Breed: Other (possibly Arabian cross)
Color: Black/Brown & White Paint
Age: 5 years
Sex: Mare
Height: 14.2 hands
Adoption Status: Available for adoption
Adoption Fee: TBD
Background
Marmar came to us by being surrendered by her owner who was unable to obtain the riding results desired with her. Initial assessments of Marmar indicated she had been handled and trained to a point of being put under saddle with a rider, however, her training did not extend much beyond that.
She would come into the barn with pinned ears, ready for the fight of being groomed and tacked up, especially picking up her feet and having her girth tightened. When her anxieties escalated, she would start rubbing her head, pacing and pivoting at the tie and pawing the ground. Under saddle, Marmar had a whole new set of tricks designed to make riding as unpleasant for the rider as she found it for herself! She could not walk a straight line, balked, put her head in the air, rubbing her sides onto posts or sides of the enclosure. Her gaits were inconsistent and very unbalanced.
Training Information
Consistency, patience and a gentle, calm demeanor have been the keys in successfully rehabilitating and training this cute paint mare! Marmar has been undergoing training on groundwork as well as under saddle to overcome her anxieties of being handled, tacked up and ridden. Marmar has shown tremendous progress with consistent handling using natural horsemanship and most of all,
not being in a hurry or being abrupt! The more you are in a hurry to get things done with her, the more she reacts and becomes nervous. The same can happen if you get too abrupt with her, it can generate a very nervous, anxious reaction that can add extra time to whatever task you are working on. Marmar is ready to please and a willing learner. She does best with someone who takes their time, reads her mood for the day and sets daily goals accordingly.
Marmar's goundwork has included natural horsemanship training to teach her to move away from pressure in her hindquarters and front end. She has been learning to maintain her gait while longeing and to back with the least amount of pressure. Marmar is still learning to stand quietly during grooming, tacking and mounting from the ground or mounting block. For those of you who follow the Parelli training methods, she plays "Come to Me" in the pasture, lowers her head for haltering and bridling and has a good foundation in the Parelli "Seven Ground Games".
Marmar's under saddle work has included maintaining a consistent gait at the walk and trot, maintaining straight lines on the straightaway, lateral movements (like circles, half circles, turns, serpintines) with balance, turns on the forehand, transition work, backing and other movements to give her a solid foundation for any type of riding an adopter might want to pursue. We have bridged concepts from the ground to riding under saddle and she responds well to leg pressure/aids as well as no contact or light contact with a snaffle bit.
As with any green horse, Marmar shows steady progress with some type of groundwork and riding every 2-3 days and we are so proud of her! To our pleasure, we have seen Marmar begin to enjoy being groomed, washed and even ridden! We see a bright future for Marmar and we know just the right patient, caring home will enjoy all the positive qualities this pony has to offer!
