Less ideal match of horse and rider living happily ever after...

[tasel]

... well ALMOST happily ever after

!!!

I just wanted to start a thread where people can post about their story where a less ideal match of horse and rider got together and despite all the odds and the mean (sometimes well-meant) whispers of other people at the yard, the horse/rider combination did turn the tables through hard work, and showed everyone else that it can be done.

I will be posting our story soon... it may just take a while as it's a bit long.

 

[lovecharles]

I bought Charles in a bit of a state on March 15th 08. As he got stronger he got more and more dominant. The seller saw a 1st time buyer coming

We stupidly dodn't have him vetted. Turns out to have a variety of problems, but we bumble along doing low level dressage and hacks. He is a swine, very dominant and can be bloody mean! But i love him and i don't think we could live with out each other.

He's the best mistake i ever made.

 

[Mithras]

I remember when I was still at school, a contempory of mine from the riding school bought a 5 y o part-broken 1.1 palomino that seemed quite strong willed and slightly difficult. Exacerbated by the fact that she intended to keep it on the couple of acres owned by her dad. Every one was whispering that it would end in tears as she was only a young kid and not that experienced and had no-one knowledgeable to help her.

Bumped into her at a show a couple of years later where she was winning every jumping class on the same (very enthusiastic and happy) pony, flying round against the clock, soaring over 4 feet in the Chase-Me-Charlie. She had no idea what nerves were and just got on with it.

 

[clairefeekerry1]

well about 13 years ago when i was a young teenager i started riding my friends pony-kerry- they were trying to sell her but every trial she went on she came back as she was far far too fizzy. every time her feet hit a blade of grass she'd go into fizz bomb mode!!!

i was a pretty nervous kid rider and EVERYONE told me not to ride her-even heard someone whisper she was dangerous. but something between us just clicked and yes she always was fizzy but i trusted her 1000% and we went on to do all riding club teams, grasshoppers seris and we were unbeatable locally. i had the best 9 years with her ever and she is now 29 an deservadly retired at home with me to live out her days as she chooses. still love the fact everyone was proved sooooo wrong!!!

 

[zoeshiloh]

When I got Ben on loan, I was told he was a 6yo that had "done a bit of everything" and was "brilliant on roads, great to load and jump". As he was the first horse I had taken on completely myself (had shared horses for a few years) and my parents are completely non horsey, we believed what we were told.

The first yard we were at were very bitchy - I have been told since it was down to jealousy at the fact I had gone out and got a beautifully bred Dutch warmblood that was more than capable of "popping" five foot. However, things weren't all easy - he was a bugger in the field (had to stay in as would not come in unless he was the last one left) refused point blank to go in a trailer or horsebox, and always turned his bum on anyone going into his stable.

After changing yard, I completely lost my confidence with him - he became spooky and difficult, bucking and bolting for no reason. He threw me off on the road, smashing my shoulder apart, and gave me numerous other injuries over the course of the year. One pinned-together shoulder and no confidence later, I called the owner to take him back. She had moved on and not left me a number. After deciding that I would give it one last go, I got a fabulous riding instructor who completely restored my confidence, and within months we were out doing affiliated ODEs.

After competing at the area trials for our PC, his owner suddenly got in touch, saying she was going to sell Ben - well, by this time I couldn't let him go, so we got the money together and bought him. As she signed him over to us, she admitted that he had;

a) only been four when we took him on
b) had never been out of the sandschool (she told us he was 100% on roads, and to hack alone/in company)
c) had never, ever jumped
d) had only been backed two weeks before I took him on loan!
e) had to be blindfolded and forced into a lorry

Eleven years on, I have the most wonderful horse (well, most of the time) who has taken me to national level, and taught me an awful lot. Looking back we made all the wrong decisions when we got him, we believed everything we were told, and we had no help or professional advice when trying him. I wouldn't be without him, although I would have done some things very differently!

 

[WishfulThinker]

My current horse was totally wrong or me - behaviour wise. He was the right type, justnot mentality. And I was a nervous rider, who hadnt ridden in about 4 years.

Queue me being bolted with, barged, taken advantage of and a bone broken. BUT I decided to persevere as he could be a darling, and he would mature. He has and whilst we are show stoppers or SJ wizard I managed a year ago to take him over 4ft jumping, and have done SJ comps on him and survived

. It hasnt all been my hard work tho - I credit my mum with a good bit of it, and the first loaner he had when I was in money issues. She really taught him how to do things

 

[Hovis_and_SidsMum]

I know this is in response to the post i made earier ref lady X at our yard. I just wanted to stress that the biggest issue is that the horse is not capable of coping with her physically. which is a world of difference to what you're desecribing.

i too bought a horse i shouldn't have on paper. An unschooled 4 year old, not long backed and brought in from ireland. I am a nervous novice, with no confidence and a yard full of people teling me i was an idiot.

