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One night I got a phone call from a lady that had purchased a mare I had trained. She wanted to know if she could pay me to come out and show her how to push the buttons on this horse. We made arrangements for me to go out the following evening. I got there and the lady had this nice bay mare turned out in the pasture with a pretty nice built Palomino mare. I watched in amazement as the lady went out in the pasture to retrieve the bay mare and as the yellow mare proceeded to try and kill this woman, the mare would charge at the lady with her teeth bared and when that didn't work she would spin and start kicking the whole time moving toward the owner. The mare tried running her over, just about anything she thought might work. The woman finally made it out of the pasture with the bay mare. When she got to me I told her, "Lady I'll show you about this mare but the horse you need me to work with is the Palomino”. She said, “No, you don’t understand". I asked, "Lady, what is it you think I don't understand"? “Well”, she said,” this mare had been severely abused.” I looked at her and replied, “Lady is that a fact? How long have you owned this horse"? She related that she had her for 2 years. I said, “You know, I got a pretty good idea, that in that 2 years you've never abused this horse.” She kinda got a smile on her face and said, “you’re right". I said, “You know what lady, she isn't getting the idea”. “Well”, she said, “I can't let you work with her”. I looked at her and kinda laughed and said, “When this mare has this foal, you'll call me before 3 days pass”. First she was surprised that I could tell the mare was in foal but then she responded and said I would never get that call. I got the call on the second day. She said, "Man, you gotta come out here. This mare is trying to kill us". The mare had already bitten one person and kicked another. I replied, “Lady, the horse was trying to kill you before the baby got here and did you actually think it was going to get better?” I went out the following day and she had turned the mare and foal out in the pasture. I walked out in the pasture and caught the mare and the entire way back to the barn the mare was trying to bite and kick and with no regard for the baby or where it was. When I made it back I placed the mare and foal in the round pen and then walked over to talk with her before I went to work on the horse. I told her that if I was going to work with horse that she would have to be willing to live by my rules when it came to this horse, or I wouldn't even start the work. She asked what the rules were and I told her, “It's fairly simple. This mare is never to be allowed to come to her with a foul temper or a bad attitude”. If the mare did, she was simply to shoo her off or require her to be somewhere else, away from her. She asked, "what if it's feeding time?" I told her, “Don't feed her, there is plenty of grass in your pasture and she isn't going to go hungry”. She said she could do it and I told her it had to be that way every time the mare was nasty. I said, “Before I go in the pen with this horse, I have one other question for you. Do you have grand kids?” She got a smile on her face and replied, “ Yeah, I have one 4 and one 6. I asked if she would let the 4 yr. old walk up and kick her shins and bite her. She responded "Lord no". I simply asked, "Then why would you let a 1200 lb. horse get by with that?" She said you know. "I've never looked at it quite like that". I explained to her that we teach horses and people how to treat us every day and if you’re willing to accept that behavior, that is how she will treat you. I told her, “When I was a little boy my momma would ask me not to do something and then she would tell me not to do it. Being as hard headed as I was, the whipping I got the third time I did it, belonged to me”. My momma is now 86 and I love her more today than I did when was I was a child. So, a little well placed discipline is always a good thing.
I turned and walked into the round pen and started to work with this mare and foal at the same time. While the mare was learning, the baby was learning. I taught this mare that kind of behavior would not be tolerated. I didn't have to beat or fram on this mare. I taught her the safest place in the world was right beside me. I kind of set things up and let her figure it out for herself. I worked with this mare a total of 5 times and by then she pretty well had it figured out. My last time out the lady had invited a group of people over to watch me work with her. When I finished, the mare and foal were turned out into the pasture. We were all sitting around talking when the lady realized the mare and foal had worked their way back into the crowd looking for some attention and to be petted.
I hope this story helps you to understand that you’re dealing with one of God's creatures that THINKS and FEELS. He may not think and feel like you, but it may be a little closer than you realize. Also that it is never too late for them to learn or for you to teach them how to do something different. What you’re actually working on is YOURSELF and if you’re successful your horse becomes the great benefactor.
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