare, it's best if you make this YOUR project, and take as long as you need -- as long as the mare needs -- to build the bond that will be the basis for the rest of your lives together.
Jessica
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