A Tuff Nut to Crack

The roan horse has issues. Lots and lots of issues!!

But I believe that underneath it all, he has a good heart. That belief is his only saving grace at this moment. No one else will touch him. He is a horse to be feared and avoided by all in my family and by any "trainer" we have talked to about working with him.

So I have ignored my brother's warnings and my mother's worry and have taken on the task of taking the big red brute and trying to turn him back into a productive member of the equine society. Why? Because I look at this eye...
And I see worry...and a touch of fear. I do not see a mean horse. I do not see a horse that cannot be changed. Do I think he will be easy? Not in the slightest. He very well may be the toughest challenge I have ever undertaken.

This guy is the perfect example of a horse I would walk the "loose pens" looking for. He is not the type of horse I probably would have picked though. I always looked for horses that seemed to want to come to a person. He would have been a horse that hung at the back of the pen and avoided any contact with people. Not usually a horse that can be transformed into a gentle family-type saddle horse.

The sad part is...this is a horse we raised. How did he get this way? We are not abusive towards our horses. We do not let people ride our horses that might be abusive. Nothing happened to this horse that was extreme or should have caused him to become an outlaw. He may have been "cowboyed" a bit, but still nothing that would or should have caused him to become the serious bucker they claim he is.

Not even his breeding would indicate he should be this way. Megan's blue roan, Rip is his 3/4 brother...A gentler, kinder horse you will not find than this blue roan horse. They are both by the same sire out of mares that are 1/2 sisters(same sire) and bred the same way on their dam's side.

So what possibly could be the reason for this particular horse to so strongly object to being ridden? I believe the answer lies in his base personality. Surprisingly, this very large, powerful horse is timid. He is probably one of the most timid horses I have every ran across. My mother remembers him as always being standoffish and rather spooky about things, when he was a colt. Other horses pick on him. Definitely not top dog in the pecking order.

Strangely enough, his first instinct with people induced stimulus is fight...not flight! That makes for a dangerous combination. He spooks and then attacks it. He has never once shown aggression toward me, only the object I am approaching him with. I would hate to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time though.

He didn't get started until he was four. And then, there was a bit of a problem with some of the skin on his back being attached to the muscle. A very strange and unusual phenomena. That was surgically separated, allowed to heal and then he went to a good friend of ours in the Sandhills of Nebraska. He got along with him fine. He did say to take care with him. He would like to buck, but had never tried very hard with him. Miles and miles of checking cattle in the often deep sand in that country takes a lot of the starch out of horses that think they might like to be rank. I do not think this guy did anything bad to this horse. As far as the scars on his back from his skin problem, he don't seem to indicate any soreness or tenderness when they are palpated or pressure is applied. Also, the "chiro" guy didn't seem to find any spots that would indicate pain as the issue. He said he "fixed" a couple vertebrae in his neck, but I never noticed the horse indicating discomfort in his neck or problems with flexion, up/down or laterally.

Anyway, the real drama started when my brother got this gelding home, let him set for awhile and then made the mistake of treating him like one of his finished horses. My brother rides well, ropes well and is a very good cowboy. He just doesn't have a lot of ability to "read" horses and didn't pay attention to the fact that this horse was pretty nervous. The roan horse promptly made my brother pay for his lack of attention to detail. He bucked him off right in the yard. Brother dear, got right back on and got him under control. He went to the pasture to check cows and the roan horse bucked him off at the farthest end of the pasture. He got back on and made it home.

Now my dear brother is a good cowboy, but he is the first to admit, he don't like horses that buck. So the roan horse went to a feedlot for some more riding time. He promptly bucked that guy off. He was unsaddled and turned out until my brother could come get him. The guy said he could not take a chance that the horse would buck him off in one of the cement alleyways at the feedlot. Can't say that I blame him.

So the roan horse came home and my brother and a friend of his, set about taking turns riding him. He did okay for awhile. As long as they rode together. Until, the fateful day when they were checking cattle and the wind was blowing 60mph. As they were coming across a prairie dog town, my brother stepped off his horse to kill a rattlesnake. His horse got away. The other kid was riding Roan Dog and set about catching my brother's horse. They got squared away and headed for the house. Roan Dog suddenly become very interested and worried about those prairie dog holes(he is very smart!). When the wind whipped the reins into his front legs, he cut loose. I guess it was a pretty wild ride for that kid. Roan Dog was half bucking, half spooking, across an area that was riddled with prairie dog holes. Finally the roan horse just cut loose and went to full bore bucking and bucked the kid off...then stopped and stared. The kid opted to just walk home leading the horse. When they got home and unsaddled, the roan horse was turned out to pasture and that is where he has spent the last 4 years.

So now, I get to put what little knowledge I have accumulated to use to see if there is a chance he can be fixed. It is going to be slow going, but I think in the long run it will be worth it. He may only end up being safe for me. That happens sometimes. Some horses attach strongly to the one person who figures them out. I can see him being one of those. He's pretty attached to me already. Nevertheless, it is going to be interesting to see what can be done and hopefully to watch him bloom into a confident, secure athlete.