new horse and problems

[ryan]

Hi I sold my lovely schoolmaster connemara as I felt that I had outgrown him and needed something a little more forward and less stiff, etc to do some low key dressage, so I found a lovely connemara mare tried her several times and she seemed perfect, very quiet, safe, sane and sensible. She is 8 and has been out and about and was owned by a schoolgirl who has given up. I haven't met the owners as the mare was sold through a sort of dealer but was definitely still owned by the schoolgirl and family.

I am an older, slightly nervousy lady and bought her home 2 weeks ago. She started the first few days very good and then has become very stressy, panicky, bouncy etc etc etc ....

Is this normal behaviour? It is beginning to unnerve me and I only take her in the school at the moment as when I walked on the road she was absolutely a nervous wreck, frightened of traffic, people and everything.

Is there a good chance she will calm down or have I made the biggest mistake selling my lovely pony?

I do have lessons once a week and my instructor isn't particularly bothered by her behaviour and how it is making me feel.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Do you know what her routine was in her old home?
Was she hacked in her old home and if yes, what was their hacking like?
When you tried to hack, were you with another calm horse?

Horses can become unsettled when they move. During the time that I've owned my chestnut mare, she's been at three different yards. She settled into the first and third straight away, but after moving her to the second yard she was really stressed to start with. She would would power march frantically (if you could get walk at all) with eye's popping and dragon snorts for sound effects. She did settle though and returned to her old self and we had many happy years there.

 

[Booboos]

Try to get to speak to her old owners directly - to be honest this is a must when you buy as the dealer-acting-as-agent can always claim they did not know about X.Y or Z problem the horse used to have.

What are you feeding her? Try cutting her food right down and restricting the amount of grass she gets in favour of hay. What is the turn out situation like? Can you chuck her out 27/7 (with company of course otherwise she may get wound up on her own)? Was she wound up hacking in company? Try hacking her with two calm horses, one in front of her and one at the side and see if she's any better or ask your instructor to come hack her out for a few weeks until she settles in her new surroundings.

 

[STRIKER]

she needs to settle, sometimes can take 3 months, just like you moving to a new area and making new friends, its all new and she needs you as her leader to make her feel everything is okay, so relax, dont take it personally when she is silly and just get on with it, one day you will tack her up and wonder why you were worried, she isnt going to hurt you, she doesnt want to hurt you, she wants to be safe that is her first priority in life and if you make her feel safe she will be fine.

 

[AmyMay]

If can take an age for a new horse to settle.

 

[L&M]

A little similiar to my experience - I had a lovely connie x that was the easiest pony possible to handle and ride. He settled in within days of arriving and never caused any issues.

Fast forward to the purchase of a younger and sportier connie - he was the most tempramental pony I have ever owned. He suffered from bad separation anxiety, was claustrophobic, wouldn't load, couldn't be left alone in the stable or field, would blind bolt in the school amongst other things. Although I had some sympathy for him, and spent 6 mnths trying to resolve his issues, my confidence was so knocked that I had to admit he was too high maintenance for me and sold him to a more experienced home.

I sincerely hope you do not go down this route, but have to say it has put me off the breed altogether. Good luck!

 

[AengusOg]

I am an older, slightly nervousy lady...
...Is this normal behaviour? It is beginning to unnerve me...

This is the crux of the matter. You have a horse which has lost everything, has found itself in a new place with new people and horses, and the person handling it is pumped on adrenalin.

It is totally normal behaviour, and it will only get better through confident handling and time.

 

[AengusOg]

I am an older, slightly nervousy lady...
...Is this normal behaviour? It is beginning to unnerve me...

This is the crux of the matter. You have a horse which has lost everything with which it was familiar, has found itself in a new place with new people and horses, and the person handling it is pumped on adrenalin.

It is totally normal behaviour, and it will only get better through confident handling and time.

 

[dodgers89]

I'm currently experiencing the same thing. My new horse seemed to settle in fine with his new friend and the first few times I rode him he was a dream. About a month later I took him down to school in the bottom of a field and he went bananas, really jumpy and nervy. I tried a few times and every time I got off in tears, ready to chuck it all in. He'll ride in company but not on his own. I had a lesson in long reining this week and at the beginning he was really stressed and unhappy but the more we worked him, the more relaxer he became, increasing my confidence with his own. I would maybe try long reining her, I was amazed at how much it boosted my now knocked confidence! Once she realises you're in control and she's safe as long as you're with her, she'll calm down and it will get easier.

 

[chancing]

Having been in this situation a month or so ago I know how you feel. My lovely boy went to spooky hard work and I spent more time upset it was all going wrong. I couldn't hack him on his own and he was a nightmare. Lady at yard left leaving just me and a little girl - he has settled much better. I have lessons twice weekly and it has made all of the difference.

Don't give up yet its taken 2 months for him to settle and only recently are we hacking alone etc. I found the more time you can spend together the better but only doing things you feel confident doing don't do anything you aren't 100% about. If it helps I did the following:
-lots of grooming and fuss
-ground work like lunging
-riding in an arena and with a confident friend
-long reining on hacks then riding it the next day

I really hope your mare settles looking at the forum and talking to other people it seems to be a very common problem. Good luck and don't give up!! Sorry for the long post I hope it works out for you. Also have a look at the replies to my thread about the same thing they were all full of great advice.

