Can an Abused Horse Be Saved?
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Tips to help a horse with a troubled past, and how to know if you’re up to the challenge.
Horse for Sale: After reading the ad in the local paper, you stop by the “farm” to check out the young mare. Farm is a term used loosely—the ramshackle fences and dilapidated outbuildings are only one element to this poorly kept property. Rusted cars and equipment litter the muddy paddock where the horse stands.
The mare is underweight by about 150 pounds and has a swollen knee. She slowly shuffles in your direction, then stops. You notice two feet still have shoes on them, but the hooves are overgrown by months of neglect.
The owner is an elderly widow; the horse had belonged to her husband. She knows nothing about horsekeeping and needs to find the horse a home. Any home. You have a pang of sympathy for the poor mare, and you feel the cash crinkle in your pocket.
Horses with tough pasts come in all shapes and sizes, from all backgrounds, and they experience neglect or abuse ranging from the unintentional to the truly sadistic. While it’s probably safe to say that the majority of equines are treated humanely, it’s also a fact that some are not.
So, can an abused horse be saved? What does it take to help a horse overcome his past and go on to a productive life? Are you up to the challenge? We’ll examine the answers (although they’re not always simple) to these questions and others in this two-part series.
In Part I, we’ll take a look at what abuse and neglect are and some common resulting behaviors. You’ll gain tips for meeting the short-term needs of an abused horse to set him on a path of physical wellness before any training can begin (which we’ll cover in Part II). We’ll also ask the crucial question you must answer honestly if you are considering taking on an abused horse: Do you have what it takes to help a horse with a less-than-ideal history?
What Does the Law Say?
While every state’s law is different, from a legal standpoint, horses are typically protected from such things as maiming, overwork, mutilation, torture and abandonment, which would include failure to provide basic care for more than five consecutive days.
“The majority of cases we see are related to starvation,” says Dr. Patti Klein Manke, veterinarian for the Hooved Animal Humane Society, “followed by neglect and lack of basic care.”
The Many Faces of Mistreatment
The big warmblood gelding appeared to have a perfect life, with an excellent nutrition program, top veterinary and farrier care, turnout time during the day and a warm stall at night. He was doted on by grooms and his rider seemingly liked him. But the Grand Prix dressage horse’s training was far from “classical.” The horse was ridden with draw reins attached to his double bridle; his rider cranked his head in fiercely so that he was behind the vertical during his lengthy schooling sessions. To get a more impressive piaffe, the rider used a pulley system that pulled at the horse’s legs like a puppeteer. For in the highly competitive international division, “brilliance” was being judged as much as “correctness,” and the pressure to win was enormous.
Equine mistreatment can stem from lack of knowledge as much as maliciousness or putting winning ahead of a horse’s welfare, and can result in neglect, abuse, poor handling and trauma.
Through neglect (whether intentional or not), horses may not receive the minimum amount of care they need and end up starved, battling preventable illnesses, infested with parasites or lame from lack of farrier care.
Abuse can result from intentional beating, whipping, drugging or other actions, but it also results from emotional domination, intimidation and unnecessarily heavy-handed training methods, as well as from the horse owner losing his or her temper and taking it out on the horse. It can also come from tack-related pain and lameness, whether or not intentional.
Poor handling might actually be the cause of more abuse than intentional cruelty. It’s much more prevalent and more insidious, often done in the name of tradition. Says Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara, MSW, animal behaviorist and social worker specializing in animal-assisted therapy for clients with abuse and trauma history, “I think that horses that are very poorly handled often become unpredictable and then are labeled as abused. However, to me, a horse that has been tied to a wall and beaten often has far different behaviors than one that’s been starved with others in a barren field but received no brutal handling.”
Some horses have immense fortitude and may be able to endure what another horse would succumb to. “I think it’s similar to prisoners of war,” says Mark Rashid, a respected horse trainer and former horse abuse investigator for the State of Colorado’s Bureau of Animal Protection. “Some POWs have a high level of resilience, and they come out of the experience and get on with their lives. Others break down emotionally, and they are affected the rest of their lives. The treatment received by POWs and abused horses isn’t right, but some of them do seem to handle it and move on after the abuse stops. And some horses, in situations we might consider abusive, go to work every day without complaint.”
Behavioral Signs of Abuse
Diagnosis of abuse is difficult. Certain signs are not always absolute indicators of past negative experiences. Some horses, raised in good environments with no violence or neglect, offer the same responses as those that have been abused. They seem to be born that way.
