{Missy} Abuse Retrain

I'm sure you've seen Missy before if you have watched my other videos, but I don't believe she has ever been properly introduced.

Missy is 18 years old and AMHR registered. She is 32" tall. I have had Missy for around 5 years now and she has come a long way since then.

We don't know every detail of Missy's past. We do know she was abused in harness through her face. She is a little horse with enough attitude to fill a herd of draft horses. Somehow she was flipped over in harness by having her bit yanked on when she reared up.

I don't know what else has happened to Missy, but it's obvious that there are a lot of blanks. When she first came into my yard you couldn't do anything on her right side, you couldn't lead her without her rearing up, you couldn't move fast, or touch her face.

She was called "untrainable" and we were told she would never tolerate a harness in her lifetime, ever again.

Working with Missy hasn't been easy. I was 11 when I started to work with her. She was a Christmas present. The rest of that winter was spent getting her used to my family and myself. Slowly I managed to do things on her right side, touch her face freely and lunge her.

She flipped herself over more times than I can count while I was lunging her. I gave up on the idea of ever driving her.

Last fall, and this year, I decided to give driving another go. We cannot afford a harness so a halter and two lead ropes is all we have to go on, but this is how far we've come.

I was told, and for 4 and a half years believed, that Missy wouldn't back up. Every time you tried, she would rear straight up, often flipping over. Her backing up is an incredible thing that I never thought I could accomplish with her.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• pets
• sports
• horse
• miniature
• abuse
• driving
• harness