New horse advice on first days

[hmason]

Hello Everyone,
I am new to IH and the forum group and wonder if you could give me some snippets of wisdom. Since I was a child I have dreamed of my own horse. So…..now my dream is about to come true. I am buying a horse for myself (15.2H, 7 year old gelding) and a pony for my son (12H, 7 year old mare). My first question (which undoubtedly, will be one of many!) is, can I do join up with a horse that has already been started? They are both young horses and I have no idea what methods were used to start them, other than they do not seem at all head shy or nervous. I am buying them from a riding stables where we have been riding for about a year. The children have been taught to kick the ponies to get them to go. Something which I am going to retrain my son from doing! So, as much as you can know what a horse is going to be like, we have been riding them already in the club environment.


I want to get it right for them both when they come home. Any advice on the do's and don'ts of anything, will be much appreciated. With regards to the join up, can I spoil things by having a go at doing it? When should I start? Day 1? I know that I am over thinking everything but after seeing Monty's démonstrations and vidéos, I am very keen to not mess them up. 


Thank you!! 
Heather

[KimT]

Hello Heather and welcome!!!

Congratulations on getting your first horse!!!!

As for a join up. They are amazing things to do but if you arent sure about how to do one or dont have a round pen (I dont know your facilities) then I would ask whether you need to. A join up is a very good way of opening communication with your horse but there are other ways to create a bond. Have you a copy of Kelly Marks 'Perfect Manners'? There are some very good groundwork exercises in there to help create a bond and set boundaries for your horse and your sons pony. All horses need to know them when meeting new owners. Think of it like a new job, you know the social graces but need to know to company rules.

Otherwise I'd youtube Kelly, Ian Vandeburge or Sheila Reed for groundwork exercises.

Good luck and I hope there are pics!!!!

[portiabuzz]

Welcome to the forum, I hope to hear more from you and the new additions !

[kafee]

Welcome to the DG and congratulations on buying your first horse. Don't be surprised if they are different to what they are like at the stables when you get them home, it takes about 6 months for a horse to properly settle into a new home. The surroundings and routine will be new to them and they will be without companions they have probably known for a long time. They may be more forward going to ride as they will be getting less exercise. Where are intending to ride - do you have a sand school? If you're going to hack out, do you know whether they're good in traffic, it's possible they may never have hacked out? Some horses end up in riding stables because they are too jumpy to hack out on.

Welcome to the world of horse ownership, I hope you have many happy years together with your equines.

[wills]

Hi Some great advice above - have you checked to see if there is an RA local to you that could come out and give you some lessons to start your relationship off? Hope they are everything you've dreamed of and more!

[hmason]

Hi Thanks for all your replies!!

Kim T, no unfortunately, I don't have a round pen, just a section of field that I could pen off but not secure enough I'm sure and difficult to make round. The 'perfect manners' is a great idea. I tried to get hold of a copy but everywhere I have tried it is not available. I will try the names you suggest on you tube, thanks. I have spent a lot of time on you tube recently, trying to get an idea of what to do but it's not the same as réal advice!

Kafee, yes I am expecting big differences when they arrive here and that is really the reason I want / need to get it right. Both horses are good in traffic (at least from my expériences out with them so far), but we live in rural France so there aren't busy roads to contend with. The horse have been bred, started and worked by the same family at the riding centre, so I feel as confident as I can be that they are safe, which is vital. I feel it is safer than buying a horse that I have not met before. I intend to continue my lessons at the riding school on them so that we all continue to learn. I don't know if it will unsettle them going backwards and forwards, or whether it will comfort them to still see their familiar surroundings. I have friends around me to hack out with. We have the Pyrenees close by for mountain treks and lakes for water play. All in time but I am definitely not going to rush into the more adventurous stuff until I am sure they are settled.

