Not sure what to do next with my unbroken mare...

[luthien]

Hello,

I am new here & would appreciate any help or advice.

Background:

I have recently taken on an unbroken Anglo Arab mare (7 years old). She was at the livery yard where I'd had a horse on loan but unfortunately he'd been sold. I always liked her & knew she had been for sale as a brood mare.
It turns out, she was meant to be an Eventer, when she had been sent away to be professionally broken, she had spooked badly whilst being lunged, reared & flipped over, hurting her back.
Therefore, she was never fully broken & instead sold as a broodmare (so I am told) but she's never had a foal.

Anyways, since then she has pretty much been left in a field with a natural herd, both mares & geldings. I believe only really being handled for the farrier & in winter to get rugs on.

Now

I have had her for a couple of months, she has the most beautiful nature, she comes galloping over to call. Will walk beside me, do turns, go back, is super smart & sensitive.
The problem is, initially she was moved into a field with two geldings (the one I had on loan but he's recently gone) & an old horse I look after (he kind of came with the other horse, so I feed him & make sure he's ok). They all bonded quite well. I had a small paddock area fenced off & I would do work with her in the fenced off area. Just walking around, backing up etc...no head collar initially, then I introduced that). She was fantastic, once out the fenced area she would walk around the large field with me (again no head collar but a few carrots here & there).

I slowly took her out the field & around the farm, initially she didn't like all the chickens but by the 3rd day, she didn't bat an eyelid, she would get a bit nervous if I tied her up at the stable & then went to get the feed but even that got better. She was super on way back to the field, just ambling about munching grass with me. Dogs barking, cat going between her legs, chickens following us, all fine.

Then, 4 new horses were put in the field. My poor girl (Anna) & the old horse were quite overwhelmed I think. They wouldn't come when I called, I had to walk across the other end of the field. The only way they would cross the field is walking very close to me, with me separating them from the other group (tbh the other horses are very polite) & moved away to let mines come to the gate.

My issue is, my small fenced area was taken away, so I now have nowhere really to work with her. It's a palava getting her in & out the field. Now that all the horses are used to me, as soon as I call her, I have 6 horses coming over & it's making it difficult to get her out the field. She seems a little more stressed now when I do take her out, or it takes longer to calm her.
I was also told, it's probably best not to lunge her because the last time (which apparently wasnt that long), she pretty much freaked out (I am unclear what happened). I don't really feel the need to lunge her at the moment anyway, I am just not sure how to proceed.

I suppose more of the same & just getting her used to being out the field (away from the other horses) & pottering about. I aim to have her back checked to see if there are still any issues, there may not be, if not I would love to be able to ride her one day...but sometimes she feels so much younger than she is.

[lizpurlo]

Your mare sounds lovely, and it's great that she and the old pony have settled so quickly with the new horses. I'd totally agree with your last paragraph! Your situation is no longer quite so ideal as it was, but you have what you have, and it's a question of making best use of what you have got now. Sounds as if you and she have a great bond already, she must be so enjoying all the individual attention, bless her. Hopefully she'll gradually get used to coming in and leaving the others, it's early days yet, plenty of time for them all to get acclimatised and used to the new situation.

I wouldn't be bothered about lungeing, to be honest, especially as it sounds as if she's had a problem with that in the past. You can do quite a lot in hand, with whatever facilities you have - Kelly's book 'Perfect Manners' contains some great exercises which can be done in hand, and they all increase your bond with your horse. I couldn't recommend that book more, it's totally inspiring and really makes you want to get out there and try that!

I do sympathise with your plight, I have an eight year old 'field ornament' whom I've been told is too reactive ever to be safely rideable, and his own particular 'comfort zone' is a working farm yard complete with trailers and implements and tractors, so it's far from ideal! But I do find that whatever I do with him is helpful in building his confidence, and you'll surely find the same with your girl.

Good luck with her, and enjoy the journey.

[kafee]

Hi luthien, apologies for reading and not replying to your post before, I didn't feel qualified to do so. I'm delighted to see Liz has now replied. I've found her advice to be invaluable, my pony used to move away from the mounting block as soon as I stepped onto it, despite my best IH efforts: he now stands calmly next to it for me to mount, thanks to Lizs' advice.

[luthien]

Thank you for the lovely reply.

She is a fantastic girl, I totally agree that the lunging seems un-necessary, particularly if she has had a bad experience.

Ahhhh I have the Kelly Marks 'Perfect Manners' book, it's great & like my bible. I think that's why I was frustrated to lose the small paddock because I wanted to do some pole work with her, which I feel she would enjoy. She is so eager to please & remarkably agile given she hasn't done any work or training (so currently a bit over weight & unfit).

She seems to thrive on one to one attention, I really could not ask for a better horse to work with. I am sure people would say she is reactive but only due to a couple of obviously frightening experiences & being a field ornament for a considerable amount of time. I don't imagine she would respond well to anyone who was too harsh as it would frighten her, so I think someone suddenly taking her out the field & trying to lunge her (would potentially be a bit insane on their part) & far too overwhelming for her. Which I think may have been what happened.

That was initially why I just worked with her loosely, no head collar for awhile. Now, she doesn't mind at all. I introduced a lunging whip, I thought she might be worried about it after her experiences. Not even remotely, she just came up, sniffed & tried to chew it. The thing is, I lead her about the farm, there is a big metal board on the ground where I get the food from, I thought she would be nervous, again, not at all, she happily sniffed it, then proceeded to eat the green grass around it.
It's the other horses that effect her most, once I get past that, then I think she will do really well, contrary to what people thought, she actually be really calm, relaxed & a bit nosey. I wish she was at my home (as opposed to on livery) but you are right, I have to make the best of what I have at the moment. So, we shall just go walks & have fun together.