Gemz66
Member
Hiya
I’m hoping to get some advise because I am slowly losing my confidence and unsure what to do
I have brought my first pony after having children and finally being in a position to, previously had part loans and helped friends out in exchange for riding along with taking lessons, he is a welsh section D 14.2 gelding, I knew he had been out of work for a year or so but had previously done dressage, beach rides, hacked alone etc and was told he was just needing to be brought back into work, he has stayed at his field (I have taken it over along with him from previous owner) so he is still with the herd he has always known and the only real change is ownership. Previous owner didn’t do much with him during the time she had him really i have since found out, he was more of a field ornament imo.
The first time I ever tried to get him out of the field for a groom he played me up bucking and rearing and bolting back down the lane to the field, ended up next time taking him up with his field mate and he was a lot better, eventually built up to getting out for a ride but I have never felt ‘safe’ on him, recently when we take him into the paddock to be tacked up he will stand for a little while and then becomes impatient pawing the ground, he breaks away and proceeds to charge around the paddock throwing bucks and rearing/tossing his head, when he’s calmed down I will re-tie him on and carry on tacking him up so he knows it won’t wash (heart in mouth whole time) I get on and he will be ‘ok’ he is very stubborn and not happy going certain routes, today I felt very uncomfortable with his behaviour so got off him whilst out, I would rather walk him from the ground than risk injury, one of the girls from our yard who is a lot braver than me wanted to get on and push him through it, he was ok for about a mile, when we came to the main road (usually fine on this road) he started to play up, I was on her horse, I told her to get down but before she had a chance he started rearing and bucking and threw her off before charging down the main road at full speed (there was 4 of us out) I jumped straight down and handed the reins to her and went after mine, I thought he was going to run back to our field which was near but he must of thought oh shit I’m on my own and came charging back to us and I managed to steady him and grab his reins, my husband was lead reining our daughter so I took over that and he walked my horse back, the whole time he was biting at my husband and kicking out at him (he is bitey) when we got into the paddock he continued throwing bucks and being a general knob and it took 3 of us to safely return him to the field
Dentist has been out, teeth are fine, I have a saddle fitter coming to check his back and all tack (although all the same as he had before) and I am going to cut his feed back but I am at a loss what to do if his tack is ok, He is starting to really scare me and I’m losing my confidence big time, I know the people who had him from foal so messaged them tonight, she said he was grumpy and tbh a bit to much horse for her and this is why she sold him on, previous owner swears he’s never done anything like that before and that it must be his tack....
I just want a nice horse I can go for a safe plod on and have found myself owning a horse that scares me and one I don’t trust, he tries to bite a lot and head barge me out of the way, his manners are terrible and when I try to do ground work with him he puts on the same show as he does when we tack up to go out, I don’t want to give up on him but don’t know what to do 😩😩😩😩
I’m hoping to get some advise because I am slowly losing my confidence and unsure what to do
I have brought my first pony after having children and finally being in a position to, previously had part loans and helped friends out in exchange for riding along with taking lessons, he is a welsh section D 14.2 gelding, I knew he had been out of work for a year or so but had previously done dressage, beach rides, hacked alone etc and was told he was just needing to be brought back into work, he has stayed at his field (I have taken it over along with him from previous owner) so he is still with the herd he has always known and the only real change is ownership. Previous owner didn’t do much with him during the time she had him really i have since found out, he was more of a field ornament imo.
The first time I ever tried to get him out of the field for a groom he played me up bucking and rearing and bolting back down the lane to the field, ended up next time taking him up with his field mate and he was a lot better, eventually built up to getting out for a ride but I have never felt ‘safe’ on him, recently when we take him into the paddock to be tacked up he will stand for a little while and then becomes impatient pawing the ground, he breaks away and proceeds to charge around the paddock throwing bucks and rearing/tossing his head, when he’s calmed down I will re-tie him on and carry on tacking him up so he knows it won’t wash (heart in mouth whole time) I get on and he will be ‘ok’ he is very stubborn and not happy going certain routes, today I felt very uncomfortable with his behaviour so got off him whilst out, I would rather walk him from the ground than risk injury, one of the girls from our yard who is a lot braver than me wanted to get on and push him through it, he was ok for about a mile, when we came to the main road (usually fine on this road) he started to play up, I was on her horse, I told her to get down but before she had a chance he started rearing and bucking and threw her off before charging down the main road at full speed (there was 4 of us out) I jumped straight down and handed the reins to her and went after mine, I thought he was going to run back to our field which was near but he must of thought oh shit I’m on my own and came charging back to us and I managed to steady him and grab his reins, my husband was lead reining our daughter so I took over that and he walked my horse back, the whole time he was biting at my husband and kicking out at him (he is bitey) when we got into the paddock he continued throwing bucks and being a general knob and it took 3 of us to safely return him to the field
Dentist has been out, teeth are fine, I have a saddle fitter coming to check his back and all tack (although all the same as he had before) and I am going to cut his feed back but I am at a loss what to do if his tack is ok, He is starting to really scare me and I’m losing my confidence big time, I know the people who had him from foal so messaged them tonight, she said he was grumpy and tbh a bit to much horse for her and this is why she sold him on, previous owner swears he’s never done anything like that before and that it must be his tack....
I just want a nice horse I can go for a safe plod on and have found myself owning a horse that scares me and one I don’t trust, he tries to bite a lot and head barge me out of the way, his manners are terrible and when I try to do ground work with him he puts on the same show as he does when we tack up to go out, I don’t want to give up on him but don’t know what to do 😩😩😩😩