Additionally, horses can suffer from a trauma without a human attached to the event, such as with trailer accidents. Their resulting behaviors can look similar to those related to abuse.
The Fearful Horse
“Abuse often is displayed with spookiness,” Mark Rashid says, “but mostly it’s seen as a lack of trust, which can show up in a whole bunch of different ways. These can include not wanting to be caught, acting as if they have never seen a saddle each time you bring one out, not wanting to open their mouth for the bit, shying when you pick something up and those sorts of things.”
Horses also may display their fear in ways that may be incorrectly labeled as aggressive or dominant behaviors. These may include biting, charging, kicking, rearing, striking, bucking and bolting. In these cases, the horse is essentially defending himself against future abuse. If his behaviors succeed in him being left alone by the human, so much the better.
The Shut-Down Horse
Some horses shut down emotionally in response to physical or mental abuse. “I see horses that are dull and resigned,” says Linda Tellington-Jones, trainer and creator of the TTouch and TTeam methods of working with horses. “As a result of abuse, which I believe also includes never being encouraged, appreciated or thanked, they lose their will to try and they give up.”
In Mark Rashid’s opinion, the problem with horses that have withdrawn or shut down is that, at first glance, they may seem like model citizens. “Very often, they seem somewhat lethargic, but they do everything you want and go along fine,” Mark says. “That is, right up until they don’t—and that’s when they show some pretty dramatic behavior, such as really bucking.” Mark says he has seen this behavior most commonly in horses that have been pretty badly abused physically, as well as in those that have received poor round pen training where they have been needlessly chased without reason or reward.
“Dissociation—where there’s a disconnect between consciousness and body sensation—occurs in animals as a result of trauma,” Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara says. “It’s actually a very good survival skill. The problem is when a creature is overwhelmed with this level of fear frequently enough, the brain starts to respond to any stress by shutting down.” It can also be a detrimental response when the nervous system becomes overwhelmed, and the animal’s need to get away becomes more powerful than any physical pain he may experience in the process.
First Things First
The chestnut filly arrives at the local equine rescue barely able to walk and covered with welts and cuts over her head and body, and her eyes are swollen shut. While trying to halter train her, the previous owner got so angry that he hit her repeatedly with a 2×4.
When rehabilitating an abused horse, the physical issues must be addressed before any training can begin. Always check with your vet for the best approach.
Dr. Klein Manke advises that it’s crucial each horse be evaluated and treated individually. However, there are some general guidelines. “If a horse is starved, we start by feeding very small amounts of alfalfa hay several times each day. If they have parasites, we’ll carefully deworm them [so that the worm burden being eliminated doesn’t become impacted], and administer appropriate vaccinations.”
Like all horses, neglected and abused ones benefit from equine dentistry, farrier care, chiropractic adjustments and other health care to become comfortable again. But they will often require frequent sessions performed gently to bring them back to health. Addressing the correct fit of saddles, bridles and bits is also essential before starting any retraining.
Are You Up to the Task?
Taking a horse from a situation in which he’s beaten, starved, neglected or poorly handled and bringing him back to mental and physical health is a noble goal.
But before rescuing any horse, look at your situation realistically and examine what you can offer the horse. At this stage, don’t let your heart overrule your head. Look at the long-term ramifications of your decision, and examine whether you can help the horse.
Before making this serious commitment, take a hard look at these issues.
Neglect Versus Abuse
What type of abuse has the horse received? No rescue case should be taken on lightly. But, in general terms, it can be easier to slowly nurse a starving horse back to health than to rehabilitate a horse that has a lot of emotional issues due to abuse, poor handling or trauma.
Experience
It’s no coincidence that many rescue organizations don’t allow first-time horse owners to adopt an abused horse. Do you have the depth and breadth of experience to be able to help an emotionally damaged horse? Even some people with decades of experience decide that they can’t offer the horse the stability and consistency he needs.
Rationale
Let’s be honest. Is rescuing a horse about helping the horse, or is it because you’re making a statement about who you are? Many people do nice work with abused horses; others take them in as a badge of honor. While the horse may not be beaten any longer, and that’s good, he may not be getting the solid help he needs to move on.
Emotional Well-Being
It seems that, consciously or unconsciously, a lot of people want to take on an abused horse to repair situations that happened in their own lives. They anthropomorphize the horse, give him the same mental wounds they have, and then try to get over their pasts together.
