Re: I'm having a problem - long!

[Amanda Perez <amandaperez@ureach.com>]

  I had similar problems when I first brought Cy, my TWH home.  
He was an idiot: would not stand while being mounted, spooked 
at everything, went nuts when asked to stand under saddle.  I 
cut his grain way back and did some clicker-training, which 
really seemed to help (see 
http://www.crisny.org/users/kurlanda/) for info on clicker 
training horses).  But I think what helped the most was just 
giving Cy time to settle in to a new place.  He had been with 
his prior owner since he was a yearling (he was 8 when I bought 
him), so he had not experienced alot of change in his life.  
Horses are creatures of habit, so change is very unsettleing to 
them.  Cy has settled down alot.  He still is a bit spooky, but 
he just starts, so it is only annoying, not dangerous.  But he 
now will stand for mounting and under saddle and in general is 
much less of an idiot.  Another factor with Cy was that he came 
from a farm with other horses to my house where he was alone, 
which was very upsetting to him.  Is this the case with your 
horse?  If so, you might want to find a companion for him.

  I am not wild about the idea if using Ace unless all else 
fails.  I'd try doing lots of ground work, and perhaps lunging 
before riding to 'take the edge off'.  Again, clicker training 
can help teach specific coammds (such as 'stand'), and I found 
it really helped Cy focus on me when he was being an idiot 
(even if it was just to see if a treat was coming ;-)  ).

Good luck - don't give up on the new guy too quickly!

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