Didn’t Benchmark Sport Horses end up with an Irish import that went fully feral somewhere on the trip, causing his owner to send him to Jessica for rehab and resale?
Sheerly curious, what is the difference in mindset around training in Ireland?
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I think he will just take time, but I do agree that he needs boundaries, and maybe less cookies. 
Cookies don’t demand respect.
We bought a horse in December. My trainer started this horse three years ago. My trainer said he was super sweet and a really nice horse. The horse went back to his owner. Said owner had for some reason sent the horse out of state and was trying to sell the horse there. The person out of state had life issues, and the horse (supposedly) sat in a field for about two years. The in-state owner decided she needed to sell and contacted my trainer (who started him). My trainer contacted us, as we were looking for a horse. We saw old video and said, yes, we’d like to try him. They shipped the horse back from out-of-state and my trainer worked with him for a week before we came out. He was a bit spooky and stoic. Well, DH liked him and we bought him.
This horse was not sweet at all. At first, he just stood in the back of his stall and was quite grumpy. Eventually he started sticking his head out of his stall in interest, but if you actually paid attention to him, his ears would pin back. Though like the OP’s horse, he loved cookies! My DH does a good job making the horse respect, him, though. He’s a bit barn sour under saddle for the first few minutes, but then he’s fine. So, he’s been here maybe two months, and he’s gotten better, but he’s not at all the sweet horse I was expecting. I do have hope, though, that after a year he will have settled in and he will be a different horse. To be determined…
Good lucky, OP. I think you’ve gotten some good advice here. I’m sorry he’s not what you expected, but maybe he still will be with time.
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The roundpen work is going to get rolling once the footing isn’t treacherous. He has a 24/7 access to his paddock which is big enough to gallop and buck in. He doesn’t do a ton of that, he’s more of a trot out to his hay have a roll kind of guy. His “brothers” are right next to him but I haven’t put them out together yet as my older draft is a bully! I give them time to groom each other over the fence. Once they can go out to big field I’ll let them go out together.
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Thankyou I’m hopeful! He has the sweetest eye, it’s hard to not like him.
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Look up Holly Lenhan on YouTube - she is an Irish vet/rider who chronicles her adventures to national Grand Prix. She shows how she keeps horses and trains. Here is a link to a recent video she posted.
Biggest difference? Horses are kept out 12 + hours per day, rain or shine. In groups, big pastures. None of this ‘it’s raining so they go out for an hour’ business common in North America. Around here at least, most ‘full day’ turn out options are 8 to 3, if you’re lucky. And you are pushing to have your horse with a friend as many want single turnout out.
This video of Holly’s is one of my very favourites - love him so much!
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I fully believe in full time turnout too which I transitioned him to in the first week here. Locked in at night, out all day. He now has 24/7 turnout, large paddock is attached to their stalls with doors open. They have hay inside and out. They get blanketed appropriately for weather but never get locked in because of it. My boys love to stand out in the rain/snow and this guy is no exception. I catch him napping outside and he keeps his stall quite neat bc he’s doing everything outside. Once I can use the big field I’ll turn him out with my older wb, they already seem to really get along.
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Ahhhhh got it. That is great!! Thank you for the video links!
I haven’t read everything in this, so I apologize if I’m being repetitive. I bought a 5 yo OTTB from several states away via a reseller. Nice horse, arrived being a bit up on his toes (not unusual) and he had chill time with lots of turnout and slow feed adjustments. I had to go away for a week, and while gone was hearing that he was kicking, biting, hating blanketing etc. Wouldn’t tolerate grooming and putting a bridle on was challenging. (He exhibited none of these traits in his sale videos)
When I got back home I started ulcer treatments after consulting with my vet. Things improved, but we had to go 4 rounds of full tube treatment and then taper to keep him somewhat happy. Vet suggested providing a full bucket of dry alfalfa cubes* with his supper so he could eat at will overnight, and to feed Platinum GI. He still was cranky and didn’t want to be touched, but was no longer kicking out or biting. Being out on grass all summer helped his disposition remarkably.
