Horse Problems: Training The Abused Horse

Equine PTSD.

Horse abuse pulls on anyone’s heart strings. It usually comes in the form of neglect and malnutrition or is practiced as unpredictable or traumatic physical punishment.

Horses with true PTSD need special care. Their reaction to stress is usually exaggerated, frantic, not proportional to the stress a normal horse exhibits. Some researchers posit that the PTSD horse has a mis-firing nervous system that triggers an exaggerated “alert” response and then is unable to come down to a normal level of relaxation when the threat is ended. They are also unable to find safety or comfort when they need it by mirroring another’s lowered stress.

Inconsistency is often the culprit with this type of horse. Horses are traumatized by painful or threatening behavior. If it is inconsistent, it is even worse. If his abusive owner punished him, beat him, or threatened him in a way that he could not figure out why or when or how to avoid it, he is left with no defense except aggression toward the abuser, frantic escape, or total submission. His horse instincts are in tact, but the situation is too sporadic to use his senses to avoid the abuse. This produces the un-trusting, unpredictable horse that we all know about. A horse with PTSD.

Some psychologists suggest that, while we can “train” out (de-condition) the fear response to a traumatic event or sequence of events by substituting new positive conditioning to the stimulus, it is merely subjugated in favor of the new positive and can reappear in the face of the old trauma-related stimulus. It is a more complicated process than just re-conditioning the response. There are also some traumatized horses that do not respond to positive reinforcement when in the moment of overwhelming fear.

This type of horse has much more complicated and long-term needs than this article will tackle.

Luckily, this type of horse is the small minority of horses that are adopted. We will confine this article to the “normal” rescue horse: untrusting, poorly trained, acting out, but not “over the edge”.

Approximately 50% or more of the people I meet with a problem horse tell me that the horse was abused, or was PROBABLY abused before they got it. But there are reasons other than vicious abuse that cause horses to exhibit bad behavior and end up at shelters. At least 75% of the owners who blame PTSD for their horse’s behavior are wrong. Most of those horses are just poorly trained by incompetent owners who eventually abandon them because their behavior becomes unpredictable and dangerous.

Bad behavior can also be brought on by a horse “too well treated”: A horse whose owner sees the problem growing, doesn’t know what to do about it “What else could it be? I have treated him with kindness. I have given him everything he could wish for.” He has an owner whose good heart allowed him to become completely overbearing, aggressive, or dangerous because of the owner’s inability to draw a line in the sand.

Proper training is the key to his mind and his heart.

The PTSD horse is rarely adoptable because he is truly psychologically damaged. The chances are good that your horse has been poorly treated or poorly trained, but not driven to the edge of insanity. The best way to treat SUPPOSED Equine “PTSD” is to let go of it in YOUR OWN mind. It is counterproductive to approach his training as if he were made of glass. He needs love and kindness, of course. But he also needs rules and predictability.

The ingredients in the Training Sessions that MUST be present are:

1. Trust: Trust is built daily between a horse and his owner. When he lays his ears back, turns his rear to you, bites, kicks, rears, he is telling you that he is anxious or fearful. He is looking for a way to alleviate his fears: Keep you away. Keep you from pressuring him further. He doesn’t have to have been physically traumatized to need some extra time and space to build trust. A horse is only comfortable when he can figure out the right behavior and anticipate the comfortable outcome. If he has been deprived of understanding the rules of the game and the benefits of a human/equine partnership, start by building a “Relationship”.

2. Relationship: Relationship is built through two-way communication. A rescue horse has probably never experienced a person who is willing to listen to what he feels and work towards a cooperative agreement. Have you “asked” him if he minds of you put the halter on? Are there places on his body that he likes you to touch and those that he does not like you to rub? It takes more time with a problem horse than a regular horse to get to a partnership. Approaching and retreating according to his invitation takes extra time, but it builds trust and respect. Read the information about Relationship before you start any training exercises. This is an easy exercise for the type of person who feels strongly about rescuing provided they don’t miss the part where some behaviors are not tolerated.

3. Authority: Challenging for Leadership is an issue that often affects rescued horses, and it is a natural phenomenon for a horse. When he questions your ability to lead, he isn’t a bad or damaged horse, he is a NORMAL horse. Read: Pasture Etiquette. Give him a reason to follow you. Be as gentle as possible but as strong as necessary to gain his respect. Show him (using his natural language) that you ARE the leader, and you will not lead him into danger. See Joining Up – Taking a Leader. Horses naturally look for a leader. When in the presence of a leader, they can relax. But, if you will not lead, he must do whatever it takes to keep himself safe. If he lashes out, runs away, is scared, timid or unable to be calmed, trust is built by showing him that you are a benevolent leader and a leader whose requests can be trusted but must be followed.

4. Consistency: Fear of the un-forseen consequences is the basis for most behavior issues stemming from physical abuse. When a horse is trained by a mean-spirited, un-skilled or ignorant trainer, punishment is rarely meted out in a predictable way. If a horse doesn’t understand the basis for the reward or the punishment, he can hardly be blamed for trying to avoid it by any means possible. He uses the weapons at hand: he bites, kicks, charges, bucks, rears, or runs. See Fight or Flight.

