Hi new here wanted to say hello and had a ?

[Moostang Rita]

Hi everyone, I'm Rita aka Moostang Rita. I used to ride a lot but moving, marriage and kids took me away from it for awhile, a long while 15 or so years. But finally the time was right for me to add a new addition to the family and got a beautfiul paintmare knows as Sonny's King Robin, aka Robin ( or Robby)

I have her at a boarding facility about a mile from my home and she arrived there yesterday about noon. She seems to be settling in fine so far but of course is wide eyed and curious about everything, including the other 30 or so horses that are there.

We spent some time today just walking her with the halter getting her used to things and letting her check things out.
And for her to get some exercise since she was kept in an open pasture and not a stall at her old home.

She is very soft on the mouth, great neck reining and works easily with voice chews and light foot pressure. I've rode her at her old home a couple of times for a short period and have seen the previous owners and thier kids on her so I know she does well.

But having her in a new home with a new owner I am wondering how long I should wait untill I start riding her more. I've always ridden horses that were at thier usual home and never had to worry about an adjustment period of " new rider-new home" all at the same time.

I'm not scared to ride her but do have a little bit of nervousness. Not in my ability, but becasue everything is so new to her and not sure how she may act.

Anyone have any suggestions?? Or helpful hints for someone who used to ride like crazy but feels like a total newbie all over again (LOL)

Thanks bunches,
Moostang Rita

p.s. has anyone here every clicker trained thier horse??
I'm considering trying it since I have had such wonderful results using clicker training with my dogs, cats and my raccoon.

[amylou_84]

hello

my name is amy im 20 and i come from scotland. robby sounds lovely and im really jealous because she is a paint and i love them. how about a picture?
unfortunatly i dont have any solid advice for you, because iv never owned a horse. my own advice would be to take time and increase your time with her everyday. after a while you'l know yourself if she is settled and you can ride her. not great advice but its all i have :D

amy :D

[westley_jacobs]

wow:eek: you clicker trained a raccoon!!! i never knew u can have them as pets!
anyway my advice, you should let the horse settle in for about 2 days without moving them mainly, after that take her out ona lead (no rider) just around the yard and fields to get used to the place and vibes, do this everyday, soon enough youll know when its ready to ride and when it is can i suggest riding in a school, shell probably be more familiar to it!
hope i helped, if i didnt ignore me, lol

[canadianbeaver]

I'm confused, where did the raccoon training come from out of a new horse? Am I missing something, or having a blonde moment (AGAIN!!)

[TBEventer2002]

Hi, and welcome to NR! :)

In regards to your question, it really depends on the horse. Was the home you brought her from her only home? Had she ever been away from home? These could factor in.

Generally, I like to give the horse a day or two to chill in their stall, giving them very good long grooming sessions during that time, then turn them out for a day or two so they can kind of see the whole place. This all depends, however, on how things are done at that barn (limited turnout, no turnout, barn 'traffic', etc.), but I tend to give the horse about 3-4 days before I actually hop up on them. They tend to be on their tippy-toes for a little while, so I would prefer them figure out by themself that the water trough isn't going to eat them rather than it suddenly pop up while I was trying to take a relaxing trail ride.

If you aren't comfortable riding just yet, do some groundwork exercises, or start with the clickertraining. I met a mini at Equine Affaire this year who was clickertrained and was a seeing-eye pony. Try it with your horse, it might work well for you two. My gelding, on the other hand, thinks that clicker-training is just a waste of time. :rolleyes: ;) LOL

Good luck, and have fun!!!

[Moostang Rita]

Well to clarify the raccon thing, I asked about clicker training a horse saying that I had great results with clicker training my other animals, including my racoon. Yes I have a pet raccoon, Ringo who runs loose in the house like one of the dogs, and yes he is clicker trained, though he hasn't learned yet to stay out of the refridgerator or the bathtub when my kids are taking thier baths (LOL):p

TB, your suggestions were good ones, And I have given her the last couple of days to get used to her stall, but I have also taken her out on lead and walked her about a bit. And your right, she is on her "tippy toes" about things and that was a great way you worded it. Something startled her a little bit and she did that little "hop" thing, not a bolting or anything like that, more like a hop/stance in place with he head up high saying hey what's that kinda attitude/look to her :) Kinda reminded me of what a deer looks like when you startle it and it freezes just before it goes running off. Only thank goodness Robin didn't go running off LOL.

I have not turned her out yet but there are several pastures to choose from. Several of them have many horses in them that another border who is a trainer and seller owns and not sure that I want Robin in with that many other horses right now. There is a nice pasture with the owners 2 draft mixes, that she said I could let Robin in. Robin was the boss at her other house to another pony and goats so I am wondering how she will behave. Don't want her picking on someone elses horse when I responsable for it and don't want some big draft to give her a kick with hooves the size of dinner plates :P But on the other hand I am anxious to let her have some room to run and check things out, it will be good for her and help her adjust more. So will have to just keep an eye on her and who ever else is in the pasture and see how it goes.


