tell me your naughty 4/5yr, come good stories

Meet Moses my traditional cob.

Yes he was a toad, lovely to back, wonderful 4/5 , kind wanted to learn, happy in his work, bomb proof!

5/6 a little toad. Nothing dangerous but just frustrating. There were some issues with saddle and his stifles but a lot of it was the " Kevin's" He would spook at everything! Spin!!!!( personal fav!!!) Shot off with you and basically just tit around. In the warm up he was a total pain. As soon soon as the bell went and he thought people were looking at him he was a total star. 70%+. I finally handed him to a professional rider and let her deal with him. I'm too old for that!
6/7 better but still a bit of a tit.
8 , different horse. Butter wouldn't melt

URL=http://s1208.photobucket.com/user/sukistokes3/media/Facebook/Cover%20Photos/10923307_342920859239298_8126259572758621250_n.jpg.html]
10923307_342920859239298_8126259572758621250_n.jpg
[/URL]


Ps,
It always makes me laugh when I see ads for lovely sensible just broken four year olds, suitable for a novice!!!! :D...........I just think .....wait until it's five !
 
Sukistokes2 said:
Meet Moses my traditional cob.

Yes he was a toad, lovely to back, wonderful 4/5 , kind wanted to learn, happy in his work, bomb proof!

5/6 a little toad. Nothing dangerous but just frustrating. There were some issues with saddle and his stifles but a lot of it was the " Kevin's" He would spook at everything! Spin!!!!( personal fav!!!) Shot off with you and basically just tit around. In the warm up he was a total pain. As soon soon as the bell went and he thought people were looking at him he was a total star. 70%+. I finally handed him to a professional rider and let her deal with him. I'm too old for that!
6/7 better but still a bit of a tit.
8 , different horse. Butter wouldn't melt

URL=http://s1208.photobucket.com/user/sukistokes3/media/Facebook/Cover%20Photos/10923307_342920859239298_8126259572758621250_n.jpg.html]
10923307_342920859239298_8126259572758621250_n.jpg
[/URL]


Ps,
It always makes me laugh when I see ads for lovely sensible just broken four year olds, suitable for a novice!!!! :D...........I just think .....wait until it's five !
Click to expand...

Haha yeah unless Welsh then 6 is the Kevin

Thanks, I am an experienced owner so bought what I thought was a straight forward 5yr old big cob (as much as any can be)
well had him 2 weeks and found out some scary stuff about his past. As I am not young anymore I immediately sent him to a pro. So glad I did as in 3 wks he has been an angel/took off bronking on long reins/reared in hand and struck out as didn't want to go into the arena. Luckily the pro I have sent him to isn't phased by him and he hasn't got away with anything.
it's like he is 2 horses in one. The angel and the demon
 
Akkalia1 said:
Soulfull, I feel your pain and will be watching this thread with interest and hope!! :D
Click to expand...

Thanks not easy. The lad I bought is atm just unpredictable most of the time he is a good boy but then others he is a demon for a few seconds.

Before anyone asks yes everything has been checked as far as anyone would at this point.
 
That sounds very familiar, my mare is both angel and demon. Some of her antics sound similar to your lad. Trying not to let her away with it but it's hard. She's also been physically checked. She's just an exuberant and strong-minded young ex-racehorse I think!! You sound as if you did the right thing sending him away and sure he will come back in the right frame of mind :) It's something I'm considering doing myself.
 
Akkalia1 said:
That sounds very familiar, my mare is both angel and demon. Some of her antics sound similar to your lad. Trying not to let her away with it but it's hard. She's also been physically checked. She's just an exuberant and strong-minded young ex-racehorse I think!! You sound as if you did the right thing sending him away and sure he will come back in the right frame of mind :) It's something I'm considering doing myself.
Click to expand...

Yes it is hard! I'm so glad I've sent him away, yes it's a struggle to fund but hopefully worth it in the end.
 
scats said:
I find 3 and 4 years olds generally as sweet as pie, it's 5 and 6 that they grow horns!
Click to expand...

Yep I agree, I expected Kevin's but especially with him being a Belgium draft I didn't expect him to be as athletic with it! I didn't expect piston type bronking, I thought maybe a cheeky buck or running off, I expected a bit of barging inhand not rearing.(thankfully only once) If you saw the size of him you wouldn't think he could do it
 
Mayzee as a five year old she was so nappy that she napped out hunting and left in us the middle of a moor going nowhere could not go back or forward .
I did not ride her much at six as we were doing up the house and getting married .
In the winter of her seven year old year I took her hunting again she was the best hunter I have had perfect manners jumped anything stopped when you dropped the reins perfect .
No one was more shocked than me .
 
soulfull said:
Yep I agree, I expected Kevin's but especially with him being a Belgium draft I didn't expect him to be as athletic with it! I didn't expect piston type bronking, I thought maybe a cheeky buck or running off, I expected a bit of barging inhand not rearing.(thankfully only once) If you saw the size of him you wouldn't think he could do it
Click to expand...

