Northern
Well-Known Member
Thought it was about time to move over from the 3-4 year old thread! I think this is a useful way of documenting progress.
A short summary: Bella is a rising 5 (in Feb) year old Warmblood mare (Belissimo M lines) who I bought as a 2 year old to bring on as my first breaker. I found her on FB after her owner posted pictures on wanted ads, she came from rural/regional NSW and grew up next to a Military Base. She was backed by myself Christmas 2020, just before her 3rd birthday. After that she did a lot of ad hoc poking around the property learning how to balance me in the saddle and about March 2021 had her first canter in a big paddock (the best feeling!). She has always been mature looking since I bought her, so was mindful to take her on slowly and not be tempted to do too much! She was super easy to do bring on and back, I think she had a really good early education which is really super helpful.
(B as a 3 year old in 2021)
To balance the good with the bad for transparency, the only issue I have had with her were occasional outbursts of aggressive behaviour. This usually manifested when you confronted her from the front and/or waved your hands at her, or if you walked away from her with your back turned. Her instinct was immediately to fight and she would lunge at the perpetrator (and mean it!). I believe this (and my vet agrees) this stemmed from a lack of herd interaction as a young horse, indeed she was alone on a property (before me) for some length of time with a side of hormones thrown in. Since I have had her she has been out 24/7 with my alpha TB mare and Haflinger (Though she is the biggest, Bella is ranked last in this herd). My TB has been a star at disciplining her, there's no way I could have done that job myself. I was not so lucky twice, not serious injuries but it definitely hurt! She did and does not intimidate me, but I have learned to discipline her differently to how I would my other horses, and it has been months since this behaviour has appeared.
The last few months I have stepped up the travelling out for lessons, she has learned to load into the float (almost self loading, so close!). She is really great to take and ride anywhere, usually more interested in the yummy hay than anything else. In November I entered and rode in her first competitive dressage outing and she outdid herself, I rode focusing on relaxation and rhythm rather than "proper frame" (according to the comments, green prelim horses should be going around in a GP frame???
) and she happily poked around concentrating on me. She's learning how to deal with a bit more pressure in our lessons, but gosh she feels great when she lets go in front. After a discussion with my coach, we will be casually aiming to train towards riding the FEI 5 year old test (not sure if I will enter her in one, I don't really like competing 
).
I still need to get used to riding her WB movement, coming off my Haflinger it's a completely different ballgame! I am aiming to ride her more often now to get really riding fit. She spends her time off rolling in mud and standing around looking like a mule (because of her big adorable ears!).
Well done if you have made it this far. I love reading this thread and the 4 year old thread and watching horses develop into reliable riding partners
A short summary: Bella is a rising 5 (in Feb) year old Warmblood mare (Belissimo M lines) who I bought as a 2 year old to bring on as my first breaker. I found her on FB after her owner posted pictures on wanted ads, she came from rural/regional NSW and grew up next to a Military Base. She was backed by myself Christmas 2020, just before her 3rd birthday. After that she did a lot of ad hoc poking around the property learning how to balance me in the saddle and about March 2021 had her first canter in a big paddock (the best feeling!). She has always been mature looking since I bought her, so was mindful to take her on slowly and not be tempted to do too much! She was super easy to do bring on and back, I think she had a really good early education which is really super helpful.
(B as a 3 year old in 2021)
To balance the good with the bad for transparency, the only issue I have had with her were occasional outbursts of aggressive behaviour. This usually manifested when you confronted her from the front and/or waved your hands at her, or if you walked away from her with your back turned. Her instinct was immediately to fight and she would lunge at the perpetrator (and mean it!). I believe this (and my vet agrees) this stemmed from a lack of herd interaction as a young horse, indeed she was alone on a property (before me) for some length of time with a side of hormones thrown in. Since I have had her she has been out 24/7 with my alpha TB mare and Haflinger (Though she is the biggest, Bella is ranked last in this herd). My TB has been a star at disciplining her, there's no way I could have done that job myself. I was not so lucky twice, not serious injuries but it definitely hurt! She did and does not intimidate me, but I have learned to discipline her differently to how I would my other horses, and it has been months since this behaviour has appeared.
The last few months I have stepped up the travelling out for lessons, she has learned to load into the float (almost self loading, so close!). She is really great to take and ride anywhere, usually more interested in the yummy hay than anything else. In November I entered and rode in her first competitive dressage outing and she outdid herself, I rode focusing on relaxation and rhythm rather than "proper frame" (according to the comments, green prelim horses should be going around in a GP frame???
) and she happily poked around concentrating on me. She's learning how to deal with a bit more pressure in our lessons, but gosh she feels great when she lets go in front. After a discussion with my coach, we will be casually aiming to train towards riding the FEI 5 year old test (not sure if I will enter her in one, I don't really like competing ). I still need to get used to riding her WB movement, coming off my Haflinger it's a completely different ballgame! I am aiming to ride her more often now to get really riding fit. She spends her time off rolling in mud and standing around looking like a mule (because of her big adorable ears!).
Well done if you have made it this far. I love reading this thread and the 4 year old thread and watching horses develop into reliable riding partners
I look forward to hearing about all the other youngsters here.
Chilli's been incredibly footy since the wet weather started, having always had great hooves, so I'm crossing everything that it's just environment. Our brilliant hoof guy is coming on Friday so hopefully he has some good ideas, I have no issues putting shoes on but feel that would just be masking an issue given how well he's managed without to date. I did think Chilli felt not quite himself- in the arena yesterday in walk, but asked for a trot and he went straight into a bold big trot with bags of enthusiasm so I think he was just half-asleep, but let's see. Fingers and toes crossed for all of us!!
) but he is jumping better than ever before and he just makes me grin like an idiot everytime I ride him. He went to a lesson on Saturday and smashed some really tricky exercises. He is so easy to ride to a fence and he's always looking for his lines and up for a challenge- he's just like his mother was to ride, but with a bit more scope and power, which is exactly what I wanted
fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
What made you get his feet x-rayed?
