My new horse...or what the heck did I get myself into???

[myleetlepony]

About a month ago, I got a message from a friend that a horse she was riding occasionally needed a new home. His owner received job transfer papers and was to report for her new assignment in three weeks, with a follow up reassignment about six months later. She was concerned with finding him a good home and was fine with him being a "finishing project" for someone. He is a KWPN/Belgian cross, turned 7 at the end of May, and had been started over some low jumps. Hmmm, how hard could this be? He is by the Indian Hills stallion Limmerick, who is a mid-level dressage horse and this guy is very well put together, so I said I'd take him.

He's totally lovable...I call him the Newfoundland dog of horses. He's tall enough that I need a step stool to groom the top of his head and across his back, and he's very level headed. He spooked when I tried him, and his "spook" is to turn into a statue. His main "issues" are that he WILL.NOT let you near his ears, which means taking the bridle apart, and he refused to lift his back feet (I think we are on the road to that being a non-issue anymore). He certainly knows how to use his height and weight against me (very nonchalantly)...so this will certainly be an adventure!

The first issue was finding a saddle that fit...my Kieffer was a bit too narrow, the Rembrandt I ordered ended up being too wide (It's for sale now if anyone is interested!) and I finally picked up a Stubben Romanus that fits almost perfectly. The warmblood/OS bridle I ordered fit, except the browband isn't big enough, so I need to order a draft sized one. I figured my old jump saddle girth would be long enough to fit the Stubben, but, nope...need longer! So, I've spent the last month trying to find tack to fit the guy just so I can get on him, which I haven't yet since he was moved. Good thing he lunges!

Anyway, introducing Adonis...my non-Thoroughbred project. I'm excited to see how he progresses. And trust me, the pictures do not do his size justice!

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[khall]

Cool!! Happy new horse! He looks very much like one of my boarders a Perch/TB mare. She is quite a wide load!

[Moutaineer]

It's a whole different ballgame riding and handling an enormous horse, isn't it?

However, I've found that mine has apparently shrunk over the course of the past year. I'm now surprised when people comment on his size.

[orono]

What a handsome fellow!! Have fun with him!!

[Flight]

He's awesome!!

[AmityBee]

Congrats!

Looks like someone need a new user name though...

[Josette]

He looks BIG but what a sweet face! Enjoy your new partner!

[demi]

I'm glad his idea of a spook is to stand like a statue! He sounds like a nice project.

[fergusnc]

Please keep the photos and the updates coming!

[StraightForward]

He's very handsome and sounds fun! Looking forward to updates.

[PNG_Pony]

He sounds lovely! Looking forward to hearing more!

[Mareless]

Congrats on your new tall, dark, and handsome guy. Can't wait to read updates on your progress with him.

[Tuddy]

Yay for you! Can't wait to read more about your adventures!

[myleetlepony]

Thank you, everyone!

I finally was able to get on him yesterday! He is very inverted, has no forward and frankly he's unsure of his balance. I suspect that he's grown a bit in the past few months and he's still getting used to his mass. He also came with a Vit E deficiency first thought to be shivers but after a month of 5000iu/day of E, the symptoms have disappeared.

We just took a slow walk around the outdoor for about half an hour with a little trot, but the trot was not much. He did an actual side duck spook when a bird flew out of a Willow tree towards his head but he recovered his mind quickly.

He's a good egg...I think he just needs confidence and direction.

He was previously ridden in a twisted pelham and while his mouth is pretty quiet on the lunge, working in-hand or while riding he's pretty mouthy. I am currently working him in a single joint Baucher, no noseband since I have to take the bridle apart to get it on. He won't let me near his ears....we've been working on it but he's tall enough he can get away from me, even when I'm on the step stool. He will lower his head to light pressure on the poll but even then he will throw his head if you go anywhere near the ears

I'll try to get some video of him tonight.

[Mareless]

Thank you, everyone!


He was previously ridden in a twisted pelham and while his mouth is pretty quiet on the lunge, working in-hand or while riding he's pretty mouthy. I am currently working him in a single joint Baucher, no noseband since I have to take the bridle apart to get it on. He won't let me near his ears....we've been working on it but he's tall enough he can get away from me, even when I'm on the step stool. He will lower his head to light pressure on the poll but even then he will throw his head if you go anywhere near the ears

Have you tried getting him to lower his head by offering him a treat? When I first got my Holsteiner mare (eons ago; 2000. . . ) she liked to put her head way up and away from me when I wanted to bridle her. I know, not exactly the same as being ear-shy, but maybe the same 'trick' will work with your guy. Anyway, I worked with her on bringing her head down and keeping it down in exchange for a sugar cube when her head was as low as I wanted it. I didn't try to touch her on the head or put pressure on her poll to get her to lower her head at that point, just showed her the sugar, then put my hand down where I wanted her nose to go. Didn't take her very long to learn that if she kept her head down, there would be a sugar waiting for her, and she would immediately put her head in the right spot, and wait for me, when she saw the bridle. Offering the sugar on the palm of my hand underneath the bit while bridling taught her to 'eat' the bit and take it in her mouth nicely rather than clench her teeth against it.

