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christy

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i wonder if any one can help???I have owned my cob for 3 years and wanted a horse that could do a bit more. i searched for weeks and wekks on end and fond a lovely idxtb gelding he is very handsome and when i tried him he was wonderful.His old home was not that experienceds and only fed him charf and a parsnip. In the first 4 weeks he was brilliant scholled well jumped well hacked out alone and in company well and was very very calm, since then he now seems to be quite spooky and always semms to be looking for trouble.I feed him charf a herbal quiet mix and topline condition cubes?I came off him last week on the road and landed on my face and i have been put off work for a month!!I just wonder what to do really im not put off by my accident and i cant ait to ride him again however i do not want to own a silly horse? sorry for the long story but any sggestions would b great
many thanksxxxx
 
i think he may have found his feet again and may be doing more work with you than he did with his old owner,starting to get fit again and enjoying life !!
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yeah he is working 6 days out of seven with me and we are doing lots of fun things however i dont want to have ne more of these type of accidents to make him that super horse i dream of because he will be great once i have brought him on. I just wondered if there were any suggestions if im personnally doing something wrong becase he seems a totally different horse. Or if i could give him something to maybe keep him calm. Im not that great at choosing things like that as i say i have owned a safe and sensible cob for 3 years. many thanks for reply.
 
lots of new horses are very calm in the first few weeks - then they start to try you out - please dont dispair - try to hack out with another calm horse for now and only do what you feel safe and comforable with whilst you and he are getting to know each other - if you think its the feed making him spooky just feed him chaff and hay providing he is getting grass turn out and is not too 'poor' it will do him no harm till you are both through this bedding in period. you could also try breweres yeast as a cheap calmer - my horse didnt start this behavoiur until nearly 9 months after i got her - it lsated abut 4/5 weeks then she went back to her old self again - try not to get too upset about it - perhaps you could have some lessons for a little while to help - good luck x x
 
once he has realised that the work is going to continue im sure he will settle down as he wont get a chance to get bored,just hang in there and keep up the good work,schooling etc hopefully then he will calm down and enjoy his new working life
 
thank you for yor advice i know i should not get upset and im determind not to sell him, however my accident occured whilst out hacking with another calm horse although it was not his fault he tripped and for some reason cold not regain balance and i went straight over his head. I dont know if there is also any thing i could have done to correct but i tried my best and it didnt work. Once my injuries heal i am going to do alot of school work with him in a secre soft environment and get some lessons i just worry that the longer i leave hacking out the more spooky and silly he may be. I know that they all test its just difficult when they are new and you dont know what they are capable of. Thanks againxxxx
 
paintbox thanks for advice i just wonder because of my injuries im waitinhg for them to heal i am then going to start schooling him again i just wonder the longing i leave hacking out to make sure we are comfortabkew and trusting each other if he will be worse to hack out and if he will get bored of schooling?
 
we all feel like like that with a new horse (at least i do!) its tthe fear of the unknown isnt it - will they rear - what happens if he starts to buck - what if he spins and runs - ect ect??? you will get to know him in time and hopefully he wontdo any of those things. Could his toes be long/ shoes need doing for him to trip up or was he just plodding along on a loose rein? My pony fell over a couple of times and i posted on here - members told me not to let her plod along as thats why she tripped but to ride her with a contact x x
 
hey thanks he is 6 years old i know he is very young however he has done a few bits and pieces so he shuldnt b too bad, i exect him to test me and to obviously be a bit silly sometimes, i just wondered if i could do any thing to help reduce this i suppose. I dont want ne more accidents like this it hurts far tooo much.xxxx
 
I could have written that word by word myself as I am in exactly the same boat!! I have decided to do lots of groundwork with my boy, getting to trust one another and establish that I am the boss (well, that's the theory anyway lol). I have also just bought a calmer and taken him off all food as he is now up to a good weight and will do well on the spring grass.
I think it is probably him trying to push his weight around now he's feeling better and you must try and get his respect from the ground before riding again, unless you have an instructor to help.
Good luck and I would love to hear any progress.
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no we wert plodding along we were in trot his shoes are fine due next week i no i have to be positive its just hard because i have had a reliable horse for a long time, i have even debated getting some one to share him with me but i dont really rate this idea.im getting lessons on him though as soon as im back to full health
 
hi yeah i know what sort of things are yo doing on the ground i have previously done lunging with him. although de to injuries he havin time off!i am going to get kessons on him as soon as im bak to health. I just finding it hard!CAn you tell me what u do?xxxxwud like to no ur progress tooo
 
hi thansk for comment can you tell me why take off conditioning cubes wud these make him silly!!he has a massive field so i cd do that. i also dont know if it has any thing to do with it but he shares a paddock wioth my mare.
 
yes deffinatley keep a good contact as it keeps them together !
it always takes a while to get use to eachother and build confidance up,schooling is very good to also help keeping them up together and also give you a even more secure seat lung lesson are also very good for this.
try to hack him out again sooner rather than later so that you dont loose your confidance and end up not wanting to hack him out,as it was because he triped rather than being naughty this is a big help to you as you know it wasnt really him as such.
stick with it and hopefully you wiil do great things together
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I'm with KatB. take him off the conditioning cubes (at least for now).

