would you turn away for a bit or not?

[welshcobnewbie]

my welsh D has come on leaps and bounds now, i have had him since February. As some of you may know he came to me very nervous after having a hard time in life, he has now turned 4. while he is improving i feel that he is still quiet immature, as well as having a very welsh sense of humour

I am thinking of chucking him out in the field for a month and letting him have some "horse" time and time to play with the other youngsters. Obviously going to check him every day and giving him a carrot, but other wise not really interfering with him, before bringing him in and really trying to iron out his issues

good idea or not??

 

[AmyMay]

Lovely idea. I think they all benefit for it. Just keep an eye on his weight if he's not going to be in work.

 

[MrsMozart]

Yes, I'd turn away

. Did it with LC when he'd had enough (of schooling in his case). He was five. It was only four weeks or so and we saw him every day. He came back into work so much happier and chilled

.

 

[Ezme]

I think you answered your own question with "he's still quite immature"

Let him play, they normally tell you when they're bored!

 

[Cuffey]

I would still bring in every day, pick out feet, light groom, scratch itchy spots, do some stretching exercises to earn the carrot, fly stuff on and back out into field.
If left just in the field for a month you may have separation issues when you come to start again
Dont know if you have dipped in to Rural TV but 'starting' and 'de-spooking' horses by different people has been quite interesting. The point being made about lots of repititions, rather than long sessions less often. We may not agree with everything we see but keeping an open mind and borrowing the ideas which fit our own situation.

 

[eggs]

I'm a big fan of turning youngsters away (ie. not riding them after their initial backing) and letting them be horses. My four year olds were backed at 3 then turned away. They have all come back in this spring to continue their education but do about three to four days a week for a couple of months and then get turned away again.

They all come in for a couple of hours though for a checkover, feed, etc and to remember their manners even when they have been turned away.

 

[welshcobnewbie]

thanks guys sorry about the delay in replying.

The whole coming in and having things done with him is one of his issues at the moment, after i have spent three hours trying to catch him we have generally run out of time to do anything.

He isn't backed as yet, but i do feel he'd benefit from just being a horse for a while before we start anything like that.

for instance he went out with they new horses and spent the whole day mouthing like a baby at them.

well we shall see how it goes