Spanish Horse question....

[littleshetland]

My Spanish horse has been with me about 5 weeks now (inported from sunny Spain) and has settled in really well...he's an absolute delight and has obviously been very well ridden and seems to like and trust humans...except...he does get very nervous being led in-hand. I lead him in a comfy, regular head collar and so far, nothing dreadful's happened...but I'm intrigued why such a huge difference in him between ridden and in hand. He's got some old scars across his nose, so I'm assuming he's had some sort of harsh head gear on as a youngster. Is this standard practice in Spain to start youngsters in such harsh headgear? Do we think he'll settle down to his nice comfy english head collar? Cortez...are you there?

 

[Cortez]

Hellooo....yes, he's undoubtedly had a serraton on, that is the traditional noseband in Spain and also used to ride young horses in the beginning. Is he a stallion? I've no idea why he might be nervous in hand, but I'm sure he will settle down and enjoy his new headcollar.

P.S. A lot of horse handling in other countries may seem harsh to us softies in this part of the world, but remember that most ridden horses in Spain are stallions, and the handling they have had produces the horses that you/we admire so much.

And where are the obligatory pics of your lovely new boy????

 

[littleshetland]

Thank you Cortez....He's 7 years old, and a gelding and I'm beginning to understand why people love them so much. I'll attempt to get some pictures up!

 

[littleshetland]

 

[littleshetland]

Here he is...not a very good picture I'm afraid ....he's wondering where all the spanish sunshines gone I expect!

 

[Cortez]

Hermoso (beautiful)! What's his name?

 

[shortstuff99]

Yes, a lot have the serrata scars on their nose . What is his breeding he looks beautiful!

 

[littleshetland]

Aaah...Hermoso..thank you - I'll tell him that! He's a conjuncto Mestizo (cross breed - I think Ive got that right) so has no recognised breeding, but looks rather posh to me! His name is Maura, and pet name is Galan. his mane is on its way to his knees! Thank you so much for the kind comments....I'm rather smitten with him!