There’s no such thing as a perfect horse just like there is
no perfect rider. Part of the appeal of working with horses is getting through
those imperfections, building a stronger
bond and becoming a better equestrian in the process.
greatest challenge that you’ve overcome with your horse (or a horse that you’ve
worked with)? For some riders, common training issues such as a fear of water
or a tendency to bolt on the trails are the biggest problems. For others,
regaining an abused horse’s trust or working through an injury marks the
biggest difficulty. In other cases, it is the horse that helps the rider get
through fear, injury or trust issues rather than the other way around.
Tell us what your greatest challenge was and how you and
your horse got through it by clicking “Submit a Comment” below. Some of the
responses may be published in a future issue of Horse Illustrated!
One selected response may be selected by the editors to win a monthly prize! If you would like to be eligible for the prize, please include your email address in the comment form (email addresses are not publicly displayed.)
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My biggest challenge was in learning how to ride and jump a certain Halflinger named Avalon. He was trained completely differently so it presented a challenge to be able to just ride him.
The biggest challenge that my horse and I have overcome is trust. Every horse that just enters a new home must learn to trust their owner and that’s what we have accomplished. I love being able to walk down to the barn and hearing a high and excited whinny in my favor as my horse rushes in from the pasture because he is so excited to see me!
my biggest challenge was over coming the fear off falling after i took bad tumble down a thirty foot drop with my horse rooling on me 3 times as we tumbled resulting in braking my pelvic bone in to 3 pieces, 2 vertibras broken in my back and 2 broken ribs, the fear was also felt from my horse. we had to learn to trust each other and have made it to that point after 2 years of taking it slow. Thank goodness my horse was not injured.
Lola and I have over come many obstacles, but I will only say the greatest. I learned to ride on Lola, with no lessons! That is even more impressive when I say that she has a progressive eye disease. Even though I ride Western, we have learned to jump and do dressage, Western gaming, Western pleasure, trail ride, and even ride bridle-less! Both of us have come a long way in just three years!
When my rescue horse, Charlie, came into my life, he was blind in one eye and horribly terrified of humans because his previous owner had beaten and starved him. No one could get near him without him rearing up and flipping out. After 4 years of hard work (and lots of treats!:))and patience we have gained each other’s trust and have been able to jump bareback and bridless! Even though he is still blind in one eye, he will always be the best horse to ever walk the earth!
Mercy is a very secure horse and she needs her security. when we tried to ride on the loose rein she would freak out and speed up and get scared. after two years she will walk and trot on the loose rein. she still is a little funny with it but she works through it and is doing awesome.
Harry Potter came to me as a young stuck up Hunter/Jumper pony with no ground manners. I was use to a sweet old mare who never did anything wrong but still had the heart to run speed. My biggest problem with Potter was learning that there is a “soul mate” horse…you just have to work hard to find it. After a year of him teaching me how to jump and me teaching him how to do speed events we have become the best match. We jump 2’9 bareback with a halter and leadrope and we even place against real speed horses at shows!
My horse, Zip, is half arab and all crazy. He used to like to run away from being caught in any way possible and we tried, literally, every trick in the book. I swear… they could write a whole SERIES about horses like him. He loves ducking under fences to get away, too… but luckily he doesn’t go thru the outer perimeter. (We have fences in between)
we had to trick him into getting caught, all the time. But since we got our most recent horse, Jack, and I put him on a calming supplement, he is 99.8% better- with a few ‘moments’, but hes just like every other ordinary horse now. good days and bad, like when he just doesn’t want to get caught. but it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be- kicking at you as he ran away, yet again….
The biggest challenge that my horse, Passion, and I have encountered was his abscess. For more than eight months, he had an abscess in his hoof. It hurt both of us: him because he felt the pain, and me because I had to see him going through it. Though it took a lot of supplements, hoof conditioners, vet checkups, farrier visits, and experiments, he got better, and we’re both happy.
My biggest challenges with my blind horse Molly was getting her to trust me and tolarate the farrier. But with a lot of love, patience, and courage, we have gotten a long way, together. and now we are best friends!
