[cornhuskergirl]

Oh, Pippy! I just saw your comment and T-H-A-N-K YOU!!!!! I have been hoping for someone else to raise this issue, so I don't think it is simply me being too tough on people ...

[Alliekk]

I would definitely go with option #2. Parelli will only make her stupid and babied. It is a sluggish form of training that, if done by the wrong person, can end up with an EXTREMELY irritated and frustrated horse. John Lyons and Clinton Anderson are the way to go. Don't limit yourself to just this one "Parelli" trainer (and I say this with the fact that people can READ a Parelli book all they want, but that doesn't make them a Parelli TRAINER per se). Check your local CL for any horse trainers. If you were in my area I'd take her on.

That's good that she's getting the hint of "no rushing", but is she actually paying attention to you? When you walk a straight line, stop every ten strides or so. If she does not stop within 1 second of you stopping you "yank" lightly on the lead until she backs up to where she's supposed to be. Walk, stop, walk, stop... Etc etc etc. This filly need repitition and firmness. No more babying her, she's had enough of a childhood. She needs to grow up and stop acting like a 3 year old (human ).

[Anne Peterson]

I think you need a bit of Clinton Anderson. This filly is clearly in control, and she clearly doesn't like being in control. If she did she wouldn't act so insecore. She has been passed around from owner to owner for a long time. She picked up bad habits from the first owner how probebly thought they could baby her and let her get away with anything and she would be just fine. They sell her because she has issues which the next owner finds that he can't fix so he sells her. It just snowballs. She has been dissapionted by a lot of owners who never took the leading roll from her. And because so many have given up on her, she isn't going to give up being the leader for just anyone. Your going to have to prove to her that you CAN and WILL allow her to follow. This is all she wants. It is quite vissible in the video that she isn't a leader type of horse.
I don't really like parrelli either. He just doesn't cut it with me. Too many "games" and not enough business. Never take it personally when a horse acts up. That want help matters at all. You will just end up mad enough to kill. I know, I've been there. It isn't fun and it isn't easy to have a horse that seems like it hates you. Just remember it is a horse and they don't have those feelings. It is a compelitely reactional animal.

[pippy]

Originally Posted by cornhuskergirl

Oh, Pippy! I just saw your comment and T-H-A-N-K YOU!!!!! I have been hoping for someone else to raise this issue, so I don't think it is simply me being too tough on people ...

No your not being tough.

I personally think not much at all of these named trainers - perhaps because we just don't see them here in NZ. A trainer here is made in their own right, with their own methods based on quality training to gain a respectful, safe horse. I HATE molycoddlers and from what I have seen - that is parellei - so don't take this personally - but IMO ditch the parelli trainer and go find someone else - from the vids - the BO (or who ever he is) is below average. A few well timed smacks, yanks, yells and putting that horse into action when needed will get you better results IMO.

[farmeress]

Personally...like pippy....I care little for some of the trainers mentioned...parelli games are not a cure for a mare who tends to strike or paw at people when rearing.

This mare needs real handling....and not the kind that adds issues like making the horse head shy in place of the striking.

This is a type of horse that is sent to me...and I would have no problem kneeling a mare in tight quaters or catching a leg on a strike and dropping them ...especially if they rear and paw at my head.

BUT.....I have had some experience with these techniques after having learned them from professional "problem horse" trainers.

I would never recommend a novice or someone without "catching" experience to try this.

Find someone capable of handling aggressive horses...and imo.....not one that compounds the issue with others.

[jedy]

I think it's also very important that your hubby realizes the horse is walking bombshell. Otherwise he'll spoil her again after coming back from training. I also think that if you already feel on the end of the rope, chances are you won't be able to assert yourself enough, so might be better to send her to someone who'll take no s.ugar from her
The very best luck

[IIIBarsV]

1) What's she eating?

2) Is she getting turned out?

3) What's her future purpose in life?

4) She needs a "come to jesus" moment or two for every piece of aggressive behavior that she demonstrates. However, instead of pounding on her, might I suggest scaring the heck out of her (plastic bag, etc). She has taken on the leadership role with humans because nobody took that role in her life earlier. You need to throw her off her high horse without hurting her- I'm willing to bet that trying to smack her or whack her in the butt will get you her butt in your face pretty fast, and we don't want her to turn into another "Big Grey Nerd".

5) How much handling does she get and what sort of basis? What is the handler attempting to teach her or ask of her during training/handling sessions?

6) Is she a playful horse with other horses, or nasty and aggressive?

7) Does she get praised highly when she does something correctly or nicely? Even simple things like stepping over when you ask her, putting on the halter and standing, walking from point A to point B without trying to kill you... etc

8) Gosh golly do I feel bad for whoever gets to trim her feet.

[cornhuskergirl]

All excellent questions -- I will try and answer them the best I can without having to ask my husband (we are currently giving each other the silent treatment over the filly ) ...

(1) She is currently getting 2 lbs of Strategy in the morning and 2 lbs in the evening, plus Brome hay. I actually do not know how many flakes she is up to at the moment, since he and the barn owner had several conversations about that).

(2) She is not getting turned out as much as I would have liked since it is muddy and yucky around here. But, she has a run attached to her 12 x 12 box stall. But, she seems to have an aversion to the great outdoors. Even with hay out in the run, it is incredibly rare to find her out there.

(3) She was going to be used for HUS, since she just seems more suited to English than Western -- in terms of her movements and her appearance. Before all of the challenges really started with her, there was some debate in the family about when she was going to be broken to saddle. I was a huge proponent of holding off till her 3-year old year.

(4) Scaring her is actually an INCREDIBLE idea! You are absolutely right, the smacks do not seem to faze her. In fact, they often just seem to inflame the situation ... Of course, it doesn't help that all the lovely "Parelli" people at the barn are all in a hurry to cry "poor baby" when she gets popped. I wonder how many poor babies, I will get when bones are broken ???

(5) She was getting handling on a daily basis from either my husband or myself. The handling ranged from working on stopping and not being a pushy cow on the lead line to learning to give her neck and disengage hindquarters. We also did some grooming and working with being normal in the cross ties and also some standing and tying work ... Since I have now washed my hands of the situation, she is definitely down in the number of days per week she is handled.

(6) She is uber nasty with other horses -- both with the mellow gelding on her one side and with the more spirited horse on the other. Biting, pinning her ears, etc. All of the horses at the farm are turned out in groups, but people are terrified to put her out with other horses. Her turnout paddock has adjacent horses, but she is alone in hers.

(7) She gets praised incredibly highly for anything that is normal -- even if I have to search for the reason to praise her. Praise seems to have no effect on it. Half the time that she is being patted and praised she has her ears pinned.

(8) I agree ... Her first trimming was not an utter nightmare. But she has one scheduled for tomorrow. Fingers crossed that all will go well with the farrier ...

[cornhuskergirl]

I have also tried to emphasize to him (hubby) about the ticking time bomb portion of things. As he told me, before the silent treatment started, he did not see the worst part of the rearing, bucking performance that he had been putting the baby in the car seat and did not really notice anything till she was "kneeling." Like I asked him, did he think that we had the horse kneeling for the heck of it?

I was so excited when he came home from work when he told me that he had decided on an option outside of the box -- not option 1 Parelli or option 2 that a chain would solve everything. I asked him what he had decided on -- he told me that he is going to go back to working with the BO (from the horrible backing video). And that they really do not think that the horse is that bad, but just that she tends to have respect issues with women ...

What more can I do???? But, I see an ugly end to this ...

[farmeress]

Originally Posted by cornhuskergirl

What more can I do???? But, I see an ugly end to this ...

Show him this thread