If you are ALWAYS CONSISTENT, he can figure out the rules of the game and play right along with you instead of being frightened about your next move. Anxiety, which is the antithesis of calm thinking, disappears.

Horses are creatures of habit, and strong habits are formed during abuse experiences. He must come out of his “reactive” mind (the one that acts first and thinks later) into his thinking mind (the one that stops and thinks before action). That requires unending consistency and a calm mind-set on your part.

5. Reinforcement: Relief from pressure is a strong motivator. Frequently a horse can give himself his own reinforcement using “distance”. He can retreat as far from the object of his fear as it takes to calm his fear. In this case, he is calming himself without your intervention. Whenever you are interested in de-sensitizing him, it is imperative that you find his comfortable distance from the object. Proceed to move the object from his comfort zone toward him in Baby Steps, taking care to stop each time he notices the object, has a slight negative reaction to it, but manages to calm himself. Reward his relaxed state of mind by halting the progression.

It is perfectly good idea to induce him to get to a slight state of nervousness and then allow him to “come down” again. It will enlarge his capacity to regulate his fears and gain confidence. When he licks and chews as the ultimate response to a fear-inducing experience, it is his ultimate self-flooding of good endorphins rewarding his calm state by himself.

6. Companionship: Time spent rewarding a relaxed state of mind is never wasted. During training sessions, allow the horse to benefit from a job well done (no matter how small ) by standing, resting, relaxing (See Release Training) and (See Relax). Don’t stop until he is in the relaxed state, but be sure to stop when he gets there! A previously-abused horse may exhibit more anxiety in the beginning, but you can demonstrate how to relieve that anxiety by rewarding a relaxed state of mind. see: Introducing Maneuvers

End every session on a good note, and allow a few minutes at the end of each session for talking, stroking, grazing or other pleasurable activities. Continue building “Relationship”.

See Reinforcement Theory and Release Training.

Treating him with “kid Gloves” is not the answer. Handle him with Authority, Kindness, and Consistency. Change his mind and you will change his life.
Give him a chance to come back to natural good behavior by being consistent, letting him experience small fearful encounters followed by calming down, and lead him through the work of trying, being rewarded, and staying calm.

Under no circumstances should information presented here be construed as veterinary in nature. Always consult your veterinarian if problems persist. Additionally, horse training and equestrian activities in general can be dangerous. While we try to present relevant and valuable content, under no circumstances does horse-pros.com or its members or contributors take any responsibility for the well-being of any horse or person using a method outlined here.

We certainly don’t know everything. Please share your expertise. Comment on what is already written or Suggest a Category and Educate us about it. Grow Horse-Pros.com©

6 thoughts on “Horse Problems: Training The Abused Horse

  1. I don’t know how I stumbled across your articles but they are very comforting. I have a 10 year old mustang gelding. He is broke. He is smart and sweet but he has moments of exaggerated flight response. I am an intermediate rider. I have fallen off 3 times due to bolting.
    The vet told me today he needs more training or in need to sell him. My trainer can only help me 2-3 times a week and I’m not sure what to do on the other days but walk w him on the lead line as my lunging skills are sub par. At what point do you decide it’s too much?

    1. Hi Caren:

      I’m sorry you are having this problem. It is common and takes hard work to fix it. You don’t tell me if he is bolting on the trail, in the arena, or if you can identify what causes his panic. What flavor trainer do you have? English, dressage, western? Is your trainer riding him FOR you or helping you while YOU ride him? How long have you had him? Is this behavior new?

      If your lunging skills are sub par, you are crippled from the start. Lunging teaches him that the right response to something he doesn’t understand is to STOP and STAND STILL. Focus his attention on you. That is what makes the pressure go away. If your lunging is poor, I bet your other training skills are not good either.

      3 times is the charm for bad (or good) behavior. By the time he has bolted 3 times, it is becoming a habit.

      My suggestions?
      1. Go to Ebay and find a used copy of Clinton Anderson’s “Lunging for Respect” videos. Start at lesson one and go through them all. Your lunging skills will be stellar by the time you are through with that series, and you may find the other problems have disappeared. You don’t need a trainer if you use this series of lessons. Start here on the ground and work your way up.

      I am a strong believer that if you train your own horse, you will understand what makes him tick. Having someone else train him is like being handed a Furrari on a windy mountain road with no instructions. It has a steering wheel, gas, and brake, but handling it takes practiced skill and understanding of what’s under the hood.

      2. For riding, purchase “Riding with Confidence” by Clinton Anderson.
      Start in the arena or an arena-sized fenced grass pasture. Stay in that controlled environment until he is perfect there before you go out into the wild. He needs more confidence, more control signals, and much more de-sensitizing before he is on the trail. (All of this is on this web site under the “training exercises”. And be sure to read the “training theory” articles as well.)

      If you need a trainer, find a trainer who is willing to work through those videos with you – not take you off some other direction. Both of those videos are fine for any type of horse and any type of discipline.

