# Restarting Horse under Saddle



## Equilibrium (Apr 5, 2019)

Yeah. I don't know. That's might work, but something about that doesn't sound quite right.
Boarding her somewhere else is kind of like a cheat, in my opinion. You are kind of forcing her to be away from Ren, rather than teaching her to accept and learn that you are the leader and that it is okay to be away from Ren. 
Also, it sounds kind of expensive. How much is board? Board here is usually around $350 per month. Of course, it does depend on where you live but still… Again, it might work; however, it's not something that I, personally, would do.

Riding in a halter, riding out in the open, and taking her away from Ren for the very first time your rode, especially after five months off, set the horse up to fail. You moved too fast, and by her acting up, she told you that.

Although I am not a huge lunging fan, if a horse hasn't been touched in four to five months, then, yes, I will lunge a little. Good on you. Of course, it depends on the horse and whatnots, but hopping on a fresh, untouched horse and "good luck to me" isn't a good attitude.

I always start by working from the ground up - not assuming the horse knows something or going off what the previous owner said. Beside, things change as the horse doesn't really know you/see you as the leader, and it is a new environment.

She needs to see you as the leader and that it is okay to be away from Ren and that Ren will be okay without her.

Do you have an enclosed area to ride in?

How much, if any, ground work have you done with her?

Start on the ground. Establish yourself on the ground and take her away from Ren by hand-leading her. Start slowly, such as by looking distance then gradually increase. If possible, try to make it enjoyable, like having a picnic or letting her graze, as grazing calms a horse.

Once she is okay to go out alone on the ground, do the same thing in the saddle. Start short and slow. Establish yourself in the saddle and gradually increase the distance. In my opinion, however, I think she needs to be worked under saddle more and be more reliable than simply taking her away from Ren as the main issue.

Remember:
Horses do best what they do most. You need to take her out alone a lot for her to be good at being alone. Once a week isn't good enough, neither is trying to take her out alone for three hours in one session.

I'm also not really a fan of getting a trainer or sending a horse to a trainer unless it is for time reasons and/or I can be there if needed. Most of the time, it's not the horse's problem; it is the people's. If you have a trainer for the both of you, that's good - maybe even recommended, especially if you don't have a lot of experience. I hear it a lot, though. People get a trainer for their horse, but when they, the owner, mess with the horse, the horse "misbehaves." Not good. The horse learns bad lessons, and it is kind of a waste of money, in my opinion.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Equilibrium said:


> Yeah. I don't know. That's might work, but something about that doesn't sound quite right.
> Boarding her somewhere else is kind of like a cheat, in my opinion. You are kind of forcing her to be away from Ren, rather than teaching her to accept and learn that you are the leader and that it is okay to be away from Ren.
> Also, it sounds kind of expensive. How much is board? Board here is usually around $30 per month. Of course, it does depend on where you live but still… Again, it might work; however, it's not something that I, personally, would do.
> 
> ...


First off, I wish board was $30 a month. That'd be awesome. I don't know the exact cost of board here, but in different towns, the price ranges from $130 - $700 and above a month. So it also depends on how much board would cost on whether or not I'd do that with her. 

I have done ground work with her and she listens and knows how to do all that well enough, but around Ren, and away, off property. On the ground, she's fairly easy to handle and does look to me for leadership and does what I ask and yields. This includes lunging, yielding both front and back end, backing up, flexing, and so on. 

There is no enclosed area to ride in on the farm. The field teh horses are in is mostly a forested gully which is roughly 2 - 2.5 acres so it's not exactly ideal with the steep slopes and fallen trees/branches. It's fine for horses to wander thorugh and maybe for a simply trail ride, but not much more. 

So basically, Roxy is fine going around away from Ren on the ground and always seems quite interested and happy to see new areas and doesn't try bolting or doing anything crazy. It's only when I'm on her that she did this and only when heading back to the farm.


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## Equilibrium (Apr 5, 2019)

SummerBliss said:


> First off, I wish board was $30 a month. That'd be awesome. I don't know the exact cost of board here, but in different towns, the price ranges from $130 - $700 and above a month. So it also depends on how much board would cost on whether or not I'd do that with her.


That was a typo, sadly.



SummerBliss said:


> There is no enclosed area to ride in on the farm. The field teh horses are in is mostly a forested gully which is roughly 2 - 2.5 acres so it's not exactly ideal with the steep slopes and fallen trees/branches. It's fine for horses to wander thorugh and maybe for a simply trail ride, but not much more.


Do you have separate pastures? You can start by riding in a separate pasture.



SummerBliss said:


> So basically, Roxy is fine going around away from Ren on the ground and always seems quite interested and happy to see new areas and doesn't try bolting or doing anything crazy. It's only when I'm on her that she did this and only when heading back to the farm.


That means it's more of a saddle problem. You need to establish yourself under saddle before taking her away from Ren. If she doesn't listen any cues, then, yes, you do need to restart her. Ignoring/ignorance of all under saddle cues is a bigger problem than (barn/buddy/herd, whatever) "sour."

Being "sour" is normal horse behavior. Horses find comfort in a herd by having an extra pair of eyes and ears for danger. Horses like being in a herd for other reasons as well, such as mental stimulus and friendship.

She's okay on the ground because she sees you as the leader on the ground. She's not okay under saddle because she doesn't see you as the leader under saddle. That is an over simplification, but it gives you a general idea.


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## SummerBliss (Jan 7, 2017)

Equilibrium said:


> Do you have separate pastures? You can start by riding in a separate pasture.
> 
> 
> That means it's more of a saddle problem. You need to establish yourself under saddle before taking her away from Ren. If she doesn't listen any cues, then, yes, you do need to restart her. Ignoring/ignorance of all under saddle cues is a bigger problem than (barn/buddy/herd, whatever) "sour."
> ...


There's a pasture around here, however it's someone's hay field and so no one is allowed to ride on it. The only options for places to ride is the dirt road and a few overgrown trails, which is why going to the stables to have an arena is appealing since I'll probably room to move with Roxy to get a connection better formed in the saddle. 

I do appreciate the input about all of this though, as that's what I was looking for since i wasn't too sure about being buddy sour was the whole problem.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

My first horse when I got back into them was an 18 year old saddlebred mare that had not been ridden in 8 years. She was at pasture with her buddies and had a couple of babies. She got tight with the rest of the mares that I boarded her with and was very herd bound. It doesn't really matter the why's of this or that. She has to behave when being ridden.

What I did with this mare was when she started jumping around, pawing, and basically throwing a fit because I wouldn't let her run home was let her go home but she had to back up in that direction. She would start chewing and being submissive after a bit so I would let her walk forward. As soon as the antics started again it was back to backing up toward home. After a while, she got it that if she wanted to go home comfortably, she had to behave. Once she settled down a bit, she would still try to break pace like from a walk to a trot going home but not the hissy fits. When she did this, I would just turn and head the other way a bit until she started to walk and then turn back toward home. Every time the pace was broken without being asked it was turn back away again for her. It took a lot of work and it didn't happen over night but she finally became reliable.

Your horse is tight with Ren right now and if you board her she will become tight with someone else and you will still have the same problem. Also, get rid of the flat halter. If you are wanting to ride with a halter at least use one that she cannot push against. A rope halter would be good but I would use the bridle until she gets over her stuff.


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