The opening of a gate ...

Penny Less

Penny Less

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10 March 2009
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Well nappy horse excelled himself today ,he spooked bigtime when I opened the field gate to get him in . Gate opened and closed twice or three times a day, he was actually looking at me when I did it so not taken by surprise . Serious consideration being given to trying to rehome now as I am getting to the stage where I get butterflies when Im going up the yard and thats not good. Why didnt I just give up riding when my old boy retired, Im retirement age too and probably could have coped although would be a lot fatter and unfit than I am now.
 
You have my sympathy - my nappy / nutty mare decided the feed bowl was going to kill her yesterday. That would be the same feed bowl she's used every day for heaven know how long.

Was her excuse for much snorting and stomping whilst it sat there doing nothing on the floor with her tea in.

Mad horse!

On a serious note - if he's making you nervous just handling him / or the prospect of handling him maybe you should look at rehoming him, that can't be any fun for you. Is he something someone looking for a project could take on and make something of?
 
Strangely enough I have just been looking at the project horses website wondering if its a site that many people looking for horses would know about ? I had only seen in mentioned on here by Skychick. He is very sweet natured and was advertised as family horse confidence giver,used to teach beginners, but he is too sensitive for that, if he could ride out with other horses all the time he would be brilliant, bit ploddy but would then possibly say he is a confidence giver, quite good in the schooling field. its just the being alone thing. Definitely a follower not a leader. Want to get a good home for him as he obviously gets stressed and cant cope with too much change.Unfortunately he is not a young horse, being 15 so most people wouldnt want him
 
Sorry I don't really know any of the back story to this horse, is he kept on his own with you? I really feel for you, it's a hard decision to make but these animals are supposed to bring us pleasure (at a serious cost to our wallets) and unless you're looking at a high level competition horse I just wouldn't put up with something that makes you feel uncomfortable.

Hope it all works out for the best :)
 
Hi alicemary, i have been following your posts with interest....as i too have had the same problems.
You did indeed see my advert on project horses for Paddy.

I was sold paddy as a happy hacker/general all rounder/forward going but well behaved ride. When i tried him in the school and took him round the block he didnt put a foot wrong. (in fairness....the fact that the girl came next to me to show me the way should have rang alarm bells...but it was snowing at the time and getting dark so i didnt want to get lost, hindsight is a wonderfull thing).
He is not a happy hacker. He is an all rounder as he is a very good jumper/xc/dressage with more schooling. But happy hacker....no. Laid back....no.
Still i tried and tried to make it work out with him. But working 6 days a week often till late i generally miss most of the people hacking out alone at the yard and also i just want to have a laid back hack/schooling session after a long day.
I had him advertised on project horses after a couple of other places. But....i have to admit...i havent had many serius enquiries. Alot were from mothers wanting him to do coloured lead rein classes as he has got beautiful markings...(i clearly stated on the advert...not a childs pony) also a lot of teenagers (as in 13/14) who have got guts, but havent dealt with horses that napp, can leap the height of hedges etc, also because he is cheap they can afford him after saving pocket money. Im not saying a teenager couldnt ride him at all....there are some exceptional young riders out there. But i was more worried about them getting injued and having mad parents come back at me and then pass him onto the meat man. But then paddy does leap, spin, rear, buck, bronk, etc so he is quite an extreme case of being a "quirky pony". He is 12 years old.

From reading your post, although your horse is spooky, and napps etc, i havent read anywhere (speaking from memory here so could well be wrong) that your horse rears, bucks, bronks, etc.
If your horse is just nappy and a bit spooky, despite the fact that its 15 years old, i think you may get some success. He would be fine for someone who wants to hack in company, and some people do only ever want to hack with others, so it may be worth a shot. You may well find someone, maybe a mother who wants to hack with their child but doesnt want a complete plod.
But i can completely see where you are coming from, if its not working out for you,there is absoutely no harm in sayin enough is enough.
I have done that with paddy, as although i love the horse to absolute pieces and when he is good, he is fabulous, its got to the stage where after seeing his true extent of his behaviour on the fun ride, 4 hours of non stop leaping and plungeing, and ever since then not having properly settled down, that it has made me apprehensive when riding him etc. So for his sake, i have found him a brilliant home on loan. Ok so im loosing out on the money from selling him, but he will be happy, he will be ridden by someone who can cope with him (an old owner who really wanted him back who got on really well with him) and it means that i wont end up loosing my nerve and i can then concentrate on finding something that i can actually enjoy going for a potter on at the end of a really long day at work!
Its upsetting, but sometimes its best to accept that enough is enough and there is no shame in that.

I really wish you luck in whatevr you choose to do, really sorry to hear you have had an awfull time x
 
sorry i hope you dont think that i mean enough is enough in the sense that you should give up riding, i meant sometimes enough is enough with a certain horse and maybe a change of horse as upsetting as it it, will get your enthusiasm and happyness back for riding. x
 
Its a long saga which I wont bore you with, youre lucky Ive bored everyone else on here . No he is on a small yard with others but I think at the bottom of it all is hes not very confident in himself and needs to go somewhere he can hack out with others that will lead.Not an option at my yard. Not even going out the drive at the moment. Being worked on but really have got disheartened as I wanted an easy plod to go out on a couple of hours a week. He was only bought as a hack. I am going to try and see about rehoming him, but will be totally honest about him. Someone somewhere doesnt ever want to hack out alone !
 
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