New cob, new questions

kyanya

kyanya

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Started a trial week of sharing a 15.1 piebald cob last week, he seems like a lovely lad, nice to have on the ground because he wants to know everything your doing.

When I was picking his feet out though, he wouldn't pick his front right up. It was the last one I needed to do, he'd been fairly co-operative for all the others, but he just planted his foot. I tried saying 'Up', leaning my weight on his shoulder and being persistent, but to no avail. So I left it, carried on tacking up, then tried picking up his left front leg and no problem. So I finished tacking up, went back to right foreleg and he planted it once again. And if cob doesn't want to pick his foot up, I don't think I can make him! So I rode anyway, he was sound so don't think it's related to discomfort, but I tried again after the ride and still he wasn't picking up that right fore. I don't know if this is something he often does, but when I went to try him before I had no problems picking all his feet out. He isn't the quickest to pick any foot up, but at least he did do it if you asked enough. Any ideas?

Also, when riding there was much more resistance down one rein than the other (down the same rein, regardless of the rein we were working on in the school (so always down the rein I hold in my right hand). It wasn't like I was holding one rein shorter than the other, it was literally just a hard feeling down the right rein, but a soft feeling down the other rein. Very strange. Again, any ideas?

Cookies if you got this far :)
 
With regards to picking his feet up, it sounds like he's just ignoring you, and by asking, and not following through you're giving him the message that if he ignores you for long enough you'll give up. If he's got hairy legs then you can pull sharply on the hair, might surprise him into picking it up without hurting him. Don't forget to give him lots of praise when he does do it, and stop praising BEFORE you let the foot go.
with regards to the stiffness on 1 rein, I guess it's a bit like humans being right or left handed, but with a bit of work, the suppleness should come. keep working on it!
Hope this helps!
 
Mmmmm, if he didn't want to life that foreleg, PLUS you thought he was a "bit stiffer on one rein" then I think he's saying loud and clear that he has a problem i.e. discomfort, somewhere.

He sounds a nice genuine type, but I'd insist on a thorough vetting before making any offer for him. This is just the sort of thing my boy would do if he wasn't comfortable; he's very good at telling me if there's a problem, and IMO you'd be wise, very wise, to get a good vetting.

If you like the horse, it might be fixable/sortable. It could well be that he's been ridden crookedly or for example schooled more on one rein, or an injury, could poss be a badly fitting saddle - anything in fact, where he's been and its affected him and now you're riding him totally differently, and the pain is becoming evident.

Definitately get a thorough vetting before you buy.
 
nearly all horses are stiff on one side.

Too be honest he is testing you out and he won! If you start something you HAVE to finish it or you will end up with a horse that takes the mick and does what he wants, It often starts with little things like this, then ridden he slows down slightly and doesn't go off the leg as fast as he normally does, all these are warning signs that you need to keep on top of or he will get naughty

That may seem ott but believe me it isn't
 
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