'Gelling' With Your New Horse

About a year, he was very different (mostly in a good way ;) ) when he was fit. He's also quite irrational, but now I can mostly predict how he will react to various things.

With the youngster, less time, he is a simple soul ;)
 
I think it really depends on the horse and the rider. With my 5 yo ID he settled in the day he came and has been really easy to gel with as he's so straight forward and honest, from the moment I sat on him I knew exactly what he was like and he was so biddable and trusting we got on straight away- though he seems to get on with everyone!.
However with my 5 yo homebred, even though I've known him since he was born, I'm still learning new things about him and we're still learning to trust each other, especially in new situations, he is a lot sharper than the ID though! With my other ISH he was very mistrusting and nervous when he came and it took him a long time to settle into the new yard and so it's taken a long time to build a relationship with him, though to be fair I had him sussed pretty quickly, he just needed to trust and gel with me!
So I guess it depends on the horse and the rider- I'm used to riding a lot of different horses so can suss them out pretty quickly but if you're coming from riding the same horse all the time to a completely different one it can take a while to adjust. It also depends if the horse is coming in to a new yard as it can take time for them to settle and only then do you see their true character coming out and get to know them properly.
 
Cheshire Chestnut said:
How long did it take you to 'gel' or 'bond' with your horse? I don't mean fall in love with him/her, I mean so you are confident that you know your horse inside out and you have a good understanding of him/her. Like a full on partnership, if that makes sense?
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A good 12 months I think. It was definitely this summer, which would have been at least 12 months. Finally gelled properly at camp in August. He was amazing and we both learnt so much. Camp was the turning point for me and we now feel like a proper partnership.
 
chestnut cob said:
A good 12 months I think. It was definitely this summer, which would have been at least 12 months. Finally gelled properly at camp in August. He was amazing and we both learnt so much. Camp was the turning point for me and we now feel like a proper partnership.
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I want to do pony camp!!! Going to try and find one somewhere around Cheshire for the summer :D
 
9 months into owning my current horse I would have said I gelled with him pretty quickly definitely within 3 months. However at 10 months we had quite a blip that made me question whether I really knew him.

I have now had him for 2 years and I would say that from 18 months in that I really know him and his trust in me has really grown too. He was a nightmare to catch but since the spring has improved no end and now very very occasionally walks away and never tries to double barrel me as he did a few times in the past. I now trust that as long as I am confident he will go past anything I ask him too even if he is very reluctant to begin with because he trusts me. I now also know the signs to look out for when his neck is sore (old injury, occasionally causes tightness) which was the cause of him running off with me at the 10 month mark. I think we now have a true partnership and I think we have a real bond. Love my boy can you tell? :)
 
First ride at home I thought 'what on earth have I bought' but within a week I knew I'd made the right decision. 3 months in he went through a stage where he got a smacked bottom for cheekily trying it on every day for about 2 weeks. Since then he's been brilliant and I feel lucky to have found him.
 
It usually takes me about a year.

This one probably took a bit longer, he came with severe behavioural problems, and although they were sorted quite quickly there was a lot of "history" that I would probably have been better not knowing!!! I have always been glad I bought him, always happy with him, but I would say it was 2 years before I really trusted him.
 
First one almost instantly, but then I was spending hours a day just hanging out with him, and because of his health issues there was no pressure for him to be a riding horse.

Pip about 18 months :) He still surprises me sometimes, but I think I can mostly predict his behaviour now ;)
 
Pigeon said:
First one almost instantly, but then I was spending hours a day just hanging out with him, and because of his health issues there was no pressure for him to be a riding horse.

Pip about 18 months :) He still surprises me sometimes, but I think I can mostly predict his behaviour now ;)
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I'm slowly getting there with mine too, however he's a crazy pea-brained Welsh D so sometimes I find it hard predicting what he's going to be 'scared' of next!
 
my mare took a long long time! it took me about 5 yrs to trust that she wasn't on a mission to kill me! she's so independent, she only wants a human for food and scratches! id say it took a good 2yrs or more before she trusted me!

my gelding seemed really quick, I will have had him 2yrs in Feb and he was pretty much unhandled and within a few weeks would come to the gate when he saw my car pass the field and trusted that if I went somewhere it was okay for him to go there too! we did have a horrible time at the end of last winter, where he got big and stupid and reared a lot, but we are over that now!!
 
Still working at it with new mare. It's been 5 months now and she is very different to everything that I've had before. I think it takes as long as it takes but I've always preferred the more difficult ones. I have tended to sell the easy ones and they have gone on to good homes. There are a few that I've preferred to keep and work with. I think this mare will be one and she will be a forever horse. I've had my current mare for 14 years now and have her foal who is lovely. The other mare I had for 16 years before we lost her this year.

It is hard sometimes trying to work through the problems but it usually comes right in the end. Perhaps the difficult ones are more rewarding for me!
 
I think it takes at least a year. With my grey it took about 18 months to properly bond with him, with my bay who I only got last year - I didn't like him to begin with and worried we just didn't fit together (nothing bad, but you know sometimes you think your personalities clash) but after about 6 months I totally adore him and think he loves me too ;) I think it depends how laid back the horse is as they're more accepting of new situations and people (my grey for example is not laid back at all, he's anxious of new things and very sensitive). Sometimes though I think you do clash, I've had my little shetland for 20 years (she came with my very first pony) and I've never really gelled with her as we clash, I think we're just too similar!
 
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