Posted by twinleaf on October 20, 2007, at 1:24:14
In reply to Re: I got my first horse! OMG I'm so excited!!! » twinleaf, posted by seldomseen on October 18, 2007, at 8:57:04
Since I've been doing dressage, I've become a lot more aware of how often too much pressure on horses can just ruin their confidence and willingness to work with you. We have a number of horses like that in our barn- just beautiful animals- who were pushed too hard too soon (all in dressage, here). Now they are with the trainer here because she does things slowly and correctly. Mostly, she can help a lot, but sometimes she has to decide that their minds are ruined. Sometimes, they have just become too dangerous and unpredictable to ride. Usually not, though.
But it sounds as though a good trainer helped Andrew over the worst days, and he is now well on his way to becoming a wonderful partner for you. Now that he's all yours, you can pet him and groom him all you want- that will build up his feeling that he's special, and it will relax him, too.
Have a wonderful time with him! I hope you'll let me know how things are going.
PS There's NOTHING like owning a horse!
poster:twinleaf
thread:789755
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20070925/msgs/790275.html