Bit of a disappointing morning.....with a ray of sunshine.

[Tia]

.......I have a very expensive 3 year old 17hh horse boarding here over the winter. The breeder who has just got the horse back (after being with another owner for 2 years) asked me to pop on her and see how she goes.

The previous owner said that the filly had been backed last autumn and had had 60 days of professional training.....well having bought a couple of my guys who came with this "professional" training, I didn't really put much stock in it as both of mine appeared to know zilch in the training stakes.

So I catch the filly, give her a quick groom and begin to tack up. I put the bridle on (lovely baby bit which all mine love) and within seconds she starts to chomp and become very agitated. I calm her down and proceed to place the saddle on her back....no probs.....until I gently do up the girth. Oh dear, she became very very upset! Once again I talk to her gently and she does appear to calm a little.

So I decide rather than "pop on", I will take her for a quiet walk around the corral. Incidentally the corral is where her heated water drinker is so she is very familiar with this area and it is right next to her field with her buddies in it.

Well we take about one stride and she lunges forward, spooking like crazy and nearly runs me down even though I made sure to be away to one side. I went back to her and talked quietly to her again. She dropped her head and once again appeared to become compliant again. So then I walk off again.....same thing! Lunge forward.

So the next step is I decide to just quietly ask her to walk around me at the end of a 10ft lead rope. My thinking is if she does leap up in the air then at least I won't be underneath her. I ask her to walk on, no whip just move my arm away from my body slightly to encourage forward movement. She bounces in the air and turns to stare at me as if I have just beaten the heck out of her.

Okay methinks, enough is enough and I untack her, place her rug back on and turn her back out. She bombed off........

.....how disappointing it all was.

Had the horse come with no history then I would have assumed for sure that she had never even been bitted, let alone ridden.

Feeling very despondent I saw my big Spotty Horse looking over at me, so I went over to him in his field and he cuddled me. I took him out and decided to have a little ride on him. I haven't ridden him for months and months. I tacked him up and got on and then wandered down to the round pen where he worked beautifully. I then went out into one of the big fields and had a little schooling session on him - he is such a wonderful horse.....always tries to please me.

There was a little jump, only about 2ft, so I decided to pop him over it. He took it perfectly. Do bear in mind that this horse has never been taught to jump and I have only ever jumped him once before back in March. I went over the jump about 4 times and he was perfect in his stride and jumped it so beautifully.

God I so like this horse.

Not sure why I wrote this - I guess I just wanted to put my morning down on paper so to speak.

 

[sleepingdragon10]

Awww Tia!!Thank goodness for Spotty Horse

Sounds like the filly is scared stiff,poor thing

What exactly is she supposed to have done in those 60 days?

Bethxxx

 

[Tia]

Well apparently she has had ground training and schooling in an indoor arena. She is supposed to have been ridden out in company and then later alone. I honestly can't see it though and I feel quite disappointed with it all. I emailed her breeder to give her the bad news and she was really lovely; she is such a nice person....but it doesn't make me feel any better.

 

[JadeWisc]

Had you personally done any ground work with her? Maybe that would have helped before tacking her up. Sounds so skittish though. Not sure I would have attempted to get on her either. Actually....I am positive I would not have.
It feels so much better when a bad ends with a good though. The worst days are the ones where you leave the barn with a bad taste in your mouth and on a sour note! Those are the days that get me down. But the good days....they really make up for it. Do you get that "high" as well after a great experience from the horses?
spotty horse sounds great! (and he is a pretty one) Why on earth would you want to sell him?

 

[Tia]

No I haven't done anything with her. She arrived a few weeks ago and it was a week ago that the breeder asked if I would hop on her once in a while just to keep her ticking over during the winter. I expected her to be properly backed and ridden away, so no reason to even consider doing any groundwork. How wrong was I?

Ah Spotty Horse........well I have cunningly priced him high so that he will be with us for many years to come.

I have deliberated over selling this horse more than any other in the whole of my life - I have constantly chopped and changed my mind and I have turned down prospective purchasers. I would like him to stay but I also would like him to be owned as a single horse for someone who adores him. The perfect scenario would be to sell him to someone who would board him at my farm........that has happened so many times to me so not totally unreasonable.

Today I think I love Spotty Horse.