feeling a bit horrid

[Susara]

So Sunday I set out to bath my 3YO gelding. 6 months ago, when he had a hose pipe close to him for the first time in his life, I was very proud of him for not even flicking his ears as I poured water onto him. Since then I've bathed him a few times and it's always been a pleasure.

So imagine my surprise at him suddenly refusing to walk to the bathing area yesterday. Set his ears back, lifted his head high and backed away. He knows the spot from being dipped there by the yard staff. After a few gentle attempts I started to get the feeling he was just trying me out - as he's growing up I have noticed him pushing his boundaries, both with me and other horses. He didn't look terrified; simply very opinionated and set on not going to that spot.

There was another girl at the yard that has lots of NH experience (most people there don't). She said I'm too easily intimidated and I must be strickter with him. So when he backed off I assertively backed him even further, when he turned out I forced him to walk/trot until I asked him to stand, and then to follow me. Eventually I got him to into the bathing area next to the hose pipe.

So I thought, ok, let's only try hosing his feet. No go: I can touch his hooves but the moment I have the hose water on them he moves off. I know I'm supposed to immediately get him to work if he doesn't stand still, but it's a bit difficult to coordinate all this whilst holding the lead and holding the hose pipe and negotiating the by now very muddy and slippery washing bay.

In my clumsiness I backed him into the (nonbarbed) wire fencing the bathing area - and from his frightened reaction I realised it was electrified! I felt terrible. Suddenly his new reluctance made sense - he knows he gets zapped there!

To try and end on a more positve note, I took him to a different spot and rinsed him down with a sponge from a bucket. It didn't go too badly; he didn't seem to mind the water but he didn't stand as quietly as usual. I think by that time he was a bit rattled; we had already been struggling for more than an hour.

So not only do I feel really guilty at pushing my horse to go to a place where he knew he was going to get hurt (and proved it to himself), it also seems that he now has a real distrust of hose pipes.

I don't know, sometimes I just feel really intimidated by all the things one is supposed to do. How could I have known he had a legitimate reason for not wanting to enter that area? And how am I now supposed to get him used to hose pipes again? How can I expect him to trust me if I forced him to go into a place he very well knew he was going to get hurt?

[BeachRiding]

That's not good, well at least you found the problem! Maybe tell the yard staff that you don't want him near that fence. Good luck!

[teabiscuit]

try not to beat yourself up too much over this-it happens to us all, the best horsemen/women learn from mistakes, the others don't even notice mistakes,so you're on the right track. one thing i'd like to say- have more confidence in your horsemanship, sensitivity is an important quality when handling horses and you have it.
just edited to say listen to yourself, as well as so called experts

[CMR]

Electric fence in the wash area :eek: You didn't do anything wrong(well, intentionally you didn't). If you didn't know, you can't blame yourself. Sometimes you just need to trust your horse. Yes, sometimes he will just be testing you or acting up, but if he had been in there before and acted perfect, then you do have to wonder what is causing the problem.

[Susara]

Thanks for the responses. I asked yesterday and it turns out they actually don't dip the horses in that spot! So I guess my original feeling that he was acting up was actually correct, and it _was_ correct of me to 'force' him to the washing stand Just a pity that it turned out he got zapped there. oi.

I discussed the insident with my instructor and she suggsted that we do groundwork in stead of riding in one of my lessons - to teach me rather than the horse :-) It's one thing to read on what one's supposed to do; something different when you actually have to do it.

[Naturally]

I think your instructor is right...it's always about the human...so...how we approach things. But please don't beat yourself up. We all do things that with the benefit of hindsight would never have happened. Hells bells, the things I've done to my poor daughter, let alone the horses!! lol :)

Bare in mind that this issue is not about the wash bay as much as it is about regaining some confidence and possibly trust. Spend some quality time with him, doing nothing much. Maybe keep the flies off him or scratch his wither like his dam would have when he was a baby. Rub his favourite spots and give him some treats here and there. Lots of regular visits would help as well if you can.

