Am I expecting to much of my new horse at a new barn

[Guilherme]

@TMares

Are you pulling our leg?

What trainer would say yeah, let’s buy an unknown variable after a poor trial ride in a bit the mare didn’t understand at some dealer’s places then the boarding barn has a veritable freeway of heavy equipment and 200 horses?

One looking for a commission and couple of boat payments?

Mine are out 24/7 but I’ve sent them from time to time to a very good trainer who puts them in stalls most of the day (although I got lucky on the last two occasions and they got outdoor paddocks). The first few days they are a bit ansty as they are doing something new (not working as hard) and they have excess energy. But they settle relatively quickly. If yours is not settling then the first thing is to get them in a part of the new venue where they can burn off energy. That way you don’t have to worry about a “diet” just monitor the feed/activity ratio. Of course that may be a problem in any place with 200 head onboard as that number means a very “industrial” program of feeding, turnout, etc. “Industrial” does not necessarily equal “poor” but may be inappropriate for your horse NOW. You need to talk to the BM but be aware that you are ONE of TWO HUNDRED and may not get the very personal answer you 'd like to have.

Work is one the best therapies you can apply to a horse to improve behavior. A man or a horse without a job is almost always going to be a behavioral problem!

Good luck going forward.

G.

[Garythesquirrel]

@2018serafini

I purchased a horse that is half morgan and half quarter horse. I’m thinking now she might have been a carriage or a cart horse at one time. I purchased her from someone that rescued her and doesn’t know her past. thank you in advance

Did the horse come from a dealer or a rescue? What kind of situation was she rescued from and what makes you think she is trained to drive?

[TMares]

@Guilherme

One looking for a commission and couple of boat payments?

Mine are out 24/7 but I’ve sent them from time to time to a very good trainer who puts them in stalls most of the day (although I got lucky on the last two occasions and they got outdoor paddocks). The first few days they are a bit ansty as they are doing something new (not working as hard) and they have excess energy. But they settle relatively quickly. If yours is not settling then the first thing is to get them in a part of the new venue where they can burn off energy. That way you don’t have to worry about a “diet” just monitor the feed/activity ratio. Of course that may be a problem in any place with 200 head onboard as that number means a very “industrial” program of feeding, turnout, etc. “Industrial” does not necessarily equal “poor” but may be inappropriate for your horse NOW. You need to talk to the BM but be aware that you are ONE of TWO HUNDRED and may not get the very personal answer you 'd like to have.

Work is one the best therapies you can apply to a horse to improve behavior. A man or a horse without a job is almost always going to be a behavioral problem!

Good luck going forward.

G.

yeah mine are out too. Like yours, sometimes they are put up. Like yours, they have life skills and knowledge. Like yours, mine adapt.

this critter is an unknown variable. She might not know her elbow from her…ergot.

[Willesdon]

Move her stall to the quietest place you can find at your barn: there must be less busy locations, maybe a corner or round the back. Give her as much turn out / work as you can manage - at quieter, less busy times of the day. Get your trainer working with her vonsistently, too. Check her feed. Too much/wrong type will affect behaviour. The problem is the longer the pair of you have this problem the more the mare learns poor behaviour and the more you loose confidence and enjoyment. Horses have opinions: it could be she is telling you she just doesn’t like where she is.

[findeight]

Yeah, why did OP post about her being broke to drive right after they bought her? You in Amish country? Although if she’s too fat she would not have been in full work in an Amish barn but off for a great deal of time. When their horses are no longer useful or just aren’t working out, they run them thru the auctions, some of which offer consistently good quality consignments and bid up to pretty decent prices. Other auctions, not so much. Junk in a dump at kill prices.

OP has a few other threads that sound legit so assume this is a sad but real situation. Really, what trainer advises buyers to buy from a dealer who says they know absolutely nothing about a horses background except it’s 15 years old? Realize teeth are not that accurate once the horse has a full mouth and the older they get, the further off they can be. My last horse had papers and foaling date that proved it was 21, teeth said about 16.

