advice re young horse

[Flixon]

In March I bought a 3 year old, lightly broken Connemara gelding. He's a lovely 'person' gentle and respectful on the ground, affectionate and easy to do in all ways so far. loads well, farrier, feet picking up etc.

Unfortunately the first time I rode him in the school (we had been hacking out with others fine) something scared him, he went absolutely full on flight mode, bucking and twisting. I came off and broke my femur.

So, I turned him away for the Summer, in a herd with a mix of young and older horse, huge fields, just to mature a bit and because I could not do anything much with him after my femur was nailed.

I have been riding again for a few months - very gently, on quiet horses as although I'm pretty good, the leg is not healed properly yet.
So, my young pony, now 4 and after 6 months turn out is now back with me. Again he's a darling in the stable and to handle, I've been hand walking him out in a headcoller - he's very good and although a bit 'looky' he responds to voice commands and walks past with no trouble. I've taken him out with me on another horse - ride and lead, and I've just started lunging him. He accepts his tack no problem, and I'm working on exposing him to scary things - umbrellas . plastic bags etc. All in preparation for re-backing at some point.

In all honesty I'm a bit scared. Hard though I have worked at physio (and I really have) am still in pain, my Xray shows my right femur is not healed yet and whilst I have been riding (and riding my warmblood mare who is pretty sharp) I cant get out of my head that this accident came out of nowhere. I wasn't jumping, or doing anything risky at all. We were walking around the school. And he exploded. I fell and was badly hurt (although It could have been so much worse)

What else do I need to do? I'm not planning to ride him for at least another 3 weeks ( when he will have been back with me for 6 weeks) and I don't mind if it takes longer, but I need to feel I'm moving forward and I don't know how to pass the barrier ... I'm going to do some long reining and more work training him to voice commands as well as building up our bond ... He's a sweet sweet boy and I want to do the best for him

Great news. Perhaps he just wasn't mature enough and needed that holiday. Our youngster has just had a holiday earlier than scheduled for to a field injury and has come back a different pony. Natives can be late maturers compared to your TB's and WB's

I would try to find an instructor who is also willing to ride him if needed. That way you have someone on the ground at least at certain times, and they can also hop on to do things you feel scared about.

It sounds like you are doing great. Potentially restarting him in this way will be really beneficial, as if he was backed at 3, it's likely some things were a bit rushed and he had some gaps in his education.

I hope things continue to be positive for you!

I'm so pleased with how it is gong.

We are now hacking out, in company and he hasn't put a foot wrong. Trust is a two way thing I've learned, I trust him much more and he listens to my voice and takes confidence from me . He even was the brave pony through the puddles at the weekend giving a lead to two others who didn't want to walk through. Its been almost all walk at the moment with a couple of short trots, but he will go in front or behind, stop when I ask and has really done so well. Hacking he's been a million times easier than my mare.

So I'm gaining confidence, still doing groundwork as well. I don't want to overwork him - he's only 4, so a couple of hacks a week and one lunging / long reining session out and about, while we continue to build fitness and trust seems about right. By next Spring I hope he will be ready for a little more school work (he'll be 5 in May) but this Winter I'm just hacking, slowly and confidence building - the next step will be to hack alone, but not just yet :-)

Thanks for all your advice and support. Leg seems to be a bit better too !

What a wonderful update, you've done fantastic with him. Keep us updated!

That's the perfect update op.
You've both come so far since you first posted.
Congratulations and keep up the good work. Your plan sounds great

Fantastic, well done Op and your horse!

This has happened to me. Twice! Young horse. It didn’t come out of nowhere exactly. We were in the sea. First time I didn’t see it coming. He went from tense but predictable to bonkers. Twisting bucking etc.

The first time - I paid for help. Pro rode him for me couple of times a week including hacking for about two months. I turned him away then for about two months. Brought him back. Pro rode him again for a few wks.

Then it happened again. Again pro rode etc etc. Then I rode. Then it happened again (but with another rider, not a pro but a very experienced rider).

So I decided to look at everything! I decided to move yards. That was about six months ago. He’s like a different horse. He now gets turned out w other young geldings. He blows off steam with them. I also went really really slow. Almost like restarting him. I did ground work. Then mounting (but making sure he did this right as opposed to moving off straightaway etc) walking ten paces got off. Then walk and halt transitions. Basically took weeks and weeks to progress. Lots of hacking.

For us I think it was the turnout w young geldings. Now it’s winter… we are going backwards because of limited turnout. But worth looking at everything (saddle, teeth, but also turn out feed etc).

Thank you all for your messages of support. He is being ridden now twice a week by a professional rider and I am having a lesson once a week with him. We are out and about doing pole clinics, one small show jumping training session and next week we are going on a fun ride. Its all about exposure to more stuff and gradually increasing his work

I'm so pleased I persisted with him, he is just a delight, tries really hard and there have been absolutely no more 'episodes' He gets tense in new places but is so responsive to a chat and a scratch of reassurance. I think he will be just the best pony for me as I get older and I couldn't be more pleased with the way he is going

He sounds so lovely. I love these updates.