I have learned over the past couple of days that she is very smart, and responds well to treats and verbal commands even on the ground....I really think she might work well with clicker training.

Rita

i will try to post some pictures but they might be too big of files so if they don't show up will resize and post them later

[Moostang Rita]

just thought I would share a pic of Ringo :) don't want him getting jelous with Robin getting all of the attention LOL

[westley_jacobs]

aaah i still cannot believ u have a raccon!! whats it like to have a raccoon round, whats their personality like?

[TBEventer2002]

My gelding was VERY dominant as well with other horses, and me, too. It was often dangerous in the beginning of our relationship, so I am glad that you two are well on your way of bonding! :)

When I brought my gelding to school, I picked a horse (just one, for right now) that was dominant enough not to run at the slightest ear-pinning but wasn't top dog in the herd. Rumby soon caught on to Arrow's weaknesses and Rumby became top dog with little fighting.

When I moved to my trainer's barn, I threw Rumby out with the rank pony that beat everything else up at her barn so far (mostly because he needed a serious reality check -- I don't advise throwing a dominant horse out with another dominant horse!). They seemed OK at first, eating side by side, but all of a sudden Whirley didn't like Rumby looking at his girlfriend across the fence and they had quite a fight and flailing of back hooves. THankfully no one was hurt, but my once-dominant gelding certainly (excuse the pun) got his butt kicked, LOL.

It's far easier if you have a submissive horse because it seems like they tend to avoid the big skirmishes. For this reason (and the fact that you say the mare was dominant at her previous home), I would advise you find a somewhat submissive horse to introduce her to (preferably over a sturdy fence or next to eachother in stalls where they can see eachother). Yes, it will feed your mare's ego, but it is a safer way to find out if your mare is truly dominant in the sense of the word or if she was just with a bunch of sissies at her last home. ;) As they get adjusted to eachother, you can start up the pecking order, finding the horse that is just above the last one you put with her until you find one where they assert themself over your mare. Once you find that one & she has found her slot in the pecking order, you can throw her out with that herd with few problems.

You might want to start with the more submissive draft horse when applying this to that pair you are concerned about. This is sometimes hard to figure out with pairs because they bond so well with eachother, but a good time to watch them is at feeding time if they are fed outside or if you come out with some treats for them.

People, however, do it different ways. Some people just throw the horse out into a large herd and hope they come back in one piece after finding their spot in the order. Other people are sooo concerned with their horse getting injured that they turn out by themselves or with only one other horse. Some people prefer all introductions be made in the field, some say it's best to introduce them across a fenceline. Talk with your barn manager and see what they feel would be an effective way to do it. They can also give you valuable information regarding the pecking order of the horses in their herds.

Good luck! She is a shamefully beautiful mare, I hope you have tons of fun with her!!! :)

[Tootsie4U]

AHHH! A sabino! I love them!

Virtuallyhorses is a clicker training expert ( I think ) and her website is full of neat stuff to teach.

Cute horse!

[Sammy_T]

i have ferrets there kinda like raccoons!! one of the horses i ride is clicker trained, not very spectacularly but he trots and comes to you and lies down with the clicker.

could i clicker train the ferrets hmmmmmm,

[Moostang Rita]

Well out of curiosity I fiddled with the clicker and Robin yesterday. She defintly has the potential to do things with clicker training, how far she will go with it I have no idea. But she already realizes it is associated with positive stuff and treats :)
She is already in less then 15 minutes responding to targeting with the clicker so that is a good sign. We'll have to see how she does in the future with more clicker training.

I finally took her out and rode her a little bit in the arena last night and she did great. She acted like she was ready to take off and go on a nice long ride but it had already gotten dark outside and since neither of us knows the area that great yest figured going out in the dark wasn't a good idea yet :)

I havn't turned her out yet, but did walk her up to another horse that someone else had out last night. She did ok at first, just sniffing each others noses then the other horse went to "lip" her a little and Robin jerked her head up and let out one very loud squeal that near about deafened me LOL, but she settled right down. I think by that reaction of hers that when I turn her out she will do just fine holding her own out there with the other horses. Hopefully will let her out for a bit this coming up week.

Rita

p.s. Having a coon is fantastic but can be tough. They get into just about EVERYTHING including the fridgerator. They use thier paws like hands and it is amazing some of the things they can do. Personality is cute as a button but can have thier moments of "hey I'm the boss and don't mess with me" but deep down he knows who is REALLY the boss ( me ) LOL!