Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My name is Josh Cook, im kinda new to the horse game! Neways this past sunday i bought a "rescue" horse (the owners were downsizing their farm, she was headed for the proccesesors, and so these people bought her, and i bought her from them)!!Shes a up comming 3 yr old QH with good bloodlines... i rode her all around before i bought her...and she was fine (she was also drug free)!

prob #1 Yesterday i went to briddle her and she threw a fit and wanted no part of it. netime id touch her face, her head would go up out of my reach. She never reared or acted mean, she just didnt want me touching her mouth! She did the same thing tonight!! I checked out her teeth, and the two bottom fronts are both broke at about the gum line... so i would think this might be the problem, but you can tell they have been this way for a while and she gave the other people no problems!

prob #2 Shes a little on the light side, actually rather thin! So i feed her twice daily as follows---scoop is a 21oz cup-- 2 scoops rolled steamed oats, 2 scoops baby beef horse and mule ration, 2 scoops sweet feed, 4 oz. vegtable oil... she also has all the grass hay she can eat! She was wormed sunday... she also got a trace mineral block yesterday! Is this a good way to put weight on her?? Or is it wasting feed... cause ive noticed most of the feed is comming out her other end!?!?!

prob #3 I dont know if its because shes so thin or if she has been starved at some point but she is extremly potective of her food! The lady i bought her from warned us not to feed her with other horses but assured us she is fine with humans! And for the most part this has held true, her ears lay back if you get close but she doesnt seem to do anything?? She does however try to knock the feed bucket out of your hand if you dont poor it in her trough as soon as you enter the pen with it!! Tonight though.. we fed her about an hour later than we had been... when she came to the fence she was hot... she was really jittery and seemed as though she was getting ready to jump the fence!!! i ended up just dumping the food in the first place i could find to keep her from hurting herself!!

Other than those 3 things she seems to be really well behaved she rides great (if you can get the briddle on) and doesnt mind bieng rubbed on or felt on!!!

Please help!! Josh C!!

Hi! I am a new member but i would suggest that you get her teeth fixed by an equine dentist first. That will at least help get rid of some of her pain. Remember to move slowly around her head and not startle her. She is in a new place and may need some time to get used to being handled by someone new. It may also help to try using a sidepull or hackamore for a while till she gets used to being handled by new people, and it may help her get over any fear she may have of the bit hurting those broken teeth since there would be nothing going in her mouth. Only a few suggestions i would try. Hope these ideas help. Thank you so much for saving this horse from certain doom. If everyone would do like you have done, there would be less horses for the slaughter buyers. I have done the same thing, in that i saved a beautiful saddlebred mare from slaughter. She is a sweet mare and a joy to have. Im so glad i got her.

MISSY IS DEFINATELY A SWEETIE~ I CAN NOT BELIEVE ANYONE WOULD WANT TO GET RID OF HER~WE WENT OUT TODAY AND MESSED WITH HER SOME MORE AND SLOWLY STARTED PUTTING A BIT AROUND HER FACE AND WHEN SHE JERK AWAY WE WOULD MOVE THE BIT BUT PUT HER HEAD AGAINST MY STOMACH AND WHEN SHE WOULD RELAX ID LET GO~ WE ALSO DID THE SAME THING WHEN SHE WOULDNT PUT HER HEAD DOWN~ID PUT PRESSURE ON HER HEAD UNTIL SHE WOULD LOWER IT AND THEN ID LET GO AND RUB HER AND TELL HER GOOD GIRL AND EVERYTHING~ WE GOT THE BIT IN LIKE 5 TIMES~ I WAS SO SO PROUD OF HER~BUT WE ARE GOING TO TAKE HER TO THE VET TO GET HER TEETH CHECKED AND EVERYTHING~WE ARE DEFINATELY NOT GOING TOGIVE UP ON HER CAUSE SHE IS A SWEETEY AND SHES NOT OUT TO HURT ANYONE~I JUST HOPE WHEN SHE DOES GET STRONGER AND FILLED OUT SOME MORE THAT SHE WONT GET FIESTY LOL~I DONT DO GOOD WITH REALLY FIESTY HORSES LOL~BUT ANYWAYS I APPRECIATE YOU SAVING HORSES AS WELL~ ITS A GREAT FEELING TO KNOW YOU HAVE SAVED A HORSES LIFE~LIKE JOSH SAID NEITHER ONE OF US HAVE EVER OWNED OUR OWN HORSE SO THIS IS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR US AS WELL AS MISSY'THANKS AGAIN AND WE ARE ALSO APPRECIATIVE OF ANY ADVICE ANYONE CAN GIVE~

Hey, Im a new member; but Ive had horses for about 7 years. When I got my 3 year old, he was like this also, because he had wolf teeth. Do you know if this mare has had her wolf teeth out? becuase this can cause pain to her because the bit rests on them. We had an equine dentist out and it was like $10 for both of the teeth to be pulled. In the time it took to get the appt, I used a sidepull, which worked just as well as a snaffle bit, it just uses the pressure on the nose instead of the mouth! what kind of bit do you use? that may also be part of the problem.. hope this helps, Meagan.

ok, I realize that a little time has passed, but along with the dental problems she possibly has it sounds like she does not respect you like she should, that you are not her herd boss, and it can be dangerous. if you establish yourself as top horse she will do just about anything you ask of her unless it causes her pain. She should respect your space when you try to feed her as if she doesn't she will run you over ar smush you into a wall!