The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.
2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  kevinshorses 
#1 ·
I bought a 8-10 year old bay gelding QH cross about two months ago. He was sold to me as a kids horse (for my daughter) and is very sweet. He doesn't spook easily, but he acts as if he's had little to no training. He was owned by a cowboy who supposedly used him for work.

When he arrived at the barn and were saddling him, the horse acted as if he'd never been saddled before. He was a bit jumpy but we pegged that as his newness at the barn. Once we began lunging with the saddle it was revealed that this horse had never probably been saddled before as he bucked when going from a trot to a canter. We started from square one.

My daughter has worked hard to teach this horse to lunge and is usually obedient, as he loves her very much. Just recently he's turned back to his old ways of not listening and doing what HE wants to do. He now refuses to 'whoa' and kicks his back leg out at her when she attempts to push him into a canter. He is only on a 12-8 pellet.

Anyone else have this problem? My daughter is so discouraged that she has a horse she cannot ride. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
#2 ·
First off, welcome! I am having the same problem!!

My perents bought me a horse that was sold as kid broke, beginner ready. We have had her for one month and she has bucked me off and crow hops if you try and ride her. The thing is, she is the sweetest thing ever if you are not riding her! She is great around small kids and has great ground manners. We finally just decided that we wanted to sell her (we want to ride, not just keep her a s a pasture ornament), so we put her on Craigslist and she is being picked up tomorrow by a nice couple who wants to use her as a broodmare. Trust me, I understand how your daughter feels. I was so excited to get my first horse, only to have to sell her a month later. Could we have sent her off to get trained? Yes. But we had bought a horse that we didn't want to put more money into.

We are now looknig for a different horse that really is kid broke. I hope you figure something out. Maybe you should pay a trainer, but we didn't want to have to wait, nor did we want to pay more for a horse we bought as ready-to-go.
 
#3 ·
Fist have the horse checked. Bucking and saddling problems are usually a bad fitting saddle and/or a horse who is sore in some area.

Then find someone who is experience in training horses to evaluate the horse once you have ruled out soreness and/or a bad fitting saddle.

I will not even get started on using a horse you can not ride as a broodmare.
 
#4 ·
I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I think selling him and buying a kids horse is your best option. Next time, see if you can get a trial period. I know not everyone will do them, but a lot of nice folks out there will. If they value their horse, they want it to go to a home that will keep it and they want you to be happy so the horse doesn't get passed down the road.

Anyway, I'm really sorry that happened to you. But basically, unless you are hopelessly bonded to this gelding, you are probably better off cutting your losses and buying a well broke horse. Horses are pretty cheap right now, and it might take some searching to find the right one, but you will pay a lot less in the long run, and have a much better trained horse, if you just buy the horse you want. Even if you get more training on this guy, there is no guarantee he will end up kid broke.

So that's my 2cents worth. Again, sorry that happened to you. I think it happens to us all at one time or another. I had about 12 years of horse experience when I went and bought two horses that were so herd bound they couldn't be ridden apart. I am now a few years older and wiser. So now I really try to get a trial period on a horse. You can't always, but there are folks who will if they want the horse to go to the right home. :)
 
#6 ·
Saddle fit and soreness are sometimes the problem but I would not say usually. If it was a real cowboy horse that was really used for work then he is probably getting more rest, less work and more feed than he is used to. In addition to this he is being handled be less experienced people and there is a really good chance that he has never been lunged since the first ride.

Find someone that is experienced and have him ridden for a while. Many old broke horses will try to put one over on an inexperienced rider.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top