New purchase of a cob!! Have I bought right?

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Scallywag1

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:). Hi peeps, hope all is going well. Just wondered if you can give some advice regards a new pony I have bought. He's a 5 year old cob!! He was backed in march this year. we are novice riders and I just don't want to undo the riding stables good work with him. Can anyone suggest the best way forward.... Do we carry on with lessons with the stables we got him from or do we get an independent person to carry on lessons at our DIY yard. Ive still to learn his cheekyiness! It's there alright. :-)
 
Lessons are definitely the way to go! Whether it's at the stables you got him from or from an independent instructor - get recommendations if you go this route :)
 
Personally I would doubt that the person you bought from has your best interests, or the horses, as a priority. A just backed horse isn't the best choice for a novice. Imo the best thing would be to ask around at your yard & get a good instructor recommended to help you both. No reason it can't work with the right help, but I just wouldn't trust the yard he came from. Selling a novice an unsuitable horse then charging to 'help' them is an easy money spinner. Best bet is someone independent, who comes recommended. Ask your yard owner/ manager as a starting point.
 
It would probably be easiest to have someone independent come to you of you have a school there anyway, there are probably lots of decent riders around you who do lessons to fund their competing. You may not be bothered about competing etc right now but I wish I hadn't bothered with a riding school and got someone decent to start with :-)
 
Thank you for your comments it's very helpful. - little legs I just wanted to say I'm concerned also about this. They let my daughter ride yesterday without an instructor present. I wasn't very happy as she said he got a bit over excited!! and cheeky. I'm just starting to doubt the stables judgement as the whole reason I invested in him was for his calmness. but they have the money now, no need for them to concern themselves any longer is it I guess. But they are meant to be a reputable yard. I have no knowledge of horses just going on instinct you see. It really doesn't help. A little disapointed now with the stables..........
 
Why was he backed so late? And I agree a newly backed horse isn't suitable for a novice. If you go ahead and get him make sure your on a yard with lots of experienced people around and have lessons on him and maybe someone to school him as we'll.
Novice riders shouldn't buy horses, from my experience as soon as the horse starts being cheeky or gets confused by the rider and they think its playing up, the rider then looses confidence and has to sell it, and someone else has a lot of work to do. That's only my opinion though.
 
Look at his feed and tack. Have you got him new tack? What bit does he have? Mine is fat and doesn't need hard feed, so be careful what he gets.

I bought mine at 5, very green, but had tons of help ie experienced riders, an AI on my yard, lessons, loads of help. You'll be alright if you have support, but I'd be miffed at the seller on your behalf, although you must have known! Not all cobs are plods, mine is extremely forward and likes to jump several feet above what he's put to. :rolleyes:
 
Find out how much work horse was doing before, it may be much more than he gets now. Excess energy is used to get fat, get cheeky, or both.

As a general rule keep your handling of him consistent and don't take any cheekyness. A firm "no" to taking the mickey, followed by repetition until he gets it right, then praise. Teaching voice commands will help clarify your possibly iffy body language, so horse has a better chance of understanding. Timing is important, scolding and praise needs to be almost instant, and in the right tone of voice (eg a grumpy "good boy" doesn't really work, nor does a sharply excitable "woah!" ). When teaching something new praise a good effort.

One thing to realise now - you're on livery. Whether that's at a riding school or elsewhere, and regardless of the type of livery, it won't include any supervision. Not of either of you riding or handling the horse, nor supervision of your daughter in general (its a yard not a creche). It sounds like you wasn't expecting to be so on your own.

If you really are clueless about horses, hang about on this forum, join the british horse society and buy a copy of both the manual of horsemanship and the ABC of breaking and schooling horses, to get a good grounding in the basics. Good luck. By getting on top of things now you'll hopefully avoid the losing confidence and ruining the horse scenario mentioned above.
 
OP you sound like a genuine person who is trying to do their best for their new horse but to be completely honest the idea of total novices buying a newly broken 5 year old sounds so silly at first I thought you were a troll.

I will be very blunt because you may not be aware of some or all of these things:
- was the horse vetted?
- have you now had his tack and teeth checked (both will need regular checking, possibly every six months to a year but perhaps more often if you notice any issues)?
- does he have any turn out? Ideally you want him on as little hard feed and as much turn out as possible.
- if he was only broken in the spring he may well need a break over the winter although some youngsters benefit from continuing in light work - it really depends on the horse and their temperament.

As above a seller who sells a newly broken 5 year old to novices and offers them help is out for the money. Move to another yard. Ideally go to a part livery or assisted DIY yard with a very experienced manager who can do some of the day to day handling and can teach you how to deal with problems (yes you will inevitably have problems as young horses go through a phase of taking the mickey, whether they get over it or not depends on how they are trained through this phase).

How old is your daughter? With a private horse she would be expected to get on with riding on her own, however with such a young horse you should at least be present when she rides. Has the horse hacked at all? If she hacks him she should only go out in company with a very steady horse/experienced rider and be very careful of roads until you establish how confident he is with traffic. Find a very good instructor who is also willing to ride because the horse will need to be ridden by an experienced rider very regularly (ideally once or twice a week) to keep him settled and further his education.

And I will go as far as to say it: if you have any option return him before you get too attached and get a more suitable, older, experienced horse. While you will always get people saying "I bought a youngster and he is my horse of a lifetime", a brief search on the forum will reveal loads of thread of people have serious problems with their youngsters.

Sorry to be so blunt, I don't want to dishearten you but if you are now worried I think that is a good thing, you should be worried about the combination of a newly backed youngster and a serious novice (possibly child) rider.
 
