Poor guy.I bet he is happy you found him.As far as putting the pics in the post,set up an account at www.photobucket.com and download your pics into there.Once you have done that you will see three boxes under the pic,highlight the bottom box.Then click on edit at the top of your page and select copy.Then go to your post box and right click and select paste. Is that clear as mud?

BTW welcome to the forum.

After gelding him (and it actually may be a good idea to start working him while he's still recovering from the procedure--I'll explain later), start in with the ground work. Lunging, sacking out, desensitization, etc. Doing a lot of ground work can go a long way! When it comes time to ride, just use some common sense--take baby steps and have a ground person available to help you out (like if he locks up, they can lead him forward).

There are a lot of good books and videos out there on starting a horse. I don't really have one to recommend, but be sure that the author/teacher stresses safety and taking your time. If you see somthing that doesn't make you comfortable, that's probably a sign. I know you say you don't have a round pen (and that's fine--I don't have one either), it's probably a very good idea to have a small enclosure to work him in for a while. That really limits his ability to get away from you should the situation present itself.

As for the part about working him when he's recently been gelded--he will need regular exercise to help that area drain and the swelling go down. Nothing too strenuous, but walking and jogging will work. He'll also be feeling a little under the weather--use that to your advantage. He may be less likely to spook or jump around, so take the time to thoroughly sack him out then and whatever else you feel comfortable doing. Also, do not be afraid to lunge him quite abit before you actually get on to ride. There is nothing wrong with asking him to work hard and "get the buck out" before you climb on.

Please remember that your safety is the first priority. If you feel too uncomfortable or unsafe, please sell him. I know you want to help him--but you have to help yourself first. Good luck!

WOW! You two have been through a lot! I shouldn't be giving you training advice it should definitly be the other way around!

He looks great now! To get pictures in the body of your posts they will have to be uploaded somewhere like www.photobucket.com and then you link to them. I believe there is a post in the sig folder detailing the basics.

The gelding sounds correct. Around here the proceedure is done either standing or laid out. Different people prefer different things. Standing should be fine with appropriate amount of drugs and clean sterile equipment. I imagine it looks horrible, but it sounds like your vet is doing it the standard way. A few weeks sounds about right for recovery. I believe the vet will leave the wound open. While it's open you won't want to hose directly, but perhaps sponge that area to keep the ooze off his legs and the flys down (you can hose, but you don't want to get water up in the open part of the wound). Hand walking is good during this time as you want them to keep moving (reduces swelling and speeds recovery), but I'm sure your vet will go over all of this with you.

Kudos to you for already putting in so much time and effort already! That's a big step in the right direction

I agree with QHAllaround - WOW is right. You have obviously done A LOT to win this guys trust, and you should start him yourself.

As far as the constant correction is concerned, a lot of that has to do with his age. He is just like a little kid, who forgets that he has to follow rules. It sounds like his nature is to just submit - which will make training him much easier for you.

Your books are good, and here are a few more I would recommend: "True Horsemanship through Feel" by Bill Dorrance, and ANYTHING by Ray Hunt or Buck Brannaman. Clinton Anderson is pretty easy to follow too, but I prefer Tom/Bill Dorrance, Ray Hunt and Buck Brannaman to any of the other trainers.

OK! Took my a while to figure it out but I think I did it! Thanks again to all of you for your help! I will be checking out those books as soon as I can! Here are two pictures of Cappy today. He still has a few more pounds to put on and muscle to build, but he's come along way from where he was! Thanks again!





P.S. - My Hubby now has a question about his horse but I will post it on another thread in general discussions. ¿¿Can old horses learn new tricks?!!?

I understand your reluctance to send her to a brutal trainer. My own Percheron mare still bears the scars from when I sent her to a "trainer" that was recommended to me. He was intimidated by her size and thought that brute force was the only way to get through to her. Of course, she naturally just fought harder!

I've been working with her myself and she certainly trusts me now, she wears her saddle and bridle, leads, ground ties, lunges etc. I'm about to start long reining, or driving her as part of her training. One thing I haven't done yet is actually get on, but I lean across her as often as I can to get her comfortable with having a person above her.

I've been taking it step by step, loosely following John Lyons Conditioned Response system.

I think as long as you take it one step at a time, making sure he is completely at ease with one exercise before moving on to the next, you'll be okay.

I certainly agree he'll be a lot easier to handle once he's gelded.

Best of luck with him.

He's cute! What breed is he?

Hum.... what breed . Thank you Crystalized for the compliment!! You've made me a proud mommy! Well breed... ok, I would say that he is "Azteca", sort of . I don't know if any one is familiar with this breed but it is a wonderful breed! They should be a pure cross between QH and Andalusian. They can also be a cross between Andalusian stallions and "criollo" mares, which is where I would put Cappy. His Father I'm sure was not full blood Andalusian, but since most horses here have either some Andalusian or QH blood, I pretend he is Azteca!! The Azteca is the National horse here in Mexico, but it is really really dificult to get horses registered with them, and most people don't care. I don't know many people who have horses that are registered with ANY association. People just lump them into two catagories: "mutts" and "with fine blood"!!! I'll send a picture of my Hubby's "mutt," Pitaya, so you can see the diference!!

Oh Iv'e read about them

I think that the way a horse is treated when they are first being started will have the biggest impression on them, just like human children. Normally I would be reluctant to say maybe you should think about starting him yourself but in this case I think it is the lesser of the two evils. If you start slowly, listen to your horse you could very well end up with a very nicely trained animal, plus since you did it yourself you will have learned more from him than what you could learn by watching a trainer do it. I started Tar Baby, and learned so much from him, plus I have the satisfaction of knowing that his manners, his undersaddle work is what I have taught him. (Maybe I should say what we taught each other.)

He is beautiful.Good luck with your training.

Patience is key with young horses especially. Sorry I'm not of much more help, but good luck on this challenge!

I just want to take a minute to THANK EVERYONE again for all your great advice, both about gelding him and starting him slowly. We will be gelding him within the next week or so, I just have to agree on a date with my vet, but I will keep you all posted and let you know how it goes. QHAllAround - I will be definitely following your advice about working him a little while he's "under the weather." Thank you very much. Oatbuck- thank you! Beautiful is not a word anyone has ever used to describe Cappy - thank you very much! To everyone else - thank you for the words of encouragement. I will go slow and remember to bring my patience to the field with me!

Well if he does not have any amazing rare good bloodlines gled him like now. Ive been traing green horse for 2 years now. and they can be verry easy if you do all the ground work with them and make sure there is some one there wen you are training is there anyone there that can help you traine??? If there is no one to help send him to a nother state and get him trained but go and check out the place first.