My Teddy is not the same horse that I bought, to the extent that the person I took with me to buy him, a horse rider/trainer/breaker/dressage/show person etc with over 30 years experience, asked me if I thought that he may have been drugged when I bought him.
I know deep down in my heart that he is a sweet and gentle guy but he just seems to be fearful and fretting more and more. He is started to show some unpredictable tendencies which concern me.
I searched the register and spoke to his breeder; the person who had him 9 years then sold him to the person I bought him from (the latter only had him 4 months). I believe what the breeder was saying to me as I think that she would have nothing to gain from telling me lies. By all accounts Teddy should be a well adjusted horse with extensive dressage, polo and jumping experience and no vices.
But since I've have him (3 months) I discovered that his shoes were not properly down giving him soreness in his frog and some lameness, which I am correcting. My farrier even asked if he was previously done by a qualified farrier! He also has girth, neck and back soreness from an ill fitting saddle that even I could see didn't fit when I went there. She also gave me his rugs that don't fit and he's gained weight since I've had him! I think he needs a companion even though she claimed his was a solo horse, as he passes and runs around a lot. He is also fearful for reasons unknown, which is my biggest concern.
I could take him back to the person I bought him from and demand my money back and have two people who could verify his issues, however I am not going to return him to that kind of treatment. He deserves better.
He may need a companion, better training or an understanding person and I will continue to try to do this but I have concerns that I will go to a great deal of time and expense for little gain. I am at a loss in so many ways about this problem.
What I have decided to do for now is to work with him much more extensively every day. Luckily I have a very supportive partner who will take on all the other things around the house while I do this. I will see if I can get him through this fretting and fear and at the same time look for an old school master to either be his companion or to have him learn from, or sell him on.
I really love my Teddy bear but I cant justify the expense of a horse that doesn't meet my requirements.
You have my sympathies. I've had some rough times with Cricket (check the archives of my blog and look at the posts from August of last year). Before that, Moose was quite a challenge. I don't seem to have any talent for choosing horses (though Bleu seems to have broken that streak).
ReplyDeleteI don't care what anyone says, horses were not meant to be alone. If you have the land to support two horses, get him a companion. A steady school master would be ideal so you can learn while you give Teddy some emotional rehab time. If that's not feasible, can you find a horse that just needs a place to retire or borrow a horse from a friend. If all else fails, a goat or sheep or bullock - anything that helps him feel not so alone.
If you really feel he's not the right horse, there's no shame in helping find a home better suited.
Hang in there!
Thanks, I have the word out to my horse friends to borrow a companion first so I can see if this is his issue as he doesn't call out for other horses and he has two cows as company (not the best but not the worst either).
ReplyDeleteI agree that horses are herd animals so I am trying to work both angles to see where I am at.
Even if it's not *the* answer, it may help. Even my self-confident LB horse wants other horses around her (maybe not too close, but she doesn't like being alone).
ReplyDeleteGetting him a herd-mate may "create" other issues - buddy sweet, for example. Just remember, the problem is already there (he doesn't yet see you as a leader) and buddy sweet is just a symptom.
As a note of encouragement . . . When I got Moose, my first horse, he was hard to catch. He'd just move away enough so I couldn't get a rope over his neck. It was frustrating but I sort of understood it for what it was. After a few months he'd stand still and wait for me to come to him. A few months later and he'd meet me a quarter of the way, then half. We never got much past that - after 14 months I had to put him down. But the point is - progress may be slow and sometimes you have to look in broader strokes to see that things are changing.