When I got my 8yr old TWH, we didn’t know much about her. She rode fine and was sound and healthy. However she was very skittish. She would even hardly let you touch her. We use natural horsemanship and we came to the conclusion that she was handled roughly. Also, she would resit things and as soon as I approached to fix it she was throw her head and back up and try to turn and run like I was going to beat her. We finally worked it out of her and now she is the sweetest thing in the world!
My quarter horse was herd bound when we got him. The owners that sold him to us had to go into town the day we were going to get him. He was in a lot by himslf and he was blck with sweat and foam was dripping off him and he was nickering his head off. But we overcome that by putting him by his self in a field FOR 3 MONTHS.
My biggest challenge was getting over my fear of horses. i loved them all my life but wouldnt go in the pasture when they were at the far end. if it werent for my horse Spice, id still be watching them eat from a distance. He is the most amazing horse in the world, and im blessed to have him.
Our biggest challenge was learning to lope and do a figure 8 pattern. We couldnt do it for the longest time and know we do both great. A lot of hard work, patience and sweaty blankets:)
The biggest obstacle my horse Sugar and I have ever faced was getting her to cross creeks. She never liked crossing creeks she’d jump over the creeks (if she could) or she’d turn around and run from them. After several months of working on it she now successfully crosses over creeks and doesn’t shy away from them.
I’ve dealt with quite a few problems that seemed near impossible to cure on the road to becoming a horse trainer. The biggest one I’ve ever had to get a horse through is rearing. Absolutely the worst habit ever! When I first started working with horses, my ill-tempered, feisty, pinto mare Comet began rearing (to get out of work, checks revealed she was not in pain…the tack fit fine as well) for about a year before I finally cured her of the habit. A year! With the help of a more experienced trainer, we solved the problem. Took about of week of basic groundwork, loads of lunging, and absolutely no mounted work. Now I love riding a mare that, even though she still has quite an spirit about her, has no dangerous or annoying habits. 🙂
When I started riding at my new barn after a riding accident, I was still somewhat afriad of horses. There was this one 2 year old arabian warmblood mix my trainer had bred & raised named Tickett. He was shut in a stall all day and never worked because my coach was always busy and now that I think about it, I think even she was afraid of him because he was so high strung. When she retired because of family issues, she somehow convinced my dad to buy him because dad had fallen in love with his personality. We moved Tickett to my friends home-barn with a gigantic pasture and two other horses. He became a different horse, no longer spooky or high strung! My friends mom began to ride him in her dressage lessons, and eventually convinced me to try riding him in one of mine since I didnt have a dressage horse to ride with my new coach since he didnt offer lesson horses. I gathered up my courage, and ended up hopping onto Tickett and riding him without my coach because he was late to my lesson. When he finally got there, he, along with my family and friend & her mom were all stunned. Tickett and I had clicked instantly and seemed to respond better to me than he had to anyone else who had ridden him. I had avoided this horse for 4 years, afraid to even go near him, and now he is my new best friend, and now I’m dreaming about our future together, both winning ribbons and trail rides through sunny pastures. Its almost ironic how the horse 4 years ago I wouldnt even walk near, is now my best friend and the best riding partner Ive had yet.
When I first bought Bella, I was a complete rookie, and knew nothing about saddle fit. It turned out that my Courbette was causing her back pain and making her muscles atrophy. She started bucking and really hated me. You could see that she was really angry that I was riding her despite this. I had no idea that any of this was going on, until her old owner came out and looked at her and told us our saddle did not fit. I ordered a new Collegiate Diploma, and we started with an adjustment on her back and a monthly massage. I also started with the Parelli Technique to gain respect and trust. She got better slowly, and for a whole year, I learned everything there is to learn about bending her correctly and engaging her hind end and perfecting head set and movement. I am trying on the hunters and equitation for size, and am starting basic dressage and Balanced Seat riding. Now I can stand on her back, ride her bareback and bridless, load her on a trailer, and take her to any show I want. She and I love each other, and hope to make it to the Maclay in the future. When ever I am feeling like I have no hope to make it where I want to, I look at how far we’ve come, and what I’ve learned and gained as a result of buying a difficult horse to ride and one that demands perfection. Even my trainer says that if it had been anyone else but me, she would have told them to get rid of the horse. every time I see her, I think of how before I bought her, I only rode at a summer stable that taught terrible habits and bad equitation. When I arrived at my new barn, the owner took me on as a lesson student because she saw through the bad habits, and saw that I could have potential as a rider. Now, when I look back, I see how much I’ve changed- I actually do it right. Now, when I look at my accomplishments- achieving all my summer showing goals- especially getting Bella to the show and winning our Equitation against all odds- she was very hot and nervous in the warn up arena but excellent and a model eq. horse when it really counted. Now, I can finally see that all that misfortune and difficulty that we went through was actually a good thing- I have learned that you cannot think about what you can’t do with your situation- you have to think about all the opportunities you have.