As other's have said, it's not usually a great combination, novice owners & a young horse!

It sounds as if you are still on the yard that sold him to you? I would move.

You are going to need lots of help. Do you have the money to fund this? I think that he will need riding by a confident, experienced person at least twice a week (maybe more!!) this should involve schooling him but also a good long hack to make sure that he is kept happy & interested & is safe in traffic & big open spaces.

Will you be riding him as well as your daughter? You should both aim to have a lesson from a good RI weekly.

Work, consistent handling, lots of turnout, no hard feed & groundwork work are usually the keys to successfully bringing on a youngster.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on with him.
 
Just wanted to say that with the right attitude and help theres no reason your cob can,t be a fab purchase for you.DEFINITELY have lessons, groundwork ones would be good too.Theres a fine line between a youngster being nervy and unsure and taking the p*ss, so sussing this out is important....cos give them an inch and they,ll take a mile.Don,t panic too much and lose your confidence the next few months will be tricky as you horse tests the boundaries with you but kind and firm now and you,ll have a good basis for a fab future.Groundwork is definitely important though as handling on the ground can afffect ridden stuff.Good luck....horse owning is a minefield :o
 
how old is your daughter?

how experienced is she?

most people that sell dont take enough interest in the new owners ability and thats wrong but I would not buy any animal without doing my research, sayin that you have him now and if you plan to keep him you need to crack on find a decent instructor (by word of mouth) is the person that rode him before you bought him the same person that owned him? if not it may be worth asking round and if people feel they are good speak to them about lessons/help. I have worked on yards who have sold horses in similar situations to this one not agreed with it) and I have then happily helped the new owner
 
This sounds a little like my story. We were sold our cob as being suitable for my daughter (who was 13), whilst she was a competent rider she wasn't confident. He was very green and spent the first 3/4 weeks taking the mickey! We had his teeth done, his back and saddle checked and started having lessons with a good instructor. My daughter was adamant that she was keeping him. The result of lots of hard work and tlc is that we now have the most amazing little fella. He's happy, settled and she loves him. They've been to some shows and hope to do some farm rides this winter and maybe even a hunt.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do x
 
Hi to you all, thank you so much for your helpful replies, based on them I have now sourced a good instructor to see us down at our new DIY yard. My daughter is 13 and impatient to ride off into the distance, but as fishy pointed out on the positive side now I think we will be able to move on with him without him getting to cheeky, testing boundaries.... Will have to see on that score.. Really pleased to hear you have success with your daughters pony. Ha ha I had to laugh about one post that said she thought I was a troll.... No no just inexperienced but very keen to learn..but appreciate all the advice. :-) will let you knOw how we are getting on, he moves to the other yard in about a weeks tIme xxx :-)
 
Good luck, cob doesnt need any fancy feeds etc so just keep it simple. You realise your potential predicaments and it doesnt mean to say that you cant sort it with the help etc. The only thing re the instructor a good instructor will always get on to show you what you should be doing and you need someone that is good with youngsters etc if you need to take a step back or just continue forward.

The main advice is try to take things slow if need be and not expect too much as the horse is still learning(not a good combination but it can work). But try to give your horse a really good all round education as in the long run it will make a better horse etc. And if you run into problems do seek help from the right people.

Personally I would spend hell of a lot of time with your horse and every day, grooming etc etc and the basics to make sure well handled plus riding every day(even if for 20 mins). Poss one day off thats it.

A backed horse can mean someone just literally sat on its back! Nothing else.
 
Hi, welcome to the forum. It sounds like you are going in the right direction. Horses are very much like children, they need firm boundaries and for you to be clear about what is expected of them and the consequences of disobeying. So get both of you some instruction on the ground with him as well as in the saddle.

I wasn't much older than your daughter when I got my first cob and looking back my mum was a real trooper - she was a teacher and very used to children and so naturally didn't take up any nonsense, but also knew to praise him when he did the right thing.

I would advise that she has a body protector as well as a good quality hat if she hasnt already. She will fall off at some point, it's part of riding - but modern protective gear is much better than it used to be.

Paula
 
13 is quite young, it might be worth having a long chat with her to make sure she understands what she is taking on. Bringing on a youngster is a long term project and it is very important to go at the horse's pace. For example many people turn away their youngsters for a few months after the initial period of riding them, so could she cope with no riding for the next five months? Everything she does will be new to him and she will need to go very slowly, e.g. loading, taking to a show, etc. it's a game of patience and understanding which doesn't suit all riders. Any negative experience (which needn't be anyone's fault, these things just happen) will require going back to the start. Inevitably the horse will also go through a 'teenager' phase where everything he has learnt will go through the window and he may push his luck while your daughter will have to hop back on right after he has napped, bucked, etc.

During all of this her friends will be cantering about on hacks, going to shows, having fun...and she will be raising a youngster. If she gets it right it will be incredibly rewarding, but she needs the right temperament for the job and the right expectations.

I completely see that you are not a troll now, but the point of that remark was that my first impression was that this was a piss take, buying a recently broken youngster as a first horse for a child with non-horsey parents is a bit of a risk to say the least. Ditto the body protector and decent hat.
 
Make sure you and your daughter keep up regular lessons and it would be good if you can get an instructor to ride your horse a few times to remind him of the correct way of going.
Have you thought of advertising for an experienced sharer, someone who can ride to help give your youngster confidence and who knows when he's taking the micky and how to deal with it?
Make sure your on a yard where you can ask for help and where you feel safe with him.
It could be a fast, steep learning curve for all of you but with the right support not impossible and you could have the perfect partnership?
 
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