      I could go on and on, but of course, this whole web site is the “on and on” of horse training.

      When is enough enough? When you know that you don’t have the interest or the time to work really hard. He needs training every day for 4-5 months (with a few “rain days” off to think through his lessons). After a month of “lunging for respect”, you can work on both videos at the same time: lunging first, then riding in the arena. Who knows, you might become as passionate as I am about training when you get involved. When you experience your first “trainer’s high” at the successful conclusion of an exercise, you may become addicted.

      Keep us posted.

  2. I have a 15 year old thorough bread who has anxiety saddling. The vet looked at him and said it’s anxiety he’s fainted (like a seizure) he’s jumped, acted lame name it he’s done it.

    I have lunged and when he moves I will lunge more. If he stands I don’t lunge. 3 months later we are still doing the same thing. I’m saddling riding sometimes saddle let him graze then unsaddle, if he’s hard to saddle he usually gets lunged longer and harder.

    Any advise????

    1. Hi Keli:
      Well, let’s see if two heads are better than one. The seizure part is troubling, but if the vet is certain he is ok, we’ll ignore that. Also ignore a sore back if the vet checked for that.

      Is the horse new to you? Or did this behavior start recently after a life-time of good behavior? What type of saddle are you riding? English or Western?

      How about the cinch? Is he cinched in steps: first just tight enough to stay on, then a couple of more holes, then riding-tight? IF you get him saddled is he good to go? Does the anxiety go away?

      You have done what my first Rx would be. But perhaps it is now becoming counter productive. He sees the saddle and thinks fight and “Lunge”. Do you have a way to get him into a calm state of mind before you saddle? Maybe perform a couple of exercises he does well and feels confident and rewarded.

      Do you do the saddling in the same place all of the time? Perhaps he has developed an anxiety reaction the the specific saddling location. I had a horse that could not be saddled in the round pen. He had been lunged at full speed in there so many times that just entering made him nervous and hyped up.

      Can you ride him bareback? Are all indications of anxiety gone if the saddle is completely gone?

      At what point does the anxiety happen? Before, during or after the saddle is placed on his back? Cinching? Mounting? Does he buck? Break the whole thing down into tiny steps and start desensitizing to each tiny portion by performing up to that point and stopping the lesson on a win – even if its just LOOKING at the saddle. He must always be in a calm state before you move to another stage. Wait at least a couple of hours and try again. This can take many days of creeping up on the issue.

      Change YOUR attitude. It’s easy to get tense when you are about to battle this problem AGAIN. Your tension becomes his tension. Start “asking his permission” to saddle up. I don’t know exactly how to describe that, but be very alert to his reactions and keep a running dialogue of soothing questions that take his reactions into account. Watch your horse’s reaction to each step. Notice head going up a little (indicating nervousness)? Immediately stop there. Approach each step and retreat slightly if he tenses, then approach again until he relaxes at that step.

      I guess you wonder if I am any help, but these are all questions I would ask if I were there. I hope that as you answer them or check out his behavior in these circumstances the hitch will appear.

      In the meantime, I will keep thinking and edit this post as ideas come to mind.

      You might look at the “first Saddle Experience” post of this blog and watch Reign try to calm down with a saddle.
      http://horse-pros.com/5551/first-saddle-experience

  3. I have a 11 year quarter she was 8 yrs old when she was in training and reared over back wards and broke three ribs on the stirrup.
    She has been spoiled since then. I have worked with her. Sacking her out she is afraid of everything. Able to put a bareback pad on her after a lot of work. She was getting very used to it no problems. I left for three days now we are back at square 1. She completely freaks out at a stirrup and sadfle. Nice disposition but reacts very quickly! And reverts back to her old ways often. I am in Los Angeles area. Do you know of any trainers that can work with a traumatized horse. What can I do to see if she us able to ever make it through this?

    1. Hi Tanara:

      Unfortunately, I do not know any trainers outside my geographical area. You should be able to find a recommended natural horsemanship trainer near you. Perhaps a local horse shelter would have a suggestion.

      What traumatized her? What caused her to rear over backward in the first place? Was she being introduced to the saddle? These are questions a trainer will want to know.

      I’m not sure what “spoiled” means, but it usually means she has not been asked to do anything she did not want to do. She probably needs to go back to the beginning to develop a new relationship with you. And you have to get over the trauma before she can get over the trauma.

      The fact that she is “afraid of everything” leads me to believe that she has not been properly de-sensitized to all kinds of situations leading up to the saddle. Learning to stop and think when she encounters a problematic situation starts much earlier than literal de-sensitizing. It starts as early as using the round pen to teach her that she can stop “pressure” (the fearful thing) by stopping her own movement. If she stops, thinks, watches you, she will be “safe”.

      Just some quick thoughts specific to the saddle before you find a trainer: Perhaps let her “live with” the saddle on her paddock fence next to her grain bucket. It will be at “withers height”, steady, un-moving, un-intimidating. Take your time. Reward a calm state of mind.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *