advice pls. does forward and sensitive

soulfull

soulfull

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Always or nearly always come with being at least being a little sharp/spooky/ etc

Im looking for a new horse and would love a forward sensitive horse that is also mega safe. However I wonder by the nature it mean more horse than I could deal with.

I think I am inberween horses like you can be in between clothes sizes

As this will be my last horse (age and money) I want to get it right
 
No, not always. My welsh cob is forward going and can be 'quirky' but is quite safe. Yes she looks at things and can put in the odd spook but I wouldn't describe her as sharp or spooky by nature.
 
I think yes, as long as the rider is confident and assured iykwim.

I think the type of horse you describe could go off the rails so to speak with a novice rider - hope you find your perfect match :)
 
Depends what you mean by sensitive. My horse is forward, and sensitive to your aids -but not spooky/hot/sensitive to his surrounding. Only need to apply the aids lightly and he responds. He is very safe, my novice mum can hack him alone bare back. However if you were to panic and grip onto him tightly with your legs in a panic, he would go forward - probably very quickly! So although a horse can be sensitive and safe, being sensitive and forward might also mean they wont/cant let you away with mistakes - as otherwise they wouldn't be sensitive if they didn't listen - if that makes any sense! lol
 
Kind of get where your all coming from. I'm not a novice rider, but am more mature now so don't bounce.
I've just had to retire the welsh mare in my sig. She was forward and sensitive to a point. A novice would have scared her.

I'm now looking at bigger horses and the thought that they might do some of he things she did is a bit unnerving, but I want it all lol
And I am an not looking for a cob at the moment. But wont say I won't end up with one.
 
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No, you can have hot and forward thinking but not at all spooky. There's quite a few welsh cobs and crosses like that. I had a really buzzy ISH that wasn't particularly spooky, just over-excitable (he was a bit of a stress head too though) :)
 
Flame_ said:
No, you can have hot and forward thinking but not at all spooky. There's quite a few welsh cobs and crosses like that. I had a really buzzy ISH that wasn't particularly spooky, just over-excitable (he was a bit of a stress head too though) :)
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Yeah but I don't want fizzy either just the good bits lol!
 
The aim with every well schooled horse is to have them forward and sensitive off the leg, surely?
As such, I think you should be able to find a well schooled horse that isn't likely to shoot backwards at the sight of a plastic bag! But they do generally have a price tag that would make ME shoot backwards :')
 
Yeah. I guess that's the thing, the price tag. I don't even mind green so that could bring the price tag down. But I guess puts the risk back up again
 
A steady horse can be schooled to be forward and sensitive. The photo is of the last Police horse I trained, Harry. He was a lazy young cob X ID when he came. Believe me, I would not wish to ride a lazy horse for 4 hours at a time, my legs would have fallen off!

He was schooled to be forward and sensitive. Not so sensitive that I could not do my job on him, but light off the leg, and what the biggest lesson for him to learn was that once I had set a speed he would keep at that speed until told otherwise. I could set him off, and steer, but he would self propel for hours.
Schooling%20Harry_zpstmvwnnw8.jpg
 
Red-1 said:
A steady horse can be schooled to be forward and sensitive. The photo is of the last Police horse I trained, Harry. He was a lazy young cob X ID when he came. Believe me, I would not wish to ride a lazy horse for 4 hours at a time, my legs would have fallen off!

He was schooled to be forward and sensitive. Not so sensitive that I could not do my job on him, but light off the leg, and what the biggest lesson for him to learn was that once I had set a speed he would keep at that speed until told otherwise. I could set him off, and steer, but he would self propel for hours.
Schooling%20Harry_zpstmvwnnw8.jpg
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I guess, but surely there are some horses that just never learn that no matter how you try
 
I don't think so :) My two driving ponies are super responsive and forwards (both ridden and driven) yet only one is sharp (ridden only- and he is very green under saddle still) the other isn't :)
 
My grey is forward thinking and goes off a light leg aid, but she is also very sensible which is great as I'm a complete physical wreck on my 'bad' days. So yes, they are out there, it's just finding them that's tough.
 
I don't think sensitive = spooky but I do think forward will nearly always = "fizzy", You could school a slower horse to be forward enough, but a naturally forward thinking horse will always default to even more forward imo.
 
I think it depends what you class as sensitive and what you class as hot.

I have a hip problem and am much weaker in my legs than most. I have had 2 youngsters from 4yo's that I produced myself, I would have said they were both sensitive to the aids, however anyone else who got on them said they were 'hot' and over reactive and struggled get a tune out of them. Unknowingly I made them both super-sensitive. This has also worked against me when looking for an older horse, as I always ask how reactive they are off the leg, ride them and they're a bit numb to me (as I'm weak in my legs).

One of those 4yos was as sensible as they come, but yes she was sensitive and you had to sit very quietly. The other was sharp, spooky and difficult as anything, but both were super talented. Every horse is different, but I agree with whoever said you might find one like that, but it might have a big price tag too!
 
Forward thinking/forward going/ off the leg does not have to equate to sharp and spooky! (Especially in an established horse - established, not necessarily old/older!)

