Is he a hopeless cause?

[macisherfield]

I am 14 years old, and i have a 7 year old arabian, i got him when i was 10 and have had him for 4 years. In the 4 years i have had him, i was never able to break him, i dont have anybody to help me and he is getting almost nowhere, he is fine untill you attempt to get on his back then he turns and bucks. A trainer was in question but it is really expensive. I have heard that he is almost too old to break out now but i am not sure. Is he a hopeless cause or not? if you have any training suggestions i am willing to try everything and anything. Thank You!!!

 

[goodhors]

Horse is probably not hopeless, but he may not be something YOU can fix because
you lack experience training horses. If you have been trying for a while, you may
have taught him that he can "get away with bad things" because you can't stop
him physically or don't know other methods of teaching him to do as you wish. It
does sound like he will be DIFFICULT, because he is now more used to getting his
own way when you push him into a situation.

I am going to say the "reading up" on training, is not the same as ACTUALLY
doing the training. Horse may not react like the example in the book or
video. A good Trainer has other methods to try to get horse to cooperate, has
usually learned which horse will work with this or that method from their time
spent teaching MANY, MANY other horses. Trainer might have learned under
another experienced Trainer, who could oversee to correct the steps or methods used
on various animals, so Trainers were successful in getting horses useable for
other people.

Arabians are pretty smart, so what they learn sticks with them, whether it is good or poor
training. Your horse may need a pretty experienced Trainer at this time. They
don't come cheaply. Maybe you could trade work for training, clean stalls or paddocks,
learn to clean tack for them if you don't have much money. You don't want a
Trainer who only knows one way to teach things. Horses are not all alike. You
don't want someone who is going to make everything a fight with the horse either, but
at times the horse needs to learn to accept things and do it anyway. You will probably
want to visit any trainer, watch them work their horses to see how they get things done.

A trainer/writer who really impressed me with his methods was John Richard Young. His
books are old, so looking for used copies is the only way to find them. Ebay, Amazon,
should turn up some for a good price. He had a program for his horses, step by step,
with a LOT of common sense in his methods. No miracles, no magic, takes TIME, no
a 30 day wonder, but working steadily for MONTHS and on into year building his horses.
Results in a horse you can enjoy for MANY years, doing many things with.
Mr. Young thought Arabians were great horses, but being smart, pretty, was not an excuse for them to
act silly or be poorly trained. So he got them trained and used them as his cattle
horse. This was even though other local ranchers called them names, said they were
too-hot for cattle horses. The book photos are plain, old fashioned from the early '50s,
all black and white. They do show what he wants you to see in progress, in working
situations. I would say getting the books is a good investment, will help you see what
you are facing in getting your horse to accept his training.

Reteaching is harder than doing things right the first time with a horse, but is possible
with many animals. You just have to be consistant, and not get angry when things don't
work as expected. Sometimes you just get a flicker of give, has to be rewarded. Some
days you work, but then have to backup, do almost a baby-step thing to get horse responding correctly,
quit right then and put him away. Ending on a good note, he did SOMETHING RIGHT, so you can
praise him. It can be really hard. Having experienced eyes watching you work, noticing
things you miss to reward horse, is where the Trainer would be helpful. Money is always
tight, so the "working it off" suggestion is sometimes possible.

Read the books, get a grasp on a PLANNED PROGRAM of teaching a horse to be your
working partner. See if you really want to get into that, can manage to do what is
needed in self-control, develop consistancy in handling him over a long timespan. Training
your horse is not going to be easy, will have setbacks that are EXTREMELY discouraging
to you. But to "win" you have to keep going.

Also might want to think that not all horses will or can ever get trained!! I don't know how determined
your horse is to have his own way! Sometimes you are not ever going to win, he could hurt
you in the process, or himself doing a dumb thing. You have to figure the risks as well as the
rewards. Life is not like a storybook, you can't fix all horses by loving them a lot. Kind of
heavy thinking, choices to make, for a 14 year old, but this is how "real life" is.

Do "work smarter, not harder" in getting horse accepting. Most young trainers tend to force
or TRY to force things on horse, ending in a fight. Experienced Trainers don't force things,
they think up a different approach to get horse cooperating to learn, trick him into doing
what they want to reach the goal-step, which is LESS WORK. No fight at all and now horse
"gets it" so he can learn the next training step.

 

[sawfish99]

I agree with Goodhors about the training process/discussion, but I believe this is most likely out of your ability range based on your experience level. I would encourage you to have an honest conversation with your parents about the problems and explore looking for a more suitable, already trained, horse that you can gain positive experience with.

 

[grazcor]

Get yourself some Training DVD's. Parelli / John Lyons/ Clinton Anderson / they all sort of teach the same philosphy, Parelli being the most prominent. Never too late to win over a horse. Good Luck

 

[alsea1]

At this point with this horse for your own health and safety and positive results I will suggest that you do whatever you can to get your horse to a trainer.
It is a wise person that can examine the results of what they have been doing and realize they are in over their head.
It would be a good thing to rent or buy some training video's. I really like Clinton Anderson. He has a no nonsense yet fair approach.
With that said, watching video's and reading books only give you the technical info. Training a horse takes some exp. to learn. Timing is everything.
If you cannot pay for the training then maybe you can trade work as others have suggested.

A word of caution. Anyone can call themselves a trainer. Horse owner beware. Do your homework and check them out carefully. Many a good horse has been spoiled by wannabe trainers.

Arabs are very smart and intuitive horses. They can be difficult as well.

Make sure you are not overfeeding your horse. Overfeeding grain can cause them to be difficult to work with. Like a kid with adhd.

If getting a good trainer is not an option, then I concur with sawfish. If you get bucked off enough it takes the pleasure right out of riding. Also it only takes once to get hurt so bad that there is perm. damage to you.

Good luck.
Post pics of your horse.
I love arabs

 

[CritterZone]

I tend to agree that this horse is probably not a lost cause, but you are in way over your head. If you can't find a trainer to help you, you should either accept that your horse is a pet you will not be able to ride, or sell him. If you choose the sell option, you should be very honest about his training. Try to sell him in a private sale - avoid the auction if you can.