I agree with Rich...........sell the horse.  Life's too short.  Like you said, if your husband goes off just one time, then he's off for good.  I'd definetly place a money bet that this horse will spook on the trails no matter how much de-spooking training it gets.

Hi Betty, I suppose the old addage about "majority rules" is going to apply here and I'm going to be part of the majority.  I'm not saying sell the horse right away, because your husband said fix the mare so there must be some bond there some where?  He said that for a reason and I guess it's because he likes her or something about the mare anyway. 

Here's "my" suggestion; keep the mare, but don't let your husband ride her.  If you have an experienced trail horse that will neck rein, pony the mare until you are tired of ponying her with your horse and pony her some more!  In the meantime, borrow a safe, quiet mount for your husband to learn on too.  He's got some learning to do and someone has already pointed that out.  Putting a beginner (non-rider) on a spooky mare is a recipe for a train wreck!  There are some really good horses that you can borrow, lease, buy and sell later that would be a good choice for your husband to learn on.  In the beginning, people and friends thought I was crazy for putting my wife on an Arab gelding since she was a non-rider when we got together.  Yes, he's Arab and can be a little spicey at times but he was absolutely bomb proof on the trails and even to the point of disobeying her in a tight spot and I watched him take control of a situation that he knew what he was doing better than she did!  Needless to say "there ain't enough money to buy him" and he's got a home with me as long as lives.  

There are semi-retired horses out there they would be fine for some weekend riding and the most it would take is an extra bale of hay and a bucket of grain to keep them happy during the week to keep them ready for a weekend ride.  Since you are in Texas, find a ranch that has working horses and work a deal with them for a horse that can't work everyday.  A couple of things might happen; 1. your husband might fall in love with a quarter horse gelding, 2. he might figure out a TWH is not an easy ride on trail unless you really want to move out and cover a LOT of ground.  In the meantime, see what you can do to fix your mare and pony her while your husband is riding with you on another horse that will keep him safe and happy trails to you.  Jack

Long slow miles, tired legs, wet blankets theory does work for most horses.  The problem is that it is hard to find the time to keep those miles on them.   If I go a few weeks without riding, my horse is spooky for the first 20 mintues, then tends to settle in.  I ride him in endurance, trails, mountains, etc and he is fine for me, but, I don't put green riders on him simply because I think he will always have the tendancy to spook when he's  not dog tired.  When he was 4, I sent him to horsey "boot camp" where he was ridden 4 - 6 hours a day, 3 times per week, through every kind of terrain there is.  After a month of this, he kept all 4 feet on the ground, even when  flock of grouse flew up under his nose.  I was amazed at the transformation.  If you have the time to put those kind of miles on her, she may come around.  If not, I'd consider looking for a different model.  The ones who have been raised with a bunch of kids handling them, exposed to absolutely everything, often make the best horses for green adult riders. 

There have been a lot of good suggestions.  I particularly like the one of finding a semi-retired ranch horse.   One other idea:  I understand the Texas State Police have an excellent mounted patrol.  Those horses are as "bomb proof" as they come.  Perhaps you could contact them and find out who does their training.  They might even let you sit in on some training sessions to pick up some pointers.  It would be worth a few phone calls to find out.

Good luck

RIDE ON!

I agree with most everyone else also.  Maybe instead of selling you could look for a TWH to trade.  At any rate life is too short for you to be on the ground or risk loosing your husbands interest if the horse shies out from under him (and the chances of good with this horse)

I work a lot with Arabians and some of them can be a little "saucy" on the trails but once they figure it out......they are rock solid and smart.  The best lesson/trail horse I have ever owned was an Arab mare.....she never spooked or balked at anything the entire 10 years I owned her.   I really like to ride Haflingers out on the trail too....very solid and fearless.

But anyway...you need a TWH so I would advise you to find an older, dead broke gelding and take him out on a trail ride for a few hours before you buy him.  Maybe even a few rides over several days.  Good luck !

I'll second Wendy Hilton, I'd forgotten about that little girl!  My mother was her first paying customer!  She's so big now I'm sure one of her assistants can do it, last time I was at her place down near Kaufman (she may have moved) she had about three assistant trainers.