I wouldn't change hovis for the world. We've had our share of wobbles, he can be like a tank with no brakes, I have come off him twice and twice ended up in A & E. But i love him more than life itself and in his own way he loves me back.

 

[Baileyhoss]

Here's our story..

I picked up B on his 4th birthday from the yard that bred him, he was hurridly backed for selling, but just a real baby. A mane like a bog brush, an alarmed expression on his face, a tail which had been eaten by foals, narrow little chest, no topline. Everything was an experience for him, even trying on his first set of brushing boots he passaged round round the stable.

I have never met such a gentle well mannered pony to handle, however I quickly realised I had bitten off more than I could chew in buying such a baby when it came to riding. He turned out to be very sharp and spooky, never ever bucked or reared, but could drop his shoulder and have you out the side door without a second glance and he did so regularly, very regularly. Schooling, hacking, in a dressage arena any where at any speed. Against lots of advice to sell him because he was too sharp & spooky for me, I kept slugging away. I knew he was a special horse and the one for me, I just needed to make it work.

We were in an ideal location keeping him at livery yard where my instructor was yo. we worked through some issues and our flat work was acceptable, but it wasn't a yard big on jumping and although i loved jumping my old loan horse, B's babyishness & sharpness, quickly led us to have many falls and completely lose confidence in each other jumping.

I resigned myself to standing at the sidelines and jumping for fun out hacking. Then for various reasons we moved yards 3 and a bit years ago to a more competative yard with better facilities.

yo and other liveries were fantastic and we have gradually made lots of good friends. They recognised B's potential and I was delighted when another girl volunteered to jump him for me. She had a sticky start, but within a month I couldn't believe it. My B was showjumping it and LOVING it. he is so agile and talented with a lovely natural jump and I could see his confidence growing by the second. You should have seen me the first time i watched him do a 90 track with her. It looked HUGE, i was so excited and nervous and proud.

It really gave me the kick up the arse I needed. So i went on to lose a couple of stone & find some brave. It was hard work, and I still have wobbles, but...


last september I finally realised my dream of doing BE.
and 12th May 2009 was our 10 year 'ownerversary'. It took a long long time, but I am glad I stuck with him. I adore my spooky pony (now that I can sit him).

 

[Bustermartin]

OK, so my first horse, after I came off ponies was a 16hh Anglo Arab gelding. He was four years old, and only just broken. I was very tall, but only just 13 years old. I had ridden since I was four though so confidence wasn't an issue. However, the first hack I went on with him was with a school friend on her 13.2 schoolmaster. My boy behaved really badly que her mother phoning my parents and telling them he was dangerous and should be shot/sold immediately!

Needless to say neither of those things happened! He turned out to be a real star and we finished up doing intermediate level BE pretty successfully. Culminating with doing Wylye Junior Three Day with a double clear (yes, it was really that long ago!)

We learnt so much together and I owe pretty much all I have done riding wise since them to him. So, so glad that we didn't sell him on!

 

[tasel]

Ok, so this is our story:

I used to ride during my childhood until just after GCSEs, but to keep peace with my parents who thought that studying was the be all and end all, I gave up on riding for my A-levels - this included any sort of subscription and purchase of horsey magazines that would have made me "dream" according to my parents, the daydreamer that I was.

Although I did a few hacks at uni (like once a year), I pretty much gave up on riding until just a few years ago, when I decided to take two lessons with my old instructor whilst visiting my parents on holiday. I was hooked yet again. I guess it never sort of leaves you... you just hide it deep inside of you, that longing to ride once more over the golden fields, feeling the wind brush against your skin or the excitement of learning in a school lesson and finally getting things right.

Once back home, I continued taking lessons again. At first, once a week... which soon turned to lessons twice a week. After a few months, I started dreaming about having my own horse yet again. But back then, we were living in London, and owning a horse there seemed impossible. However, OH and I were soon discussing plans of moving just a bit further out to the country, and when we finally decided to move, I realised there was a yard just 5 minutes drive from where our rented house would be. So owning a horse was back in the game. From here on, it went really fast. I always wanted a WB. After a bit of research, I found one I liked the sound of, but the problem was that the horse was in Germany. The horse was on sale by a stud farm and after talking to the owner, they gathered together a few potential horses I'd be interested in and we flew over there. Bear in mind these were all young horses.

