caro72
Member
Hi, I'd really like to get some advice regarding my youngster. I'll keep it as brief as I can! I bought him a year ago, he'd been found in an allotment shed, alone, frightened, underweight, I suspect removed from mum too soon. (He'd been won in a pub bet...)
I'm unsure of his exact age, maybe 20 months or so. He was bought by someone on my yard who tended to buy and then get fed up of & sell her horses for spurious reasons, and she wanted to get rid of him after only a couple of months.
I ended up buying him, partly because I was worried where the poor thing would end up next. I've never had a youngster before, but he was so timid and seemed to need some security (his previous owner was very harsh with him, a lot of shouting and hitting) and a stable routine. A year on, in lots of ways, hes a dream - he comes to call, he's very gentle and quiet, he's not anxious or timid, he's not bothered by my kids/ dogs/ any of the other animals/ general chaos resident on the yard - I obviously havent done much with him, he sometimes walks out with me when my children are riding, I let him plod round the yard after me, or just spend time with him, which he seems to enjoy.
But he has always seemed withdrawn and 'switched off' to me, particularly as he's a standardbred; the ones I've known have always been quite a handful!
I never see him running/ bucking/ playing in the field, he always plods about, head down. He seems to need his stable for security - he dislikes being out in the field, unlike my other two, and will often try to come back in after he's been put out - is this something other people have experience of with youngsters? Is it due to his rough start in life, or is it normal?
Any ideas what can I do to help him would be gratefully received! And sorry, this post ended up being more lengthy than I'd hoped! x
I'm unsure of his exact age, maybe 20 months or so. He was bought by someone on my yard who tended to buy and then get fed up of & sell her horses for spurious reasons, and she wanted to get rid of him after only a couple of months.
I ended up buying him, partly because I was worried where the poor thing would end up next. I've never had a youngster before, but he was so timid and seemed to need some security (his previous owner was very harsh with him, a lot of shouting and hitting) and a stable routine. A year on, in lots of ways, hes a dream - he comes to call, he's very gentle and quiet, he's not anxious or timid, he's not bothered by my kids/ dogs/ any of the other animals/ general chaos resident on the yard - I obviously havent done much with him, he sometimes walks out with me when my children are riding, I let him plod round the yard after me, or just spend time with him, which he seems to enjoy.
But he has always seemed withdrawn and 'switched off' to me, particularly as he's a standardbred; the ones I've known have always been quite a handful!
I never see him running/ bucking/ playing in the field, he always plods about, head down. He seems to need his stable for security - he dislikes being out in the field, unlike my other two, and will often try to come back in after he's been put out - is this something other people have experience of with youngsters? Is it due to his rough start in life, or is it normal?
Any ideas what can I do to help him would be gratefully received! And sorry, this post ended up being more lengthy than I'd hoped! x