Tell her Holly says HELLO!  Her little Stud Smokey is the coolest.  She even helped me break my first horse, again another first for her...teaching lessons in how to train.  My mother's App went down there black and turned silver in a week, poor Wendy thought the horse was sick...she scrubbed her in medicated shampoo everyday, weirdest thing she'd ever seen and us too.

Hi IceCrm

Went to the Field Trials at Ames yesterday (my first time) and wow!  It was fun.   Will be getting photos on cloudfarms.com as soon as I can.

Betty:  Please try the B1..........if you want to bring her here then pm me.

I can only guess that was you peeking under the paint? 

Thanks for the pics and glad you had a great time.

Jack

An update... I've found a local trainer that was recommended to me. He works on a cattle ranch, and put lots of ranch work on the horses he has in training. If she can handle working cattle that would certainly be a step in the right direction. So, I'm willing to give it a month and see how she is. I will not put my husband on her if she contiunes to spook. If I end up selling her, at least she'll have some more miles on her and will be suitable for an expernice rider, and not be afraid of cows. :-)

I took my first two young horses to Wendy Hilton many years ago for a starting/ant-spooking clinic. It was very good. Everyone had canceled but me, but she ran the clinic for three days anyway. I took two horses. We worked with one in the morining and the other in the afternoon. I was totally exhausted because she has you do all the work.  I've used that foundation I got during those three days ever since.

-Betty

Jack

That was another Jan.  I'm on the black horse and wearing a black helmet and next to Joe a deputy sheriff and Ames security person (and also a farrier) who is also on a black horse.  It was great.  Too bad I couldn't go today 'cause the weather is absolutely perfect.  Anytime ya'll can,  come join us for camping and riding.  Check out Circle E on the camp/trails board.  We are planning on trying it soon.

Update on my TWH mare. She will be at the trainers for 30 days on March 21st. I talked to the trainer earlier this week and she is doing really good. He took her out on a really windy day and did well. He has big blue tarps hanging off of everything, fences, trees, in the stalls. He said she was fine with them and did real good that day. So at least she won't be afraid of big blue tarps. :-) He said that she is smart, sweet and has the gaiting thing down really well. She will be there till March 30, then on April 14th, I'm taking her to the McKinney Mounted Police de-sensitizing clinic. After the clinic and a couple of trail rides, I'll decide if she is going to be ok. BTW, my husband purchased a helmet the other day, he is looking forward to riding this horse I think.

-Betty

Another update on this mare. She spent 30 days at one trainer, and did not seem to make as much progress as I had hoped for in terms of getting a better handle on her. I found a TWH trainer, Tom, that came highly recommended for solving problems. When he first rode her, he almost didn't take her, thought she might be too much. But after we went out on the trail, he decided he could work with her. First the plan was one month, at the end of that month, she was just getting over the hump, so I left her another month, she comes home on the 7th of July. He's been very honest about every bad habit he's found in her, and her progress of getting past them. He has been riding her up & down his road where rock haulers go and she has no problems with big loud trucks and lots of trail riding. He took her on a organized ride and later people were coming by to tell me how well she did.  He said it was just a real nice pleasure ride that day. She now keeps her feet on the ground when she does spook, which is just a slide step now. I'm told you can ride her on the buckle, she gives to the bit beautifuly, and has an all day gait. Tom thinks Deville is going to be an outstanding trail horse. I went and saw her a week ago, didn't have time to ride, and she looked great and was very calm. Can't wait to get her home next week and try her out, assuming it stops raining in Dallas long enough for the ground to dry out! I still won't put my husband on her for a long while. It sounds like she is at the point I can safely ride her to get some miles on her. When I go to pick her up we'll go on a couple hour trail ride with Tom so I'll know just what to expect. I'll update you all after I bring her home and have a couple of rides on her. Keep your fingers crossed that it works out for me with this pretty mare.

-Betty

I suppose I could call her Spot. :-) She's a black&white walker. Her registered name is Cruella Deville. I didn't get to ride her when I picked her up because of the down pour, but I have plans for her on Saturday. We are going to try the rails to trail in Farmersville. I've never been there before, but I'm told it will be dry enough to ride. Tom says she has a wonderful solid gait. Can't wait.

-Betty