Are some horses just mean?

by MaryLouise
(U.S.)

I bought a horse last year sight unseen. She is a very difficult quarter-horse. Bucks and rears often. Can't trust her. Last year she went over backwards with me on her back....long recovery...but doing well.

I want to start to retrain her slowly and use your training skills. I'm a certified Healing Touch Practioner and have had 3 levels of Reiki. I want to use this energy to see what happens. My son (who is a horseman) said,
"She's just mean." Is that possible????

Answer:

Sounds like you have your hands full! I'll do my best to help you.

First let me address the thought that she is just mean. For me it's like saying all children (or horses) are born mean. Not possible really. Even when children seem to become mean what it really is all about are situations and experiences that have risen which the child cannot understand (frustration sets in) and with no other tools available to them they act out. Sometimes even become violent. So when it comes to a mean horse a majority of the time they have been expected to perform in a certain way that they do not fully understand so they only have two choices, flee or fight back in defense for their survival feels at stake. In my experience all behavior that our horses offer is telling us something. Since horses in the wild are not "mean" I have to surmise that "mean" horses are made my man (inadvertently of course). With improper training you usually get two kinds of horses, either very fearful (do not trust humans) or very defensive ones who don't have a problem with physically acting out. (if it has worked for her in the past to have people stop doing whatever it is they are suggesting she will continue to use this as a survival tactic) In both cases it's trust that is missing.

I am going to assume that since you bought this horse sight unseen, you may not know much about her history? Can you tell me anything more about her?
How old? What were you told about the training she has? What can you do with her and feel safe? Does she have other horse buddies with her? Please give me as much detail as you can especially on all the good things first then the not so good stuff. The good qualities will give us a great starting point.

In the meantime and since you have some great energy skills available to you, let's use them!
I call this Getting to Know You! Your job is to think about nothing else except you are determined to prove to this horse she can TRUST you. How? First without an agenda. Meaning, you are not going to have a plan like
I am going to clean your feet today. Or I am planning to ride you today etc.
Can you be in the same place with her not tied up and feel safe? You will want to share space with her where SHE feels most comfortable. So if that is in her pasture rather than a stall then that is where you start.

Since you have Reiki under your belt and if touching her at first makes her suspicious (I'm guessing about that) you can offer her Reiki energy from a few feet away. (of course you can offer her distance healing too whenever you are not present) But I would suggest being present and offer it until she gets used to the idea and accepts your offering. (She needs to feel your
energy vibration to become more familiar with it.)
If touching her is something she likes then go ahead and use both Touch and Reiki. Do not tie her up. Allow her to leave when she wants. You may be surprised if she comes back on her own too. If she doesn't don't take that personally either, she may need some time to decide that you are different than others. ( I get that look all the time from horses. It's like they suddenly look at you with renewed curiosity as if saying, "Hey, you're different than other humans".)

Consider all of this like having to add better information on top of old bad information. I call this re-writing a memory file. The problem is we cannot ask of a person or an animal to just forget what has happened in the past.
We can only offer better information to help re-write the old experience. It is totally possible it just takes diligent consistency from us. We to need to become aware of triggers. This is what proceeded the original bad experience. For example it can be environment or an object. If a horse was hit with a broom, the broom will become the trigger for an emotional outburst. Or say they were mishandled in a stall, then the stall becomes the trigger. Listen closely to her, she will tell you what these are. Go with your gut, it will never steer you wrong.

After we get caught up with this, the next step I would suggest is Clicker Training. A distrustful horse really gravitates to this and the effects are amazing. Of course it is still our job to learn how to deliver it well.
http://www.training-horses-naturally.com/clicker-training-horses.html

Elaine