Do you know when you try a new horse

[SAL66]

That it is the right one. I ask because I have just tried a horse, he didn't put a foot wrong he came over from Ireland and is a Tb X conn gelding he was 5 in March. he walked , trotted and cantered and was starting to go on the bridle when asked. He felt nicely balanced, I liked him. I felt safe on him if you know what I mean.

Now he is soo different to my old horse in every possible way and that is what I'm having difficulty with, I felt I had nothing in between my legs and I know he has to put some condition on all over and I guess he has lost alot from travelling.He is very leggy and will have a lovely neck for dressage we hope.
He pops a crosspole with no both and looks like he has a good jump in him, he hacks out in traffic fine.

My next question if after I have been with my instructer and he passes the vetting what can I realistically expect him to be working on.I have never had one this young before and I am in no hurry cos i don't want to spoil things. i will have a weekly lesson on him anyway but I was womdering if long reigning would be good out on the county lanes , or I see plenty of posts re the pessoa.

As I have said already no hurry to go out competing just want to build me him up a little and start his education with me on the right foot.
So any suggestions gratefully received.

 

[Amys_Babies]

At the age of 5 he should be able to cope with whatever you want to do...depending on what age he was broke.

Do you know what age he was broken?

 

[Kenzo]

Every horse feels differnt even if it of the same breed, but if you talking about a 5 year old then he or she will certainly develop more.

There will be a huge amount of difference between a 5 year old and a 7 year old, I'm sure a lot people will agree that have experianced this with there own horses, from owning a youngster seeing over the years how they learn, develop and change physically.

So you can't really compare to another horse to your other one let alone compare to a 5 year old.

The horse sounds very promising from what you say, if all the basics are there, good movement, basic schooling, is sound, good doable temperment and confirmation than you have a good horse to develop into anything you like in years to come.

I personally think it is important to spend a couple of years geting the horse experiance with life in general, hacking, few local shows, traveling, schooling, basic dressage tests and just go witht he flow, never expect anything too soon, better to take things steady and have a horse set up for the job in years to come than jumping straight in, thats when you experiance problems and put too much pressure on them physically, then then injuries raise there ungly head by the time they hit 7, 8 year old.