This winter he became cranky again and my wonderful vet also recommended Vitamin E (3000-4000IU/ day) and magnesium supplements, which have made him much, much less “touchy” and downright pleasant. It’s only taken two years to resolve! Note that the whole time he was great to ride. I’ll taper off the Vitamin E when grass starts showing up in the (now snowy) paddocks again.
I mention these interventions only to raise things you might want to discuss with your vet.
- Per my vet, dry cubes encourage saliva production, and saliva has properties that inhibit ulcer development.
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This
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Some horses just need very workmanlike handling to be comfortable. Strong, clear boundaries that don’t change are their comfort zone.
Honestly ground work and having neutral calm energy will be your best bet. If you can’t provide that send him to a colt starter or good workmanlike trainer. Less candy and more boundaries.
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While I’ve never imported a horse myself, I’ve been involved with plenty.
It honestly seems to me like they don’t give two fruitbats whether a horses behaves on the ground or not and their “broke” is NOT my definition of broke.
One of the horses that I was involved in the import of was successfully competing at GP and they paid over a million for him. But he had to be led by 2 people (one on each side with chains) and couldn’t be turned out. Eventually with a lot of work and chill time, he calmed down into as close to a regular horse as he could but it took more than a year
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Kind of going through this but in the earlier stages. Youngster was super friendly an curious in his home, moved him and a raging dragon came out. He was immediately reactive, explosive and unpredictable. He had 30 days put on him a few months before and I had pics and videos. But the current trainer and I now suspect all was not as it seemed and he seems to have quite a bit of trauma he’s working through as a result. Recently he’s been allowed out with others which brought back his sweet nature for the most part but he’s still a bit reactive and a little shut down during his training sessions but wayyyy better than he was. It’s been a bit of a mess and stressful for all of us but hopefully there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I agree with what someone said and send him to a trainer for a restart, while on preventative ulcer meds.
Most live out. Handling is functional and efficient, not necessarily educational. Saddle training is get on and get on with it. Many have never been 50 miles from home. If you have the money to go buy a 3* or 4* horse abroad, they are more likely to arrive without baggage. They have been well trained, shipped around, handled by different people, and experienced a variety of somewhat unsettling circumstances.
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I want to be clear that I am not insulting the Irish in any way when I described how common Irish Import Syndrome (ha! Love that, hadn’t heard it before!) is. They are often amazing horse people. It’s a gift to ride like that!
I think that it comes from HOW they tend to prep the horses. In my observations, the horses jump the same track every day. The jumps rarely move and the horses start out going around the track in one way, and they do it every time they jump until they can basically jump that track in their sleep, set up huge. The horse is very trained to jump…that track. when you mix it up, it falls apart.
Same with hunting – hunting can be VERY different because you put a horse in a pack, many times it just goes along for the ride with minimal input from the rider. They surround the babies with more experienced horses and the babies just canter along and jump whatever the herd is cantering and jumping. It’s like the western nose-to-tail trail ride string of jumping. Does that make sense? It also doesn’t mean they are going to be ready to go cross country, especially ALONE!
It’s actually a great way to teach babies and all babies should go XC with older horses to follow. But you need to know what you are getting and what you aren’t (a solid broke horse), for sure.
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I agree, when you describe this horse, a big 5YO TIH (I’m assuming he’s a 2020, so likely coming 5) I’d assume a little feral even if presented videos out xc. A lof of these horses aren’t getting much handling as young foals, and then very much get on with it once on. It’s a very, very different training style and expectation. So I wouldn’t assume the sellers were trying to get you, but different expectations.
Also in your explanation of a TIH, the irish draught, they are smart, smart, horses. Not necessarily the low-key horse you think of when thinking of “draught” so mix that with some TB blood and you can have a bold, opinionated horse. They can’t always be pushed around.
They will have horses running at our equivalent of preliminary, but once they arrive in the states need to be restarted to go in an American way.
There are excellent and class horses to be found, but the expectations maybe distorted. I’ve heard your story many times. (I imported my own, he was presented as a junior horse who had run through the FEI 2-long level, I am not. When he arrived home, there was/is some spooky, peculiar temperament, and adjusting, and I wonder how it would have gone would the horse have gone to a kid)
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Lots of good input here. I’ve imported dozens, mostly from Germany and the Netherlands, but the experience is similar. The horses with FEI passports that have been doing CSI 3* and higher are generally going to be comparable to American show horses. The youngsters…not so much.
