Knowing history

Dannii5691

Owned by Ponies!
Nov 16, 2009
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Do you know your horses history? Have you traced it back? Do you make allowances based on past history. Would yor rather not know what you know now?
 
I can trace Shadow back to his previous owner, who bought him from a sale at 6 months. The only thing we're both sure of is his parents are a Shire Stallion and a Cob mare.
 
Not really. I bought him from a dealer when he was 3/4 so he hadn't done much. He comes from Austria I know that from his passport. And he's clearly been mistreated or roughly handled as had a fear of whips and extremely head shy when I got him.
 
Yes and i have met her mum and got photos of dad. She came directly from her breeders whom I am still in touch with.
Do I make allowances, partly yes because I know she has weakness in one leg- old injury. I was able to speak to the vet who looked after after etc.
Would I rather not know, no I would rather know as that explains why one leg sometimes gives out. Did it put me off, no.

I traced my previous pony that I got at three back to his breeder, and my first horse of 23 back to the people who backed her! That took a bit of work but it was interesting to know what she had done, having had two foals as well.
 
Im often told I make allowances for W because of his past. Hes been in 2 car crashes so yes I sometimes allow him to stop dead and stare at something. Hes been brayed so I allow him to be a bit of a fairy with the farriar etc. I sometimes think if he had just been sold as a project without them being honest would I have perservered this long or would I have given up. Would I have maybe made more headway as I would have been firmer with him under saddle or would it have caused him to have a total melt down.

Just musing to myself while im sat watching the sun go down in my field keeping watch for bonfire night.
Freezing my arse off I must add :|
 
I know some of her history and I knew some of Joe's. I try hard to make allowances without tipping the balance too far to have any kind of rules in place. I won't go into details but there have been issues and I have pieced things together. What I know and have half guessed have made me treat her differently at times.
 
I did as much on mine as was possible.

Cheri came from the gypsies off the marsh but they knew who her immediate parents, grandparents where. We where not sure of her sire but me and another girl I met by accident worked it out later:happy:

Evie is half highland and half percheron. she was meant to be a base breeding mare for show cobs but it all went wrong when she had some difficulties giving birth so they sold her on, as a driving mare. 5 months later I bought her and fell in love.

I am waiting for DNA to develop further to really get some proper results.

I suspect Cherie is a bog pony cross pit pony cross wee arab influence but what ever she is fantastic and I am totally happy that me and she are one and possibly of the same origins. aka totally working class lol but up for anything and we are both very spirited x
 
I know Bens history between the ages of 3 and 7 (when I bought him). He lived at the same yard but changed ownership 7 times in that period. I only know 2 of the previous owners, but I didn't ask too many questions about him. I don't think that it really matters. Ben and I live in the here and now and I am more concerned with what is happening today.
 
All I know about Ziggy is hearsay and conjecture.

He came over from Ireland at about 6 (not passported until he arrived). Experience and physic reports suggest he was driven there and in a driving accident. Apparently a riding school in the UK bought him, called him Zippy, and that probably tells you all you need to know! After 18 months I was told he was sold to a jumping yard to be produced as a show jumper, and they over faced him and we are pretty sure from his behaviour either rapped him or shocked him, then sold him to a dealer as a potential "safe cob". He wasn't, so she offloaded him on to me, cheap, with no promises!

I don't think he was ever a pet before he had me, but he is now :wub:
 
I only know recent'ish history with Dolly - definitely a hunter and little else for at least three years before I got her. Teats show signs of having foaled more than once, but that isn't at all unusual over here with a mare.

Her passport doesn't show any parentage, although my vet and a well respected local breeder are both convinced there is a lot of Irish Draft in her, as do I. If that is so it seems odd that parentage is not recorded? I can't even let my mind wander down that line of thought......what if she is a bit 'hookey' as Del boy would say? :frown:

I thought of contacting the person who got her passported about six years ago, who very coincidentally, shares my maiden name and the townland of my father?? But on reflection, I decided what I don't know can't come between me and Dolly. She is what she is, and I am what I am - we accept each other on information available at the moment we first met, that is all I really need to base my trust in her on, and hopefully that is enough for her to place her trust in me also.:happy:
 
I know Rose's complete history, and Bud's now.

As for Suze, sadly zilch, would be useful to know more about her but nothing forthcoming.

Molly I knew most of it.

Leo I know all of it.

The donkeys Ferguson I know, Aimee I know, the two frenchies well anyone's guess where they came from and how they ended up where they did
 
I know my haffie Ellie's history she is a Dutch import and was run on and imported at 5. Think she didn't make brood mare as her mane is bog brush type:happy: She had a riding school home and two pet homes before coming to me at 14. She was obviously well schooled by someone in the past and will do flying changes etc if you ask correctly.
 
