Being sold - from the horse's pov

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mystiandsunny

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I often think we're so lucky that so many horses settle so well so quickly with a new owner. They've been taken away from everything they know - their friends in the field, their home, their owner (if they got on with them). Now there are strangers in the field, strangers telling them what to do - no wonder many object.

Just - the giving horses time to settle isn't 'soft' - it's common sense. Yes, ride them and pop them in a routine, but don't expect them to be their usual selves until they feel safe in their new environment. With a confident, experienced handler and rider, that'll happen faster, as will lack of previous bad experiences. Even with that, one I knew took 18 months to settle and become her sweet, lovely self. But she'd had some really bad times with moving around and we could see her point!
 
I could send my lad to the moon and sit a lunatic on his back and he wouldn't put them on the floor on purpose. That's not to say he wouldn't be stressed, anxious and upset, but hurting his new person wouldn't enter his brain as a solution to his worries.

I can't say the same for a horse I bought a few years ago, and she'd still drop you if you breathed wrong months after giving her chance to come to terms with doing some work.

Hiccups and testing times are the norm while establishing a relationship with any horse, but a horse that floors you during week one after you've just spent £££s for it to do something its supposed to do, just because you wanted to ride it, is not likely to be your new soul mate IMO.
 
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I agree. Some people seem to think that horses are like machines. I have read several times on here, that a pony which is used to going out competing should be able to be expected to settle in new surroundings and be ridden straight away.
However, IMO, competing frequently in new surroundings with a familiar rider, is completely different from being taken away from everything familiar; rider, companions, routines. home surroundings.
When I get a new horse, I prefer to wait a week before riding a new horse. We hack and don't have an arena at home, so apart from anything else, I like to know that the horse knows where to return to if we get separated.
I have known mares that, when looking back, I have realised that they have taken a couple of years to settle fully. I have known others who have settled within a month.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I agree. Some people seem to think that horses are like machines. I have read several times on here, that a pony which is used to going out competing should be able to be expected to settle in new surroundings and be ridden straight away.
However, IMO, competing frequently in new surroundings with a familiar rider, is completely different from being taken away from everything familiar; rider, companions, routines. home surroundings.
When I get a new horse, I prefer to wait a week before riding a new horse. We hack and don't have an arena at home, so apart from anything else, I like to know that the horse knows where to return to if we get separated.
I have known mares that, when looking back, I have realised that they have taken a couple of years to settle fully. I have known others who have settled within a month.
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^^Agreed^^
 
Ok, different side of the coin here - a genuine, well natured horse doesn't turn into a fire breathing monster, which will kick you, bite you, buck you off overnight, or over the course of two weeks. Some people sell nasty horses because they can't manage or tolerate them.

People lie when they sell horses. period.
 
I bought my girl as a project to bring back into work.
I bought her in the early december,...I first rode her mid Feburary. I then only rode her twice, had to move her yard, let her settle there and have only since the moved got her working. She always came across as a lovely natured and calm girly...and she is most the time. BUT she is now very much testing boundaries and I know she still doesnt fully trust me to look after her when we are hacking against the scary monsters like sign posts! And I know I have more testing and more of her real character to come. But, I adore her, shes a good horse and I will give her time and effort. I go at her speed, not mine, and I listen to her.
 
A lot depends on where the horse or pony moves to and efforts being made to allow an easy time settling in. I have a few new arrivals each year, some at livery a few come for short term schooling or for selling, I make adjustments so they fit in to the routine, they are paired up with a friend of similar size with the flexibility to be moved if required. I do not leave an unhappy horse in a field and just say it will get used to it, I will move them round until it finds the right place, although I rarely have to.

They will be expected to work immediately, sometimes the day they arrive, I do not expect them to be perfect from day one but if they have been out competing previously I do think they should be able to cope with basic work in a new home.
I find that by being flexible but having a routine they settle in quickly including one a few years ago that was chucked off a yard for causing mayhem, he arrived and was no problem here turned out in a small group.

The real key is being able to offer a suitable environment that helps them relax, many larger yards cannot do this without making to many changes .
 
Not saying some aren't sold doped etc at all. Just that it must be terrifying and we're very lucky they don't as a rule, go too loopy.

