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New Member:
Rhondal

Posted on Monday, Jan 9, 2006 - 1:43 pm:

My daughters have been around horses all of there lives which isn't long considering one is 8 and the youngest is 5. They both ride my dad's horses which are Belgian cross so they are used to large horses, they also take weekly riding lessons that they started almost a year ago.

I had come across a TB ex-race horse that is 17 yrs.old he has been off the track for several years and is in very good health I had talked to the vet myself. From what I'm told he also has been trail ridden, he has a great disposition you can basically do anything to him and he doesn't get upset with you. I had decided to buy the horse for the girls for Christmas,we have been going over there for the last couple of months to get to know him and to see how he is with the kids before buying him. He seems to love all the attention that he is getting. Well anyway's my oldest was riding him yesterday and he started getting a little jumpy on her and scared her pretty bad but not to the point where she got off as a matter of fact I made her stay on and walk him around for a bit just to let him know that she wasn't going to get off everytime he did that. This happened towards the end of riding I don't know if he was just getting antzy or maybe the saddle was starting to bother him a little, the saddle is new and pretty stiff I'm starting to think maybe the saddle is wrong she seems to be leaning forward to far and she knows to sit back. I hope I didn't make a mistake with this horse and my kids. I don't even let the younger one ride by herself I just walk her around because I don't think she could handle him as well. He has been great till yesterday I think maybe he might be testing us mainly because the previous owner was not there that day. All this is pretty new to me so any kind of feedback would be great.
Member:
Lilly

Posted on Monday, Jan 9, 2006 - 3:33 pm:

Hi Rhonda,
Welcome to HA. Are you sure there was nothing spooking the horse? Were you riding outside where your horse could see or hear other horses? What was the weather like? Was it windy? I noticed on your profile that you are from MI. Yesterday it was quite icy in parts of MI. Had it been a while since the horse was worked? Did he have a lot of pent up energy? Does he eat a lot of grain or alfalfa hay? Lots of things to consider!

I have had some experience with 2 different off the track thoroughbreds. They both tended to have "off" days where they were just a little crazy. The funky behavior was handled well with a little lunge work. The lunge work was done before the riding started or when the problems started in the arena. One of the horses had a rare tendancy to give a little buck when asked to canter. His owner would stop right then and there are take him to the round pen.

Good luck. Ann.
Member:
Canter

Posted on Monday, Jan 9, 2006 - 3:48 pm:

Rhonda,
Think back to when the horse got a little jumpy on your daughter. Was there anything different about this ride than on other rides? Perhaps other horses were goofing off in a pasture and the TB heard/saw this? Was there a lot of ruckus around in the barn - other horses coming and going? Due to the holidays, perhaps he hadn't been worked as much as usual and had some excess energy?

How was your daughter's attitude? Her off balance position may very well have been uncomfortable for the horse. As for the saddle, if you suspect it doesn't fit well, do you have acess to a reliable trainer who could check the fit for you? Did you have a thorough vet check prior to purchase, including his teeth? Since he's older, there could be various small issues with his health that could easily be resolved with a good exam and some TLC.

And, you might be right on...he could very well be testing your daughters. If they are not strong (and I don't mean aggressive) riders, he could be trying to see what he can get away with. I've seen lots of old school horses do this to new students, regardless of age and physical strength. Usually a bit of firmer riding is all it takes for these old campaigners to "say", oh, all right, I'll do it your way. In my experience (and I've only owned 2 horses myself in 7 years of riding) it takes around a year for a horse to start really bonding with its new handlers.

Anyway, food for thought. I hope it helps...
New Member:
Rhondal

Posted on Monday, Jan 9, 2006 - 9:34 pm:

There was more cars than usual but we were set back quit aways from the road, the other horses were in the barn and locked up so he couldn't see them, it was a beautiful day a little windy but warmer than usual for this time of year so maybe he was just goofing. He just started getting rode again since we bought him before that it wasn't very often so maybe he's just getting back into the swing of things. My daughters attitude was really good she just loves him but it scared her pretty good. We're working on the saddle issue now. I hope I answered everything. Thanks for the response.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 - 8:15 am:

A little windy can make some horses a lot jumpy. The other advice above seems right on.
DrO
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 - 9:05 am:

Rhonda, I salute you! You have put a lot of thought into this horse and appear to be taking all the right action by providing riding lessons and personal supervision for your daughters.
Your questions are good ones and the replies are good also.
The difficulty is it is sooo hard to assess and then remedy a situation cyber-ly.
You said the gelding was jumpy, was he spooking, wanting to trot/canter instead of staying quietly in the gait the rider wanted, did he actually buck? Since your daughter stayed on and walked him around it seems the misbehavior stopped, how long did it last?

Horses typically behave the way they are in the habit of behaving. So, since this guy was misbehaving something 'happened' and the horse responded. Now the difficulty is to determine what happened and how hard will it be to retrain the horse to behave properly when the situation reoccurs.
It is possible whatever happened to trigger the misbehavior was flukey, anyone who has been around horses for long can tell you of some unusual behavior that isn't repeated.
One of my first thoughts when I read your post was,is this horse used to being ridden in an arena? You said he was trail ridden but how often?
I have seen many horses which behave wonderfully in an arena but get antsy when ridden outside. There are several reasons for this.

Since you already have an instructor who knows your girls and their riding level hire this person to come and evaluate the horse.
In my opinion it is better to have the person come to where the horse will normally be ridden.
I would have the instructor watch while the horse is tacked up (this may reveal a problem) have the instructor ride, then have your daughter ride for the usual amount of time. I think it is important for both to ride because, its true, a horse does respond differently to different riders.
By watching how your daughter rides him after she has ridden the horse the instructor will have a better 'feel' for how/why the horse acts.
It may be the horse was actually trying to respond to an 'aid' your daughter was giving him.
Since she was riding with a more forward seat (which to a horse is often associated with 'go faster' ) maybe that is all he was trying to do.
Ideally have your daughter take her lessons on this horse.
If it turns out this guy has some issues which make him not suited for a young rider, please don't hesitate to move him on and find a different horse, and don't feel bad about it please.
Best of luck and keep us posted.
Member:
Rhondal

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 - 9:22 am:

He was rode in a outdoor arena where he is used to. The trainer doesn't make house calls you have to go to her so what we are going to do after his spring vaccs and coggins we hope to take him to her, first the ex-owner wants to ride him first to see how he responds to a new area and just go from there. I know it's going to take awhile and we are taking it slow we just love his personality and hope for the best. We are going to start lounging him first before ridding our next ride will be Thursday wish us luck. Thanks again
As far as his teeth and health the owner took very good care of him he is on a very good schedule as far as worming,vaccs,trimming,teeth floating. Before I bought him he had a clean bill of health from the vet.
Member:
Sswiley

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006 - 9:27 am:

Lori,
I dont think you mentioned if you have ridden him. He might just need a little "tune up" to re-establish his role for the kids. Lots of horses get antzy in the winter for no reason at all. But if your on his back you might be able to figure out what triggered it.
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