Horse Bolted in Harness

Ed, I agree wholeheartedly with sanhestar! You have a smart pony on your hands. Best to be able to out think him. That is luckily our forte with horses…our brains!

This type of behavior undersaddle comes from allowing a horse to push on the lead or bridle..creating a brace. They then keep it in reserve for those moments when they want to leave….for whatever reason. The way to fix it is to teach your horse to never pull or push on the lead or bridle. This is accomplished by being very particular when handling your horse. If they put pressue in the lead or bridle…do ‘something’ to make it difficult. I like to put pressure on the hind end…for 2 reasons…first, it keeps you from engaging in a tug of war with his head (which you will lose) and second it allows you practice disengaging their engine so to speak, which gives you control over forward momentum. Its simply a matter of proving to him that he has to give to rein pressure…no matter what. You’re the boss! Jennifer.

Plowboy is giving you the sage advice from the teamster perspective…I’m all ears too! He’s right…having a load to carry will give your youngster something to pay attention to. But pay attention to how he leads and how he respects you in the preparatory stages…leading, harnessing, etc. Jennifer.

Hi Ed, First, I understand how frustrating it is. Many of us have seen a team on single that we have worked hard to bring along up and leave us standing in the field. It is scary, but also educational, to see the amount of force that can go with us or against us. I think you are at a crossroads with this horse and rightly so. One the hand you would like to learn from this and improve the animals ability as a work partner, on the other hand are the questions of his ability to learn from you, given your current experience level and of course a question of safety.
I think a couple of factors that could help tip the scales are what mentorship do you have available, and second are you more interested in working a horse or training one. I believe mentorship is essential to learning this craft of driving work animals. That is easy to say and many find little or know mentorship available. Some may get by with a friend they can call, some may need a neighbor that can come over and really lend a hand. I think evaluating the mentorship that is available to you and makeing the best use of it you can is important. It sounds to me like this horse needs to be trained. I don’t mean in terms of learning commands. I mean in regards to the human/horse relationship and his place in it. Hard work that takes a fair amount of time and skill. Would you rather be working on learning that and teaching it to the willful halflinger, or would you rather be skidding fire wood? I am not trying to suggest answer as I find both very rewarding and fun, just different.
I once went to visit a friend in Montana. A busy and full-time horse logger. On Saturday we got up early to drive several hours to trade a horse and buy a new one. It was clear to me that the horse we unloaded was a real beauty and superior in every way to the one we brought home. An old chunk, with half an ear missing. When I asked for an explanation it was quite simple. The horse we got rid of was knot head and couldn’t make money in the woods. This meant a lot to me as it came from a quiet teamster whose horses worked with great precision and a no wasted effort. He knew when to quite putting time and effort into a horse that was never going to meet his expectations.
Good luck Ed, Please keep the discussion going about how to proceed. Donn

I had a grade Haflinger with behavior like yours. I sold him at a loss to one of the most experienced horsemen in my county. The horse ran away with him.

There are many good horses out there. Why put up with one that’s unpredictable and dangerous?

Have you hobble-trained your horse? I hobble-train mine, front feet and back to one hind, first in the pen to get them used to the hobbles in conjunction with “whoa” (if they start to figit in the hobbles, i tell them “whoa” before I think they’re going to get tripped up. You need skilled help for this. It’s best a job for two, even when you’re experienced.)

But this isn’t enough. You then need to take them out to a situation and hobble them when they’re “pointed back at home” and you know they’re likely to bolt, and make them stand in the hobbles. If they start to fight and go down, tell them “whoa!” emphatically. It may take several sessions.

And it may not work with a given horse. We’ve had a bad horse and sold her too, cheap, with full disclosure to the buyer.

My neighbor, a long time teamster with quite a herd of Belgians, uses the “running W” successfully on habitual runaways. He’s a rodeo cowboy and prepared for, well, a rodeo! Me, i think i’d contemplate ridding myself of the horse before that point.

Also, anyone using this horse should do lots of round-penning with this horse to assert dominance, and make sure you’re getting submission before you go back out. And it’s not enough for you to do this and then your daughter to get on the horse. I think all the people using the horse all need to spend time teaching it they’re boss.

I have some questions for the more experienced horse people out there.

1) Does it work to hitch a herd bound horse to an older very broke horse (and in this case – bigger as well. Think big Belgian or something w/ more size and mass than the Haflinger) and use it as sort of an anchor? In other words, besides being another horse buddy that won’t take off, the bigger horse creates a larger load to get moving back towards home. OR even tack on a plow or something that you can “drop anchor” on to help get the horses mind right:)

2) What are your thoughts on taking the “herd” elsewhere for awhile? If it’s only one or two horses, can you leave them with someone for a week or month so there’s nobody for the Haflinger to want to return to?

I’m a rookie when it comes to horse training but I’d like to hear more from the experienced crowd.

Thanks.