Young horse trying it on? Opinions please

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Fionamac

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Hello

I'm one of the new ones here and looking for advise. I recently bought a new project horse to resell. He is a 16.3 HH big boned TB who has not raced. Basically he was breezed, found wanting and left at a stud, so was living out until May this year, when someone started to bring him on again. He is six already, I bought him about 2 months ago. One week after I had him, I took him to a huge show and road around the practice rings and over a course when the show closed. (we stabled up there for 3 nites). He was really good, and didn't do anything wrong. Then I took him in a show the following fortnight and he was good just green and if on a related distance we got in a bit short or long, I just closed my legs and he still did it, albeit we may have taken a rail or two. I have also taken him x country schooling and he did everything happily, banks, ditches water etc.

So my trainers, trainer happened to have a pro client looking for such a horse (even tho I was only going to market him in the spring) so i took him up to a x country place, he was great, she rode him and then asked to take him for the weekend to trial. I said yes. Then they call me the next day and say how bad he was and stopping at cross rails and running sideways etc etc. So I picked him up this morning, and then this afternoon I took him out on a hack, and he was really good until we came towards home, then he wanted to jog i would not let him and he went up vertically. I spun him and had to do this a couple of times. He has never done this before, so i'm just curious, is this just a young horse trying it on? and why would he just stop and be naughty with a pro who is better than me? Just wondered if you have any ideas. I did vet him and xray him throughly before I bought him, and I am going to have my vet check him over on Tue.

Thanx in advance for any advice.
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Hi, dont want to disrespect your trainer in any way but maybe they didnt get on with the horse and tried a heavy handed approach to which he did as he did with you. That may be the reason why they had problems with him jumping. I'd persevere with the hacking and just do as you do every time, if he plays around just calmly ride through, it can be too easy to make a big deal of things with youngsters and cause real problems, just take everything really calmly and see how he goes. Hope you sort him out, sounds like he could be good in the right hands
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This is one reason why I would never send a horse out on trial, they can be ruined or put back in a short space of time & you have no control on what someone is doing with them. You had no problems with this horse & then he returns with massive ones. I would allow someone to come & try as many times as they want at my own place but ...well you've seen the result of what someone, even a 'pro' can do to a horse he can send back.

I believe that the person has over faced this young horse & been trying to force it to do things it's neither capable of or understands at this early stage in his training & that's why he's so upset.

Just because someone deals/rides horses for a living doesn't make them good...ok
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I agree totally with all the above. Persevere with him as you obviously are doing everything the right way and how he understands. Also what Toby has said about someone else pushing him when he isnt ready. Keep up the good work with him and you could have a nice horse.
Good Luck
 
It is quite possible he was scared or even made sore in some way even with only a day's trial. A strange, possibly ill fitting saddle (many people put their own saddle on a trial horse, regardless, on the assumption "only a ride or two" won't hurt - try wearing badly fitting shoes for only and hour or two . . . ), a different bit (see above) or a radically different handling/riding style could have produced all manner of ill effects. Even more subtly, he could have been feeling ill or even just out of sorts from strange water/feed, different accomodations etc. - effects the "tryers" might not even have noticed since they didn't know the horse.

Everyone knows it takes time for horses to accomodate to new surroundings (just like the rest of us) yet many people seem to expect horses on trial to behave at their absolute best, regardless of differences in riding/handling/care, and even learn and IMPROVE under such circumstances. They "test" the horse from the get go, not seeing the situation itself as a test. Even for a strong minded horse this can be a huge stressor, for a young/green/sensitive horse it can be a very bad experience indeed. I'm not saying people taking horses on trial WANT to be mean to the horses, just that the desire to test the horse completely is sometimes not tempered by doing what's in the horse's best interests, either by self-interest or ignorance.

Even when you brought your young horse home, he would still have been stressed - possibly sore or not feeling well - from his experiences. Continue on as you have been and see how things go. It's quite possible things will go on as they were, especially if the horse has a little time to regroup. If problems persist you will obviously do all the standard investigations, but odds are just getting back into his regular routine will sort him out.

Good luck.
 
Thank you all for your thoughts, and I agree with all of you, I'm not going to let him out on trial again, if someone likes him they can try him as often as they need to, I'll even take him somewhere for them to x country school, but he will stay in eye sight all the time.

I took him around a little course today, and he did try and stop, but one smack, back up and then he popped over. Lots of praise and from then on he jumped everything, even if we were a bit deep or long. (i'm trying my best not to place him too much and let him figure it out)

I do understand that a horse should jump even if the rider does freeze, but not a baby who is still learning, you have to help them and give them the confidence before you can ask them to help you. I thought that everyone felt this way and would not expect a baby with a new rider in a new place to jump even if the jockey was totally passive and he came in on a wrong stride!

I wanted to keep him for the winter anyway, so i'm quite happy he is back
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