I don't think knowing something would make me deal with the horse differently, if you did your making the problem a big thing, that may not happen with you if you follow.
Example mine hates the schooling whip, I didn't think gosh poor lass someone has done something, that's irrelevant, what's important is our partnership and trust and its just one of those things to work on. Incidentally I don't believe anyone has, I think she has filed it under correct me at your own risk!
I took her on as a project, she didnt come ready made, she came with opinions, I have a long way to go, she is still green.

Having said that I knew she was a halter bolter, if you haven't met one of these, it means your leading along nicely and bang your horse less! They are gone, head in full pelt and you are on your butt-because the first few times your hands dont get time to let go! But, she took off up the lane when I viewed her and I skied behind! I was pleased because it allowed me to think can I cope and deal with this.

Dannii-i would walk away from a project if they didn't tell me the good, the bad and the ugly. It was nice to be told all the good points but equally all the not good that came as part of the package. I wouldn't change a thing about her because I wouldn't have learnt a thing.
 
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I do think its interesting to find out history sometimes, and it can make you more sympathetic to what your trying to deal with or why you have a problem!

One of our new carriage horses we found was difficult to stand when being put to. In every other respect she was perfect. We tracked down some history on her and found some years ago she had been spooked when being put to, and the person holding her had let go, she had bolted half attached to the carriage... It just made us cautious as to what we were dealing with, and made us understand she wasnt just being a enthusiastic pain in the butt ( we had put it down to her being keen/fit etc) Was like a real light bulb moment when we found out! Thats why they had sold her on as a 'riding horse'!..
 
I do think it's interesting, but I don't make many allowances, I treat him for the reactions he presents me with now and we go from there.
 
I know Murphys but not personally of his early days in training. Know where and when and who trained by and who jockeyed him and how he did at his races etc then know of his last home more.

I know more of the mare as the breeder is who we got her from and he is a friend and a neighbour and had her from a foal.

I do make allowances for their past and am glad I know as feel in their retraining it is useful to explain their problems or what they struggle with.
 
All I know is she was born and bred in Belgium, she has very good old stock bloodlines according to my Dutch vet and she came to the uk at the age of 8 and was in the same home for seven years before I got her.
I was told she was just used for hacking in this country and that's all I know or want to if I'm honest. Doesn't matter to me in the least what she's done before as she does anything I want her to right now.
 
I know some of jaspers, but nothing pre 9 yrs old. I haven't ever made allowances as such, his problems stemmed from not enough done with him and cooped up, so I let him have a week of being lunged and out on the field before I got on him. Other than that I've carried on as normal with him.

Alfie I've known from 6 months old. They said they'd handled him a bit. As he booted me the first time I did his back feet and booted me hard it was apparent they tried to handle him he said no and so they didn't bother again lol!

Tegan I've had a year and she was 6 I know her history ish. I know what happened between 3 and 6, I know what the gypsies told the girl that bought her happened for her first three yrs.

I haven't found anything I've had to really make allowances for her she is very accepting.

Jim, now he came with a bridle phobia. My stepmum watched him being tacked up for someone to try for buying, he reared up went over backwards and got cast, while he was on the floor they got the bridle on him and dragged him up and got the saddle on him. He then walked and trotted round with a kid that couldn't ride as if he did it every day of his life. At this point he had been ridden a handful of times. My stepmum bought him the next day as the other people turned him down.

I have made allowances. The first time someone put his bridle on they hit his teeth hard on the way in and on the way out! I like all my horses to stand still and quiet when tacking up. With him we put golden syrup on the bit to start with. Worked a treat. After a while that didn't work so well anymore and he started playing up never ever reared, was obviously not frightened anymore so I got a a bit tougher and just made him have it on being careful not to hit his teeth. For weeks he would reverse while having it on and now will stand nicely. If we go out somewhere he might reverse a bit but nothing major.

I don't generally make allowances unless a horse has a true fear of something. At some point that fear does turn into cheekiness and just evasion. It's knowing how to notice that point with them and making sure the firmer reaction from you is appropriately timed and reasonably firm. But that goes for anything whether you know the history or not, if a horse is actually frightened of something, knowing why shouldn't really alter how you deal with it.
 
Blunt crayon on here helped me track my Flipo's breeder in Belgium. Had to get an email translated and only learnt that flip's dam is unknown breeding and he was sold at as a one year old.
I tried speaking to the woman I bought him from again, three years after I got him, but she was still resolutely vague. I guess from that, that he was either backed quickly by her, or that he was destined for the slaughter house and a cheap saving.
Either way, he was as green as grass.
I would love to know his history, I know he was imported at some point around 2008 but I can't seem to track that. Any ideas how to track movement in stock from across the waters?
 
you can't track them really, there are no controls, so it would be just change of ownerships in his passports - Suze was only passported when I got her, she was 7 years old but no paperwork yet she was producing foals. But they were all registered as ONC i.e. parentage unknown. I would have loved to have tracked down Fleurette's dad as I know he is a French trotter, so it would have been nice to put on the passport but again just got fobbed off.
 
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