# NOT HARSH Affordable Trainers In NM



## JRmercedes02 (Mar 12, 2015)

Is there any trainers in New Mexico who are affordable (we are on a tight budget) who will be willing to train a 15 year old mare her gaits. I am I would say a novice rider. I have never galloped before just canter. My mare has a very bumpy trot and lameness in her right back leg. When she runs with no one on her she is very fast. I just wouldn't want to chance getting on her and her buck like last time I lost control (I used spurs for the first time and that didn't go well:/) Moral; she has a very bumpy trot, and I don't know much about training horses. By the way I am a western rider.
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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

If she is lame/sore, her bucking let you know that she is in pain. A trainer can't help you with this. Horses that don't seem lame when pastured yet are when ridden aren't pulling a fast one. Predators pick out the lame animals so horses will conceal it. Add the weight of a rider and it's too much for the horse. You need to find out and correct her lamesness issue then you two will get along better.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

You will never get good gaits out of a horse with lameness issues. My mare has mild lameness issues in both hinds. I've spent $2k on vet visits and treatments. She will never be sound. She can gallop and buck just fine in the pasture. Add a rider and she is not comfortable. She trots without bending her joints which makes her trot very rough and bouncey. Her canter is terrible as she crow hops.

She is not a bad horse. She is a hurting horse. If a bad rider tried to force her to canter or whipped her for crow hopping... it would turn her into a dangerous horse. Yet her lameness issue is so mild the vets can barely see it with joint flexions. 

If I was a horse trader I could sell her to an inexperienced rider who might think her problem is an attitude issue rather than a lameness problem. I've promised to never sell her for that reason as I would not want to see her beaten.

She is quite happy as a walk trot trail horse, but she beats the rider to death with her gaits. I don't canter her often unless she wants to. It is her body and if she doesn't feel good, I will not force her to run. 

Can you post the trot? As that helps. And a good vet to get the horse diagnosed.

I'm certain my mare would buck if forced to canter with a rider. 

A horse that has arthritis should only be ridden lightly and should never be asked for more than they are capable of! Again you need a vet to determine the problem.


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## loveduffy (Dec 22, 2011)

Just welcome to the forum


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## beverleyy (Oct 26, 2011)

If she's lame, WHY are you riding her? =S


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## JRmercedes02 (Mar 12, 2015)

4horses said:


> You will never get good gaits out of a horse with lameness issues. My mare has mild lameness issues in both hinds. I've spent $2k on vet visits and treatments. She will never be sound. She can gallop and buck just fine in the pasture. Add a rider and she is not comfortable. She trots without bending her joints which makes her trot very rough and bouncey. Her canter is terrible as she crow hops.
> 
> She is not a bad horse. She is a hurting horse. If a bad rider tried to force her to canter or whipped her for crow hopping... it would turn her into a dangerous horse. Yet her lameness issue is so mild the vets can barely see it with joint flexions.
> 
> ...


Thank you 4horses! I am the same way too. If my Benny girl don't like it I ain't gonna force her. I am a softy. I have a dream of becoming a barrel racer someday. As much as I would like to do at least a canter I know if my leg hurt I wouldn't want to run either. I am thinking now Ill use her as just a trail horse/ walking horse. Just a few days ago she kicked the gate pretty hard and her fetlock would pop and pop. She was limping but she's doing better now. I haven't gotten on her yet. Thank you and goodnight from Benny+KT!
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## JRmercedes02 (Mar 12, 2015)

beverleyy said:


> If she's lame, WHY are you riding her? =S


A few years ago she was diagnosed I guess you could say with lameness. I've never really seen a horse with lameness. My Benny Girl does good walking with a rider. After reading 4horses' post I have got a great answer. Back in the summer of 2013 I didn't even have her a few months. We took her out to the fairgrounds arena for my 4-H play date for riding. No one showed up so I just decided to ride. I put spurs on for the first time (I regret it very much, but a lesson was learned) I kicked and ended up in a hospital bed. She got out of control. I still ride I just won't use spurs unless necessary. Never ride a horse you don't know too well with spurs. I know a good lot about horses. I should've known better to ride a mare who I barely knew. But hey, we couldn't afford a high dollar horse and I was just a kid. I didn't know much yet and the only one who knew about horses was my dad who works a lot. We don't get much time as we used to to talk about Benny and riding. Moral if the story; I was a kid, I didn't know much. My dad grew up on a ranch so they didn't have the vet or anyone with fancy stuff. I still learn something everyday from my Benny Girl. She may not be the perfect horse but she cured a little bit of my OCD and Panic Attacks. Did I answer your question now?
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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Spurs are used for lateral refinement, not to get a horse to move.

"Diagnosed with lameness" is extremely vague, as all sorts of different things can contribute to or cause lameness. Arthritis, bowed tendons, strained tendons, navicular, laminitis...the list goes on. Until you know the exact cause of the lameness and get it treated or managed, I would not be riding this horse. Period. It may be something as simple as she needs a chiropractic adjustment (horses get out of whack, just like people) or it could be she is permanently lame and unable to be ridden without serious pain.

As an example, my friend rescued a TB off the track locally. Paid $400 for him and the people delivered him to our barn. Once she gave him some time off to let down from the track, she started working him. Every single time she rode him, he'd come up dead lame in his hind end. He was sound in the turnout and on a lunge, but put a rider on him (even a light rider) and he was lame for days. She FINALLY had the vet out to look at him. Turns out he'd fractured his hip on the track and it had never healed properly, so he was permanently unsound for riding. She swore that the next time she bought a horse, she'd have it thoroughly vetted before giving the seller a dime.


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## beverleyy (Oct 26, 2011)

JRmercedes02 said:


> A few years ago she was diagnosed I guess you could say with lameness. I've never really seen a horse with lameness. My Benny Girl does good walking with a rider. After reading 4horses' post I have got a great answer. Back in the summer of 2013 I didn't even have her a few months. We took her out to the fairgrounds arena for my 4-H play date for riding. No one showed up so I just decided to ride. I put spurs on for the first time (I regret it very much, but a lesson was learned) I kicked and ended up in a hospital bed. She got out of control. I still ride I just won't use spurs unless necessary. Never ride a horse you don't know too well with spurs. I know a good lot about horses. I should've known better to ride a mare who I barely knew. But hey, we couldn't afford a high dollar horse and I was just a kid. I didn't know much yet and the only one who knew about horses was my dad who works a lot. We don't get much time as we used to to talk about Benny and riding. Moral if the story; I was a kid, I didn't know much. My dad grew up on a ranch so they didn't have the vet or anyone with fancy stuff. I still learn something everyday from my Benny Girl. She may not be the perfect horse but she cured a little bit of my OCD and Panic Attacks. Did I answer your question now?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I'm not totally understanding what that has to do with her lameness??

And "diagnosed with lameness" is such a broad statement - could mean anything from needing a chiropractor, to fractured bones, to a blown tendon, to anything in between. 

One of my mares used to go lame if she lost a shoe. Easy fix. She was again lame when she tore her leg open. Not so easy fix. My other mare was lame when she had an abscess. 

I guess what I am really wondering is, WHY is the mare lame, WHAT is causing the lameness, and WHAT are you doing/have you done to fix the issue at hand? If she's sound for walking or light riding only, fine. But if she's overall lame and you're still riding her - why?


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