Hi everyone,
I am new to the list,but not new to horses and/or horse rescue.
I adopted a gorgeous perch/paint pmu baby Jan '07. He was largely unhandled when he arrived, although he did have a halter on (?)i would not have said he was halter broke by any stretch of the imagination..he would not permit anyone to touch him.
It took about 2 monthsof very slow, gentle work til I could get the too small, dirty halter off of him and touch him all over his body. I am a big proponent of clicker training. Now, he's a big baby...loves to be petted, brushed, etc.
Comes running when I call him. I adore him!

I can do anything with him...normal grooming stuff, give shots, trim hooves, worming,leads like a dream,drops his head to be haltered on cue, backs, sidepasses, lunges at walk and trot, has a solid whoa, willingly accepts saddle and bridle....never bats a eye...the problem is that he has what I call "stranger danger"...
he accepts myself and my husband but is very wary of anyone else. scared to death of the vet, the farrier, but did kind of like my trainer and will come up to meet other visitors at the fence. He is showing improvement,will allow others to pet him (seems a little worried, okay as long as Mom is close by) but my concern is that he truly only trusts ME. I am his safety net...otherwise he is NOT spooky at all...willingly walked up to a backhoe and touched his nose to it, doesn't mind cars, tractors, the goat that dodges between his feet, the cat that swings off his tail....
My trainer is to be the first one to back him (obviously not anytime soon), but i'm afraid of how he'll react...today she put her foot in the stirrup and raised herself up slightly just to kind of see how he'd react and he freaked out, leapt up and to the side (she went flying..I was holding his lead... and then would NOT let her come near again, he'd back off quickly. Eventually we did lower the stirrups really low and he did allow her to put weight in it for a moment, but he was really worried and I was SCARED! anything new that she does he's very wary. If I do the same thing it's not nearly as bad, with no reaction other than "what're ya doing back there Mom? oh, okay...whatever"
We've got a tremendous bond but I realize that I cannot be or do everything for him. It's very flattering (LOL) to be his favorite, but I realize it just is not safe and i would be doing him an injustice if I allow this to continue...Eventually he needs to learn to accept "new" people...and what if a stranger were to walk up to us in the future when i'm either on the other end of the lead or in the saddle? all of us could be hurt badly. What if a time came when I could no longer care for him???(perish the thought!!) He'd be unplaceable
P.S. i've worked with my trainer for 5 years and she is soft spoken, soothing and a great rider...not at all the type of person you'd expect a horse to be afraid of!
He is pastured with 5 other horses and regularly sees us interact with them.
Anybody had this experience and could offer words of wisdom?

Do you think the trainer was just moving too fast, upping the stakes before he was ready?
maybe it was too scary to have her high above him? i've draped myself over the round pen rails all over his back to prepare him...
My biggest fear is that next time she comes out, he'll associate her as SCARY and overreact.
I love this boy and want to do what is absolutely best for him, not stress him out.
Help?

thank you,
Nan

Hi Nan,
It sounds like your colt's first experience with people was not a positive one. He may have been restrained (which horses hate)and forced to put a halter on. His fear may be caused by the approach of the farrier and vet. He definitely has major trust issues. Maybe doing alot of approach and retreat and waiting for your horse's permission will help. It would probably help if you had as many people come over just to be around him, not necessarily touching him, so he learns that people are not there just "to do something" to him.
I train my horses using Parelli Natural Horsemanship and the results are amazing. Good luck.

Jane

First off, you can't talk about this beautiful horse and not post pictures!!!!!

I would start taking him as many places as you can and set it up where others have treats, are prepped to scratch his favorite places, etc. so he learns that people aren't so scary. We have a POA pony who was abused, afraid of everyone except children (that's telling, huh?) and he has improved sooooo much in the 2+ years we've had him. He was terrified of men, even more horrified about men with tools in their hands such as the vet and farrier. If you wore chaps or a hat, different boots, he would get all stiff and wary again, poor guy. Recently he has gotten much better, actually letting himself enjoy being scratched, approaching us to be petted, letting people come up to him at shows and pet him and it has just taken time and persistence. He's still pretty wary of the vet and farrier but I only have to use a rope halter now, not the stud chain and he's starting to sniff and nudge me while they're working on him like he's seeking reassurance. He has 5 brands so I'd be afraid of men with tools too!!

Kids are really good for desensitizing horses too. When we brought Cody, my PMU gelding home as a colt, he was very fearful and flighty but after being around my 3 kids who screeched, waved their arms, jumped unpredictably, etc. he got over that so maybe have some neighbor kids come over and do what they do best (outside his corral ) and feed him treats, etc.

Goodluck, just some ideas