Some examples of lovely, now much loved and treasured ones who were initially a bit unsettled:
- Sweet, steady rock of a horse, bolted with me in first week (was honestly scared), tried to pin me against the wall when I went to pick her hooves out. Was I bothered? Nope. It only took a little while before she was the horse I'd bought.
- My husband's - kicked him in the ribs in week one whilst leading her so he was doubled over in pain, winded, bit him, kicked him while picking her hooves out. Again - a couple of weeks and she was following him around like a dog (and has continued to do so lol).
- Or the one who liked to rear, panicked when out of sight of other horses, was initially unstoppable almost in canter (was quite funny - in an arena, just kept going and going and going until she got tired, then going some more, then she got the point lol). Now she is the sweetest thing ever, tries her utmost for me, stops from gallop in a snaffle no probs.

To add to that, hubby's one WILL dump anyone she doesn't like - intentionally (never a child though, looks after those!). Yet if you earn her trust, she'll give you all she has.

Just - I'm sure there are bad ones, doped ones etc. And sometimes there's no rider there to deal with the sticky bit so you can't take the risk. But a lot will settle, given time.
 
I agree that a change in scenery should not make a normally sweet horse bite, kick, rear or become a maniac...however....if a horse is really afraid, very insecure and then is dealt with in the wrong way then I dont see why the very kindest of horses wouldn't revert to every trick in the book.... I think some people handle it the wrong way too... either through lack of knowledge, arrogance or impatience.
 
I could ride my horse round the block on the buckle. However, if someone nervous got on him, he could be napping, rearing, spinning and being a general arse in no time. That's why he won't ever be for sale.
 
I am very lucky both horses I have now settled in very well when I first had them. Its like I owned them all there life!! But I have had horses before that have taken months to settle in but I will draw a line at them taking the p****. I will give them time to settle and get used to there surrounding!! I would not like being ripped from my friends so I think them!!
 
They are all different and I think many of us get so used to one or two horses over very long periods of time, we then expect a new purchase to be the same. I fell straight into that situtation when I bought a new horse after riding the same 3 for 20 years.

I bought a 9 yr old competition horse from a very well dealer/equestrian centre in Lingfield, lovely horse and not cheap to say the least. The horse had been there for a couple of years and been kept in a professsional environment, very busy yard and on a strict routine of schooling/horse walker/lunge and little to no turn out.

I brought him home to rural middle England feeling rather pleased with myself that the horse would love having peace and quiet, a tree lined paddock, 2 friends and a huge box to live in. The reality was, the horse went to pieces and turned into a nervous, anxious wreck. It took a good 12 months for him to adjust to 'the good life' instead of 'life in the fast lane'.

I have had him a long time now and he has been the best and most succesful horse I have ever had, but I look back and vividly remember the phone call I made to the vendor just 4 days after having the horse, and complaining the horse was mad, bad and I was sending him back.
 
Personally I think the attitude of the rider/handler has a lot to do with it. Many horses will feel worried especially by changing herds (I find my lot are fine moving to a new home as a group, but everyone gets wound up if a new horse is introduced) and if the rider/handler lacks confidence she just ads to the sense of insecurity. In such cases it's the rider/handler that needs settling in not the horse!
 
The previous owner of my girlie had left her at a yard with 1 months livery and said if she's not gone after the month your picking up the bills. Lots of different people came to visit, had a ride and decided no and on her last weekend we viewed her. She needed some schooling, had a grumpy streak but was genuinely very willing and cost virtually nothing. Once at our yard she was given a couple if days to settle then went into work and a consistent routine, and was not at all crazy, or boundary testing but I remember the day I climbed on 9 months later and actually felt her truly relaxed and 'at home'. I do think we expect them to settle too soon and although outwardly they may look ok, it doesn't mean they have accepted what's going on.
 
Totally agree with OP. Far too many people assume straight away the horse is a nutter even though its in a brand new environment, being ridden totally differently by a new rider and its routine is bizarre. Everyone should expect a period of "moving in" time before the horse is settled and its true personality comes out. I got chucked off one of mine 3 times in the first 2 months I had him but he then turned into the most fantastic horse I've ever had!
 
The seller should be able to say 'no' more often too though. My mum was selling a horse on behalf of a friend... A lovely young, novice boy tried her and fell in love asking to put a deposit down, but we said no.

Obviously the seller was a little annoyed we didn't allow it, but he did not canter her due to nerves, she was a lot of horse for a novice and I don't know how people have it in their heart to sell a horse when it's an accident waiting to happen.

