Handling unfamiliar/difficult horses

From: Sandra

Hi Jessica, I hope you had fun in your travels!

This is a copy of a note I have sent to E-L. Since there may be people on Horse-Sense who might also be interested, I decided to pass this on to you if you'd like to comment on it for the group:

Have any of you had opportunities to handle horses unfamiliar to you? Is there a (safe) way to determine their approximate training level/attitude? What would be good indicators that a horse might be difficult?

For those of you who may want more details:

I volunteered to help a friend of mine with her Welsh ponies at a show this past weekend. I think we each thought the other knew what she was doing, and neither of us did really! She brought four ponies: Cisco, a five year old stud (first show); Carley, a five year old mare; Penny, an unbroke four year old mare (first show); and Dawn, a two year old filly (first show). This was HER first show since she was a kid, and the first time I've ever had an opportunity to help someone.

I'm sure you can imagine what happened! Anyway, it turned out my friend (let's call her A) hadn't been handling the ponies very much. I had a bad feeling when the day started out with Cisco giving me a hard, deliberate cow kick in the thigh. THEN A mentioned than he was "good at that. " He dragged her all over the place in the halter class they were in (finished last of course). Topping off a busy morning, he kicked a hole in the side of her trailer while tied to it. I could go on about his busy day (it goes on and on. . . including the part where I hollered at him good for attempting another kick, whereupon he reared, broke the trailer tie, and landed on his butt. Fortunately he still had a lead on to grab. At least he didn't sass me any more after that. . . ), but you get the picture.

On a less serious note, I got to be in my very first class ever when A decided she didn't want to wrestle Penny through her halter mares class. After a twenty minute practice run where Penny learned I wouldn't let her lean on me --Sandra and Scotch (oh is that why i got a standing still lesson today)

Good question! It sounds as though you did an excellent job of dealing with a difficult situation, so give yourself a pat on the back.

You hit the nail right on the head when you said "there was just no way to make up for lost training in such a short amount of time. " You're right, there isn't, and you shouldn't be expected to do remedial training in that situation (that particular situation shouldn't have existed in the first place! but that's another matter).

The way to deal with ANY horse that you don't know is also the safest way to deal with horses that you DO know: do everything by the book. In other words, take no chances. Don't assume the worst -- you probably aren't going to be handling a crazy or homicidal animal -- but you should be careful not to assume ANYTHING AT ALL. Don't think that because the horse is young, it must be sweet and malleable -- it may not be. Don't think that because the horse is old, it must be wise and experienced and calm -- it may not be. Don't think that because a horse is small, it will be easy to handle, or that because a horse is from a "quiet breed" that it will be passive and quiet.

Approach each horse with the full awareness that you are dealing with a HORSE - - that is to say, treat it with respect, according to its nature! A horse is an excitable, nervous prey animal, highly sensitive, and highly reactive. You don't know its history, its background, its previous experience and associations. Horses, like people, come with certain amount of emotional baggage. You and your horses at home may think nothing at all about a child running past with a balloon -- don't assume that the horse you are holding will be equally unconcerned. He may have spent time in a barn where such things are used by "trainers" as part of the "animation arsenal," and if that is the case, he is likely to react with anything from slight fear to borderline hysteria. The sound of a whip has the same effect on some horses -- again, don't ASSUME that you know what THIS horse's reaction will be.

Judge every horse by its POTENTIAL, by what it COULD do (rear, kick, shy, buck, run) and not by what you perceive its intentions to be ("oh, he's so sweet, he would never hurt me"). A sweet horse can hurt you very badly indeed. A horse, even a two-month-old foal, can do quite a lot of damage if it leaps in fear and lands on you when it comes down. A horse doesn't need to have a deliberate intention to hurt you -- in fact, this is very, very rare. Accidents and injuries occur because people are careless and inattentive, and because they assume too much, not because horses are vicious.

Your best defense is a combination of knowledge (know the nature of horses, and know horse body-language) and behaviour (be calm and definite, and handle the horse correctly, putting yourself in a position to be safe, and the horse into a position to be balanced and obedient).

When someone hands you a horse, at a show or elsewhere, don't assume ANYTHING about its level of training, attitude, experience, or ability to balance at a standstill or walk a straight line. While you're holding that horse, you need to be focused on him -- and aware of what is going on around you, so that while you are paying attention to the horse, and keeping his attention on YOU, you will also notice anything in the vicinity that might spook a horse -- ANY horse, including THIS horse.

Focusing on the horse means paying attention to where he is, how he is standing, what he is looking at (watch his ears -- ears and eyes move together, so if his ears are pointing east, that's where he's looking). It means knowing where his feet are, whether he is balanced, or whether he is going to step sideways in a moment to retrieve his lost balance. It means that you can't hold him at the end of a leadrope while you look at someone's baby pictures or wave to a friend in the stands.

Your "practice run" was an excellent idea, Sandra. Take that unfamiliar horse off somewhere quiet, and ask him to walk, halt, back, turn toward you, turn away from you, and halt again. Make your signals clear, give the horse time to respond, and praise him when he tries. This will give you a much better idea of what he knows! As you found out, the owner is not necessarily a source of accurate information. Your definition of "stands quietly" probably means an attentive horse standing square, at your shoulder, not pulling on his leadrope -- his owner's definition might mean "can stand for a moment if the person holding the twitch is on one side and the person putting all her weight against the leadrope is on the other side. " Unless you know this person well enough AS A HORSE TRAINER to know what her definitions and expectations are, listen to the HORSE, not to her! The horse will tell you, quite clearly, what he knows.

If you have to do some last-minute remedial training for the sake of your own safety and that of the horse, DO IT. If you need to put the chain over his nose, DO IT -- just be sure that you know how to adjust it correctly so that it will loosen when you or the horse releases the pressure. You may have to use that chain, or raise your voice -- it's better than having an accident. You're not there to punish the horse for being untrained, but you must stay safe and keep him safe (not to mention the other horses, the spectators, etc. ). And what you may discover is that by making yourself very clear and establishing yourself as the leader, you've made the horse feel more secure with you than he does with his usual handler!

And one more thing: the next time someone asks you to help out, you might want to (a) think hard before you say yes, (b) ask them specific questions, and (c) on the day, wear your boots and your gloves AND YOUR HELMET. Safety first!

Jessica

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