Any advice,most grateful!

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greyshighland

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What do I do? Bought a horse sold and advertised as 100% safe hack alone or in company,roadwork included.
The new horse will not hack on own, will spin with all traffic and panics if a car alongside
it. Does not like people out walking, bikes and again will duck and dive!
This is with company.
Almost two weeks into purchase he is starting to headshake when ridden,and looks for
an excuse to take off.
He is well and settled ,fed Happy Hoof ,hay,on a calmer and turned out everyday
for 6-7 hours.
I now think he was ridden very hard in school prior to me trying him.
I do not have a school and the previous owner was aware of my setup etc.
They will not take him back and I am to frightened to take him out again as not the
best back again which they knew.
I cannot sleep and feel desperate any advice very grateful, thankyou.
 
Did you have this description re safe to hack alone etc., in writing, ie an ad, or was it word of mouth? I would get in touch with an equine solicitor in the first instance who will advise you. Jacqui Fulton in the Horse and Hound is very good. I think she will advise you to put your misgivings re the horse in writing to the previous owner. Good luck:( There is a pattern to follow. I did it with a dealer ( I know not the same, but a private advertiser has to be basically honest in their description) I got all my money back and we parted amicably:)
 
Hmm this doesn't sound like a happy ever after story. I take it that he came from a private sale ?

Do you have anyone that can help you ride him - did you hack him out before you bought him ? I never did with my mare and I have only got myself to blame for the fact that she won't go out on her own. I have had her for 10 years nearly and sometimes she will do a route that she knows.

Quite a few neds have got a spring in thier step at the moment plus he might be chancing his arm with you seeing what he can get away with. Try working him on the lunge first to get it out of his system and get some lessons on him so you can understand him a bit more. My mare is very fizzy at times (perfect at others) and it take someone on the ground to tell you to stick your leg on when they are flying through the air as it's the very last thing you feel like doing!! You should get lessons with ay new horse anyway but it sounds like you could do with a hand
 
JJBARNEY, thankyou for reply that is good advice, will look into the legal side,have advert
but was private sale.
LADYLINA 83, thankyou for reply also, trouble is with headshaking it could mean something
nasty is brewing with sinus etc ,as for traffic situation very possible will never be right
something must have happened prior to me getting him.
 
Or hayfever ? ask a vet

I can't see how lots of work in a school would have stopped him from headshaking - did you get him vetted as part of the sale? (again something I didn't do but was lucky/young niave so not having a go here ) I take it as part of your trail you didn't try him on the roads either - they say we we live and learn - you won't be doing that again hey

At a guess if you do go to a solicitor they will ask if you trailed the horse, it isn't like buying a tin from a supermarket thinking it is beans and getting rice pudding, you may find that if you have not done the proper checks you might not have a leg to stand on
 
this might sound silly but .... has he always been on happy hoof ? and which calmer are you using ? i had a pony that hyped up on happy hoof and my big horse went spookier on naf magic
 
Thanks again ,I rode him around field and past cars but not on road ,waited at road end as very busy main road,too busy to take a horse on at time.
I am using a Hilton herbs Temperment gold ,he is just so different in every way compared to what I sat on at time of seeing him ,even went to give me a kick when changing his rug
when eating!!!
 
Hmm, I do think one of the problems here is you don't seem to have actually tried him out very much before buying him. If you wanted to hack a horse and are told it is 100% on the roads then i really feel you NEED to take them on the roads when you try them. Seems madness to me to not fully try a horse before buying it.

There is no proof this horse is not as they said, i don't that if horse is scared of gtraffic this wouldn't have come across when you tried him. Did you have him vetted, did you have bloods taken?

I still am of the belief that it comes down to the old "buyer beware". A horse is not a machine after all and, even if they were impeccably behaved when you tried them it does not mean they are going to be the same once you buy them and get them to your own place. Remember, he is in new surroundings, does not know where he is and is trying to find his feet. Also, a horse gets confidence from thejir rider so you they have got to trust you. 2 weeks is no real time at all.

What are the reasons for feeding him what you are feeding? Was he on that before? If not then I would suggest you maybe take him off all the hard feed. It could be something as simple as that. Alsom be assertive with him, confident and firm so he realises you are in charge and are not taking any bullying from him.
 
While the previous owner could have conned you its also very possible that he's just settling into a new home and testing the boundaries. If you haven't built a strong partnership yet then its logical that he might be alot more spooky out on hacks. I would recommend that you find someone to come out on hacks with you, even if they are on foot and leading you from a lunge line.
 
The other thing to consider is that horses can behave differently with specific horses or on their own or with different riders.

I bought a bombproof cob, trialled him on the roads (motorbike wheelied past and he didn't bat an eyelid), no problems with me. With my friend he was terrible.

My current horse is a eejit when hacking with one horse on the yard but when with a youngster he becomes a calming granddad.

Weird.
:D

I do massively sympathise for what it is worth, there was a post on here not so long ago about private seller legalities, might be worth searching the forum.
 
Once again thankyou all for replying,I have since found out he was mainly ridden in school
and a teenager rode him quite a bit too.
Guess the best thing is try loaning him with a list of what he is like truthfully.I do not have the time to restart and chances are he will never change.
Sadly I will miss not having my own but grateful we were not in a road accident.
 
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