Here is a question concerning training of horses. A while ago I helped
train a friend's horse, an Arab-X gelding that had been living as a
"yard ornament" for most of his twenty years. He had been halter-broke
as a young horse and had an extremely willing and gentle nature, so we
were able to work with him. He is rideable if someone takes the time to
work with him regularly.
My question concerns this horse's buddy, a slightly younger gelding who
was never worked with at all and is rather feral. He will approach
people for grain, but will not allow himself to be handled. After a few
months of trying, I was able to touch his head and neck a bit, and did
get a halter on him. But that seemed to be the limit to his tolerance.
Any pressure on the lead rope produces an extreme negative reaction. It
was suggested we try tying him so he learns to respect the rope, but he
broke the halter right away and, I'm sure, could break another rope or
anything else. That experience made him more wary than before, it was
probably a mistake. I should add that this horse is very attached to
his "buddy"( the Arab-X) and becomes very agitated if he cannot see him,
eg. runs around, whinneys, trembles and sweats. The owners are afraid
to separate them at all for fear the one horse will injure himself. Is
there any hope for a horse like this to become trained? I am curious
about what techniques could be used to gentle him and encourage
willingness. Unfortunately I do not have the resources to hire a
proffessional to train a horse, but I do have lots of my own time to
devote to a "project". In the area I live in, such kinds of horses are
very common, and owners are sometimes willing to give them away if they
cannot keep them, just so it doesn't end up at a meat market. Any
advice on gentling the semi-feral horse would be much appreciated.
Thanks in Advance