“My concern is that you don’t become a co-victim with your horse. That is not healing for either of you,” Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara says, who sees this in her counseling work. She adds, “If people want to do work with an abused horse to help them beyond some issues, I suggest they do so with equine-assisted therapy or a very sensitive trainer.”
“The horse doesn’t benefit from our pity,” Linda Tellington-Jones adds. “To really help them, we need to stop recalling how horrible their lives were and start living in the present so that they can move on.” Some owners, however, build an identity around the horse that remains rooted to the abuse and stuck in the past.
Facilities
While you don’t need anything fancy, you need to be able to provide the care that the horse deems most comfortable, not what you happen to have available. He may need a cozy indoor stall or 24/7 turnout, depending on what he associates with safety.
“If you board your horse, keep in mind that all the good work you’re doing with the horse may be undermined by the stable help or other boarders when you’re not around,” Linda says. “It’s hard to gain the trust of a horse that is treated inconsistently.”
Commitment for the Long Haul
Helping a horse overcome a difficult past won’t be accomplished overnight. When you commit to bringing in an abused horse, you have to do it with the knowledge that it’s a long-term project, with no shortcuts, no one-size-fits-all solutions—and no real idea of how long the horse will take to respond. Some horses might be fine in a few weeks simply because they’re living in a better place, while others may still be struggling after a few years of kind, consistent, correct work.
Taking the Next Step
If you’ve looked objectively at the situation, evaluated whether your knowledge can help the horse and have rationally decided you can commit to helping the horse for the long haul, you’re ready for the next step. It’s a giant one, but it can prove to be rewarding for both horse and human.
Next month, we’ll share tips on training and handling the abused horse to help him overcome the past and hopefully move on to a productive future. But, sadly, there are no guarantees. We’ll also look at what happens when a horse can’t be saved.
If the remaining scar is any indication, the ranch gelding’s mouth was severely cut by his bit at one time. Just how or why is anyone’s guess. He flinches and pulls back when the new buyer approaches him, but the cowboy sees the horse still has try in his eyes. And where there’s try, there’s hope.
The word around town is that the horses on a certain ranch are abused, so Corrie decides that she wants to rescue one. She selects the horse that seems to have the most need and makes an offer. It is accepted, and she takes the fearful, shaking horse to her property. She puts him into a large pasture with a couple other babysitter horses that immediately make him feel at home. A few mornings later, and at the same time every morning after that, Corrie brings a chair into the pasture and sits and reads. Within a few days, the new gelding starts circling near her. She keeps reading quietly. After a couple weeks, he stands a few feet away for several minutes at a time. She begins reading out loud but still doesn’t try to touch him. After a month or so, the gelding allows Corrie to pat him and later to work with him on the ground. Before the year is over, she grooms him, gives him vaccinations and deworms him without using a halter or other restraint. After one year, Corrie shares a great relationship with her horse based on trust, mutual respect and consideration.
Above, we examined what it takes to help a horse with a rough past and asked the tough questions a horse owner must answer honestly before committing to an abused horse. Now, we move on to some tips for gaining trust and starting the retraining and rehabilitation process.
But first, it’s vital to reiterate that there is no one-size-fits-all approach that will work with all abused horses. Some common denominators include consistency, patience, knowledge and time, but each horse will need an individualized approach.
Building Trust
When working with this type of horse, building trust is vital, and isn’t something you attain once and then never think about again. Maintaining the behaviors that your horse sees as trustworthy is imperative.
If there’s one thing an abused horse needs, it’s consistency—behaving the same way under each situation.
“Inconsistency in humans is very damaging for horses, especially when the human wavers between the extremes of being buddies with the horse and later getting so mad or frustrated that the horse is yelled at, hit or worse,” says Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara, MSW, animal behaviorist and social worker specializing in animal-assisted therapy for clients with abuse and trauma history. “Our inconsistency results in a horse that becomes very distrustful and can lead to some very unpredictable behaviors.”
“Years ago, I worked with a lot of wild horses,” says Mark Rashid, Colorado-based trainer and author who has worked with dozens of abused horses over the years. “Being dependable really helped them start to trust humans. We began by feeding, watering and cleaning pens at the exact same times every day. Then over time, we handled the horses in the same consistent way. For wild and abused horses, and especially for those that are pretty far around the bend mentally, this absolute dependability is very important for them.”
“When animals have been with people who use a dominant style of training, where demands must be carried out immediately and without question, and they are later placed with people who are less demanding and less consistent, their potential for explosion is much higher,” Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara says.
