Shell shocked at new home??

D

Dressage Dreams

New User
Joined
29 September 2016
Messages
2
Visit site
I have owned horses before and my latest comes from a small family home with 4 horses where he lived for about 5 years. He's an allrounder with a lot of competition expereince (now 11). He's come to a 25 horse yard on full livery & seems "shell-shocked". He hacks out with others fine but just wants to put the anchors on in the manege. His routine and feeding are otherwise very similar and he is turned out with 2 others during the day as before. I'm with him at least every other day doing a range of activities and sometimes just caring for him not working him. Any ideas on how I can inspire his va va voom in the manege? And make him smile again?
 
It may be that he is not liking the new surface. One of ours always loathed the surface at a previous yard to the point where we ended up moving yards and he was significantly more willing to work. I'd be hacking out and schooling outside as much as possible and see if you can bring that energy back into the school. Any horse that is a competition horse should not need time to settle ime.
 
Horses with "stay away" competition experience can seem to settle faster simply because they are more used to finding themselves in a strange environment. But this horse might not have any stay away type experience. Equally even with that experience other elements of the routine will be different and could be unsettling.

He may also be testing you OP. He's figured out he isn't going back to his old owners and now wants to know where the boundaries are with you.

Equally - loads of competition experience and only 11? Did you have him vetted? Could there be pain at the heart of this? Or fitting issues with tack? Equally he might have just shut down having been over competed and just need time off?
 
Shay said:
Equally - loads of competition experience and only 11? Did you have him vetted? Could there be pain at the heart of this? Or fitting issues with tack? Equally he might have just shut down having been over competed and just need time off?
Click to expand...

it depends entirely on your definition of 'lots'. I'd say both of mine, by 11, had lots of competition experience, Millie especially as she was eventing then. As it's an allrounder, he's unlikely to have been pushed too far in a single discipline anyway... I don't think anything in the OP suggests he's been ragged around every week to the point of exhaustion, I think this is probably a bit overkill.

OP how long have you had the horse? If he was settled in a totally different environment for the last 5 years then he probably just needs more time to adjust. I think we underestimate how much it pulls the rug out from under some horses when they are sold or move permanently. Even those used to stabling away, at least then they have the same humans and usually return home before the mental wheels come off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top