Ahh - draft horses :-) So my french draft x Appy is 6 and walked out on a ride with the yard babysitting horse this morning like butter wouldn't melt. Behaved like an angel. But this angel has literally put me in a ditch before when she didn't want to walk down the road..... We have run backwards at high speed, the bucks are enormous and she has happily crashed herself into parked machinery.

She does have PSSM ( v common in drafts) so I have been giving her the benefit of the doubt, but I've got a sneaking suspicion we've hit peak brat years. I am hoping they pass quickly and I'll look back on 2016 with fond memories and a chuckle when she's pottering about quietly.......

My 12 yo belgian draft is an absolute sweetie when he wants to be, but a complete thug when he wants his own way. Nothing nasty, just sets that enormous neck in the direction of travel and off we go at determined plod (I have ended up in the haybarn before. Embarrassing). He's semi retired due to ringbone but I'm afraid he's still ridden in a pelham when we go out for plods otherwise he decides direction and speed. A fast gallop on a hairy draft is highly entertaining but sadly no good for his dodgy legs any longer!
 
I bought alf, fresh from Ireland, he did a few BE events, went well so I bought him. My YO was going to ride him and educate him...he tested us by golly he did.
On way home with him in trailer, we had to pull over as he had turned round and was lookin over end of trailer through back doors... Unloaded and cross tied him..!
When he got to yard, stayed in a few days, and was ridden twice or three times..first time we turned him out, only took few min till he jumped the fence and was in next field with other yard horses.
Once I saw him leap a 6' hedge from a stand still !
We could never keep him in his own field, he went where he wanted.
Manners were lovely, but he was stubborn to train. Jumped like a stag when he wanted to..had a lovely trot, with the odd fly Buck.!
Rein back...don't be daft...why go backwards?
Could turn any light on and off at will.. Still does now..
If there was bother on yard, then Alf was probably causing it...
Broke free while being loaded on trailer once on way to event, and squeezed th himself through jockey door. ..all 16-2 of himself fully tacked off and pissed off over a hedge and down bridle path with rider legging after him..
But he was so lovable, when rider got another horse I sold him, I still see him..he has not changed, just matured a bit. Has never done anything nasty, he just tests the water all the time..and turn him out in a field with mud...we'll need I say what state he would be in !!!
He is 9 now..his owner loves him tho!
 
Sukistokes2 said:
Meet Moses my traditional cob.

Yes he was a toad, lovely to back, wonderful 4/5 , kind wanted to learn, happy in his work, bomb proof!

5/6 a little toad. Nothing dangerous but just frustrating. There were some issues with saddle and his stifles but a lot of it was the " Kevin's" He would spook at everything! Spin!!!!( personal fav!!!) Shot off with you and basically just tit around. In the warm up he was a total pain. As soon soon as the bell went and he thought people were looking at him he was a total star. 70%+. I finally handed him to a professional rider and let her deal with him. I'm too old for that!
6/7 better but still a bit of a tit.
8 , different horse. Butter wouldn't melt

URL=http://s1208.photobucket.com/user/sukistokes3/media/Facebook/Cover%20Photos/10923307_342920859239298_8126259572758621250_n.jpg.html]
10923307_342920859239298_8126259572758621250_n.jpg
[/URL]


Ps,
It always makes me laugh when I see ads for lovely sensible just broken four year olds, suitable for a novice!!!! :D...........I just think .....wait until it's five !
Click to expand...

What a lovely boy. Looks like butter wouldn't melt! ;)
 
Mine was a little ****!! He would bronc, Buck and rear out of absolutely nowhere, and then he'd pretend he would be dead frightened of the hedge... The next minute, he'd walk his side so hard into it that it would cut my jodhpurs to bits and the thorns would dig in.

Once on our first hack, he bucked me off into a ditch (lovely!) and then when I finally managed to crawl up he kicked me in the face (mouth, split my lip) and then I fell back into the ditch and he ran off. Had to get my riding partner to go get him on her horse before he got onto a busy road opposite. I frequently would ask myself "Why am I doing this" and "is it actually worth it" and "will he every come right before he kills me off?"

He's a legend these days, wouldn't change him for anything. I love him to bits, and wouldn't change him for nothing. They do come right and when they do, it all suddenly becomes worth it. I'd do it again, the bond I have with that boy is crazy. All I can say is, I'm going to need therapy and counselling when he passes on (which shouldn't be for many many many years the way he's pampered !!)

Here he is, posing with his "is that an apple?" Face. :D



Edited to add: it was about 8 when he had a significant turning point, and 10 when he became a really calm absolute pro, suitable for even the most novice. ;)
 
Last edited:
Thank goodness ive read this this evening my 5/6 year old hit this stage last year in the first few months of owning him all settled down lovely and the last 2 weeks feel as though we are hitting this stage again. xc schooled yesterday was ok but had some very naughty moments but jumped everything as asked like a stag! hacking back quietly long rein to stretch and out of nowhere had a rodeo and eventually got me off and ive bruised my coccyx! oww!! hoping this stage doesnt last long again looking forward to the 8 year old stage!!
 