I've been exactly where you are. You get a new horse and after a brief honeymoon period they start finding their feet and testing you out. Even the best rider can come unstuck when this happens.

My advice is cut his feed right down, keep him on 'light' rations just until you get your confidence back and then once you're feeling better VERY gradually increase his feed to get the condition you want.

Sure, he may look a little 'poor' for a while but it's better than having him look great but acting up.
 
did u get blood test from him when you got him he may have been doped prehaps but i have no idea apart from that but definetly get back on even if he did throw you of so he doesnt think that he has got away with it !
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thansk burton dog i will do that then i defop want to keep him but i dont want to have horse i cant control. iw ill do alot of schooling and i have been looking a pereli website about doing alot of ground wrok thank u for ur advice i dont want to give up on this boy i dont want to loose my confidence xxxx
 
hi no i didnt get a blood test i did wonder that but i think he is just testong ke and sussing out what he can get away with however i dont want a horse i cant handle and i dont want to loose my nerve or hurt my self xxxx
 
Hi Christy!

Haven't read all this post but it's not his fault if he fell down, I'm sure he didn't want to! If he is young he will find thing a bit spooky. What kind of place was he hacking in before? I'm just thinking because my horse is a great to hack in the country but gets very scared in any kind of civilization for some reason
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so it might be that?

I know a bad fall is scary (I've had many!) and even worse if you don't know why it happened but confidence is the key, so you need to get back out there and show him you can do it - and so can he!

Agree with who ever said take him off the top line cubes, they might send him a bit loopy and he will gain condition with all the good grass we have.

Good luck!
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I had a simular problem with my thoroughbred when i first got him. He was fine until i hacked him and he kept throwing me off. He also had a severe tripping problem, so severe that the vet thought he could have a dangerous brain problem.
We changed his shoes to natural balance which helped significantly, got his saddle checked (which turned out much to big for him) and had the physio come out. Also, the school which i rode in was not level and he had no muscle at all! While he was having physio i could only walk and trot on the common, which really helped with the hacking problem and i trotted up lots of hills to get his muscles up. Pole work is also good, althouth i found gridwork too much for him at the begining. Does your horse generally work on the forehand? I now find long-reining really good for him..better and more controlling than lunging. It also warms up their backs, lets them get any energy out the way and you can see if there is any problems and how he is moving on the ground before you get on.
As for feed, personally, my horse was fed on chaff and leisure mix, although now he is fed on top line conditioning cubes, which to be honest doesn't seem much different! He hardly ever trips anymore and his body shape is much better, but long-reining, hillwork, physio therapy, changing his shoes and light pole work when he was more developed helped us. Thats from personal experience. Is your horse under muscled or lame?Also, do u have your diffuculties in a particular gait?
I agree with the not letting him plod and having a good contact all the time!
 
I have always found conditioning feeds terribly heating. So I would stop feeding him that immediately. And to be honest, unless he's underweight I wouldn't feed him anything full stop. Being a cobx he's unlikely to need it at this time of year.
 
I would also say take him off the conditioning cubes, I have a 17.1hh TBX and I wouldnt dare feed him that now with all this grass etc.
Mine is on chaff and cool mix and soya oil only when ridden. If he does no work he doesnt get fed.
I really can empathise with you as when I first had Murph in the first few months I was so worried Id made the wrong choice in buying him. He was naughty to hack out and nappy. But now he is just a gem, keep on trying with your horse, the more you do the things you worry about - the less you'll worry and the less he will too! Best of luck xx
 
Thank you sooo much for advice, i know its so hard, i have owned my cob for years and she a gem i just wanted something bit bigger that i could do everything with really, just having him home and realising the total opposite behaviour i wondered if i had made the right choice, however he is soooo handsome and loving i feel i should continue with him, however i dont want to loose my nerve on him. Will he not lose weight or looked horrible if i take him off the food?xxxx
 
He may lose a little weight and condition initially but eventually you can reintroduce the hard feed. The most important thing at this stage is to get your confidence back so you can develop a good relationship with your new horse.

I had to do this for the first 6 months with my new horse. I felt a bit mean at the time but now, over 2 years on, my horse is well settled, a joy to own and in great condition.

Good luck
 
thank you sooo much for your advice i willl let u now how i get on, u have eased my worries about him losing weight but i know realise that its more important to have a settled horse and a gd relationship than having a shiny emaculate horse. Many thanksxxxx
 
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