 

[Urban Horse]

Hi I sold my lovely schoolmaster connemara as I felt that I had outgrown him and needed something a little more forward and less stiff, etc to do some low key dressage, so I found a lovely connemara mare tried her several times and she seemed perfect, very quiet, safe, sane and sensible. She is 8 and has been out and about and was owned by a schoolgirl who has given up. I haven't met the owners as the mare was sold through a sort of dealer but was definitely still owned by the schoolgirl and family.

I am an older, slightly nervousy lady and bought her home 2 weeks ago. She started the first few days very good and then has become very stressy, panicky, bouncy etc etc etc ....

Is this normal behaviour? It is beginning to unnerve me and I only take her in the school at the moment as when I walked on the road she was absolutely a nervous wreck, frightened of traffic, people and everything.

Is there a good chance she will calm down or have I made the biggest mistake selling my lovely pony?

I do have lessons once a week and my instructor isn't particularly bothered by her behaviour and how it is making me feel.

Yep, it's completely normal and natural behaviour. Some NH trainers make a great thing about 'lead' or 'alpha' mares ejecting badly behaved horses from the security of the herd, but, a lot of research shows that this may not be the case. What we do know for certain though, is that there is a time in every horse's life when it is, while not exactly rejected by the herd, pushed to the outer extremities of the herd... and that time is when it has reached sexual maturity. Pushing the mature colt or filly to the outside of the herd, allows it to be collected either by a passing stallion to become part of its harem, or in the case of a colt, to join a group of wandering bachelor stallions who due to their youth and inexperience, do not yet have a harem of their own. This entire process is down to the horse's reluctance to interbreed in brother/sister, mother/son, or father/daughter relationships.

We all 'know' that the horse is a herd animal, but sometimes due to human needs and requirements we make changes in their lifestyle that they neither want nor understand. They have no conception of buying or selling, all they see is that they, sometimes unwillingly, have been taken from a 'herd' or lifestyle where they have felt secure, to a new life where they have no friends (either horsey or human) in what to them is a new and strange enviroment. In those circumstances, initially most horses will respond with obedience and an attitude of 'keeping their head down' until they start to understand what's going on around them. After a while however, they'll start to ask questions about their new enviroment and how it operates... This is the point that they seem to become flighty, nervous and disobedient, when in fact all they're doing is trying to make sense out of confusion. It's at this point that a lot of owners start looking for something or someone to blame, believing for example, that the horse they have recently purchased must have been drugged or sedated by the seller/dealer when they saw it, because its behaviour at that time seemed to be completely different to the horse they now have at home in front of them. It just goes to show how a lot of humans really fail at a base level to understand the true nature of horses, and how they view the circumstances they find themselves in.

Even a wild/feral horse that has been collected into a new life with a new herd will act in the same way... Initially being quiet, then starting to ask how their new herd is organised, who's in charge and how it differs from the way that their fathers used to run the herd thay were born and raised in. So what we have to do as far as we can, is to give the horse time, patience and understanding. We don't have to make the horse a 'special case' we just go about the daily routine, so that the horse becomes aware of the way things are and finds that it can easily slip into that routine and become an accepted and valued community member. Routine gives horses confidence and helps them predict (to a degree) what is about to happen. During this time, it's vital that we answer his questions about who's in charge and what is acceptable behaviour, but this is easily done with gentility and consistency. Just remember that all his actions are a result of his previous life experiences, which may be completely different to his new life. Don't be insulted if at odd times in the future he feels the need to ask if you're still in charge, all horses (including mine) feel the need to do this, it's just part of his make up that goes towards being part of a sucessful herd. Frankly I'd be more concerned about my horses if they stopped asking that question.

Just give it time, kindness and consistency... Let him settle and answer his questions so that he feels secure in his new life.

 

[aspirit]

Ive had mine over a year now and very similar. Its has taken me a year to tack up quickly. It used to take over 1/2 an hour and a battle. She rides like yours and other people's snorting, walk, v.fast trot / gallop. Ive decided to change yards and concentrate on schooling for six months before I accept she is 'just like it' . I currently don't have a school so its not helping. The previous owner refusing to answer emails, so that says it all !

 

[Olliepoppy]

Hi, I'm in a similar situation to yours. I bought my cob 6 weeks ago as 'never spooky, ridden by a 12 year old, loves hacking out alone' etc etc. The first week of being at his new yard was awful, he was a different horse from the placid, loving beast I'd bought. He reared and barged into me, dragged me around etc. I too totally lost my confidence and thought I'd bought the wrong horse. Unfortunately I had a holiday booked and went away for 2 weeks with instruction to the yard owner to stop all food. I came back to a much quieter horse but I still had no confidence. The couple of times I hacked him out weren't great, lots of napping, pirouettes at horse eating monsters etc. Then our farmer said we could rent part of the field next to our house. Moving him over from that yard to here (a 4 mile hack) was the nerviest thing I've had to do in a long time! He has been here 2 days now and due to my lack of confidence I had to force myself to ride him today round the fields but I'm glad I did as it was a better ride off the roads. It's a horrible feeling losing your confidence but hopefully day by day you will overcome it as I hope to do. Good luck!!