went to see a horse today.........ouch!!!

sprollie

sprollie

New Member
Jul 29, 2007
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chester le street, durham
Hiya All,

Just thought I'd share my first horse viewing experience with you all, even if its just to give everyone a laugh!! - soz bit of a long tale.....

I already have a gorgeous lad who doesnt put a foot wrong but he's a heavy clydesdale cross and I got it into my head that I facied trying to do a bit more with something a bit finer that was more of a schoolmaster type to bring on my riding. Anyway today went to see the first one that actually matched up on paper and ticked all the boxes over the phone. She was beautiful, 16.2 chestnut warmblood about 15. saw her ridden in a paddock by her owner who showed off a bit with some cantering on the spot(sorry dont know the techie term) etc, which was great then I asked her if she could judt trot her out and canter her in a larger circle..........she couldnt??!! just kept doing the canter thing. the woman was a very competent rider so i went with it, she was great on the road too - a few trucks passed her etc, so then it was my turn, she did say that the mare was very very forward and while I settled with her in a walk the owner wouldnt let go of the reins - I said at this point that I didnt want to waste anybodys time at all - she was a beautiful horse but I wouldnt be the right home for her as she's a bit too much for me at the moment, anyway we then rode up the road( just a small track road thankfully) and I was off on my own with the owner walking alongside, the horse was beautiful, went into trot and was soo light and lovely and easy to ride and then slowed back to walk lovey, then we turned for home and she picked up and was quite skippy ( I would expect this though and wasnt bothered) she then had a mega sideways spook at a bag of cattle feed by the roadside that she had walked straight past two minutes earlier:rolleyes: then was bouncing all over and I just couldnt settle her, the owner stayed walking while the horse and I half trot half canter skipped back towards their farm then she just bolted full on gallop:eek: am really not sure what I did to cause this, she was skittish but thats understandable the horse was used to only one rider and was landed with a strange one on her back so it wasnt a regular day and she was bound to be a bit nervy ( as I probably was too!) so I don't look badly on the horse for this...............but
we were by now going full pelt down the back road straight towards the main road:eek: was quite settled in the saddle ( luckily) so had time to think, main road= disaster so my next thought was trying to jump off ( there was no way she was slowing down no matter what I did) but we were on the road so that would have really hurt, am sooo lucky I spotted a corner grassy weedy patch just on the corner of the main road so managed to pull her round to there and then just launched myself off, she skidded to a halt and then stopped but was obviously very scared and I was fine and able to get straight up and collect the horse and make sure she was ok - which she was. ...........only then did I see all the blebs of stinging nettles all over both arms and the side of my face - I look like something from a horror film!!!! :eek: anyway the horse was fine which is the main thing and apart from the nettles and a stiff neck and a random bruised knuckle I'm non ethe worse and put it down to experience!!

has anyone had similar experiences??? also what do you think I might have involutarily done to make her suddenly go from skippy trotty canter take me home pace to bolt head down full gallop straight past her home and on down the road?
 
:confused: this horse was their definition of a schoolmaster. I would hate to see what they consider not a novice ride:eek:

I hope you're not feeling to sore,bruised or itchy from your fall. Sounds like the nightmare sellers from Hell to me. A schoolmaster type should be able to bring on your riding while giving you confidence,not terrifying the life out of you while trying to kill you. Sounds like this horse is definitely not a novice ride.
 
to be fair to the owner she didnt say she was a novice ride but was described as 100% in all ways , totally safe and a schoolmaster, it was just before I got on she said she's very forward so you'll have to really keep on top of her, the owner was nice and honest, probably just thought that as I already had a horse I would be fine, but with the horse being ridden in a happy mouth snaffle and settling so well initially while walking on the road, I probably relaxed a bit too much with her and then she was off!!:D
 
That's terrible though, I would never put anyone on my horse if i thought he'd behave like that!

I tried a horse out and it was a nightmare, horse bolted and i threw myself off to avoid colliding with a fence. The horse then proceeded to escape the school and get onto the road, and fall over, totally skinning it's knees and trashing the saddle, and if i'd still been on it i would have been seriously injured.

