SamG
New User
Hi All
I have a 16hh 11 yr ex-racehorse that I got 4 months ago. His history isn't the happiest and by the time I got him he had had 5 different owners, one of which stuck him in a field for a year with no protection from the elements leaving his back now pocked by rain scold scars. He was taken onto a yard two years ago and to say his rehabilitation training was 'crammed' was an understatement where his head was thrust down on the shortest reins possible and he was forced to go in an 'outline'. He was ridden this way by a number of different grooms and so when he was sold just 3 months later to an unassuming, mild mannered, fairly nervous rider he was ready to explode. He had resigned himself to working and wasn't enjoying it one bit. Said nervous rider was so afraid of him at one point she led him on foot to a local riding event with a bridle on and a thick lead rope through his mouth so by the time he got there he was gagging, reared and fell over backwards. Suffice to say, by the time I got to him, he was branded a bolter, bucker and not a novice ride.
I've spent 4 months quietly giving him confidence, no rush or pressure on him at all, hacking out quietly in company and alone and slowly but surely he knows the world isn't out to get him. I have purposefully stayed away from schooling him in the sand school so as to allow him to follow me as a 'passive' leader and enjoy working rather than forcing an issue he was struggling to understand.
The thing is I have had to have shoulder surgery which means no riding for 6 weeks at least
() and I am in a quandry whether to ask a lady I know to exercise him a few times a week or let him have that time off too and we restart where we finished when I can get back on. I'm seeing him everyday and still grooming, feeding etc.
Can anyone give me any advice? Would it better to keep him going or just let him chill until I'm ready?
Thanks!
I have a 16hh 11 yr ex-racehorse that I got 4 months ago. His history isn't the happiest and by the time I got him he had had 5 different owners, one of which stuck him in a field for a year with no protection from the elements leaving his back now pocked by rain scold scars. He was taken onto a yard two years ago and to say his rehabilitation training was 'crammed' was an understatement where his head was thrust down on the shortest reins possible and he was forced to go in an 'outline'. He was ridden this way by a number of different grooms and so when he was sold just 3 months later to an unassuming, mild mannered, fairly nervous rider he was ready to explode. He had resigned himself to working and wasn't enjoying it one bit. Said nervous rider was so afraid of him at one point she led him on foot to a local riding event with a bridle on and a thick lead rope through his mouth so by the time he got there he was gagging, reared and fell over backwards. Suffice to say, by the time I got to him, he was branded a bolter, bucker and not a novice ride.
I've spent 4 months quietly giving him confidence, no rush or pressure on him at all, hacking out quietly in company and alone and slowly but surely he knows the world isn't out to get him. I have purposefully stayed away from schooling him in the sand school so as to allow him to follow me as a 'passive' leader and enjoy working rather than forcing an issue he was struggling to understand.
The thing is I have had to have shoulder surgery which means no riding for 6 weeks at least
() and I am in a quandry whether to ask a lady I know to exercise him a few times a week or let him have that time off too and we restart where we finished when I can get back on. I'm seeing him everyday and still grooming, feeding etc. Can anyone give me any advice? Would it better to keep him going or just let him chill until I'm ready?
Thanks!
