Conference noted::equitation

    She may have been punished with a severe halter at one time and has
    never forgotten.
    
    Would you think of leaving the halter on her in the stall...would she
    come to you easily at that time or turn her butt again.  We as a rule
    don't leave halters on in the stall because I always fear they will
    catch them on something; however, it is worth a try but be sure that it
    is a leather halter that can break if she does get caught.  The nylon
    ones are real killers when they don't break.
    
    Good luck and keep us posted.
    

    
    We did leave the halter on for the first month and a 1/2 (due to use
    not being able to get it back on her..she did develop sours from the
    halter (a leather one) so we did put fuzzies on her..then we thought
    we would start the training process now that she was used to use..but
    she still hates the halter..we will give her a hand full of grain to
    make he come to use to put it on..maybe I will give her a carrot
    after she has it on to kinda say Good Girl!  I'll try anything..its
    just so wird..she is so sweet until she see's the halter then she is
    an bear! then when she has it on..she is sweet again...
    
    Thansk for the ideas! Greatly appreciated
    
    louisa

    
    
    	I second the food idea. Ebony was fine, but I always gave him
    	a carrot or something when I went to get him. Somewhere along 
    	the way, I stopped doing it. Then he ran away from me one day 
    	when I went to get him, so I started again - offer food, put 
    	halter on, off we go. Now I've gotten  him to actually put his head
    	into his halter and lean down so I can fasten it, *then* he gets
    	his carrot. He walks up to me now when I bring his halter out. I'm
    	sure you can cure your problem by doing something like this....
    

    Just something that crossed my mind.  When you do this routine, is it
    always the same?  Does she go out to pasture or does she get worked.
    My thought was, if she is always getting worked, maybe she is associating
    the two.  Just a thought.
    
    Julie

    Another thought is does she do the same with a bridle? I have seen
    people grab a horses ears for control, could it be that her ears have
    been mishandled? If so, rubbing her ears gently with a little vasoline
    on your hands could help her get over ear fear. My horse was this way
    and now she just loves to have her ears rubbed. Before she would hide
    her head in the corner and keep her rear towards me, when approached
    with a halter. Hope this helps.
    Sandy
    

    
    No she does not do it w/ her bridle. and We put the halter on when
    she is to go out in the pasture not for work.  So I guess we will
    keep up with the food and hopefully someday she will get used to it
    
    thank you all
    
    Louisa, Joey and Chipper

    Hi
    
    I am a noter who reads but never replies but I was interested to
    read about the halter problem.  I have a 10 year old mare who has
    the same problem which is worse when she is in heat.  I found out
    from the previous owner that when she first bought the horse she
    had to build her bridle around the horses head in order to get it
    on.  She does not have this problem now but the halter problem still
    exists.
    
    When I catch her she is fine but it's almost like performing a routine
    every time.  She turns away from the catcher especially when in
    the box.  Outside is not so much of a problem.  I think she was
    mishandled as a youngster and as a consequence has been left with
    this personality trait.  Patience is a great healer...so is behaviour
    modification.  Keep on with the reward routine and hopefully the
    mare will begin to foget whatever the fear is.  My mare has improved
    but is not fully cured. I don't think that it is the halter she
    is frightened of but something associated with the catch. I wish
    she could talk and then we could work it out more easily!
    
    Aren't they wonderful!
    
    Regards
    
    Heather
                                                             
    

    
    
    My mare had been abused around the head when I got her as a
    three-year-old and had/has a similar problem.  When I would go to put
    her halter on her in the stall, she would face the rear corner and cock
    a hind leg and then wati for me to try to come up beside her.  She
    could and would let go with that hind leg and I had some pretty close
    calls with her the first day as she tried to kick me through the front
    stall wall.
    
    The cure that I used to get her to turn around was to go and get a
    lunge whip ( no, not to beat her) with the lash wrapped around the body
    of the shaft and to gently tap her on the rump until she came out of
    the corner and turned around and faced me.  I would then give her
    carrots and talk to her until she put her head down and let me try to
    put the halter on her.  Most of the time, I would start to bring the
    halter up and she would fly around the stall and stand in the corner
    again.  I would then get the lunge whip out of the stall aisle and we
    would start over getting her out of the corner.  Sometimes I would go
    out to the barn and spend the entire time (2 + hours) doing nothing but 
    trying to put her halter on in a normal manner.  It took about six months
    before she would come and meet me at the stall door waiting for her
    carrot and a hug.  She is six now and still gets very tense and upset
    if you work around her head too fast. She also has the strange habit of
    circling her stall a couple of times before she will let you get close
    enough to her to put on her halter. 
    
    The reason that I used a lunge whip is that it is the only thing I had
    that was long enough to allow me to reach her rump and still stay out
    of firing range.   The tapping on her rump was annoying enough to her
    that she wanted to get away from the tapping more than she wanted to
    stay in corner and take a shot at me.
    
    I don't know if this will work for you, but it might be worth a try. 
    
    
    Pat