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12/31/04: My Thoroughbred mare is 7 months pregnant… my problem is that she does not like to be groomed. Is there a way to desensitize her?

12/24/04: Do you have any advice for dealing with blind horses?

12/17/04: I have a 4 year old paint gelding. When I ask the horse to do something he does not want to do, he rears.

12/10/04: Is it okay to use more than one training method on a horse, like a mixture of Join-Up and Follow-Up, and Parelli?

12/3/04: My mother in-law's Quarter Horse has started nipping. What should she do?

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Question: Hi, I have just acquired a nice 7 year old ex-race horse TB mare. She is very sane, quiet and also 7 months pregnant. My problem is that she does not like to be groomed. She will pin her ears and threaten with her back legs. She will also not let me touch her udder, and I know from the past that she will kick at her baby for the first few hours after birth until her udder gets soft. Is there a way to desensitize her?

Answer: Thank you for your inquiry regarding your mare. It is inspiring that you are working with an ex-racehorse as it is vitally important that these horses are given the chance to retrain and be useful partners after their racing careers are over.

If you have ever seen racehorses being prepared at the racetrack, you will notice that the horses are cross-tied in relatively narrow stalls and are unable to move while they are being groomed. You can imagine how this process might create a horse that is highly sensitive to the grooming process. The concepts inherent in the Language Equus are based upon always giving the horse the power of choice, the ability to make a conscious decision based on their experience.

We would like to suggest that you attempt to access RFD-TV (www.rfd-tv.com) and watch one of our 'Gentling Your Spooky Horse' series videos to understand how you can implement the desensitization process with your mare. Although these episodes do not specifically cover the subject of a mare with a sensitive udder, you will see how breaking everything down into small steps and desensitizing her gradually will help her to learn to trust that you are indeed listening to her and working to help her enjoy the process. You may find that the use of a false arm or plastic bag on a stick will help you and your mare to be relaxed. The video 'Gentling Your Spooky Horse' is also available for sale through our website (www.montyroberts.com) or via our telephone number 1-888 U2 MONTY.

Again, thank you for seeking to help improve you and your mares learning and we wish you all the best. Please keep in touch with us with your progress. Remember, keeping yourself safe and happy is the most important part of any interaction with people or horses, so make sure you are always in a position to smile!

~ Monty

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Question: Do you have any advice for dealing with a blind horse?

Answer: Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, no professional trainer can legally give advice on dealing with a sight-impaired horse, due to the fact that if we were ever asked the question whether we had put you in a safe situation, we would have to answer 'no'. Without working with the horse ourselves and thus ensuring the safest possible environment, we can only ask you to get professional help with your horse and make sure you always place both yourself and your horse in a safe situation. Flight animals are dependent on their vision for many reasons, and your horse will have adapted their behavior to compensate for this lost sense.

Good luck and please remember to make sure you and your horse stay safe and enjoy working together!

~ Monty

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Question: I have a 4 year old paint gelding. When I ask the horse to do something that he does not want to do, he rears. He has done this 6 times so far, and he has flipped over backwards twice. He fell on me once breaking my shoulder. He understands the cues that I give him, but once he decides he would rather do something else, and I don't let him, he rears. For example, after asking for collection, he will give to the bit, but, after about 10 or 15 minutes he will just stop and rear. He has also reared when being driven away from the exit area of arenas. Two separate trainers have watched me when this occurred and informed me that this is a very dangerous behavior, that it is difficult to fix, and believe the best thing to do for safety sake is to get rid of the horse. Is this sound advice, or do you have another suggestion?
Sincerely,
Tim
Irasburg, VT

Answer: Thank you for your enquiry. It certainly sounds as though your horse is becoming dangerous with his rearing behavior. As you can imagine, it is difficult for us to be able to diagnose the level of remedial behavior without experiencing it, however your email certainly describes a severe remedial problem.

The most important point to remember when working with this behavior is that only a professional trainer and rider should deal with this behavior. If you are neither, you need to find someone that you can trust to stay safe with your horse while using non-violent techniques.

I have written extensively about rearing in my book “From My Hand To Yours”, and if it is at all possible I would recommend that you read Chapter 8 to gain an in-depth knowledge of how to apply my concepts. However, I can certainly discuss the essential elements involved in retraining the horse that rears.

The first step is to eliminate any physical pain as a cause for the rearing. Consult with the appropriate health professional and dentist in your area to diagnose and alleviate any possible pain – a high percentage of remedial behavior is caused by pain.

