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caleb08

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ive bought a horse yesterday a confidence giver, ideal when went to try him bought him home last night and let him relax all day, tacked up earlier to go for a hack and he refused to go down the lane, he napped quite bad, ears back tried to buck and threw his head down! am i doing something wrong or is he not as i thought?
 
Could be either, or could be a bit of both.
Give him a few days to settle in - he might just not be good with new places.
Have you got a more confident friend who could hack him out in a few days to see how he is?
 
i have yes ill phone her, i did walk him in hand after lol to show him his new home, really hope i havent bought another nutter!
 
contact the vendor immediately. tel him your issues. ask if he will come over asap to sort these out. horse is probably trying it on. are you nervous and passing neg vibes? did horse come with tack? i would think horse is taking the piss.... sorry. you have to be extra firm for first month and set the boundaries. get an instructor and have 3 lessons a week flat jumping hacking. but if you think this is a deep on going problem contact vendors.... asap. like tomorrow
 
I would think that the horse is very anxious, in a new place, no landmarks to navigate by. Has he company in the field? Did he hack alone where you got him from? I would give him time to settle and get to know you and where he is living.
 
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ive bought a horse yesterday a confidence giver, ideal when went to try him bought him home last night and let him relax all day, tacked up earlier to go for a hack and he refused to go down the lane, he napped quite bad, ears back tried to buck and threw his head down! am i doing something wrong or is he not as i thought?

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If you bought him from not far away I would ring previous owner and ask them to come over and hack him down the lane for you, if he was sold to you as a confidence giver and they are genuine they will want to do it.

We sold the same, about 15 years ago now and couldn't beleive it when the new owner rang and said he wouldn't go out the gate...cos he was very genuine. So we went over...only about 30 miles.....and she had a lovely place and he was relaxed in his stable. But it's funny we could see the relief on his face when he saw us.

So we asked the woman to tack him up and she was being a bit too fussy and slow, so I told her to be a bit more businesslike just for the firset few weeks. Anyway I jumped on and she followed on her bike and off we went no probs at all for about two miles, she jumped on and rode him all the way back and I rode the bike!!! thank goodness it was all flat. When we got back I gave her a bit of a lesson on her school and when we left she was beaming ear to ear, we kept in touch no more problems, and she still has him
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So get some help and think positive.
 
thank you so much for your advice, i spoke to his old owners this morning who said he can be a bit funny with new places and he had never napped with them so after his feet are done today i will walk him in hand up the lane and show him the place again, then maybe try tomorrow to ride up there, he was so genuine when i tried him maybe it is new surroundings, i think its because im so worried about coming off that my nerves may make him worse!
 
Good luck, another thing is to get a good friend (experienced preferably) or hubby, boyfriend...to walk with you for the first time or two, not holding him but just walking infront. You will feel safer then as well. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
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As others have said, I think he may need a bit of time to settle.

If you can lunge him first and then ride him in the school (or field if no school) at home for a couple of days. Ideally have a lesson very soon on him so that your instructor can help with advice on how to ride him. After a couple of days of this when you have both sorted out how to communicate with each other, ride him in the field first and then take him for a hack in company (ideally with another horse that is familiar with the area but if not with someone on foot). Repeat for a couple of weeks until you are both settled and happy and then go out on your own.

Although the horse is a confidence giver he is still a horse and changing herds and yards is about the most stressful thing that can happen to a horse.
 
Hi,
Ive just been through a very similar problem with my new horse. I bought him back in March as a confidence giver, but when you got to his new home he behaved like a complete lunatic for the first couple of months! I wondered what I had bought, had I been ripped off etc? Ive perservered with him and now he is exactly the horse I viewed and is wonderful, but it had just taken him so long to settle in. Give him and yourself time to get to know one another, spend lots of time fussing him, lunging etc and when you do start hacking ask someone with a sensible horse to come out with you if possible. Im sure you both will be fine, just bare in mind it can take up to three months for a horse to settle in to their new home.
 
i am going through the same thing. I definately agree its a nervous thing, My new mare can be very anxious, i have had her 4 weeks now and she is getting better but we still have bad days. She will stop dead, go backwards, sideways, anyway but forward. If your worried about falling off, jump off and lead him, or just take him "in hand" around the block a few times for him to get used to his surroundings. It definately helps going out with someone. Just think its still very early days, some people dont even ride for the first week or so, I rode mine second day i had her too, but its one of those things that u just need to get on and do, stick with it and stay determined, your horse will look to you for confidence, just make sure ur always boss and u dont give in to him wen he stops, dont get nasty just firm.
Once you have had him a couple of weeks you will know wat to expect and you wont worry about wat hes capable of doing. I was used to a 28yr pony that was bombproof, now i have an 11yr conn x and she can b a bit unpredictable but i now know wat to expect with her, just give it time and keep trying everyday, the more u take him out the better he will get, wen he realises there is nothing that will harm him he will stop resisting.
You will get there
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x x x
 
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