Casey76
Well-Known Member
I'm amazed by all of the threads about people (in the world in general) who seek to return a horse after a month, sometimes even less, due to behavioural issues.
While I would say I'm a bit overly generous in allowing a 6-month settling in period before really assessing performance/personality, I think that 1 month is a little short.
Changing environment/routine/feed can be bery upsetting, and often horses who appear to be quiet and obliging are actually shut down trying to assimilate all of the change, then once they are feeling a bit more secure their "personality" appears, or they start objecting, and all of a sudden you have a "problem" horse. How about people show a little more empathy/understanding rather than label their new horse a problem?
I bought my mare from the field, she had been out in the field for almost three years with very little handling and only occasionally hacked around. Moving her from that quiet environment to a busy riding school blew her mind. She didn't shut down though, she went the opposite way and would spook at everything, and nothing (despite being on grass hay only). She would freak out at the farm traffic passing by the exterior of her stable, riding her was like sitting on a ticking bomb, and it severely dented my confidence.
After a month a space became available at the other yard where my youngster was, and we moved immediately. The new yard, though still a farm, was much quieter, and without the masses of foot traffic of the riding school, and she appeared more settled after just a week.
Now that she has been there 6 months, she is back to the quiet, calm but curious girlie I first saw. My confidence is growing again and we are having a lot of fun. She is still a lot sharper to ride than I expected, but I can cope with that.
However, if I had been of a different mind, I could have sent her back within a few weeks as she is not what I was expecting, I felt over horsed (with a 13.3 pony ), and a completely incompetant rider (again).
I'm not saying that no one should return a horse if missold, but I would certainly allow a longer settling in period than first imagined, perhaps?
While I would say I'm a bit overly generous in allowing a 6-month settling in period before really assessing performance/personality, I think that 1 month is a little short.
Changing environment/routine/feed can be bery upsetting, and often horses who appear to be quiet and obliging are actually shut down trying to assimilate all of the change, then once they are feeling a bit more secure their "personality" appears, or they start objecting, and all of a sudden you have a "problem" horse. How about people show a little more empathy/understanding rather than label their new horse a problem?
I bought my mare from the field, she had been out in the field for almost three years with very little handling and only occasionally hacked around. Moving her from that quiet environment to a busy riding school blew her mind. She didn't shut down though, she went the opposite way and would spook at everything, and nothing (despite being on grass hay only). She would freak out at the farm traffic passing by the exterior of her stable, riding her was like sitting on a ticking bomb, and it severely dented my confidence.
After a month a space became available at the other yard where my youngster was, and we moved immediately. The new yard, though still a farm, was much quieter, and without the masses of foot traffic of the riding school, and she appeared more settled after just a week.
Now that she has been there 6 months, she is back to the quiet, calm but curious girlie I first saw. My confidence is growing again and we are having a lot of fun. She is still a lot sharper to ride than I expected, but I can cope with that.
However, if I had been of a different mind, I could have sent her back within a few weeks as she is not what I was expecting, I felt over horsed (with a 13.3 pony ), and a completely incompetant rider (again).
I'm not saying that no one should return a horse if missold, but I would certainly allow a longer settling in period than first imagined, perhaps?