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Well, there's less swearing now that I've calmed down some.
As I said, I went to go see that lovely little bay gelding.

Him

Well, the guy was honest over the phone and said how he'd bucked him off but that it was his fault. The first time he'd asked him to pick up his pace and the horse hadn't moved so he nudged him with his spurs (You don't use spurs on a greenie! Especially if you don't know what you're doing!) and the horse exploded. Shocking, I know.

Well when we got there he filled us in on a few other things. This hadn't been a gelding sitting in someone's pasture just eating grass for seven years- no, he'd bought an untamed, untrained stallion. Actually two of them. But they started beating the crap out of each other (Again, shocking...) and he returned one.

At this point I couldn't help myself and I asked him why the hell he bought a stallion?!

Yep, because he was pretty.

*Face Palm*

He got the horse gelded (thank God.) But it'd only been about 4 weeks.

He said the horse had also kicked at him and had charged and bit him the other day when he was round penning him. He'd been trying to get him to react and change directions a lot when the horse "suddenly" got aggressive. He said this had been a major breach in his trust. (In your trust, what about your horses trust?)

Then he told us how he'd gotten fed up and wouldn't have a "dangerous" horse around his kids. (GOOD. But why would you buy a wild stallion in the first place?!) He was tired of the horse being unpredictable and aggressive, blablabla.

That was about when I had my fill of people for the day and went into the pen with the gelding. The guy told me I'd want to take the stick/bat- not for abuse, but to protect myself from the unpredictable/aggressive horse. 

My face

So I went in with my helmet on, my clicker bag and a halter/lead rope.

It was pretty clear from the moment I walked in that this horse wasn't aggressive. He was goddamn terrified. In fact, he was extremely submissive- constantly getting out of my space- he wasn't even comfortable being pet/touched.

I immediately abandoned any idea of riding him. This horse was about as mentally prepared for that as a first grader is to do calculus. 

I did some clickering and we played the following game- you know, putting him in charge of working with me. Making him use his brain for once. He did, but he would still leave if I pet him.  

I eventually tried sort of crowding him into a corner to see what he'd do and how he'd react. Since he was so 'unpredictable and aggressive'. Well his response was to look at me, tense his neck muscles and swish his tail a little bit. So I backed off. It was a pretty clear "I'm not okay with this, please back off" signal to me.  Not being an idiot or suicidal, I backed off. 

That was a perfectly rational response to my actions- he was scared, getting overwhelmed and he gave me clear warning to stop. I feel it's important to remember that he'd been a stallion until very, very recently so his flight or fight response isn't going to be as easy to manipulate as a gelding. 

While naturally submissive, he's going to defend himself if he feels trapped. 

The guy had said that he kept doing "disrespectful" things like turning his butt to you. (I should also mention this guy was a follower of Clint Anderson- not that there's anything wrong with that, but this guy clearly didn't know about release and timing and those methods do not work with without that knowledge.) Yeah. The horse was trying to get away, not being disrespectful. 

After a bit, I knew this was way more of a project than I could take on right now. Also that we're leaving for a while in under a month and I can't let my neighbor feed a horse that can react to things dangerously.

I don't think the horse was naturally aggressive or mean in any way, but he still reacted to things like a stallion who'd never been taught things would. And that absolutely can be dangerous.

I mentioned that I didn't think the horse was actually aggressive- he gave me clear signals he was having problems coping. The guy said he hadn't done that with him.

I said actually he probably had, but it just takes years of practice to spot them when they're small.

He got all defensive. 

Come on now, I wasn't even saying that you're a fucking idiot and you have no business owning this horse or that these problems were also your fault. I WANTED to, but I didn't. I think I should have gotten a cookie for that. 

I did say that I'm amazed he rode the horse. Because I am. That horse had NO business having a saddle, much less a rider, on his back for a very, very long time. I wouldn't ride him right now if you paid me. I think it's cruel and stupid personally.

He said he'd ridden him several times but he'd been fine... I really, realllllllly wanted to ask, "And how long did you run him in the round pen before that?"

But again, I didn't. Not being sassy to him actually gave me a headache. 

That poor horse. I feel awful for him. There's nothing inherently wrong with him, but the asshat who bred him and didn't do anything with him? Oh yeah, there's a lot wrong there.

The beginner who has no goddamn business owning a greenie of any kind? Yeah. There too. 

But he's going to take many months, possibly years before he'd be safe enough to sell to a trail rider and I can't have a project that long. I just cant. While I think he's a good horse, there are lots of good horses going to slaughter every day that will not need months to turn them around. That means I can get more of them out of the slaughter pipeline and keep them out of it. 

The poor boy even went so far as to nicker to me and lick my hand at one point. It was heartbreaking. I hate feeling like I'm failing a horse and feeling guilty because other people keep fucking up. 

I know that I *could* do a lot with him if I had all the time, money and hay in the world. But I don't. I can't have more than one-two projects at a time with out pasture size. We have to feed hay year round. 

I also cannot and will not have a potentially dangerous horse around my mother. Her hip still isn't fully healed and she can't walk well and she likes to go out with the horses.

I left the property spitting mad. The first thing I said to my mother: "I have a headache... from all the stupid. I had such a hard time not yelling at the owner." I know he's new. But he's the kind of beginner that thinks they're somehow exempt from being, well, a beginner. You do not magically know more than every other beginner- you are not unique and special because you watched some training videos.

 You have not done a good job with this horse and he should still be in the "Can I touch/halter you" stage of work.  You have done a grave injustice to this poor, sweet animal. And now he's going to pay for it.

You are a asshole. 

Ugh. I hate people.