My 5 year old wasn't too bad! Sweet as anything as a 4 year old, couldn't do enough for you. 2 weeks after he turned 5, he decided he wouldn't stand still, and wouldn't do anything except hack. Fine by me, and that's all we did for 6 months.
He's 7 now and back to his sweet self, will have a go at anything with a smile on his face.
 
The equine teenage years!

You know how teenagers (human) do the "yeah, waddeva" thing? Well that was what my girl did - 3/4 TB and 1/4 Clydesdale, she would just plant her feet and say "nope". Earlier this year, I was just about in therapy, but we have worked thru our issues and are happily out the other side. I have made some changes to suit her, and we have agreed to listen to and respect each others point of view going forward. She will be five in November.

The gelding in my avatar was a horror - he was a scardy cat four year old, then at five he figured out he could buck and rear. I remember getting on him one day, riding him around the paddock with nothing going wrong, calling that a really good day and getting off. He came good at six.

There are several others, but the one thing they all have in common is they all taught me heaps and I'm a much better horsewoman because of them, and once you get them through that, you will have the horse you always dreamed of. It takes guts and persistence and don't forget to "listen" to them - there will be a reason for whatever it is they are doing. They are learning too.
 
my naughty 5 yr old is now 6 and a paragon of virtue. I decided to leave him to mature before doing much , am so glad I did.
 
My pony had just turned 4 and backing was very easy, she was very forward and willing and generally did anything you asked her to, I was very pleased! Then a few weeks on she decides it will be fun to roll in the school 😩 Everything checked and everything fine, back, saddle, teeth ect. Has that pony glint and sparkle in the eye, if she could she would've laughed as she did it. However we moved to a yard with a different surface school and she stopped...hope with them all, strange creatures!
 
My warm-blood was a straightforward dream 4 year old, then suddenly at 5 and a half turned into a nappy naughty nightmare. It got worse over the winter until I started to loose my confidence and with a young child took after at home my family were fairly upset when I fell off and broke my leg. I very seriously considered selling him and only when I realised that no-one would want him and therefore I was selling him to a very unsure future I decided I had to deal with it.

I decided to find my brave suicidal pants and really get after him, not allow him to think backwards at any point and insist he want forwards fast at all times. I won't lie and I was really quite brutal with him on the hack out that I decided to deal with it. But by the time I let him slow down and walk the look in his eyes was very different. It didn't immediately solve the problem, took another couple of years of so before I could really let my guard down rinding him, but it did gradually improve until he was eight, then like a light bulb he decided to grow up and became a much more laid back horse!
He's now 13 and apart from an occasional minor spook at a scary leaf he is a lovely hack and ride in general.
 
When I moved up from ponies, my first horse was a just backed 5yo threequarterbred gelding. He was very spooky: Not nasty but very green and jumpy and I came off pretty regularly in the first few months when he shied at invisible monsters. We did lots of desensitisation work in addition to general schooling and hacking, which paid off when we got round a handy horse class at our local RC, without being eliminated, for the first time when he was 8. It was a turning point because everything else fell into place once he decided to trust me and he immediately started scoring far higher in novice and prelim tests and jumping much better in local SJ and ODE/ hunter trials. I was so proud of him walking over a mattress that first time, quivering and snorting but being a very brave boy (in the wimpiest possible way). He was a late bloomer but worth the time and effort because he ended up being a fantastic little horse who taught me loads.
 
Got my little welsh at 3, perfect behaviour, going into 5th year he discovered how to buck bronc and rear...thankfully he's mostly over now aged 6! It's just the occasional buck...and he lulls you into a false sense of security by being sooo good for so long. I'm hoping next year he will finally have it out of his system!
 
EmmaB said:
Got my little welsh at 3, perfect behaviour, going into 5th year he discovered how to buck bronc and rear...thankfully he's mostly over now aged 6! It's just the occasional buck...and he lulls you into a false sense of security by being sooo good for so long. I'm hoping next year he will finally have it out of his system!
Click to expand...
Haha typical welsh then, apart from all the ones I've had and known were at their worst at 6 so your lad is a year ahead. Lol

Should quieten down next year BUT he is Welsh so you never know what to expect. Starting to think my belguim draft X is half welsh. I so hope not as that means I've got the worst to come
 
I got Pinto on loan as a newly backed 4 year old. He was lovely but I spent months bonding with him and teaching him manners before I ever sat on him. At 5 he was still mostly good, but needed work every single day. More than 2 days off and it was like his slate had been wiped clean. He's bucked and bronked his way around the school on the long lines, barged, and generally been spooky. He's now 6 and in work 6 days a week, which is working wonders. The spookiness is still there, and I think it always will be, but he doesn't leg it and engages his brain. He is coloured cob X welshD & ID.
My plan is just keep on doing what I'm doing because it's clearly working. I hope by 7/8 he will wonderful (though I think he's wonderful now! But still has the odd 'moment').
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top