The first horse we saw was so big and strong, OH advised me not to pick it. The second horse was a chestnut gelding that they had accidentally left in the field as they forgot it was supposed to be shown to me. By the time he entered the arena, he had a grass belly, was muddy and really looked quite funny. The third horse was the horse I originally came to see. He was beautiful and did everything perfectly, but somehow, something was missing. The last horse they showed me was a black/brown mare with a white star. She was constantly neighing, and didn't do much right... although still managed to loose jump 5ft. But there was something about her that I liked.

Later that day, I called up the stud farm and told them I was going to buy the mare. They were a bit surprised, but knew I had fallen for the fact that she looked so "pretty". The plan was that the stud farm would keep her for the time being and send her to be backed. This they did, but the German national rider that was supposed to back her concluded that she was stubborn and unwilling to learn. I decided to just take her over to the UK, and get her backed here. The stud farm also told me to just let her be for a few months to let her mature as she still behaved a bit like a baby really.

This we did, and when it came to summer, we sent her out to be backed again. The person who was backing her said it was going to be fine, etc. But after a few weeks, my horse was causing trouble. All of a sudden, the person backing her said that this horse was a serious competition horse (yes, she has impressive breeding), covers a lot of ground, was too intelligent and clever (!?!) and was meant to be for professional riders. She was simply scared of my horse who by that time was running around like a lunatic, bucking like she was in the rodeo ring... and generally wasn't good to handle. The lady said that I had to sell her ASAP. In her mind, I was a complete novice, and should not have a horse that would never reach its full potential with me. I thought about seriously doing that for a few days until I decided... no, this horse is mine. We took her back to her old yard and went back to basics and thanks to the very patient YM there, my horse made progress in terms of temperament.

We have since moved again, and I started spending a lot of time with my horse. I have recently reintroduced the saddle to my horse, she walks around with it... no problems at all. I also jump up and down with my hands on the saddle just to imitate the mounting process. She has also learned to listen to me and be calmer... but she also gets a lot of cuddles and love. I don't thing I am too far away from sitting on her - which really wasn't my plan... me backing my very first horse!!!

I now think that the problems the professionals had with her was that they didn't think on the same wavelength, whereas my OH still says now that I couldn't have found a horse more like me if I tried. Just like I couldn't be bullied by people to do something, she could not stand people who were trying to do the same. Both of us are quite quick-thinking and probably have the same mischievous spirit. We both often look at each other and somehow, I seem to know what she wants to tell me.

It's weird... but now thinking back to when I was younger, when my parents said I used to daydream a lot, I loved films like "The Black Stallion". I dreamed to find that one horse that could not be tamed by others, but would just be mine. What do they say? Be careful what you wish for. But to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[tasel]

[ QUOTE ]
I know this is in response to the post i made earier ref lady X at our yard. I just wanted to stress that the biggest issue is that the horse is not capable of coping with her physically. which is a world of difference to what you're desecribing.

i too bought a horse i shouldn't have on paper. An unschooled 4 year old, not long backed and brought in from ireland. I am a nervous novice, with no confidence and a yard full of people teling me i was an idiot.

I wouldn't change hovis for the world. We've had our share of wobbles, he can be like a tank with no brakes, I have come off him twice and twice ended up in A & E. But i love him more than life itself and in his own way he loves me back.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, it's not totally in response to your story - I agree with you on that owner... TB or bad back and weight just don't go hand in hand... seen it before at yards, should never happen again. This thread is just for all those that go against the odds... like they do in films... just like you have done with Hovis!!!

 

[JLD]

mine isnt as dramatic but is a bit different but I set out to buy a max 16 hh, lightweight type ended up with a 16.3 id x (apparently x tb but more probably cross mammoth ) he was a confidence giver - fine - read he was also stroppy lazy and napped like nothing on earth in the school refusing to move - never any risk of him tanking off. perfect to hack out on the lanes but turned out to have the biggest buck ever and and a complete nutter in company in open spaces. 2 instructors told me to sell him one to shoot him. I have never felt more incompetant than I have done on him - half the time i couldnt even make him trot. I then found an instructor prepared to work with him and very very slowly we made progress, He is still nappy lazy and stroppy but on a very good day can get 75 + in his prelims ( we tried novice - he refused to school any more , we accepted our limits ) I came so close to selling him so many times but we kept going. now i'm pregnant and dont ride much and will have a baby and not ride much and I have a kind gentle horse I can hack out in walk once or twice a week who doesnt care if he isnt ridden for 2 weeks and can rise to the low level occasion when needed. fundamentally he hasnt changed much but my life has and now he is perfeect for it. if I'd gone out and bought my 'dressage' horse i'd be stuffed now and need to look at loaning/selling as it is I have a horse I will keep for ever.