As for getting him OK with the hose again. You need to use advance and retreat and getting friendly with the hose. If with any of these steps he is too uncomfortable, move it away until he is, or take it back a step until he confident at the step previous.

Step 1. Get him standing confidently near the hose on the ground. Do nothing with it, just stroke him quietly and confidently until he relaxes.

Step 2. Get to the point where you can pick the hose up and if possible rub him with it. He needs to be in a relaxed state when you finish this exercise, so you might be at it for a while, but don't go to step 2 unless step 1 is smooth as silk.

Step 3. Turning the water on and running it on the ground until he is confident

Step 4. Gently running the water over him, but don't start at his feet.

With all of these, try not to be too direct line. It's not about the hose, it's about confidence and trust (as with the wash bay). Also, don't make this the only task you do with him on each day. Do some other fun stuff, groom him, make him feel better and just sit with him a while before and after.

But really, you sound like a very caring person. Sometimes stuff happens and we've all been there with one thing or another.

[Yann]

Agree completely, if you don't make mistakes then how do you learn anything new? The good thing is horses are generally very forgiving.

Working as Naturally describes would be a very good idea, the key thing is to be patient and not rush things. In the meantime can you just use a bucket and sponge instead? Sometimes it's better to find a different way of doing things than to get too hung up on the fact the first way hasn't worked :)

[Greentchr]

Now, I do not want you to feel worse about the electric fence thing... it has no business being in any area where there is water, anyway! Something that you might now know, however is that if he was wet when he got 'zapped' he would have gotten a much larger jolt than normal- water conducts electricity very well and a wet animal gets a jolt that runs through most of their system, especially if it were standing in water.

I sure do not mean to bring this up to make you feel bad (it was NOT your fault- I think we are all in agreement with this!), but rather so you realize that he may have very strong feelings about the area- stronger than just a 'little' zap might have brought:) .

I had disconnected my electric fence for the winter, and then had to reconnect it because the snow level was too high around the fences. They both touched it with their noses, and both times while I was standing right by the fence- I think they thought I had bitten them. They got over it pretty soon :)

[Susara]

Keeping all the advice in mind, I asked hubby to join me in another attempt at a bath yesterday morning. We went to a totally different spot and brought a piece of hose pipe along. With me holding my horse, hubby started by showing him the hose, allowing him to smell it (bite it! :-) and the rubbing it first against his neck. It was much easier than when it was just me, because I could focus on the horse without tripping over the hose pipe. Also I was stroking him the whole time so he couldn't really feel the difference between my hand strokes and the hose pipe strokes. Before long we could stroke him with the hose pipe everywhere on his body without any drama.

We didn't try to go as far as actually having water run from the hose. I washed him down using bucket and sponge, but I did insist that he stand still in the process. Again the coordination was easier with the sponge than with the hose; when he started moving away I could simply follow him with the sponge without the hose getting in the way.

Unfair: my husband is not a horsy person at all, but when he does deal with them he seems a total natural!

Thanks for all the support here, I'm in a much better mood than last week this time.

[KateWooten]

Unfair: my husband is not a horsy person at all, but when he does deal with them he seems a total natural!
Doesn't it make you want to spit ! My husband is the same - he'd never seen or talked to a horse before we got my two, and he wants nothing to do with them (smelly old animals). Yet he can just one day say, oh, I'll try roundpenning that scary evil rearing mare that's jst tried to kick your teeth in - it's just 'trotting round in circles', and 5 minutes later the traiterous mare is dancing little circles and tugging her forelock to him. Huh ! See if I care (stomps off in a huff ...)

[Greentchr]

Well, if it is any consolation, my non-animal husband is the exact opposite. He treats them like over-grown puppys and I am constantly worried he is going to get hurt! Of course, he even lets our dogs walk all over him....:rolleyes: