At 19:51:17 on 05.10.11, DreamableHorse wrote:
Hi there, I am new here but do I enjoy this site. Everyone is very nice and helpful! I am wondering if I could get some tips on how to stop this mare that I ride from bad habits she does. Now, she has had a bad past of neglect and ridden with a wrong fitting saddle but she has been with us at our barn now for almost 3 years and should know that we are not going to hurt her withers like her past owners did! Some of her bad habits are: Biting the cross ties when I do up the girth, I think that the cross ties beside her mouth tease her because if I do it up without her being in the cross ties she doesn't even blink! She used to also bite the cross ties if I put a saddle pad/saddle on her but not anymore so I have worked that out of her. And about a month ago she had a loose shoe that she couldn't put all her weight on that one foot, the farrier came and replaced her shoe and she is fine now. But when I go to pick that hoof she tries to slam it back down. =/ She LOVES to exaggerate everything... I just have run out of ideas in helping her.. hoping someone knows something that may work. :) I ride English btw

At 20:53:33 on 05.10.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
maybe just tie her with one rope instead of cross tieing when saddling her? and as for the foot don't let go when she tries to pull away but stop doing whatever your doing to the foot and wait for her to settle praise her and continue then once you are done put the hoof down carefully and slowly eventually she should get it :)

At 21:20:45 on 05.10.11, DreamableHorse wrote:
Thank you for the reply, I will try that :)

At 19:09:31 on 06.10.11, Flicka wrote:
Mmm my mares can slam their feet down sometimes-I think they just like to be little madams sometimes and assert their authority lol I just repeat the process until they put it down nicely. Some horses can be a bit girthy and bite things if they've had a bad back and are sore at the withers. What's she like when you touch her on the withers, does she ever quiver, and what about around the girth area? You've probably done this already but it wouldn't hurt to have someone give her some body work, someone who works on the muscles, such as massage or Equine Touch. Also if she was neglected, bad diet and stress may have left her with gastric ulcers or just a bit gutty-that can make horses bite ropes, stable doors and gates when you girth them up. Look into some natural remedies that can help with the gut flora and soothe irritation. Be interested to see what happens when you try Jess's suggestion and just tie her with one rope.

At 21:45:59 on 07.10.11, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Yeah the reason i suggested one rope is my friend cross tied her horse to clip him and he had so little head movement he panicked when he couldn't turn his head to watch, he is much better with one rope when he can turn and look etc and grenville also is 'girthy' and has a ticklish spot just behind his foreleg and if you catch it he scowls and scowls hehe and flicka you know i said i thought grenville would hate massage? my friend knows how to do it and tried and he hated so i tried and he was practically falling over he was that sleepy by the end of it!

At 21:50:26 on 07.10.11, DreamableHorse wrote:
I tried to give her a massage, she didn't mind me touching her withers but she got snappy when I rubbed her but let's be honest she's a chestnut mare and I just think touching and brushing is something that she doesn't like at all! I would for sure go into more for her if she was my horse but alas she is not, and her owner is not open to any suggestions, ever lol. Thank you both for the help, what I will do now is when she is in the cross ties do the girth up only to the first hole, and once I get her bridle on I can tighten it more and have ahold of the opposite rein incase she ever turns around to bite me. She gave me no problems with her feet last time also ;)