The ‘Kevin’s’ at 6?

My Chiro vet says that the teenage stage is when they reach the stage of growing where they feel like we would if, we were at a wedding, wearing shoes with different heights of heels, trying to dance the conga. Everything is difficult. Along with the brain rewiring that goes on its no wonder teenagers get bad press. It happens just at the time most riders think they have a more mature horse and step up the work. Its no wonder they muck about. My lad at 6 took to reversing at speed in to vehicles, not a problem before and doesnt happen now.
 
Mrs B said:
There is a very good reason that all the horses I have bought over the last 15 years have been aged 8 to 10 ...

IMHO, 5 to 6 is the trickiest age for the 'Kevins'. Hooves are under the table, they do think they know best and question as fast as you can come up with answers. Sometimes, more quickly.

One minute you're sitting on a sweet, willing, trusting 4/5 year old; stupidly congratulating yourself on a job well done then BAM! it's the Kevins.
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Yep, and even worse than that, the ones that are the most angelic and obliging when age 2,3,4,5, are usually the ones that are the most troublesome Kevins. The horses that are the devil incarnate at 3 are usually fine by age 6
 
monte1 said:
Hi Cortez, yes :-)
he is by Sheyenne Clover who is out of Clover Hill
by a TB mare (Blue Denim) who is supposed to be by Smooth Stepper ???
so i guess the Clover Hill part is a bit more diluted :-)
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Sorry monte, I know it's really annoying and pedantic of me, but horses are by a stallion and come out of a mare
 
Its reasonable to assume that at 6 horses will have matured and finished growing into themselves but still have "pains" in joints and muscles that need to settle.

Speaking to some friends of mine who do bodywork, saddlery and teeth I realise that we need to cut them some slack and check everything's ok e.g. saddle fit, teeth and gums, joints and muscles etc before we start whacking and yanking them about. My saddler says people call her as a last resort sometimes and she often finds the horse has changed shape and the saddle no longer fits. Why is she a last resort rather than the first to be called when there's an issue? Because you don't notice tiny changes day to day. The saddest cases is where the stoical horses suffer the most because the same too small saddle pinches at the whither but they soldier on and then you get that awful "scalloped whither" you see on most horses where the saddle hasn't been changed to accomodate the growing muscle underneath and so it takes the shape of the saddle. There are people that actually think this is what a whither should look like...... :(
 
This thread is not filling me with confidence! I've got a rising 5yo who, at 16.3hh, is bum high and starting to level out again but has become totally insufferable on the ground, I'm putting it down to growing up (and out!) and the beginning of the spring grass, but it does feel rather like our time together isn't as pleasant as it used to be as he's had to have a couple of very strong reminders that my personal space is absolutely not negotiable...

Children, who'd have em? ;)
 
I am just getting over a serious case of the ‘Kevin’s!’ With my 6 year old.

My Clover Hill bred Irish gelding was a saint at 4 to the point I was concerned he was a bit ‘special’

At 5 he still took everything in his stride and was a complete gentleman at his first ODE he behaved as though he had been doing it forever and managed a placing.

In this time he has grown from a weedy 15.3hh to a strapping 16.2hh, he has filled out and looks like a different horse. From November until about 2 weeks ago he was having me off in walk, wouldn’t go at one end of the school for love nor money the same school we have been in from the day I purchased him, and was an absolute a!*e on the ground from leaping 10 foot in the air if a leaf dared to move to fully taking off and me losing him if the wind changed!

He is still slightly spooky but touch wood is jumping fabulously and getting much stronger on the flat.

He had me questioning my ability and I was seriously losing my bottle and was planning on selling him and giving it all up! After lots of ground work and my fabulous instructors telling me that to some extent they all have the ‘Kevin’s’ I am glad I persevered and we are almost out the other side with hope of eventing this season! At least I am now prepared for the just backed 4 year old I have when he reaches 6! 🤦🏼*♀️
 
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