Getting a faster walk! Still working on it but its getting better! We both are a bit lazy!
Gaining my young filly’s respect was the biggest challenge I have ever overcome with a horse. She was my first horse I had ever trained and she didn’t make it easy on me at all. After months of working with her and finding out different things that got her attention, I finally got her respect. I knew as soon as it happened because instead of pushing at me and nipping around in the field, she followed me everywhere I went and matched me step for step but never showed any forms of disagreement or aggression towards me. Our relationship has only grown from there!
Me and my horse have overcome a big obstacle. When I first bought my gelding her was an ex-roper that had been out to pasture for two years. He wouldnt stop on command, we usually has to fight about it and he would never slow down. Now, thanks to a couple years of working with him, he stops when I give him the slightest cue, and he is more relaxed!
The biggest obstacle my horse and I have overcome is definitely showing. At home, everything goes great. But, the second we hit the dirt, it all goes away. Now, my horse shows better than his riding at home.
trusting each other after a bad accident that left me with a broken back, pelvis and ribs, and my horse scared but physically fine. we are now riding the trails and trusting in each other again.Trust an imptrtant part of riding!!!
Overcoming Lyme disease. Fancy’s legs were all stocked up and she coudn’t move, her sides were indented and skinny and all the life was sucked out of her. Her coat was dull and her eyes didn’t have their usual spark to them. I brushed her and gave her TLC every day though and now she’s on her way to recovering! What a trooper!!!
Over coming Casper, my horse, moving to a different farm. We moved recently and I couldn’t keep him. It was one of the saddest days of our lives!
The first time I went to teach a young horse to lunge I really messed and payed for it in her trust in me but slowly I have worked thru that with her and myself and I am alot more cautious about things I do and how I teach something.
My horse and I had a really rough accident. We were trail riding and she spooked, and bucked, then finally reared, and I fell off, and my foot got caught in the stirrup and my body swung under hers. She landed on top of me, and I blacked out. Since then, she’s changed. I know she did not want to hurt me and that it was all an accident. I was a bit scared of her at first, but slowly, we bonded again. It is amazing what the love of a horse can do to you, and she taught me a lesson. Forgive and forget. We both are past it now and riding together happily, trusting once again.
I sadly don’t own a horse but I ride one named Sophie. Sophie and I had a bad accident together we had to canter then all of the sudden she bolted! I could not stop her she was going really fast cause she was gotten from a race track so she was going really fast! She was going crazy she went over TROT poles and some jumps after that I got scared out of my mind. Then we went around a corner then she reared and I kinda slid off.I had a big scratch then a huge hole!! I freaked out when I saw that then I had to get 4 stitches put in. Sadly I cant ride her cause of the fall so I am waiting. I CANT WAIT TO RIDE YOU SOPHIE!!:)
I think it would be SO cool to be in a magazine one time!!!!!!!! That would be on my #1 list!!!!!!!!
one of the biggest challenges i have overcome with my horse was my low confidence when riding i use to be really scared to fall off now i fall off give my horse the evil eye and jump back on!i just learned that it is another part of riding
I don’t have a horse of my own to overcome anything, howevr, I have come a long way. I have been riding for about 3 years. I would never say that i was a great rider, but I could certainly ride and I knew quite a bit about horses as well. However, a year ago last June, I stopped riding at my old barn and went for a long time without riding. It wasnt until this February that I went to a new barn. I waan’t just rusty…I was VERY rusty. So they took me aside from my lesson and put in a private lesson to work me back up. I stopped cantering and jumping for a short while, and worked on not just my trotting, but the way that I ride. Most importantly, my instructor helped to build up my confidence. Now I am doing better than ever!