[kande50]

Offering the sugar on the palm of my hand underneath the bit while bridling taught her to 'eat' the bit and take it in her mouth nicely rather than clench her teeth against it.

I know someone who had a horse who became bridle shy when she was out on lease, and was so traumatized by the way she was handled that it took the owner a long, long time to be able to bridle her again. She worked on it mostly with clicker training, and didn't rush it, and the horse eventually recovered enough to allow herself to be bridled again.

[Flight]

My horse was very head shy when I first got him, so much that I had to leave a halter on him in the paddock for the first 3 days. He is 17+ hh. Same story, he would raise his head so he was right out of reach. It was his ears he especially hated being touched.
I only half fixed it, so when I came to starting him, I was doing the take the bridle thing apart but it wasn't that easy.

There's heaps of stuff on the internet to follow but I found this vid (my horse is part Andy) and then searched more of their stuff and it didn't take long to have it sorted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCYdXwgZKo4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI7-Les7iNc

[Grandiose]

One of my horses that I'd had for years became bridle shy in a matter of weeks. Because I knew him and knew this wasn't his typical behavior I had a vet check his ears. He had aureal plaques (sp?). And having his ears touched was very painful. Meds for a week and he went back to easy bridling.

Your new boy is gorgeous! Have fun with him.

[capstone]

One of my horses that I'd had for years became bridle shy in a matter of weeks. Because I knew him and knew this wasn't his typical behavior I had a vet check his ears. He had aureal plaques (sp?). And having his ears touched was very painful. Meds for a week and he went back to easy bridling.

Your new boy is gorgeous! Have fun with him.

My retired horse had these plaques before I got him and developed bridling/haltering issues that were not dealt with. He still has the issues today. Definitely deal with it early, would be my advice.

[Kelo]

Wow congrats on your new pony! How fun!

My horse was ear shy and hard to bridle when I got him. I used clicker training and to this day he lowers his head/openshis mouth for bridle and I can clip/mess with his ears sans a halter. Very effective, and my horse isnt even tall!

[myleetlepony]

I'm thinking more and more that the issues this guy came with are trust based more than anything. At first, he REFUSED to pick up his hind feet, and required sedation to get him trimmed. I've continued to work on picking up the feet, using a rope if necessary, and now he knows that front foot goes up with "lift", and he has to hold it up until I say "ok", and then the next is the back foot, same side. Usually now by the time I get to the hind, it's already an inch above the ground. The only issue is his left hind, he will put it back down right away but then lifts it up again right away. Sometimes if he puts it down early, he will refuse to lift, so I go back to the front foot, reward and say "ok", then use the rope on the hind foot and work on holding it up for progressively longer times.

He is letting me get closer and closer to his ears...in fact, the past two days, I have been able to brush them backwards lightly with the brush while doing his face, and lightly touch the back/bottom part when brushing his upper neck. He's learning there's no punishments here, there's guidance when things are scary, and if I'm requesting something, I will guide him until he figures it out, then he gets rewarded. No punishments for wrong guesses. I will give it some more time for him to learn to trust me, but in the end, I may resort to clicker training for this.

He has also "spooked" a few times, mostly himself...as we were riding in the indoor for the first time, he would brush up against the wall and the branch of my stirrup would make a noise and he'd jump. But, that much mass is difficult to move quickly, so while the spooks are no longer "statuesque", they are extremely easy to sit out! Still, he has a good mind, so once he spooks, he's over it quickly...no big drama here.

I'm having fun with this guy...while I've had him for a bit over a month, I've only had to the tack to ride him the last week, which happened to be a week I had taken vacation from work, so we have five rides under our belt. The first one was with his buddy in the outdoor, the second night was by ourselves in the outdoor, getting over being separated from his buddy, then two indoor rides and the last one outdoor. We've been working on learning to slow and halt from my back and thighs, with a little contact from the reins vs. using rein only. He's wiggly and unbalanced and VERY flexible, so his head can go in many different directions in response to rein contact, including UP. I'm being patient as his bit for the last three years was a twisted pelham, and I put him into a single jointed Baucher; he doesn't need *control*, he needs balance and guidance. Next, I will be working on teaching light flexions and bending.

I have video from our second ride I'll be uploading, but I have to edit out the "oh $*it" part where my SO accidentally tripped over a ground cone while filming

[Rosie B]

Sounds like you guys are well on your way to having a great relationship! Establishing trust is so important, and it sounds like you're making enormous progress in a very short time!

And, he is very handsome!!