Once you are confident that your horse is physically comfortable and in the hands of an experienced professional trainer, you can begin to work to retrain the behavior. Initially, you will do Join-Up to establish a trust-based relationship and school the horse on the Dually pressure halter to learn to yield to pressure. Then, you will introduce the goggles (a piece of equipment that resembles racing blinkers), and tape the top half of the goggles off so the horse can no longer see above him. You will introduce the goggles over several days without a rider by working the horse loose, long-lining him and even ponying him from another horse. Once the horse is comfortable with the goggles and moves in figure eights and goes backwards happily while working from the ground, you can start to introduce him to a ‘dummy’ or ‘mannequin’ rider. Details on how to create and use this rider are in “From My Hands To Yours”. Once the horse is comfortable with the ‘dummy’ rider, both loose and on the long-lines, a professional ‘live’ rider may be reintroduced. The rider is to exert no pressure on the horses mouth whatsoever and will only sit on the horse in a relaxed fashion while the handler works the horse loose in the round pen initially. The next step is to move outside the round pen with a safe saddle horse leading the way, and start asking the horse quietly to achieve more each session. Be very aware not to put pressure on the horses mouth unduly, and to be very clear and consistent in your requests. It may be appropriate to use the Giddy-Up rope/backing up/circling at some point, and further details on these suggestions can be found in “From My Hands To Yours”.

I hope my suggestions are able to help. Please endeavor to find a copy of my book and research the behavior more in-depth before you attempt to work with your horse. Remember, the most important point is to stay safe.

~ Monty

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Question: I am currently doing Parelli Natural Horse-Man-Ship, I am a Level 1 Partnership student, going onto Level 2 Harmony. Is it okay to have more than one training method on a horse, like a mixture of Join Up and Follow Up, and Parelli? Or should I just stick with one? Or should I do one training method on one horse, and another on a different one?
Thank you and I hope I receive a reply,
Katherine

Answer: Dear Katherine, Thank you for contacting us with your query. It is wonderful to hear that you are learning about different methods to communicate with your horse and enhance your partnership. In my opinion you should continue to research all the available methods of horsemanship in order to make an informed decision on the most appropriate method for you and your horse. However, in doing so, it is my recommendation that to experiment with different methods, you need to take great care not to confuse the horse. My suggestion is to work with different horses, and use only one method on each horse. You can then observe their learning and come to a conclusion yourself as to which method you prefer to work with. I hope this helps and keep up the good work!

~ Monty

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Question: My mother-in-law has recently bought a 6-year-old Quarter Horse named Guy. She's a novice ride, just learning the ropes and obviously getting to know Guy's little "habits". He's once or twice tried to nip her much to her surprise (she's a very gentle woman, loves animals and would never EVER take her hand to anything). On the advice of her "stable mates" she's been told to hit him every time he does this. After reading your books we thought you were best qualified to give us someanswers. What should she do to stop him?

I was very fortunate to have a lovely 3/4 thoroughbred gentle giant back here in England who never did anything like this, so I don't know what to do to advise Pauline (the mother in law).

Thanks for all your help (if you can),
Fiona

Answer: Thank you for taking the time to inquire for your mother-in-law. It is not clear in your email whether Pauline feeds her new horse from the hand. This is one of the most common mistakes made by horse owners in the world today. Many people hold the mistaken assumption that feeding treats will cause your horse to want to be with you and encourage affection - in fact, it causes your horse to want to be with your treat, not you, and if you are in the way they will nip or bite you! If this is indeed the case, please encourage your mother-in-law to stop feeding Guy treats, and make sure no-one else in the barn is feeding him from the hand either. If she wishes to give him carrots or apples that is fine, but put them on the ground or in the feed bin rather than offering them on her hand. A horse is a prey animal, and as such, food is not seen as a 'trophy' in the same way as a predator e.g. a dog does.

Your mother-in-law is correct in her feeling that she should not raise her hand to Guy. I have worked with hundreds, possibly thousands, of horses that bite, and I have found a very simple and effective solution. When Guy reaches to bite Pauline, she needs to tap him lightly on the shin of his leg with her foot. I am not, repeat, NOT, encouraging her to strike Guy to cause pain. What I am endeavoring to do is cause Guy to associate the thought of biting with discomfort in another part of his body, namely his front leg. This is a form of behavior habituation, and within 6-8 repetitions you will see that Guy moves to nip and then looks down at his leg. This training will extinct the behavior within a short period of time.

It is important that Pauline is consistent with her training with Guy, i.e that she remembers to re-train that behavior every time she sees it re-occur. It is also important that she be aware of Guy's personal space and respect it. It is appropriate for us to expect our horses to be respectful of our space and not be pushing us with their heads, rubbing against our shoulder or nipping us. Conversely, Guy should expect the same respect from your mother-in-law. Pauline needs to be conscious when she is working around Guy, and when she is standing and holding him while she chats to someone, she needs to ensure that there is enough space for him to comfortably relax his head and body without having to avoid bumping into her.

I hope this was able to help Pauline and Guy, and please pass on my regards and best wishes. We would love to hear her feedback and progress, and are happy to answer any further questions you may have.

~ Monty

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