Change Your Mindset
Horses live in the present. To help them the most, we need to do the same. Constantly thinking back to the pain or mistreatment our horses experienced does not help them move on to a better future.
“If we start changing the terminology for horses with rough pasts from ‘abused’ to ‘mishandled,’ think how that changes our context,” Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara suggests. “When we work with a mishandled horse, it puts the requirement on us to be consistent and fair, rather than sorry and pitying.”
“It’s also important to recognize that a horse generally isn’t acting a certain way—spooky, for example—because he’s being silly or ‘testing’ us,” says Linda Tellington-Jones, trainer and creator of the TTouch and TTeam methods of working with horses. “He has a valid reason for his behavior, and we need to recognize that there’s something really going on for the horse.”
“I treat abused horses the way I do all my other horses,” Mark Rashid says. “Everything I do is with their best interests in mind, but I don’t tiptoe around them because of their past. Doing that may worry them more than if I just go about our work in a calm and matter-of-fact way.”
Set Rules and Boundaries
Just as it’s important to move on from the past, it’s crucial to establish expectations for what is allowed and not allowed.
“Just because a horse had a tough past doesn’t mean he can step on our toes or walk over the top of us. I think a lot of people get abused horses and then make excuses for behavior because of what they’ve been through. The person thinks that making a correction will be overwhelming to the horse,” Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara says.
She adds, “The real issue is how you will respond if the horse doesn’t do what you ask. Will you become totally unglued, unpredictable and punish or scare the horse? No, you’ll just quietly ask again that the horse stand still or pick up his foot or whatever, without anger and without taking it personally.”
Let Go of Expectations and Timeframes
“Some of the horses we get in are nearly feral or have very little handling,” says Dr. Patti Klein Manke, veterinarian for the Hooved Animal Humane Society. “To help them start trusting, we feed at very consistent times and use food in a way that connects the human with something positive. Trust is earned eventually, little by little, and it can’t be rushed.”
She adds, “Volunteers might sit in a horse’s pen, quietly, with no expectation that the horse will come up or allow the person to touch him. Putting the horse in charge of the interaction helps to build their trust.”
People who have had horses before may wonder why their abused horse may be taking so much longer to learn something than their previous horses did. “I tell them that there’s just no set time frame,” Mark Rashid says. “If we can remember that it’s up to the horse, things go better.”
When the chestnut warmblood arrives at the rescue he’s been bashed in the head with a shovel. By the time Rachel adopts him the only evidence of his past experience is that he’s extremely head shy and doesn’t want hands, brushes or halters anywhere near his head. Rachel uses approach and retreat, each day rubbing and petting closer to his face, then moving back to a spot where he’s comfortable. After about three weeks she is able to halter him and lead him, and after a year the pair is enjoying the local trails together.
Training
“You can’t rely on just a few techniques when working with abused horses,” Linda Tellington-Jones says. “You need to think on your feet and be able to adjust what you’re doing to what the horse needs.”
Stay Safe
“You have to stay safe and your horse has to stay safe,” Mark Rashid says, “and at the end of the day, everyone has to feel a little bit better than they did when they started, and feel good about what they worked on together.”
If you feel overwhelmed, frightened or out of your comfort zone, seek the help of an effective and compassionate trainer who is experienced in working with troubled horses. It is not worth you being injured trying to help a horse.
Forego Dominant Training Methods
“Although it’s decreasing, we still hear that notion about ‘you’d better be the boss, because if you aren’t your horse will take over,’ ” Linda Tellington-Jones says. “That’s an attitude of creating submission that I think can certainly be abusive, and it’s sad because it’s not necessary. When we give horses a chance to understand what we want of them and we’re clear, they can trust us to be consistent. Then a relationship develops that’s like a dance.”
Adds Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara, “I think another source of abuse is this trend nowadays of trainers labeling an animal as dominant. In the study of animal behavior, dominance is a rank; it’s not a behavior. Dominant animals use dominant and submissive signaling, but often when you label a horse as dominant it’s giving people permission to be more coercive than they should be.”
Do Different Things … Or Not
It might seem obvious that if a horse has had a bad experience doing a certain thing, such as tying or going into a trailer or wash rack, we probably don’t want to continue doing that activity. However, it’s not that simple.
“If a jumper is terrified of the poles because he’s been punished for hitting them, we may start working the horse on the ground with poles set very far away and using food rewards to help him overcome the flight response,” Linda Tellington-Jones says.
“Or we might take all the tack away that a horse may associate with a bad experience,” Linda says. “For a jumper, maybe we’d remove his bridle and martingale and let him jump in a neck ring.”
