# Working Through Trigger's triggers



## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

I am going to start a journal where I document and take you guys on the journey of figuring out what makes my new horse Trigger tick. I hope to use both videos and photos to document our journey. 

A little backstory:
Around the beginning of December, I saw an ad for a companion only horse who immediately grabbed my attention. Looks aside, something about him made my gut say "this one". I got talking to the owner and one weekend my sister and I drove up and met him. To say he was sweet is an understatement. I fell instantly in love. When talking with his owner more I discovered that it wasn't so much that he could never be ridden, but that he would spook and bolt for no apparent reason. This piqued my interest and made me want him even more. Also, the owner said that if she didn't find him a new home she would put him down since she was moving to a place where it would be very stressful for him. That pretty much sealed the deal and cemented my decision to get him. So, New Year's Eve we drove up and got him!

Trigger is an 8-year-old APHA gelding. He stands about 14.2 and he is super thick and stocky. He is very sweet but is very wary of new people especially men. So the first thing we did was introduce him to my husband and my boarder's husband. He instantly took to both of them. However, when my boarder had their farrier come over I asked him if he could do Trigger's feet and I could see a lot more of the wariness especially when working with his hind feet. 

Today since it was nice out I figured out I would see a little of what he knows. I found out a couple of things. 1. He is very sensitive. Most of the time I would have to put very little pressure on him for him to know what it was I wanted him to do. 2. He will disengage his hind and fore easily and backs wonderfully.
3. He lunges nicely to the left with lots of slack. 4. Trying to lunge to the right he spooked and bolted. I calmly went after him and when I asked him to back he spooked and bolted again. I took a step back and watched his reaction when I would step across to his right side I learned 5. he guards his right side. He will keep his left eye on you and swing his butt away from you. 6. He is not supple at all when trying to bend his neck.

So far from what I am seeing is he fairly disrespectful and hasn't learned proper ground manners. 

So I hope everyone enjoys our journey as we try to work with and through Trigger's problems. BTW he is seeing my massage therapist tomorrow to see if he has a pain issue and I will be having my vet look him over and see if there are any physical issues and he will also be seeing my chiropractor.


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

He's very cute. Best of luck with him.


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## Luce73 (Dec 7, 2012)

He's super cute! What you said about him being more spooky on the right makes me think it might be a vision issue maybe? I guess you'll know once the vet has checked him over. 

Excited to follow your progress with him!


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

He's so cute! Welcome home, Trigger!

What's his 5-panel status? Or, at least, his HYPP and PSSM1 status? He's pretty well-muscled for being a companion which, in addition to his "issues," makes me wonder. 
He can still be a great partner if he's positive for either one, knowing his status will help him come around faster if he is positive.


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## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

@Wallaby I do not know what his 5-panel status is. He has had extensive ground training which included in-hand trail and jumping. Or so I was told. But I have a friend that knows his original breeder and I will ask if she can find out his parent's panel results if any.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Trigger is so cute! I hope you're able to make a connection with him. 

I bought a mare last June (the one in my avatar) and although she was sold to me as a beginner-safe horse, she wasn't. The seller did describe her as aloof and hard to catch with a halter. Understatement of the year. I gave her a few days to settle down, then got on her and she was all over the place. Within the first couple of weeks, she spooked badly twice and threw me to the ground, hard. This wasn't what I'd bargained for, and frankly, I knew I was in over my head. If it hadn't been for my 11 year old crying and begging me to keep her, I might have sold her and gotten a different horse. But I soldiered on. I hired a trainer who specialized in desensitizing spooky horses. She came to my house once a week for six weeks and I did homework in between. I spent a lot of time just hanging around her so we could get to know each other. One day, I was standing in the paddock scratching her all over and my husband came over. I was telling him how spooky and nervous she is, and how I didn't know if I was going to be able to make it work... he was just grinning as he watched the mare relax totally and let me touch her all over while I talked. 

Now I have a lovely mare who hardly ever spooks and is anything but aloof! The people who sold her to me had totally misunderstood her and used all the wrong training methods with her, turning her into an introverted, anxious, frightened mare. Taking my time with her, treating her with kindness, and working with the trainer brought out a totally different horse who tries hard to please, who comes up to me for scratches and treats in the paddock, and who is a dependable trail horse (the spooks are not totally gone, but they're not as dramatic or intense). I hope you get to know Trigger and he gets to know you so he can get over what is scaring him. Be patient, he probably has some baggage. We also did the equine massage therapy, which did help with my mare's stiffness (she had a hard time bending and flexing her neck at first) and the vet checked her eyes, but there was nothing physically wrong with her. 

I look forward to hearing more about Trigger! Oh, and stay safe!


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## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

I am so happy for you! I am glad to hear everything worked out! Trigger loves treats and cuddles and will talk to you and meets you at the fence. I plan to give him the winter to get used to me before I try doing anything. However, when I do start I will be starting completely over just as I would an unbroke horse.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

@Acadianartist what sort of training methods WERE being used for the mare that were not right for her?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

tinyliny said:


> @*Acadianartist* what sort of training methods WERE being used for the mare that were not right for her?


