Finally going to post here because maybe some COTHers have experience with this type.
Firstly, I’m not a pro. I’m about as far on the other end of the spectrum as one can get without being called a beginner. I’ve had the good fortune of starting half a dozen or so greenies, under the guidance of my trainer, who have gone on to compete and be solid citizens. I’ll admit they were all very easy, straight forward babies who enjoyed their jobs.
Enter my new youngster. My ISO ad read “seeking next forever horse, 2-4 year old to be low level dressage prospect, trail partner and hacking buddy.”
Even my dressage horses spend most of their rides schooling in the field or woods and just pop in the ring once a week or so to ride a test if a show is coming up (see profile pic, you get the idea.) I wanted a brave, kind, fun partner. Sooo after the PPE I bought a “fearless” unstarted three year old friesian cross who checked all the boxes, had phenomenal gaits and a brain to match.
Training went similar to how my other youngsters have gone, ground work in the round pen, free lunging progresses to lunging to long lines and finally to riding with a ground person. Within thirty days we were there. BUT I soon found that being fearless is a double edged sword because the lunge whip meant very little to him. The lunge whip with a plastic bag at the end also doesn’t mean much. I’d get the reaction, eventually, but it took me running after him with a plastic bag like a lunatic to elicit the response a typical
horse would get from flicking a whip in their direction.
Ok, that’s different… but maybe he needs a different approach. After basic steering and unenthusiastic but acceptable gear shifting was installed under saddle in the arena we took to riding with another horse in the field, not ponying but tagged along and following their lead, or leading with them following when he felt confident enough (surprisingly quickly given how green he is.) Tada! Baby has a go button. Understandable, I get it. The sandbox is boring. I’ve never met a neon green coming four year old who is so bold on the trail and so unimpressed with the arena, but if nothing else I think I have a great trail horse in the making… with great gaits… which may or may not be relevant since he seems to utterly despise the arena.
He’s thoroughly convinced riding in the same 20 x 60 m rectangle is unbelievably pointless and boring. Great gaits quickly morph to something akin to a western jog and his perked ears from the trail are immediately replaced with the equine version of RBF. Traditional assertive “go forward aids” in the arena get the tiniest response and so far I’ve been calling that a win and exiting the arena after a few reluctant but compliant transitions and heading to the woods or field to school. Leave the arena and it’s a totally different horse with a zest for life and the biggest ground covering gaits on the farm.
…So at thirty (forty?) rides under saddle, nearly all of them have been in the pasture or trail (read dirt roads connecting one farm to the next and so on.)
Off property he’s braver with another horse but happy to hack in the woods and field on the thirty acre farm alone. Wades in the pond, marches up to the ducks and chickens, wants to make friends with the neighbors cows. Not a ton of cantering yet, but some. I’ve never met a horse like this, that at such a young age is so decidedly against the sandbox. Is this just a different kind of baby quirk that he might outgrow or become more “trainable” with time and patience?
I get this sneaking feeling that I’m not really training him, he’s training me how he wants to be ridden. We popped back in the arena tonight with his trusty trail partner, did just a bit of unimpressed baby trot then headed out to the dirt roads where he bravely left his bud in the dust to do some long trotting, stopped to rendezvous with bud on our way back then happily headed off again at a brisk trot to finish our rounds and headed home. I’m sort of dumb founded. Do we just keep going this route and see where it takes us? He’s such an odd duck.
We’re able to ride circles around trees in the field and zig and zag through the woods but it’s a far cry from anything that suggests a future in dressage. It’s not a deal breaker if we don’t ever canter down centerline but surely a lesson in the arena down the road isn’t too much to ask for?
At this point I feel like that would be obtainable if trainer stood in the middle of the dressage arena with a lunge whip (and maybe a plastic bag too 😬) with ideally another horse motoring around to add interest. I suppose I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this scenario because it’s just so backwards from every other horse I’ve encountered. It could definitely be worse, he’s not really being naughty or trying to get me off of him, just telling everyone loud and clear what he prefers.
I should add, he hasn’t pulled any nonsense. No buck no bolt (ha) or rear. The most he ever did was get a little hoppy when I asked for a canter transition from a not quite balanced enough trot in the woods. Taught me rather quickly to make sure our sh*t was together before putting the aid on and then all was well. He just shuts down in the arena and forward motion is a chore… for both of us. On the trail (field) forward is off voice command or just thinking “go ahead.” Has anyone dealt with this before? Thoughts?
I’d love to send him to a pro for 30/60 days, to see what kind of work ethic they can coax out of him in the arena, but for now my bank account is still recovering from the purchase, the ppe, the saddle etc… so it’s at least a few months off. My trainer (also my boss, I’m a ft farm hand/groom where my horses live) is retired from riding other’s horses, but she coaches and is the rider of the seasoned horse he rides out with several times a week. Her take is, slow and steady wins the race and keep doing what we’re doing, but I feel like a pro could absolutely move things along and plan to send him that way as soon as I can scrounge up the pennies for it. In the meantime, I’d love to hear about others experiences and suggestions for such a non reactive, adventurous horse.
Trainer is headed to a show with another student this week and we’ll have a few days of solo rides in the field and woods (and arena) to play around and see what we can accomplish just between both of us. Our most recent rides without a buddy have been transitions steering (“we’re turning left at that tree, trotting over that log then circling back,”) and maintaining steady rhythm.
Just wondering what others’ experiences have been with this type, particularly at such a young age, what approaches worked best for them and how they ultimately progressed.
To his credit, I wouldn’t have dreamed of taking my other babies out on the trails or cantering through the woods this soon, but I also never had any that were so obviously unimpressed with the sandbox.
thanks for reading, thoughts appreciated 