“If, for example, a horse had horrible experiences jumping, then I probably wouldn’t jump him,” Mark Rashid says, “but I may not do a lot of flatwork with him either because he might associate that with jumping. So, I might get him completely away from that environment and see how he does on trails. The tricky thing is that if jumping is all he knows, he might be really frightened out on the trails. You just have to see what the horse needs.”
The young black and white pinto pony stands not more than 10 hands as he cowers in the corner of the pen at the local horse sale. Every bone in his body is prominent, and his hooves are so long they curl up. After a few days in his new home, his owner starts working with him, first stroking the air around him because he can’t stand to have human contact. Before long, however, he enjoys being touched, groomed and loved. His owner trains him and finds him a new home at a therapeutic riding center where the children cherish him.
Predicting the Future?
Are there any fail-safe ways to figure out a prognosis for a mishandled horse and discern whether he will recover to become a useful member of equine society? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.
What Are the Expectations?
While a horse may not be able to do what he was originally trained or bred to do, perhaps he can be happy and successful doing something different.
“I think successful rehabilitation depends on the situation,” Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara says. “For example, if you have a horse that’s extremely noise sensitive, and he’s in a suburban area [with an inexperienced handler], he may not do very well. But if he can be placed in a quiet rural area with an experienced, quiet rider doing primarily trail riding, he probably could be saved.”
“For me, as long as there’s try, you’ve got hope,” Mark Rashid says. “It’s when the horse is shut down to the point he isn’t interested in even trying to work with you that the situation doesn’t look so good.”
Are You the Right Person for This Horse?
Many of us can only have one or two horses due to time, space or money constraints. If a particular horse isn’t working out, there’s no shame in admitting that.
“While this horse may be able to be helped, it may simply be that you’re not the right person to do it,” Mark says.
“I think it’s good to remember that we are not always the best person for a particular animal,” Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara says. “We like to think we are, but sometimes another person will have exactly what that horse needs in terms of experience, personality and interests. It’s not personal, it’s just life.”
Other Options
Sadly, some horses can’t be aided back into productive members of equine society. They may have such horrific pasts that they will always be unpredictable and untrusting, and perhaps dangerous as a result. Or they may have permanent soundness issues.
“If we’re dealing with physical issues and the horse is unable to be ridden, he may be able to be pasture sound and can be a wonderful companion or pet,” Dr. Klein Manke says. “Horses that come to HAHS and are not adoptable are essentially retired here. We make them as comfortable as we can. We don’t give up on them, but we don’t allow suffering either.”
Other options are retirement on acreage, preferably with other horses. However, don’t assume that a horse wants to be turned out and forgotten. Many horses still enjoy positive human interaction, and they want to be valued. Turning them out with no contact can be torture for some horses.
In some cases, horses truly are mentally unstable. If this is the case, and the horse is also dangerous on the ground or with other horses, we must take a hard look at the life we can offer the animal and what sort of life he is likely to have. Sometimes, the most compassionate outcome is euthanasia.
Moving Ahead
Rehabilitating an abused horse is a long-term project but can be extremely rewarding. While physical issues can be resolved relatively quickly, emotional and behavioral traumas will take time to overcome.
“Over the years, I’ve seen horses that I thought we’d never get through to,” Linda Tellington-Jones says. “They were so shut down and so afraid. But often in a week of working with them, there would start to be a glimmer. So much will depend on the amount of time you can spend with that horse and giving him the attention he needs.”
“If you can be consistent and trustworthy, and say what you mean and mean what you say, your horse has a good chance of recovering and being fine,” Mark Rashid says.
The author thanks those who contributed true stories for this series (although names and situations were changed to protect identities), and thanks all who continue to help horses lead better lives.
Meet the Experts
Maureen Fredrickson-MacNamara has a degree in animal behavior and is past president of the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association. She’s currently a doctoral student at the University of Denver studying the potential of animal-assisted therapy for trauma survivors.
Dr. Patti Klein Manke is the staff veterinarian for the Hooved Animal Humane Society in Illinois and cares for the horses and other animals that come to HAHS. www.hahs.org
Mark Rashid is a respected trainer and author who has successfully rehabilitated dozens of abused horses for the ranches he’s worked on and in the clinics he teaches. www.markrashid.com
Linda Tellington-Jones is known around the world for her ground-breaking TTouch and TTeam methods of nonhabitual work for horses, which help them learn new ways of responding to fear. www.lindatellingtonjones.com