Our biggest challenge my horse & I have over come was buliding confidence for the both of us, on the ground & in the saddle. He is a rescue, he was abused & malnurished so he was “broken” & needed someone to “repair” him. Which I took on that & it is worth it! He helped me find love again after losing one of my friends special horses, who also meant alot to me! We “repaired” eachother & it has been for the best, without him I would not be half the person I am today, without me he’d be hurt, & looking for love! Key word to most of the past is WAS & now he IS happy & living the life all horses deserve!
What me and my horse both need to over come together, is jumping!! she was a brood mare before i got her so i am training her to jump!! while i am still learming myself!!
My horse and I have overcame many obstacles. She used to lay down when I got on her, rufuse to move or listen, or do anything else. Now we are competing in dressage shows successfully, and going to our first event in the spring!
The biggest obstacle me and my horse have overcome so far is putting fly spray on. His previous owner never put fly spray on him, so that was a big problem. But I worked with him until he stop his jumping and running habit. Now he stands perfectly still ever time I spray it on.
The biggest obstacle that me and my horse have been in progress of getting over is going to shows and trailering. He freaks out whenever he gets in a trailer when he has been in one multiple times and he gets a bit overexcited when we get to the show grounds. We are progressing at a very slow rate but its better than nothing! 🙂
We are still a work in progress. My horse Shawnee is terrified of fly spray and water squirting out of hoses and I’m working on the best training procedure to ease her fears. One day she will let me give her a bath and put fly spray on her without breaking something.
I bought a green horse as a green horse owner myself. My new horse developed a fear of trailer loading a few weeks after I purchased her. I tried all the advice everyone gave me, to no avail. After watching a Monty Roberts video, I discovered that the advice all these people had given me was the wrong approach. Using kindness and patience, I was able to listen to what my horse was telling me and load her on the trailer without any frustration or anxiety from either of us. Teaching her to get on the trailer without fear has been a long process, as she will still occasionally give me a difficult time loading, but it feels good to know that I can load her without swinging ropes, waving and shouting, popping a whip behind her, or any other methods that only spook a horse in the end. And mastering the fine art of patience and doing what’s best for my horse has made me a better horsewoman too!
Respect. When I first got my QH gelding, Smarty, I was very timid and allowed him to practically walk all over me (figurtivly speaking, of course.) But now, in my lessons, I am learing to become more assertive, and he, in turn, is learing respect.
As a mature (56 yrs) rider, I took my first fall that caused severe injuries, and together Tasha and I have healed. I have overcome my fears and am loving being back in the saddle. Final words: Thank goodness for my helmet!!
The hardest obstacle that me and my horse Destiny, have overcome was when Destiny stepped on a rusty nail that went into her frog. An infection spread through her hoof and went into her leg. The vet came to our house and told me that if the infection got any worse she would have to be put down. But Destiny wasn’t about to let that happen and neither was I! We worked together defeating the infection and healing her hoof. Through that difficult time I just had to keep believing no matter what. After all Destiny and I still had a destiny!
The biggest issue I had to overcome was when my barrel horse got a bad knee and I couldn’t run him anymore. When I started key-hole he wanted to do barrels. I had to SLOWLY train him out of it.
The biggest thing i have accomplished with my horse is teaching her pretty much everything she came from an abusive home and when i got her she would not let anyone near her you couldnt even catch her now i just have to go in her stall and she lets me go right up to her and catch her. She was also scared to death of fly spray and water hoses she alot better with them now. The thing we had the most issues with tho was that she was a rearer when you try and trail ride her she will just run as fast as she can and rear and buck i can now ride her with no problems at all!!!
My Saddlebred “Izzy” was too dangerous for me to ride when we first bought her, including trying to hurt my trainer. After a few months of him trying endlessly to make her “rideable” he told us he didn’t think it would work out with her. I went up to her and said “look. John thinks you’re dangerous. He doesn’t think you and I will work out.”
