Today I am sooo pleased....

[RRA]

Although this may not seem a big deal to many I am so happy today because I finally took my new horse out for a brief trundle down the fields - in company, her first time out since I got her 18 days ago!! After our first few days when I thought I had to do everything and got myself completely stressed out I decided to leave her (and me!) for 2 weeks to chill out, get used to her new surroundings and for us to get to know each other better before embarking on anything else!
So yesterday evening I lunged her in the school - another first for me but she seemed to know the ropes so that really helped, hopefully I will be a bit more co-ordinated next time with lunge-line, horse and whip - practice, practice and more practice!! :p - so this morning I thought it would be good to take up my field mates offer and take her out nice and early just for a stroll.
She did the usual refusal to budge at first a bit of kicking and shifting her back end in protest although not actual bucks and no rear this time either....progress! Anyway once she realised I wasn't going to let her go back to the field she went forward and was a really good girl - she didn't even change pace when I turned her for home and was good at stopping and starting when asked even if the horse I was with was doing her own thing and no spookiness - she felt really calm - amazing as I was seriously covering up my apprehension!!!
So to cut a long story short - I was very pleased, I have been so looking forward to riding her again and even though its just baby steps I loved it - me and my horse our first mini outing!!
Looking forward to the weekend now and feeling so much more positive :D
Thanks for listening!!
Anyone else - first time owner - young horse - lots to learn??? How are you getting on with it all?

[LeftBrainer]

Well done you! Both of you:)

It's a fantastic feeling - progress - the start of a long lovely relationship with your hoss:D

Looking forward to the next time already?

[*taz*]

congadulations! glad she was good!:D start of a brilliant relationship!

i am a sort of first time owner bought a horse a few years ago when i was 14 and he was not good at all! bucked and reared whenever he was ridden so he had to go back! and i ended up loosing all my confidence!

but now i have a 6 year old cob who is quite green and i can be quite nervous so not really a brilliant match! but i love him! we have had a few problems but we have worked at them! and some have been conquered, main one now is getting him out on his own!

anyway sorry for hijacking your thread! with my life story!:o

[Hippyhorse]

Well done that's great progress, might only have been a little outing but everyone has to start somewhere, well done, keep up the good work and before you know it you'll be off on half day hacks!

[ginageorge]

:)Well done to you there wont be any stopping you now.:)

[Flash Harry]

Relationships take time!! Sounds to me that your doing great :) As they say `Rome wasn`t built in a day`, most importantly, enjoy your new `partner` :):)

[Skippys Mum]

Really pleased for you. I'm just starting to get over my confidence issues and its a great feeling. Just take it easy and it'll all sort itself out:D

[Trundlecat]

Well done RRA & it IS a big deal!

I got mine 4 weeks ago & on our 1st hack I ended up on the ground while he cantered off & was picked up half a mile away. We're still doing lots of work in the menage but I'm very wary of taking him out again. However, things have been going so well I think I'm going to risk it again this weekend.

[RRA]

Well done RRA & it IS a big deal!

I got mine 4 weeks ago & on our 1st hack I ended up on the ground while he cantered off & was picked up half a mile away. We're still doing lots of work in the menage but I'm very wary of taking him out again. However, things have been going so well I think I'm going to risk it again this weekend.

Good luck for the weekend - do you have company to go out with? I am lucky to have two lovely people I share a field with who have offered lots of help - I can't wait to take mine out properly as I have done when trialling her - and she was pretty good then, its just now she is mine and I'm wanting to ensure the trust thing before I get too brave so I seem to have gone a bit cautious - I don't mind the napping as I am sure thats her just being a bit of baby and we can eventually work through that - she says!! Also I am enjoying the schooling side as its all new to me and I'm hoping it will help with the relationship.
Did you take your new horse out before you got him home? Did he behave well then? Was it just a spook that unseated you or did he really play up? Mine is a bit of an 'unknown quantity' as she has done so little to date - I am wary of going to quick and suffering a set back that will really dent my confidence just now...sorry I'm rambling

I hope your next hack goes really well as it will be a confidence boost for you both:)

[Trundlecat]

We've got very specific problems hun stemming from the fact he's an ex-racer. He's a completely different horse in the menage & out on a hack. I trialled him quite a few times before he came to me & although he was very forward going he did listen & I could hold him back without a problem. But..... since the move his instincts have been louder in his head than my instructions IYKWIM. I didn't so much as fall off him as did a very clumbsy emergency dismount on the bridleway. He just got too excited & was not going to slow down as I was asking him for love nor money, I was literally down his neck with my fingers in the bit pulling. So, it was a case of love him as I might, if he was going to go galloping out of the top of the bridleway under an HGV he wasn't doing it with me on his back. Looking back now I can see i was a really bad descision to take him out then. Since the incident he's really settled down & I have him walking & trotting to the pace I decide & not just using walk & trot as a gear up to canter (as he was doing before). So, maybe it's time for a very very controlled hack. He really is making great progress though & is exactly the horse I wanted, our bond is getting very strong & it's lovely.

I'm actually off up there at 1:30 after dropping my baby off at nursery so might even risk it then as there won't be much traffic around. Will see how he does on the lunge & in the menage then decide. I do have company but think he'll probably be better alone for the moment as any other horses with us means "race" lol.

Sounds like you're having a great time with your new baby & the schooling really does help with the bond :) The "going too quick" is exactly what I did (metaphorically & literally) with that 1st hack so yes, it's definitely one to be mindful of (she says through bitter experience lol).

[Drifted]

Gosh, yes know how you feel when you've achieved a successful hackout. My boy has turned into a project and after nearly one year of ownership have only just got to the point when we get back from a hack with that wonderful feeling - yes that went well -he feels relaxed and I'm on a high. I've learned to take nothing for granted with him, just push the boundaries very slowly so that he doesn't notice that we're staying out longer (serious trouble if we went out of his comfort zone, planting, backing, trying to roll etc). Now I think that went well, tomorrow we'll do a tiny bit more.

18 days is no time at all to build up a bond so that he trusts you not to do more then he's comfortabe with. Good luck, you'll get there.

[RRA]

Thanks everyone - I like hearing from those of you who have been or are in a similar position as me with their horse - its very reassuring! I am very good at putting myself down and thinking I'm the only one who is going to truly get this wrong! It is so easy to compare yourself with friends who have more experience and more mature horses and see what they are doing and making it look easy! Thanks for the encouragement though - I am enjoying what I am doing and it is still so new, I think some days I am still in shock that after all these years of wanting one I finally got my horse, she's more than I thought I could hope to get and feel so lucky to have her and I'm just hoping if we take it steady together we will make a good team in the future - a prospect which I get really excited about!!:D