Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[amarok.]

I would give anything to learn to ride, but I just can't afford it as of now. X3

[Kestrell]

I'm practically buzzing with excitement today! I finally found a possibility after weeks of searching for a horse to finally call my own (after a few years of leasing of course)... He is getting vetted this morning! If everything works out I will get to bring him home this weekend! HE is an OTTB with a race name of Be Don Ko He (an idian tribe!) but his barn name is Jack (here is his sale add http://www.equine.com/horses-for-sale/horse-ad-3642119.html ). I'm trying not to get too excited though... but I'm still really hopeful!

[akuma <3]

So,
My (newest) neighbor got a "mini thoroughbred" (it's 14.5 HH compared to my 17.1 HH baby xD) for her daughter but this gelding is a total jerk. He bucks Katie off, bites, kicks, and even knocked Becky down to the ground when he whipped around.
I've ridden him and he's quite a funky fella. He doesn't trot willingly, he bucks if you kick hard to get him going, it's ridiculous. yet when they went to ride at the stable they got him from, he was soooo sweet! I went with them and he was such a nice horse! they don't know what happened to him, and honestly, neither do I.
Anyone have suggestions on what we should do?

[ShortyTheHobbitess]

@ghost - How was he kept at the stable, what were they're habits around him? Say he was kept in a stall there, then with these people he's on pasture all the time, how has his feed regiment changed? Has his work load changed considerably? Has a vet been out to check him? Has his teeth been checked? Has a chiropractor been out? It's possible that there's something out of whack causing him pain & so he's reacting to it. Once medical things have been cleared, next up would be behavior or respect for the people. Best of luck.

[Hime]

@ghost - How was he kept at the stable, what were they're habits around him? Say he was kept in a stall there, then with these people he's on pasture all the time, how has his feed regiment changed? Has his work load changed considerably? Has a vet been out to check him? Has his teeth been checked? Has a chiropractor been out? It's possible that there's something out of whack causing him pain & so he's reacting to it. Once medical things have been cleared, next up would be behavior or respect for the people. Best of luck.

Those are possiblities. But then there's the little negative me that suggest the possibility that the horse was drugged when it was test ridden.

How long have they had the horse? Was he vet checked before they bought him? Has he been like that ever since they got him? As for now, ground work would probably be in order and if he wasn't vet checked before, getting one now probably wouldn't hurt and that would also rule out any medical causes.

[ToxicHoundour]

@ghost - How was he kept at the stable, what were they're habits around him? Say he was kept in a stall there, then with these people he's on pasture all the time, how has his feed regiment changed? Has his work load changed considerably? Has a vet been out to check him? Has his teeth been checked? Has a chiropractor been out? It's possible that there's something out of whack causing him pain & so he's reacting to it. Once medical things have been cleared, next up would be behavior or respect for the people. Best of luck.

Those are possiblities. But then there's the little negative me that suggest the possibility that the horse was drugged when it was test ridden.

How long have they had the horse? Was he vet checked before they bought him? Has he been like that ever since they got him? As for now, ground work would probably be in order and if he wasn't vet checked before, getting one now probably wouldn't hurt and that would also rule out any medical causes.

I actually mailed them my response but it was pretty much about the horse possibly being drugged when they went to test him out and gave her some suggestions as to what to do before the neighbor's daughter got hurt worse and she said they are going to send him back to the barn he came from and get a different horse as that's what her riding instructor said too.

[xChry.]

Beauty ended up passing away. I sent her tail to be made into an extension to keep on my wall, Ill show pics when it comes back.
As of now, I am looking to get out of QHs and get more into thoroughbreds. Ill still be breeding and running the QH farm, but I think my personal horses will be TBs now. I want to try something new. What do you guys think of TBs as far as temperment goes? Running bred QHs are assholes, sorry for the language, and are usually difficult to deal with. Just want to know what im getting myself into!

[allo vera]

Beauty ended up passing away. I sent her tail to be made into an extension to keep on my wall, Ill show pics when it comes back.
As of now, I am looking to get out of QHs and get more into thoroughbreds. Ill still be breeding and running the QH farm, but I think my personal horses will be TBs now. I want to try something new. What do you guys think of TBs as far as temperment goes? Running bred QHs are assholes, sorry for the language, and are usually difficult to deal with. Just want to know what im getting myself into!

I've come into contact with about 3 off the track thoroughbreds, here's what I know.
Grady was a very quiet, sweet horse. He was very scared of being hit though. He was mostly very safe. He could get worried by small things though.
Grit is also a very quiet horse. He has his moments, but for the most part he's an easy, gentle horse to ride. However, he gets nervous very easily. They use him for jumping, and if he has a bad ride, it takes two or three good rides to get his confidence back. He's got nothing mean in him, but he's just nervous. Not generally spooky, just looses confidence easily.
Pheonix has great ground manners. I don't spend a lot of time with this horse, but from what I've heard he's a really nice horse. He's apparently very forward, though, which is a problem I assume many thoroughbreds have though. He's lame, however, and doesn't get ridden often.