That week, Izzy had a dramatic change in work ethic and now is my trainer’s “precious little princess!”
The biggest challenge me and my horse have overcame is her unknown and unexpected pregnancy. At first I was heartbroken that the new mare I had just fallen in love with couldn’t barrel race for about a year. However, our bond has grown so much stronger just by being around each other than riding and competing could have made it. She is truly a blessing, every part of her.
I think the hardest thing we had to overcome together is when we first got my horse, Sundancer. He had been abused badly.We got him from an auction. we save him from being bought by a man there for the slaughter.but that was 15 years ago and now we can jump on him bareback in the pasture and he will just stand there.
I think the hardest obstacle that I had to overcome was when I fell off my gelding and crushed my hand, wrist and arm and needed extensive surgery and physical therapy. Through the help of a trainer I gained my confidence and learned just because the previous owner says “ride with this bit I used it” is not always your best choice. I learned how to ride my horse his way and be more understanding and listening to what he was trying to tell me through body language. I rode him for 3 more yrs successfully and now he is retired after being diagnosed with ringbone. He has a forever home with me and his two friends; Rainy (paint) and Pizzazz (mini).
One of the hardest things that I got my horse to overcome is her fear of fly spray. I know it doesn’t sound like that big of a deal but she use to freak out and almost run you over. She was so scared she would go into a panic mode. It took me awhile to help her realize that its not going to hurt her, but now when I put it on her she calmly stands there.
I bought my horse in July 2010, in NY. He was supposed to be a 3 yr old TB named One Nation. The story is that he was actually on a Tb slaughter truck headed for Canada, The girl I bought him from said a friend of the family actually drives these horses to Ca and he called her in Feb 2010 and said, “Come get this horse off my truck, he is too nice of a horse for this to be happening to.’ She did. i bought him from her that July. I had a broken foot a that time and could not work with him for a few months. this summer, I took him to his first dressage show, and he got an 65.625% and second place in his first class. He was destined to be a future dressage star! He is SO smart and loves to be challenged. He is NOT One Nation, his new name is Uno, Dos, Tres, as in One, Two, Three, as in dance. He is the ultimate example of why these horses need to be protected from slaughter, and he is BEAUTIFUL!
My mare honeydew was a practice tripping horse for mexican rodeos as a one yr old. She was hog tied and left to lay there for. That’s how she was found. She was emeaciated and scared of people. She had bloody ankels and scars on her legs. Also a couple broken teeth. I brought her home sence then and she has blossemed into the sweetest most loving girl ever. She is amazing. Perfectly sound and happy. She is not spooky to anything anymore. I have to work hard to find something that scares her now. At age four she is dead broke kids can ride her by themselves and I can take her in parades . Basicly anywhere and she trusts me to do right by her and she is adored and my girl. I couldn’t hav asked for a better horse. My dimoned in the ruff:)
After the birth of my son my riding days dwindled. When my parents fell on hard times and sold my childhood horses riding all but disapeared. Last February, I decided that had to change. Enter Sans Sable a.k.a Ruby. I’d never had proper lessons, she’d never really had a home. There were tears and tantrums. It has taken almost a year, but now Ruby doesn’t turn her back on me when I walk in the stable. Instead of giving wide white eyes she lets her head droop while I groom her. After a few lessons I’ve learned to communicate better and Ruby has likewise learned to trust I won’t lead her wrong. We are still learning, but we’re doing it together and I like to think she’s loving it just as much as I am.
When I first got my horse, Saphira, she was trained western and her owners would ride her on trails. Since I ride in hunters, I had to teach her not only how to jump and get flying lead changes, but also how to bend correctly, pick up both canter leads, and get into a frame. I have owned her for 2 years now and I am AMAZED with how far she has come. This past summer we competed in 2’3” and 2’6” classes and we placed in most of them and won a few blue ribbons too. But she has also taught me so much in return and not just how to become a better rider but lessons on trust, patience, and love. I couldn’t be more proud of her!