Came away with a nasty crack to the head and i'm pretty sure a fractured rib as i was in agony for weeks after.

Got the usual story 'oh it's never done that before' :rolleyes:

I now trust no one's descriptions of their horses!!
 
sprollie said:
to be fair to the owner she didnt say she was a novice ride but was described as 100% in all ways , totally safe and a schoolmaster, it was just before I got on she said she's very forward so you'll have to really keep on top of her, the owner was nice and honest, probably just thought that as I already had a horse I would be fine, but with the horse being ridden in a happy mouth snaffle and settling so well initially while walking on the road, I probably relaxed a bit too much with her and then she was off!!:D
Click to expand...

hmm I would not call that safe. What discipline is this horse supposed to be a schoolmaster in because I have to say the fact it couldn't go around the school at any speed other than canter would suggest that the horse is very much a forward going not novice ride. I went to try a horse (before buying my current chap) who was described as a safe all rounder brilliant jumper. I watched the sellers rider (instantly rang alarm bells lol) working the horse in the school at walk,trot and canter and noticed it was forward going although that didn't worry me,but when I asked them to show me her jumping and the horse jumped 6ft in the air over a tiny crosspole followed by bombing off around the arena and then rearing I said noway was the horse suited to what I wanted to do. I would have described her reaction over the fence at best as green at worse as there being a serious issue of some kind. Obviously I walked away from that sale. Another I tried was just like the horse you have described except she was a very underweight appaloosa mare who just did walk and canter as because as soon as you asked for trot you would only get a motorbike canter around the school.I didn't try hacking her as I felt that given how forward she was in such poor condition I would hate to think what she would be like once fit and well. My young horse was described as a safe mother daughter ride.He is a fantastic hack albeit a strong ride, but on the ground when I first got him he tried to kill me on numerous occassions. Fortunately I am confident and fairly experienced and managed to work through his problems and now have a lovely horse who is the envy of quite a few people on the yard.My YO describes him as the typical competition horse because he loves his work and is great as long as he gets enough work but is somewhat quirky and definitely not a novices horse as he would run rings around a novice and probably put them off horses for life.
It really is a shame that so many people just want to sell their horses on to the first person that comes along and will tell them any old story to persuade them to buy.Hopefully you will be luckier next time round and the seller will be honest about the horse. On the other side of the coin when I sold my last horse who was an allround schoolmaster I had one man come to try him who had said he was hacking out a tb and was quite experienced.When he got on my horse he sussed him out pretty quickly and proceeded to canter around the school unbalancing this so called experienced rider.Needless to say they didn't buy him.My horse didn't put a foot wrong and I would have described him as suited to a competent novice rather than a total beginner.I was somewhat more cautious about anyone elses riding ability when they came to try him.Eventually I sold him to a family member and I know he has a home for life and is adored by them.
 
Hiya hun, sorry to hear about your episode with the stinging nettles!! You'll find a hossie soon and they will be safe sane and sensible lol

What are you hoping to do on the new one when you get it?
D x
 
I totally agree with you re the selling to anyone thing, even after we'd put the horse away I said I really appreciated her time and the horse was beautiful but too much for me at the moment, but she was till talking about how the horse was very one-to - one and would settle with me as her rider after a while etc, nice horse , nice lady but defo not for me and I would worry that she was still trying to sell me the horse even while i stood covered in nettle stings and grass stains and had lost the silk off my skullcap:D

If I do find the right horse and decide to sell my current one I think the potential new owners would have to be the ones doing the selling (of themselves as owners for my lovely lad:))
 
Gawd!

Oh Gawd sprollie , that sounds a total nightmare! I bet the adrenalin was gushing through your veins, didnt you legs wobble a tad when it had sunk in what had happened? Was the woman really concerned for your safety aswell? Did she show how concerned she was with what happened? I woudl have been so apologetic. I know none of can tell what an animal will do, butif she has had for a while, didnt she know her character? Out of interest, why was she selling her?

I certainly have great big L plates taped onto my rear, but she didnt sound like a school master to me either.

Hope your okay! Keep the faith Jedi Sprollie, what will be will be (or if your a Doris fan but dont want to admit it que sera sera!)
 
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