Wills, I did look for an RA in my area but unfortunately as I am in France, there aren't too many and the one closest to me (2 hours away), has now moved back to the UK, according to her website, which is a real shame. Thanks for your supportive messages everyone I really appreciate it!! I think its a case of watch this space! My biggest fear is that I put them in the paddock and never catch them again ;-/

[Caroline]

Congratulations on your new family members!

I would advise heavily against doing Join Up. I am not convinced it is a good thing when done well and by someone trained in it. It's an even worse idea to just have a go at. From the horse's point of view, you would be penning him in a small area, putting pressure on him and chasing him around until he gives in. I don't believe it is a good way to create trust and begin a relationship. I did get trained and I did make the mistake of trying it with one of my horses - and could very easily have got killed because he a horse that can't cope with being constrained or having any pressure put on him and seriously flipped out over it. Your horse is unlikely to have the problems that mine did of course, as he is an experienced riding horse, but I still don't think it is a helpful start to your relationship. You would be better off sticking to what he is used to at first (minus the whips and anything else negative of course!)

I would say don't ask your horses for anything except their companionship at first. Spend time with them, hang out with them, read a book in their field, bring them food, groom them, massage them, scratch their itchy bits if they tell you they like it, do all nice things and give them a good reason to enjoy your company. If you think catching them will be a real problem, you could maybe keep them in a smaller field for a while so you can at least get close enough to do all those things I mentioned. You will soon develop a relationship and they will be happy to accept you.

I think that it might be helpful to make friends with local horse people so you have people to go to when you have to deal with the great many questions and complications that horse ownership brings. Perhaps stay in touch with the riding stable and see if you can tag along with some of their events and rides to help you get confident and independent? Obviously, attitudes to horses and training philosophies vary wildly amongst horse people and you have to learn to listen to a range of advice and feel equally free to say "thank you, but that's not for me" to any or all of it.

It can be quite scary at times having the responsibility of caring for horses on your own and making all the decisions about how to do that and respond to the things that come up. But there are always people out there who will help and advise - and plenty of them here.

[KimT]

Heather, have a look on the Intelligent Horsemanship shop www.intelligenthorsemanshipshop.co.uk/collections/books-by-kelly-marks

There are the 3 'Perfect' books and all are very good. Each with its own topic and lots of ideas to follow. The 'office' are extremely helpful and if they cant post it (unlikely) then I am sure they will point you in the right direction.

I too would advise against a join up if you dont have a secure area. Also remember to adjust their feed. If they are being exercised a lot at the riding school then they will require a lot less at home. Hay not hayalege and I dont know what breeds they are but your local feed store should be able to give advise. Something like an unmollassed chaff would be ideal for a good doer to start with.

Otherwise I hope you enjoy

[marychick]

Welcome to IH!

You will find there are a lot of misunderstandings about JoinUp.

You can do a JU from a quiet walk and its certainly never about making horses "give up". It's a very useful thing to learn as the body positioning is the foundation to many things we do with our horses on the ground (including longlining).

However, I would echo peoples comments in that I would suggest you are taught it properly first and always make sure you have a safe environment to do it in. If you can make it over to the UK to go on one of the IH courses in Oxford I think you'd find it really valuable and a lot of fun! But in the mean time I would definitely recommend Kelly's perfect manners book as others have suggested. You can order this from the IH website.

Good luck and have fun!

[Caroline]

Feb 17, 2016 12:18:05 GMT 1 marychick said:

Welcome to IH!

You will find there are a lot of misunderstandings about JoinUp.

You can do a JU from a quiet walk and its certainly never about making horses "give up".

It shouldn't be, but it could end up that way from the horse's point of view, particularly if someone hasn't been trained in the method. I just didn't want the owner to watch a Monty video (he does do quite a lot of forceful Join Ups), try to copy it and get into a situation that is either dangerous or harmful to her budding relationship with her horse.

I agree that a walked Join Up is a much better way to proceed, if you are going to go down that route. Even then, you might just puzzle your horse if you don't get things quite right.