I bought my mare, as a ‘broke to ride’ horse. We got her home, and found out that she is terrified of men. I’m a girl, and we bonded immediately, but we are pretty sure that some man abused her. She didn’t have much confidence, and after a month or so, I didn’t have much confidence in her. But I’ve owned her for 4 months now and she comes on a whistle, and as long as I am with her, rarely spooks at regular things. (birds flying out of bushes, dogs, people, chickens…ect)I think that is our biggest accomplishemnt. Now we are showing and barrel racing.
My biggest challenge was to help my horse get over the habit of crowding me.
My Quarter Pony, Kadie was a pure pain when we got her 6 years ago. I got her to stop rubbing me off on fences, got her to run barrels, made her stop taking off with me, and rearing, bucking, head tossing, pawing and pretty much every thing else. Now Kadie is my world. She runs 20’s on barrels, which is pretty good for a 12.3 hand pony, runs 25’s on poles and is a amazing trail horse. She has won two second places and a first place in trail classes. (We’ve done trail classes only three times.) Now, she’s the prettiest thing you’ll ever lay eyes on. She loves being a brat to all of the other horses and giving me a headache to this day!
I bought my horse Zues when I was still a novice rider. I’ve learned many lessons on him, and gave a few to him too. I think the most improtant thing was to trust him and beleive he didn’t want to dump me or hurt me. Vise-versa he also learned that I am a protection for him as well, and that I would never run him into a situation that would injure him. Today we are still working out kinks but we do it together not just as a single rider and a horse.
Right at the start of show season, my Arabian/Trakehner mare, Raven, came up with a hip injury. We had to take it really slow and start over from the begining. A lot of trotting and a LOT of walking to get her back in shape. We were worried she wasn’t going to be okay for fair, but I was more worried that she wouldn’t get better, she is aging after all. We went to the rest of our shows and did pretty ok for everything that happened. Now, we’re back in shape and we look forward to showing at full potential next year!
My horse is a 3 1/2 year old Half Arabian gelding named Regie. The greatest challenge that we have overcome is when he was a weanling. He sliced off part of his front hoof. I had to go out everyday and take care of it. The vet said that he would have a big lump on his hoof from it, but it has healed and there’s no sign that he ever cut his hoof!
The challenge we are facing now is training. When I ask him to lope, he gallops! He goes as fast as he can and I lose control. I know in order to get rid of this bad habit is to lope in an enclosed area for a long time so he learns to conserve his energy. But I do not have easy access to an arena, so this will be difficult! But even though neither of us are perfect, that’s what we’ll strive for.
well;I’m only 12 so,my greatest challenge with my horse is jumping. I learned by myself.The first time I jumped it was BAREBACK
My biggest challenge with my mare was getting her to trust and respect humans and ‘things’, which applied to a lot. At first she wouldn’t trailer load, lead, canter without bucking, back up, ground tie, accept dewormers, and she would try to bite a lot. But now she trailer loads perfectly, she leads great, she has a great, smooth canter, a great backup, she ground ties, accepts dewormers just fine, and she’s not nearly so aggresive. So all in all, she has come a long way!
I don’t own a horse, but there are a few that I ride for lessons that I have “adopted at heart”. That has been the biggest challenge for those horses and me: missing them crazily. We overcame it, though! I spend every possible moment with horses and I love them! I’m sure every other comment here will make more sense, but that is mine.
So far, the biggest challenge I’ve overcome riding is cantering. My horse is extremly lazy {and fat}so it’s hard to get her going and a lot of the times she’ll try and trot really fast instead of cantering. But lately she’s been going into the canter smoothly with out trooting a million miles an hour!
The biggest obstacle my horse and I have over come have been health related. He has COPD and this past fall had a bad flare-up from it. As he was recovering from this, he developed an acute laminitis in a reaction to the steroids we were using as treatment for his breathing. It hasn’t always been easy and he is twenty years old. Now, we are taking it one day at a time, and I let him tell me what he’s up to for work. We may no longer be galloping around a cross-country course, but I still love him dearly as I have the twelve years I’ve ridden him. Sure, it would be easy to retire him and get another younger horse, but I could never do so.