I had to piece them together from conversations with previous owners. Long story, but basically, she was sold to me by horse dealers who buy horses out west, retrain them as needed, and sell them here for profit. There is a shortage of well broke horses around here, but tons of them out west, so it seemed like a good idea. However, because they want to flip horses as quickly as possible, they look for shortcuts. They only kept this mare for a couple of weeks, but told me they had hobbled her to "show her they had control of her" and they flooded her (not their terminology of course). This made her shut down, but didn't make her fears go away. 

I also tracked down a previous owner from out west on Facebook to try to understand her better. This person had spent a fair bit of time on her, and appeared to have had a positive impact. But she also told me that the owner before her had been fairly rough with her, and had, among other things, wrestled her to the ground by the head (this explained why she was so head shy). My mare had made progress with this owner, but the horse dealers seemed to have undone all that progress.

My equine massage therapist also said there was a lot of scar tissue and suggested she had gone over backwards more than once. It took a few sessions to get her moving more comfortable. She still has stiffness, but it's much better. 

What I learned is that you can't rush training with a horse that is spooky (or any horse for that matter). Confining a horse to make it feel powerless only creates other issues that will come out down the road. However, because I knew she had had at least one kind, patient owner who trained her in a way that was in tune with her personality, I knew she could eventually trust me. She just needed to figure out what kind of human she was dealing with this time! 

Sorry to jump in on your thread OP, just trying to answer the question  I agree with your approach of starting the training at the beginning. This is what I was told to do with my mare. We are just now able to trot circles quietly and are ready to start working on the canter. But on the trails, she is pretty much there, just needs a few more miles.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Aww welcome home Trigger.  He's super cute, and I really like his name.  Clever.
Good luck with him, can't wait to keep reading your journal!
He sounds like a sweetheart!


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## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

Jan. 12 

So my equine massage therapist came over today to look over and check Trigger out. She says he is in desperate need of chiropractic work. She said he is in quite a bit of pain and she won't even do a massage until after he sees a chiropractor due to how tense and sensitive he is. She really likes him and thinks he will be a nice horse after some chiropractic and massage sessions. And she does think his sight is limited on his left side. Not much but you can tell he would rather you be on his left side.

So next weekend he will be seeing the chiropractor and then we will do 3 massage sessions and see how he feels after.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

Awww I'm sorry to hear he's not feeling too hot! The chiropractor is a great idea though. A simple adjustment could do so many things!  
The massage sessions will help him too. He will be feeling a lot better.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

danicelia24 said:


> Jan. 12
> 
> So my equine massage therapist came over today to look over and check Trigger out. She says he is in desperate need of chiropractic work. She said he is in quite a bit of pain and she won't even do a massage until after he sees a chiropractor due to how tense and sensitive he is. She really likes him and thinks he will be a nice horse after some chiropractic and massage sessions. And she does think his sight is limited on his left side. Not much but you can tell he would rather you be on his left side.
> 
> So next weekend he will be seeing the chiropractor and then we will do 3 massage sessions and see how he feels after.


Poor guy...  Your instincts were good, getting the massage therapist involved right away. He will feel SO much better once she and the chiropractor have done a few sessions with him. And he will be grateful to you for it! He won't understand that you're the one hiring these people to work on him, but he will eventually understand that since he's come into your care, all kinds of good things have happened to him! It really does make a difference to them. I'd be more worried about his eyesight issues, because that's not likely something you can fix. He's going to have to come to trust you an awful lot!


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## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

I plan on having my vet come and check out his eye sight. I believe that is where a lot of his previous owners went wrong when they tried to turn him into a riding horse. They assumed that he was broke and just tried to hop on and ride him. I hope to find out why he does what he does. And if he can't ever be ridden oh well at least he will have a home the rest of his life.


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## Dehda01 (Jul 25, 2013)

If he is that painful and guarding himself, I would REALLY start with X-rays first!!!


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## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

Dehda01 said:


> If he is that painful and guarding himself, I would REALLY start with X-rays first!!!


I asked his owner and when she first started noticing problems she had him x-rayed and there were no abnormalities. She also had his vision checked and the vet cleared him but I don't see the harm in rechecking him.


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## danicelia24 (Jul 16, 2013)

Jan. 24

So my boarder brought over a friend that has a couple younger kids. Her daughter, who is 11, saw that I had Trigger out and asked me if she could brush him. I said sure and soon within 15 mins she was doing basic showmanship patterns with him and he was being so patient and well behaved and gentle with her. I thought that is a huge step in the great direction. We are doing a spring health clinic in April when he will see a vet, dentist, chiropractor, and massage therapist all at the same time. I have been doing basic massages with him and it seems to make him a lot more comfortable.


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## ThoroughbredBug (Jan 18, 2017)

Glad to hear Trigger is getting some well deserved attention and care! Hopefully he continues to make heaps of progress. Be sure to us updated!


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

That is great he was being well-behaved with the little one.  So cute.
Can't wait to hear about how he does after all that treatment at the same time. 





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