So, basically, all the thoroughbreds I know are very sweet, gentle horses with a tendency to be nervous.
I've yet to encounter any of those monster tbs some people talk about.

[Verdana]

@celestine.: Congrats on the transfer! Sounds like you're really flourishing there.

@Kestrell: That is incredible! You must be so, so excited. Be sure to tell us how it goes! He sounds like a sweet, reliable guy.

@xChry: I am very sorry to hear about Beauty. Losing a horse is never easy, and especially when it is so sudden.
On Thoroughbreds, I've worked with a fair share of them, and really it's variable. A lot depends on how they were trained and whether or not they raced, but even if they have been on the track, it is just so variable. For the most part yes, they can be a little hot and a little flighty, and some seem prone to hurting themselves on those dainty little legs, but there are many exceptions to that rule. I've known TBs who have been happy unfussable plodders right from the start and liked nothing more than to dawdle. One of the kindest, most honest horses I have ever met was a four year-old OTTB. I guess it really depends on the horse.

@Nocte: Congratulations on your show results! You must be so chuffed. Your hard work on him really seems to be paying off.

@Scarlet: IHSA seems like a ton of fun. I'm sorry you had a rough time. Falling is the worst. But it's the awful shows that really make a rider, and I'm impressed that you got on again the next day and carried through with it.


My update:
Sitara is two months old next week, and unless something terribly unforeseen comes up, I am buying her in August. I am fully aware that I am committing rather a cardinal no-no in the horse world, by buying a foal as my first horse. However, I've leased on and off for the past seven years and have been riding consistently for thirteen. I know my stuff, and my coach (who has raised many a foal) will be by my side to guide and advise me the whole way. I'm still a bit flustered by this choice, not least because my parents are vehemently against the idea (despite having minimal control over my finances). I can afford her, I want her, I am willing to wait four years to ride her. And in the meantime, I will become the best possible rider for her so that when I DO start backing her, it goes as smoothly as possible.
She is shedding out her baby coat right now, and is ADORABLE. She's doing the buckskin thing and going a little darker, but not significantly so. I think she'll mature beautifully pale.
Terrible photo of her and mom having a scratch. Does she look biggish for two months? I'm hoping she will mature a LITTLE taller than her mother. She's a little croup-high right now, but gosh is she beautifully put together. This photo does not do her justice. A reminder of what she looked like when she was born.

As for riding, I am currently sitting on anything I can and whatever is available. If it isn't being used, it's either green or behaving badly, so I'm getting tons of good experience. Funnily enough, I'm currently schooling Sitara's grandfather, a quarter horse named Chewbacca. He's had a reputation for being spooky and has really struggled with new experiences (going straight into flight mode when he doesn't understand something) but I can now carry a crop on him with no problems. We're working on getting him to frame up and work through his back and it's going slowly, but well.

My other problem of the week is named Squirrel. He came to us as a rescue from slaughter, and he's a bit of a psychological mess. He's fine to ride, but pushy and difficult to handle on the ground (he pulls at you, pushes you over, charges ahead). He's at his worst in the stall though. It took us nearly an hour to tack him up this morning, because he was charging everyone who so much as looked at him out of his stall. He's fine once you're out of the stall, but he's genuinely vicious inside it, to the point where the instructors and grooms are all scared of him, let alone the riders. Does anyone have any advice for how to make him less aggressive in the stall? I have tried approaching him with a halter first, opening the door wide so he doesn't feel closed in, approaching slowly, approaching confidently. If I had my way we'd move him to one of the open little courtyards, but we only have two and they're taken.

Sorry about the essay ^^' I'm pretty jazzed up about my choices and need to justify them to myself almost?

[Kwenda]

@Verdana

With Squirrel... I would suggest someone or several someones dedicating a few hours of their day to taking breaks outside his stall. Like lunch or something. Eat there, read there, have conversations there. -Ignore him-. Let him get used to the idea that people are going to be there and aren't going to do anything. Even better? Hang a bucket of treats outside his stall, probably just carrots or something you all feel safe offering him. And give him a snack whenever he's behaving well. Start with improving his behavior while you're outside the stall, then work on moving into it with him. If he starts getting positive reinforcement about people around his stall, he's going to start getting sweeter about it.

This is something I would start trying to do with a horse at my barn if he wasn't going to be leaving in a month (leaser is taking his horses back home once he's done using the barn). I got mugged by this gelding a week or so ago, walking past his stall. He had a window open and I was taking feed buckets to my stall and my mom's stall and he just lunged his head out and punched me in the side of the face with his muzzle. More shocking than painful, though I did close his window after that, and I still talk to him and offer scratches whenever he's not being a grumpy face. Always has his ears back when people walk by, though I have coaxed his ears forward a few times. Just needs to be taught to be nicer.