Horses that have been neglected and abused will have special needs. Some owners starve their horses in the mistaken belief that it will "break" the animal and cause it to be more obedient. It will eventually kill the horse but it won't garner one ounce of respect from the horse towards the person that treated it that way. Another way people mistakenly "train" horses is through physically punishing the horse for not following commands. This usually translates to whipping or outright beating of the horse. The horse will usually either become wild and untrusting or docile and so passive they are afraid to do anything.

Horses that have been treated in this fashion will require months of retraining and assurance that not all humans are out to hurt them. They will also need good food and most horses require medical care from their mistreatment.

Neglected horses require a lot of rehabilitation. They are basically forgotten. They don't receive adequate food, their hooves are a mess and they are usually riddled with parasites both internally and externally. Once again it takes months to turn these horses around but horses are beautifully resilient creatures and once they are on the mend from their mistreatment, usually bounce back and make some of the best companion animals possible.