Did OP get at least a basic PPE? Or did trainer say they knew dealer and everything was peachy and the dealer really nice and therefore honest? Even though dealer knew absolutely nothing about the horses background? Which is the way they come from an auction. Nothing wrong with that IF seller is upfront and discloses so buyer knows there is some risk with a totally unknown horse. But did OP have a vet take a basic look at the horse when she bought it and did the trainer here help her find and buy it?

If trainer was not involved in any way, it’s understandable OP was a bit naive. If trainer was involved, there’s a bigger problem here in OP buying from a dealer admitting they were clueless about this horses background.

[Scribbler]

I am at a self board barn without trainer oversight. Lessons are available but not programs. The horses have stalls with small runouts and there are a couple of round pens and an arena for attended turnout and an indoor and outdoor for riding and longeing.

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹I find it very easy to manage the energy level of a horse there and in that way manage their manners and attitude A big Buck and run turnout once or twice a week keeps them sane if you are not riding them enough to burn up energy.

But you need to handwalk the horse to turnout.

I have seen a number of newbie owners end up in a downward spiral where they don’t feel confident walking horse to turnout or its raining, cold, dark, they are nervous alone, etc. Horse gets more and more bottled up and they get horse spooking or bucking or bolting or cavorting in hand and then get too scared to do anything with the horse.

Usually needs a trainer intervention to sort out or they sell the horse or move to a barn with pastures.

But it is so common and is entirely created by poor management and lack of handler skills.

Get the horse sweaty 5 days in a row longeing
or free longeing, and put her in a large paddock 12 hours a day and see where you are in a week.
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[bingbingbing]

@ladyj79

I’d probably just ride one of the 200 other horses on the property. Probably no one will notice.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[RainWeasley]

Anyone else not feeling the skill level of the trainer?

Years ago, I had trainers I thought knew a lot, but would seriously question their knowledge now, now that I know more. Unless your trainer can/will completely restart this horse from the ground up, and do it in a way that helps the horse relax, I would be looking for a different barn and trainer, or a different horse.

But any trainer that let’s someone that doesn’t sound to have solid ground handling skills get an older green horse with an unknown background and move said horse from a quiet place in the pasture to a busy place mostly stalled, and doesn’t entirely take over handling of horse until the horse is settled, is not a trainer I would want.

I don’t mean any of this in an insulting way, by the way. This is just a situation that sounds like it could escalate quite quickly to someone getting hurt.

[findeight]

Not only not feeling the skill level but the ability of matching riders with suitable horses and, possibly, questionable ethics if any recommendations for purchase were made and not much help offered to OP.

Get the feeling it’s a lower end boarding and lesson factory type place sharing the property with other businesses and OP might be financially challenged and can’t join any kind of regular training program for her or the ( wrong for her) horse. Not unusual.

[Dressagelvr]

I never saw an answer to the turnout question.

What turnout is she getting currently?

This could be a really big piece of the puzzle.

[MissAriel]

@TMares

Are you pulling our leg?

What trainer would say yeah, let’s buy an unknown variable after a poor trial ride in a bit the mare didn’t understand at some dealer’s places then the boarding barn has a veritable freeway of heavy equipment and 200 horses?

In all fairness, I have known people to buy horses despite trainer’s advice against the purchase. Usually because the horse is pretty.

[IronwoodFarm]

If you bought this horse from a dealer with your trainer’s help, then please tell me you had a PPE done and pulled blood. I would run the blood to be sure that she was drug free. If you did not do a PPE and pulled blood, then all bets are off.

[DMK]

Hah! I was going to ask if you pulled a blood, but @IronwoodFarm beat me to it…

depending on the sketchiness of the dealer and how much advance warning they had, this could have been something as simple as a little liquid yellow lungeline…