Our most recent import is also a rising 5 year old. He’d done the 1.0m age classes in Germany, but he had no ground manners and was barely used to being stalled or handled when he showed up. This isn’t our first rodeo, so we set clear boundaries and focused first and foremost on making him safe to handle on the ground. It’s been less than a month, and he now knows to stand quietly in the cross ties, pick his feet up when directed, tolerate being sprayed from a bottle, get his mane pulled, etc. These concepts were all foreign initially.
Three months is plenty of time for the horse to settle in. In my experience, it takes about a week or so for them to learn the routine if you establish it quickly and take things easy. Yes, they’ll continue to relax and get better as time goes on, but the initial shock tends to wear off quickly.
It’s going to be important to determine if he’s acting truly dangerous (striking at you, rearing, etc.) or if he’s just a little feral/unhandled. The former is troubling, the latter is what I’d expect.
If he’s acting dangerous, definitely get professional help. Training and a vet to rule out medical causes.
If he’s just a little feral…well, you may still want a pro to get you over the hump if he has your number or if you’re a little intimidated by him. There’s no shame in that. A lot of people are shocked by how green and “rough and ready” young European imports are. It’s important to set clear expectations and boundaries with them. And it helps to have a second person on the ground with you. My husband and I always work with the young imports together. While I’m grooming or tacking them, he’s there to help keep them steady and centered on the cross ties, for instance.
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My lesson barn has some horses that are super sensitive to grooming.
I bought the barn several HAAS brushes. The horses with really sensitive skin have now learned to enjoy being groomed. The New Generation Curry comb has also gotten good reviews from the horses who shrink from regular curry combs.
For horses with thicker itchier skin they seem to really like the HandsOn grooming gloves, to the point that passers by comment on how much the horses LOVE being groomed now. Too bad that the horses with sensitive skin do not like this product.
The Posture Prep cross fiber fascia grooming tool has improved the outlook of the lesson horses I’ve used it on. One lesson horse, a super laid back guy who never showed any kind of pleasure in seeing me now is nuzzling me after I used the Posture Prep LIGHTLY on him on his neck, back and the upper parts of his hindquarters.
The Fenwick Face Mask with Ears is my secret “weapon”, allowing me to give previously super resistant horses pleasurable experiences when they are around me. Head shy horses seem to like the Fenwick Face Mask &/or the BOT poll cap (I use both at the same time). I have cured head shy and ear shy horses with these. Confirmed giraffes now usually lower their heads enough so I can put them on easily.
I have MS and my body does not work like normal people’s bodies. These things are what I used to get these lesson horses to look forward to seeing me and me riding them.
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This horse also went from 5-6 days a week riding to total confinement for…what? A week? 10days? Then new surroundings, new people, new routine, new sights and sounds and no forced exercise at the coldest time of the year? Surprised you are not scraping him off the ceiling. Heck yes go ahead and treat for ulcers.
Visited a barn in Ireland with younger stock and it reminded me of a working ranch out west, No pampering, no BS just get on and put them to work then keep them busy. And tired, not just Ireland either. Was in barn that imported at least 6 to 8 twice a year that came through the home barn. The elite level horses were pretty good but the average not going to upper levels types were no where near as finished as they looked on those videos and they were priced accordingly. We expected it and just went slow assuming they knew nothing, which was true. Yeah, they could jump around under a strong rider or follow the hounds in a group just as that horse out on the ranch can trail cattle or follow a fence line.
Just have to anticipate that and plan accordingly. Most of them worked out just fine given about 6 months…and/or warmer weather. Oddly, it was the flower boxes full of aliens from Mars that lasted the longest.
Would feel better if you started putting this horse to work or hired somebody to get that started. He needs a job. He was probably turned out with a buddy on worse than what you have as well, he is in part reacting to this boring, sedentary routine. IMO. See if you can’t change that up.
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OP you said he’s from the UK and Ireland is not the UK. Just confirming!
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