I recently purchased a 5 year old gelding who was being ignored as his owners went through a divorce. I was told he had been trained to pull a cart, but hadn't done so in at least 2 years. For the last couple of years he has been in a small field doing pretty much what he wanted. His former owners gave him sweet feed and hand fed him treats. That was the extent of the attention he received. As a result, he is now overweight and needs to be exercised and ridden. (I'm told he has never been ridden.)
He nips at my hands searching for treats every time I'm around him. This is improving though since he has discovered I don't bring treats when I spend time with him. He doesn't seem to know basic commands, but will follow me when I walk around. He does crowd my space constantly so I've been trying to teach him "Back" but with little success. He is currently on a beautiful field with access to a round ring, but it is all grass. Any work with him will be done on grass since it's not my land to alter.
Being a new horse owner, I'm learning from the beginning. I really want to do right for this beautiful boy. Any suggestions on where to begin would be wonderful. Thanks!
Hi Robin. Welcome to the forum. I assume you're new to the Uni (lack of rosettes). You get them for completing Monty's Challenge after each lesson, just so you know. My thoughts are these - study the Uni lessons, get a Dually head collar if you don't already have one, get a copy of Monty's book From My Hands to Yours if you don't already have one. This horse will be a challenge! If you're not a really experienced person I would suggest you find a local, Monty friendly trainer to help you. You'll need to go right back to the very start & proceed as though your gelding knows nothing which it sounds pretty much is the case - horses that are driven back up really well so he seems to have done very little & forgotton most of it. Working on grass is a bit more difficult but perfectly possible. If the round pen is grass let him graze it off. He will be less distracted when you're working & it's an opportunity to limit his access to grass & so loose some weight. Even though he follows you, you'll need to achieve Join up as at present he's just looking for treats. DONT assume anything other than you need to be safe. Because of his lack of appropriate handling this horse may react unexpectedly so you really need to make sure he understands each step of his training before moving on. Good luck. Keep us updated & we will support you through your journey together. Cheers, Jo.
Thanks Jo. I am new to the Uni. I've been watching lessons and doing the Challenges. I'm also reading From My Hands to Yours. I was happy with his behavior today. He sniffed a little but didn't nip or crowd me - I assume because he knew I didn't have treats. He followed me around and stopped when I said STOP. A couple of times he got too close and I tried BACK, which he did with a little bit of encouragement. Maybe there's hope for us yet. :)
Hi Robin. Glad you're getting improvement. You need to adopt the entire package. This is no time for a half way house. I've got Dad, now gelded as they live together, 31 month Colt & 17 month filly plus Max, a 13 year old Welsh A. We took Kirk out, in hand, in traffic for the first time on Sunday. He was great except when Max lead - Kirk is a natural lead horse. He could hear his sister shouting & nearly put me under a car! You have to work with the tools you're given. That's determined by the horse your dealing with. Cheers, Jo.
Hi Robin, just wanted to welcome you. What lessons have you found helpful so far??
Mel
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Hi Robin and welcome :-) How's things going?
Hello Robin and welcome. This is the very best forum and group of folks that I have the pleasure of getting to know in 30 yrs of dealing with horses. Please keep yourself safe while spending time with your horse. Everything starts with a conversation between you two which will require sharp listening skills on your part. Space and boundaries and curiosity are the biggies here. I hope this helps. Bud