OK so today, Jane (as in Jane and Ziggy) and I went to Safecobs. Thank you again Jane! :biggrin: I've always fancied having something from there as people usually say good things about their horses and I know they have a lot of training to make them as safe as possible - bearing in mind that they are real animals with their own minds!
I had called Lia about Robbie who is £3500 - one of their cheaper horses. I don't have that much in my budget , particularly as he wouldn't come with any tack, would need transporting etc etc but I'm feeling so fed up and like finding anything safe enough for me to feel happy on is getting so hard I thought I'd beg steal or borrow if I had to. Anyway, Lia said Robbie wouldn't suit me (I explained how I tense up, lean forwards, and how I need something that will not react to my nerves etc) but that she had one who would. She bought him to train into a Safecob. Naturally quiet, naturally non spooky, naturally non competitive. 7 yrs old, piebald, 14.3, gelding. He's not finished his training and so is selling him for £1800 (she's overstocked). She describes him as green on the ground but not ridden. For example, he walks off after you've mounted, rather than standing until asked to move, and lagging at the end of the lead rope when bringing in. She really likes him though and if I don't have him she is going to take him off the market, finish the training and sell him for the £3500 - £4000 mark.
So, tried him today. Here's my report:
Good bits
Bad bits
Lia had all her tack stolen over christmas so she only had limited tack. We rode in a saddle we think didn't fit and a bridle that really didn't! He was ridden in an American gag - is that quite severe? She was telling us she uses that as it makes the horse hold its head up and go nicely all by himself, or something? :frown: Can anyone tell me a bit more about it? For some reason Lia doesn't seem to like snaffles - Jane I can't remember what she said about them now?
Anyway, what do we think? Its so amazing for me to find something I'm happy to canter on, but at the same time I didn't like the motorbike thing or the walking off bits.
One option would be to pay Lia to keep him on for a few more weeks, but obvioulsy that all adds to his costs. How far do you think he would realistically come in another 4 weeks and is the last minute training likely to last?
I had called Lia about Robbie who is £3500 - one of their cheaper horses. I don't have that much in my budget , particularly as he wouldn't come with any tack, would need transporting etc etc but I'm feeling so fed up and like finding anything safe enough for me to feel happy on is getting so hard I thought I'd beg steal or borrow if I had to. Anyway, Lia said Robbie wouldn't suit me (I explained how I tense up, lean forwards, and how I need something that will not react to my nerves etc) but that she had one who would. She bought him to train into a Safecob. Naturally quiet, naturally non spooky, naturally non competitive. 7 yrs old, piebald, 14.3, gelding. He's not finished his training and so is selling him for £1800 (she's overstocked). She describes him as green on the ground but not ridden. For example, he walks off after you've mounted, rather than standing until asked to move, and lagging at the end of the lead rope when bringing in. She really likes him though and if I don't have him she is going to take him off the market, finish the training and sell him for the £3500 - £4000 mark.
So, tried him today. Here's my report:
Good bits
- I walked, trotted and cantered all on my own! I appreciate this doesn't sound a lot but there was no 'safe' school, this was out on a hack, and Jane didn't even ride him before me! Think back to last weekend when I had to be led even in walk and you can hopefully see what a big thing that is for me!
- Lovely trot
- Very quiet boy
- Not strong at all, stopped the second I asked, needed a lot of leg to canter rather than taking off
Bad bits
- He doesn't seem to know how to pick his feet up
- I really didn't like how he wouldn't stand still after I'd got on. Taking a step is one thing but we were going all over the place and eventually Jane had to come and stand with us to get him to stop
- When on the roads, he was generally fine. At one point a horse came galloping over to us at the exact moment a pickup towing a trailer passed us! He jiggled about abit, neighed really loudly but I guess not to bad. But later a motorbike came past (not a really loud one) and he really was worried. He definitely looked to his left and was about to run into the woods but saw the ditch and decided he couldn't. He then danced about a bit trying to work out where to go and suddenly the bike was passed us and he was fine again
- He's in poor condition at the moment, you can feel his ribs and his spine is prominent. Jane says Ziggy was the same when she got him. He's only on chaff, sugar beet and oat straw as Lia can't get hold of any hay??
Lia had all her tack stolen over christmas so she only had limited tack. We rode in a saddle we think didn't fit and a bridle that really didn't! He was ridden in an American gag - is that quite severe? She was telling us she uses that as it makes the horse hold its head up and go nicely all by himself, or something? :frown: Can anyone tell me a bit more about it? For some reason Lia doesn't seem to like snaffles - Jane I can't remember what she said about them now?
Anyway, what do we think? Its so amazing for me to find something I'm happy to canter on, but at the same time I didn't like the motorbike thing or the walking off bits.
One option would be to pay Lia to keep him on for a few more weeks, but obvioulsy that all adds to his costs. How far do you think he would realistically come in another 4 weeks and is the last minute training likely to last?