I've been lucky when they move. Believe I talk too much and it confuses them so much they just go with the flow :p
 
Flame_ said:
I could send my lad to the moon and sit a lunatic on his back and he wouldn't put them on the floor on purpose. That's not to say he wouldn't be stressed, anxious and upset, but hurting his new person wouldn't enter his brain as a solution to his worries.

I can't say the same for a horse I bought a few years ago, and she'd still drop you if you breathed wrong months after giving her chance to come to terms with doing some work.

Hiccups and testing times are the norm while establishing a relationship with any horse, but a horse that floors you during week one after you've just spent £££s for it to do something its supposed to do, just because you wanted to ride it, is not likely to be your new soul mate IMO.
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Completely disagree. I think you are being totally unsympathetic. All horses are different. The horse that did become my soulmate, my mare, was a nightmare for the first year. Everyone told me to sell her. You name it, she did it! But she ended up the best horse I have ever had, and even though she is now retired through injury, I wouldn't sell her for a million pounds.
 
Great post! :D And one I agree with wholeheartedly. So many new horse/human relationships can be sullied or ruined in the first few weeks with the expectation that the new horse will be the same as it was when it was tried.

For example... all horses, no matter how placid and "bombproof" have the occasional moment. If you've had your horse and year and it has a moment, you deal with it and move on because you know that it's not a usual behaviour. If that placid and bombproof horse has it's annual moment in the first week of ownership (as it is likely to do with a new owner, new location etc) a lot of owners panic and start to worry... thinking they've bought the wrong horse. They get panicked and wound up, the horse senses this and becomes tense as well.... and thus starts the downwards spiral of a promising relationship.

I definitely think you need to give them time in a new home. Hang onto the memory of how they were when you tried them in their previous home and remind yourself that one day they WILL be settled like they were there. Don't put too much pressure on either yourself or the horse.
 
wonkey_donkey said:
My horses are regularly stables away from home at shows and have their routine changed and neighbours as strangers but they still perform and don't misbehave.
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but you are there with them i presume? so you are their security still so not quite the same as a horse/pony moving to a new place with new people.

I know we don't like to anthropomorphise but i liken it to starting a new school or job, you feel a bit out of your depth, you don't know your way around, you're trying to suss out your new school/work mates and find your 'place':) unless you are one of the few people who are so self confident that they never have any nerves then it is an unsettling time;) why do we expect horses to be any different:confused:
 
My two are unsettled if I go away on holiday and leave the yard to do them, and that's not even moving location/friends etc! My trustworthy bigger horse who I'm currently happily riding at 5months pregnant, gets very spooky and silly and is quite a handful for pretty competent grooms to ride, and we don't even bother with my youngster as it would just be a step too far, after a long period of rehab, to have a different rider on board just yet. They walk their stables, are awkward to lead to the field, and just 'not right'. I get back, and they're the angels I left behind (although lots of cuddles are demanded lol!). Horses do get attached to humans - we're their security and their safety. They know things will be as they expect them when the 'right' human is around.
 
The other thing to remember of course is that your existing horses may also be unsettled by a new arrival, whilst the herd hierarchy and dynamics are re-established....
 
I always give new horses a few days to settle before I ride them.

I think it is being courteous to them. We forget that horses have much more sensitive hearing, smell etc than we do. Their senses must be bombarded with all the different stimuli when they are moved, and that is on top of losing their herd and being plonked into a new one which in itself must be pretty stressful because they won't know their position in the hirarchy.
 
One of the most poignant things I have ever read (I can't quite remember where now it could have even been on here) Was of a mare who had been taken to a mart, was obviously well looked after, left in her pen, whatever the circumstances were nobody knows but she stood the whole time in a corner of her pen staring at the direction her owner/s had gone, awaiting their return which never came.

My daughter once had a 'sleepover' at a friends house, a mile or so away from the yard, she hacked there on her pony, popped him in one of the paddocks next to their ponies. Went into the house. He refused to graze or eat unless he could see her, she ended up sitting in the window adjacent the paddock so he knew she was there and going out regularly to reassure him that she was still there. After a few hours he did start to settle but always had an eye on the house and the window. It makes you wonder.

No doubt some horses accept and manage easier than others. One of my mares had been passed around so many homes, her reputation grew worse for bad behaviour, no-one wanted her. Five years later I still have her, all she needed in the bigger scheme of things was a security and a home.
 