Working with my horse has been so “metaphoric” in my own life. I once was controlled by fear, and so was my Arab! One of his fears was water and even though we had a large pond on our property, I never took him there in close to 10 years. One summer day, with my 8 year old in tow, we walked him to the edge. The next day, another inch. The next day, two inches. After several weeks, he was in the water knee deep. Now, 2 years later, he RUNS into the pond from the ground or with me on his back. NO FEAR!
The biggest challenge I ever had was when our Quarter Horse mare Jessie fell one winter and broke her pelvic. She had to be kept in her stall for six months, and then turned out in a very tight area for another month after that. The work I went through taking care of her and the many trips I made to the barn to break up her boredom everyday ended up being very rewarding, They thought she would founder, but she came through the whole ordeal and we were back riding once again.
Our fear that we have overcome is having a fear of failure. I always wanted to make others proud, and please others. My horse has taught me, that as long as we did our best and had fun, we’ve pleased everyone out there!
I met my horse a bit over a year and a half ago. I had just started riding at a new barn, and he was being boarded there. His owners never rode him, so he wasn’t handled too much. I started to ride him, and discovered he had many anxiety problems and the way he dealt with them was by running like a maniac. During the first lessons I had with him, we were simply trying to get him to calm down enough to at least slow down to a trot. And those weren’t his only problems! He hates cross-ties, and would always shift around nervously in them. Plus he was extremely spookish. After about a month of riding him, I got free-lease on him. The following summer, we had made enough progress that we took him trail riding. He was AMAZING! Never spooked once, even when all the school horses had a fit over something. That was also the first time we knew of him being around cows. By the end of the day, I had him herding cows like a pro. So that weekend, we took him team penning. He did well for the first half of the night, learning quickly. But then he started getting anxiety attacks, so we left him tied to the trailer the rest of the night. But throughout last summer, he improved a lot and we started taking him more places and doing more things with him. Last November I bought him. We are still working on a lot of stuff, but now he stands calmly in cross-ties, will walk calmly, trot calmly on good days, and even sometimes canter calmly. Overall, he has gone from the horse that got no attention to being the horse that is often a favorite of any kid that comes to the barn – whether I let them have a pony ride on him or not!
When I first bought my horse he tried to run off with me every chance he got. I couldn’t even get him to walk. But after 5 months of patience and help of a family friend me and him are now a good team. i even ride him bareback and bridle now.
My horse Hannah spooks at everything, in her early training, it was a windy day and a plastic bag came out of no where! She went side ways so fast, I was still in proper riding position in the air right before I hit the ground, over and over, we did this ending up with me on the ground, I started teaching her not to spook, and a week later on our normal riding trail, this huge snake is just lying in the middle of the road! I am braced and scared that when she spooked I would fly of right onto the snake. But hannah just kept walking and walked around it like it wasn’t there at all. Way to go Hannah!
I do believe my horse was abused before she came to us. My biggest challenge was overcoming her aggressive attitude towards anything that came within ten feet of her. It took years of patience but I hardly recognize the horse that first came here. We still have a ways to go, but with continued patience and persistence we will work our way to total faith and trust in each other.
Probly the biggest challenge my horse and I have overcome is when we got stuck in mud.
I was gathering cows when they crossed a creek,my trustworthy,grey,gelding,started to cross, when we found out there was no floor.My horse,CJ began to sink and thrash.I jumped off,while he struggled to get out.Once he sat still I got his attention.Seeing me he seemed to put all his trust in me.Because of that I was able to pull his reins out of the mud and get him out.
Yet,the most amasing part was a few minutes after I got him out of it,he crossed the creek,wear a cow trail was,without hesitation.
The biggest challenge my horse and I have over come is getting him on the trail believe it or not!!He’s had a very bad lawnmower experience even though he’s 17 hands and 2 inches he’s still gets really scared! So when I tried to take him on the trail with my friend there was the barn owner mowing the lawn, so even though he’s going to be 21 In a few days you would never know it. He started to buck and even rear a bit!! My trainer thought he was 2 when we brought him to the barn and he’s was 19 and so she thought well if he’s younger then he might relax on the trail:( but through lots of trail rides with my trainer we are able to enjoy the trip!!