keelind
Active Member
Hello again all 
This is an update on Zack, we've come to a cross-roads and I've no idea what to do! For those who don't know the brief story is that after a long absence from riding, by total chance I ended up taking over a horse whose owner was absent. He has issues when riding but otherwise is as sweet as can be and makes me want to work every day to turn him into the amazing horse he must've been before. The only other horse on the yard is ridden by a nutty woman who almost caused a major accident, whom I have since avoided like the plague. It's been a few months since the day we fell over and Zack was vastly improved, but just recently Zack's actual owner has returned (new year's resolution) and so have Zack's problems.
Just before new year his owner returned to say she'll be riding the Zack too now, so we worked out a schedule. At first I was dubious but it turns out she's really lovely and we get on well together and think very alike where Zack is concerned she also filled me in on some of his backstory that was missing and it turns out he was much more badly treated than I was told, so I'm a bit surprised he doesn't have MORE problems. She told me that she's switching yards in summer to a much, much better location with more horses, riders and facilities, something I'm REALLY looking forward to.
The problem is that since his owner started to ride him again Zack has regressed. Originally he had a problem with being tied up and would rear backward, but I weaned him off that and he learned to stand like a rock. It had been so long since he last panicked I'd even completely forgotten about it, until just recently when he was tied up waiting for the farrier to arrive and took me by surprise. I was bent over picking ice out of his foot and his owner arrived in her car and got out - Zack jerked backward nearly KOing me, snapped the buckle of his leadrope clean off and bolted away. Now we both have to watch him like a hawk because he will try to break free every few minutes when tied and re-training has had no effect.
The owner also rides out with my ex-riding buddy (who I had avoided since the day of the accident) and zack's issues with being separated from his field companion are back full strength. It's a fight to get him off the yard again and the minute we turn for home he turns into a wannabe steeple chaser. This has gotten so bad I've had my boyfriend walk out with me because having someone on the ground walking nearby is the only thing keeping him manageable when he's out alone.
What's probably the worst is that because he is giving me so much trouble about going out alone again I gave in to peer pressure and let the YO and Zack's owner coax me into riding my the ex-riding buddy again. Ex-buddy and the owner have ground rules they worked out between themselves which say Zack must always be in front, amongst other things. Ex-buddy gives Zack's owner zero issues, so I figured maybe she had learned something. We went out together and on the very first ride ex-buddy broke every single rule. I don't know what it is about me that she's so pathological about since she listens to what Zack's owner says without fail!!
Combined with that since our disastrous ride together I caught ex-buddy bitching about me to Zack's owner and the YO, both times lying about what happened. We had a blazing confrontation where I called her out and repeated some of the things she had said which had been passed on to me and it ended with ex-buddy crying and having some kind of emotional breakdown then running off to the YO for comfort. Since then YO has been frosty with me and I've no bloody clue why, but I'm not in the mood to have another blazing row with someone over whatever it is.
I flatly refuse to ride out with the ex-buddy. But riding Zack alone now that he's gone back to square one (in fact he's worse) isn't an option because he has become dangerous and I'm starting to feel anxious before I even get on his back. I'm in total despair because Zack's owner reports how much improved he is and how amazing her rides with the ex-buddy are. The final straw came last week when I was tacking him up and tried to put a saddle on Zack and he shied away, something he has NEVER done before. That day I threw in the towel, rang Zack's owner and said I couldn't ride him anymore, but she pleaded with me to stay and reminded me he is changing yards come summer. But summer is a long time away and I'm scared I'll end up in another accident before then, this time one of both of us getting badly injured.
Do I walk away or do I stay??
I feel like Zack needs me and part of me says we can regain the ground we lost and more, but another part of me is scared and frustrated. I wake up worrying about him in the middle of the night 
and my boyfriend says anything giving me this much grief just isn't worth it. I'm starting to agree...
This is an update on Zack, we've come to a cross-roads and I've no idea what to do! For those who don't know the brief story is that after a long absence from riding, by total chance I ended up taking over a horse whose owner was absent. He has issues when riding but otherwise is as sweet as can be and makes me want to work every day to turn him into the amazing horse he must've been before. The only other horse on the yard is ridden by a nutty woman who almost caused a major accident, whom I have since avoided like the plague. It's been a few months since the day we fell over and Zack was vastly improved, but just recently Zack's actual owner has returned (new year's resolution) and so have Zack's problems.Just before new year his owner returned to say she'll be riding the Zack too now, so we worked out a schedule. At first I was dubious but it turns out she's really lovely and we get on well together and think very alike where Zack is concerned
she also filled me in on some of his backstory that was missing and it turns out he was much more badly treated than I was told, so I'm a bit surprised he doesn't have MORE problems. She told me that she's switching yards in summer to a much, much better location with more horses, riders and facilities, something I'm REALLY looking forward to.The problem is that since his owner started to ride him again Zack has regressed. Originally he had a problem with being tied up and would rear backward, but I weaned him off that and he learned to stand like a rock. It had been so long since he last panicked I'd even completely forgotten about it, until just recently when he was tied up waiting for the farrier to arrive and took me by surprise. I was bent over picking ice out of his foot and his owner arrived in her car and got out - Zack jerked backward nearly KOing me, snapped the buckle of his leadrope clean off and bolted away. Now we both have to watch him like a hawk because he will try to break free every few minutes when tied and re-training has had no effect.
The owner also rides out with my ex-riding buddy (who I had avoided since the day of the accident) and zack's issues with being separated from his field companion are back full strength. It's a fight to get him off the yard again and the minute we turn for home he turns into a wannabe steeple chaser. This has gotten so bad I've had my boyfriend walk out with me because having someone on the ground walking nearby is the only thing keeping him manageable when he's out alone.
What's probably the worst is that because he is giving me so much trouble about going out alone again I gave in to peer pressure and let the YO and Zack's owner coax me into riding my the ex-riding buddy again. Ex-buddy and the owner have ground rules they worked out between themselves which say Zack must always be in front, amongst other things. Ex-buddy gives Zack's owner zero issues, so I figured maybe she had learned something. We went out together and on the very first ride ex-buddy broke every single rule. I don't know what it is about me that she's so pathological about since she listens to what Zack's owner says without fail!!
Combined with that since our disastrous ride together I caught ex-buddy bitching about me to Zack's owner and the YO, both times lying about what happened. We had a blazing confrontation where I called her out and repeated some of the things she had said which had been passed on to me and it ended with ex-buddy crying and having some kind of emotional breakdown then running off to the YO for comfort. Since then YO has been frosty with me and I've no bloody clue why, but I'm not in the mood to have another blazing row with someone over whatever it is.
I flatly refuse to ride out with the ex-buddy. But riding Zack alone now that he's gone back to square one (in fact he's worse) isn't an option because he has become dangerous and I'm starting to feel anxious before I even get on his back. I'm in total despair because Zack's owner reports how much improved he is and how amazing her rides with the ex-buddy are. The final straw came last week when I was tacking him up and tried to put a saddle on Zack and he shied away, something he has NEVER done before. That day I threw in the towel, rang Zack's owner and said I couldn't ride him anymore, but she pleaded with me to stay and reminded me he is changing yards come summer. But summer is a long time away and I'm scared I'll end up in another accident before then, this time one of both of us getting badly injured.
Do I walk away or do I stay??
I feel like Zack needs me and part of me says we can regain the ground we lost and more, but another part of me is scared and frustrated. I wake up worrying about him in the middle of the night and my boyfriend says anything giving me this much grief just isn't worth it. I'm starting to agree...
