[Appylvr]

This mare was hit by a car a few months back and is recovering at the local equine hospital. My neighbor is going to keep her and ride her. We've been going down there the last three days to make friends with her.

I think part of the problem is that there is so much going on there. It's too busy and she can't settle down at all. We had her out and she has problems with her feet being picked up. She kicked out when Jennifer went to pick up her back feet, but that might be because her hips are sore right now. Any ideas on how to clean her feet safely and get her better about them done?

She is also understandably afraid of cars. One of the vets drove by us very slowly and she freaked out. After he was gone, I got her to settle back down. This is a big problem, though. Where we are there is a lot of traffic! Anywhere we go there are cars speeding by.

Would it be ok to put her into my other neighbors stall for a few hours a day? He lives on the corner and there is only a chainlink fence between his stalls and the street, so his horses get used to a lot of traffic. Or would that be too stressful for her?

She also can't be tied, but I don't think we're going to deal with that right now. She seems to be a wonderful horse! She's beautiful, sweet, likes people, loves treats, has good feet.... So I definately think she's worth the time to get her rideable again. Any ideas on what we should do?

[HappyJoy]

i think before you start introducing her to traffic again it would be good to keep her in one place and gain her trust. maybe just deal with her issues slowly. you might want to work on getting her to tie before you try and work on her fear of cars, because you never know when you have to tie a horse, even if its just for a few minutes. i've never had to deal with a kicking or sore horse so i can't give you any advice with that, although she may improve the more she knows and trusts you. with mustangs you just want to take it slow and steady. they are smart animals and quick learners, but some remain a bit jumpy even when they are completely tame. i'm no expert with horses, all of this is just my opinion from what i've learned of horses and my mustang. good luck, she's a beautiful horse!

[Appylvr]

She was born in captivity right after her dam was captured, so she's never actually been wild.

We have been going down there every day to see her, give her treats, and groom and pet her, so hopefully she'll start to trust us. She's actually very friendly once her initial wariness gets past.

The first time we got her out my neighbor tried to give her a piece of apple and she wouldn't take it. A little bit later after she started to calm down I offered it to her again and she still didn't want it. So, goofy me, I started pretending I was eating it, making yum noises and offered it to her again. She gobbled it up and then wouldn't take a breather through the rest of the apple!

[iluvmyhorsey05]

Will she let you groom down her her back legs? rubbing them or brushing them? If she seems kinda skeptical of that then I would just start slow with her. I would definately teach her how to tie for safety reasons. Also you could teach her the head down cue for when she gets excited. All you do is rest your hand on her poll until she drops her head the slightest bit. She'll probably try to move her head from side to side to get rid of your hand but keep it there. Then when she's use to that start asking her to hold her head down for longer periods or to drop her head further down. If she doesn't get annoyed with your hand just sitting on her hand add slight pressure but not too much cause you want to use as little as possible. Then when she gets use to the cue and a car drives by, give her the head down cue because you don't see excited horses with thier heads down, they're up in the air. Maybe that will work? As for putting her at your neighbors house I personally don't see anything wrong with it cause she's with horses that don't mind it and eventually she'll just forget traffic is going by cause she'll have to deal with it. I hope she recovers well!!

[Appylvr]

We're going to have to try that. The head down cue, I think she'll have to learn that one once she learns to stand still around a car. Next time we go, tomorrow probably, I'll have my neighbor try brushing her back legs after she's groomed the rest of her. We'll see....

I just am really hoping this works out. My neighbor has had such awful luck with her horses lately!

[HappyJoy]

let us know how it works out!

[indiekisses985]

I think that that is a good idea. Let her know that all of the cars are going right by her, not towards her. I think it would boost her confidence without having to actually take her out on the road.

As for picking the feet, give it some time. Don't push her too much because she probably is sore. Just touch her legs, run your hands down them. While she rests one foot just sort of brush the top of the hoof with the pick. Remember, she has been through a lot.

[caballus]

http://www.kbrhorse.net

Try this website. It has hundreds of pages on Mustangs and training. I think you'll find the information useful.

--caballus