Horse nervous to mount/ride

I have bought a couple over the years from the Cavan sales - both sold with the required vet cert. but in both instances I immediately had them done by another vet whilst still at the Cavan sales centre. One passed again with flying colours. The other failed on trotting on a circle on hard ground so I rejected him straightaway and my winning bid was discounted and my purchase went no further.

Very pissed off seller in the second case who still tried to argue to the second vet that the horse was sound but clearly it wasn't. It is entirely possible that when the seller's own vet did the vetting preparing for going to the sales that the horse was then sound, so much can change in just 10 days.
 
My friend bought a nice sort of Irish mare at Melton Mowbray sales. I can't remember the back history on her but it turned out to be impossible to mount her from the stirrup. You had to be legged up and on the move. Lovely tempered mare but someone had made a real mess of her. She went on to breed some cracking foals with excellent temperaments.
 
Irishsportgirl said:
Thanks or your response . Yes the horses are vetted so that they can go through the sales. It was Gorsebridge Sports Horse sales.. the advert stated 'broken, riding and lunging well over poles, has hacked out on roads'..
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That is bizarre an aged horse is only advertised "broken, riding and lunging, has hacked out", that's what I'd expect from a 4 year old. Something strange is in this horse's background, maybe he was broken quickly for the sales. From your description he is a totally green horse and I would treat him as such.
 
Harry Houdini said:
That is bizarre an aged horse is only advertised "broken, riding and lunging, has hacked out", that's what I'd expect from a 4 year old. Something strange is in this horse's background, maybe he was broken quickly for the sales. From your description he is a totally green horse and I would treat him as such.
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It's a perfectly normal description in Ireland for a multitude of horses.
 
Harry Houdini said:
I'm Irish and very familiar with breaking youngsters here, but it is very strange for a 13 year old horse to only have achieved this minimum level.
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But it’s not about the level, it’s about a description applied to loads of different horses here of all ages - just read the catalogues and it’s repeated over and over. I agree you’d expect a horse this age to have done more and I’m surprised they’ve not fleshed out the description a bit, but for people thinking it’s a strange description, it’s not.
 
I agree with everyone who has said take the horse’s training back to the very beginning and don’t progress to the next stage until he is completely non-reactive and relaxed. You’re both enjoying walking out in hand so maybe introduce some simple groundwork during your walks to begin with. Is it possible his issues with being mounted arise from remembered pain from an ill-fitting saddle? When I was over here in Ireland looking for a property to purchase I stayed at a B&B/riding stables. The owners told me there were no saddle fitters in Ireland when I asked for a recommendation. There are if your wondering. I‘ve been invited to side-saddle meets where a hireling will be made available but you must bring your own side-saddle. I wouldn’t do that to a horse or myself. Quigley was four years old when I bought him but had extensive white hair over his withers and shoulders from ill fitting tack. So if radiographs depict no issues with his back and his saddle fits, the reaction at the mounting block, fear, trembling and flight, would appear to be psychological and not necessarily 14 years in the making. He may have been restarted recently with a view to selling in an unsympathetic and hasty way in a saddle that caused him a lot of pain. As you can’t return him, don’t want to sell him on and can’t keep him as a retired to the field, I can’t see that you have anything to lose by spending time with him on the ground and slowly progressing at his pace to hopefully gain his trust and help him overcome his fear.
 
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