Sensitive, however .....depends on the definition! There's sensitive and there's SENSITIVE! :)

Just my views...
 
I wouldn't describe mine as fizzy and on days where I'm struggling to walk, she even lets me use her for support and tootles along at my hobbling pace. I was lunging her in the early days of breaking her and some dirt bikes went by, yes she looked at them, but I said 'stand' and she halted straight away. She is very obedient and learns quickly, but she is an arab and is forward thinking and always ready to go onwards with pizazz.
 
Mines forward and off the leg, and as hes a HW cob there is a LOT of power. But hes also bombproof safe and I honestly believe he would never ditch anyone deliberately. He did bareback pony rides for my 11yr old niece at the weekend, but if you get on him in the school and can ride, or ask for anything more than a ploddy walk, then hes off and theres an awful lot of him to sit on. Hes also not for sale at ANY price! I think you are looking for something that has a sizeable price tag. Mines only 5yr old but I have spent thousands on him getting him to this stage. And hes a 14.2hh cob which by default makes him a lot cheaper than the equivalent sports horse.

I went horse shopping with a friend and we looked at an incredible amount of horses, lame ones, not quite right ones, lunatics, things with huge difficult to deal with quirks, etc, etc. My friend was ballsy and wanted something with a bit of go in it. She also had a bigger budget than yours. She even got the train to view one 250 miles away, then it catastrophically failed the vet! We happily travelled up to a 150 miles.We still couldnt find anything! After 7 months of looking she settled for a LW turbo cob, probably mainly welsh. She was quirky as hell, but she was cheap and nice natured, and my friend felt she could work with her.

We couldnt find what you are looking for, except a sharper and with a bigger budget and she wasnt really interested in competing.
 
I agree, you can definitely school sensitivity!

A naturally sensitive horse tends to be sensitive to everything, not just rider imput. Something to bear in mind ;)
 
You can absolutely school forward and responsive (I would not call it 'sensitive'). In your position, I'd buy a steady schoolmaster or even ploddy type and school the forward if need be.

If you want it ready-made, it's a tougher call. A lot of horses are responsive because they are sensitive because they are high strung... And therefore spooky. And many horses are forward because they are energetic, which makes them fizzy (and often strong and sharp too). But every horse is different and certainly forward need not equate to spooky...
 
Thanks everyone.

Of course your all right. It's all relative. In am going to take the advise which you've given and my head was already telling me and keep looking. However when I look back on this shopping experience he will be the one I remember.

Pigeon said:
I agree, you can definitely school sensitivity!

A naturally sensitive horse tends to be sensitive to everything, not just rider imput. Something to bear in mind ;)
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Barnacle said:
You can absolutely school forward and responsive (I would not call it 'sensitive'). In your position, I'd buy a steady schoolmaster or even ploddy type and school the forward if need be.

If you want it ready-made, it's a tougher call. A lot of horses are responsive because they are sensitive because they are high strung... And therefore spooky. And many horses are forward because they are energetic, which makes them fizzy (and often strong and sharp too). But every horse is different and certainly forward need not equate to spooky...
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Its a nightmare. Too many lame horses out there. Not even going to mention the nuts ones
 
No definitely not. Rusty is completely fearless, best hack on the yard, but very sensitive & forwards. Can spook, but not as much as my lazy ploddy gelding Coco. Problem I suppose is that when he does do stuff, he does it quickly, lazy Coco has the turning circle of a cruise liner so you do have time to keep up.
 
My cob is totally safe but very forward and up for anything. She could scare a novice I think, but for me, who is confident and reasonably competent she is the best fun ever. I had got past the stage of wanting to ride nutters but don't have nerves or confidence problems (do have self preservation tho!). She will do everything, and more, that I want to do. I wouldn't say she's sharp but she's got a turbo.
 
soulfull said:
Kind of get where your all coming from. I'm not a novice rider, but am more mature now so don't bounce.
I've just had to retire the welsh mare in my sig. She was forward and sensitive to a point. A novice would have scared her.

I'm now looking at bigger horses and the thought that they might do some of he things she did is a bit unnerving, but I want it all lol
And I am an not looking for a cob at the moment. But wont say I won't end up with one.
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We are looking for the same type and i am struggling to even find one to view....nightmare
 
Hold out, you will find one! I did actually try one before we got our new guy, he was a little too small for me, but very fun and had the safety and forwardness already 100% there. He wasn't expensive either. I know a couple of dealers that would have something for you, can message you their names, but they may be too far south.

In my experience it is always wiser to go for something safe and sane, and then you can install the buttons you want. Very rarely does our level of rider (enthusiastic amateur) outgrow their horse in ability. (in vanity, maybe!) I see far more people over-horsing themselves than the other way around. All sound horses (physically and mentally!) will do riding club level competition, and do it well, with a little perseverance! ;) Even the top riders place temperament as the highest priority. Your horse might be the fanciest mover in the world, but if it spends the whole time spooking at shafts of light, what good is that!

Pippy is super sensitive (e.g a deep breath = canter, adjusting your foot in the stirrup = stop, etc) and although I love him to absolute pieces and wouldn't change him for the world, I could not deal with two of those :p
 
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