One thing that I have noticed with people that I know, is that the ones who have less trouble with new horses settling in are actually very, very good horsemen/women. The same horse would probably react very differently to the same new yard if the owner was less experianced.

RE Tormenta's post. My grey, who I've had from a yearling is often taken out on in-hand walks. We once took her to the village shop to get the paper and as I needed a wee, my Dad held her while I went into the WC. When I came out (all of two minutes later) she neighed really loudly and he said that she was upset and really didn't like that she couldn't see me. Poor love. ;) She's normally an easy going, takes everything in her stride, although slightly bossy type.
 
I buy them get them home put them into a routine from the moment they arrive I work them the next day they then get worked six days a week from then like everything else ,of course I tailor the work to the stage they are at if they are at the competion stage I get them out somewhere within the fortnight to see where I am at even if I intend to train for a while rather than compete .
I believe in no messing ,this is here this is what we do ,you get on with it , I am in charge is my message to the horse some take time to settle some it does not seem to bother others at all I never have ridden issues but some take a while to settle on the yard but I think routine and work gets them happy quickest.
 
Goldenstar said:
I buy them get them home put them into a routine from the moment they arrive I work them the next day they then get worked six days a week from then like everything else ,of course I tailor the work to the stage they are at if they are at the competion stage I get them out somewhere within the fortnight to see where I am at even if I intend to train for a while rather than compete .
I believe in no messing ,this is here this is what we do ,you get on with it , I am in charge is my message to the horse some take time to settle some it does not seem to bother others at all I never have ridden issues but some take a while to settle on the yard but I think routine and work gets them happy quickest.
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Well said. Me too except the day after they arrive "work" is normally just a lunge and pratting about with saddles unless they come with one.
 
I think it depends on the life experience of the horse and the new owners approach. My last horse was a total angel for about a week before he reverted back to type when I finally sold him, however they were aware of his issues and thought that was all too good to be true. My current horse had basically been on a dealers yard or in full livery at private schools before I got him and he was totally confused by the whole DIY yard thing. He was really quiet, withdrawn in his character, riding wise he was just the same as when I had tried him, which was to be expected as he was at an old friend's yard having arrived there two weeks earlier from another dealers yard for them to try out. Hence he was used to being moved about so riding wise how he was when I tried him was going to be similar to how he would be on arrival at mine. He took over 6 months to adjust mentally, he now knows my car before I even turn into the drive (I've been told he whinnies in a particular way around 2 minutes before I pull into the yard), he 'talks' to me all the time when he's in and watches me when I'm on the yard. He is far more interactive with me. His ridden temperament has been pretty much the same all the way along, he is more confident now but has always been very obedient, the reason why I bought him!
 
I see your point, it must be horrible especially for a one person horse whos been in the same home for years to be sold. However I do think the settleing stuff is a bit rubbish, yes they may be out of sorts but I do think people use it as an excuse.
My mums horse was dropped off at her trainers yard for boot camp for 10 days while she went on holiday. Totally different yard, routine, people he doesnt know, rider he's unfamiliar with but he was there to work and be trained. He settled fine and got on with it.
It does take a while to get to know a new horse and vise versa granted, and a horse can get unsettled in a new yard even with the same owner ect. However I think it's best not to pander to the horse, get it in a routine straight away, get it ridden and in proper work and just get on with it. All this 'my new horse is going mad so I haven't ridden him as he is stressed and ive spent 3 weeks brushing him instead untill we bond' is a load of clap trap imo. No wonder said horse gets confused, they need boundaries, work and routine.

I won't sell my horse though, he's with me for life. I love him to death and i'd never send him off into the unknown. From a cold hard view though realistically he would probably be fine and settle quite quickly with the right person.
 
a few years ago my fella went out on loan, he was totally 100 percent on the road, loanee had rode him maybe 10 times and took him to sponsored rides, so I knew she was capable and she was happy riding him doing stable jobs etc. So he went to farm looked happy, but she rode him out and he threw her off bucking and rearing the first week she tried to ride him out. he stayed three weeks without being able to settle. She sent him back. I had had an operation so could ride him for a couple of months. YO went and rode him for her said he was a total idiot. She hadn't fed him anything different etc etc.

He came back walked off the lorry like nothing had happened. That week the girl came to ride him and he was back to normal. if I had of sold him I would be a dishonest person in the posts we read about.
 
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