I found your website to be very educational and informing. I like many other beginner riders have faced the dangers associated with owning horses. I recently purchased a seven year old black paint gelding with a quarter Tennessee Walker in his blood. This horse has many great qualities that include: loading, haltering, trimming, shoeing, and standing still. When I first purchased this horse, I felt like a bought a great horse. This horse has never shown signs of bucking, or aggression. The more I rode this horse the more the horse became aggressive in trying to control me. This horse is incredibly smart as most horses are and sought-out my weaknesses. I controlled this horse to the best of my abilities, but felt like everyday was a challenge verses enjoyment. I realize I'm still a beginner and need training, but I never knew what was to happen next.

Recently I rode the horse in a pasture with my brother, another inexperienced rider. Everything went smoothly, until the ride back to the barn. This horse at the blink of an eye, darted like a bat from the south and was unstoppable. The horse was in a full speed run, and bucking with all his might. I was able to hold on for about three bucks, until I decided I was not going to be able to hold on too much longer. I slid over his right side until I was close to his belly and dropped. I had contusion to the left knee, and bruises to the lower right butt area.

I was furious with that horse. When I picked myself up from the ground, I immediately said he is for SELL!!!! Julie I saw the day by day increase in is attitude. This horse began to nip at me when brushing him. What are your thoughts about new horses, abilities, age, breed, and resources to help me become a better rider. I appreciate your input, and time.

You always have to consider a physical problem when there is a change of behavior in the horse. You should have the horse thoroughly examined by a vet and check for saddle fit and physical or medical causes.

Once you have ruled out a physical cause, you have to look to the horse’s training. It sounds like your horse has little or no respect for your authority. From the beginning, he has been challenging and testing your authority and has probably been having a great deal of success. Even though a horse has very good training, the temperament of the horse must always be matched up with the temperament and skill level of the rider. The easiest way to determine if it is a training problem or not would be to have a strong rider ride him and see how quickly he reverts back to the trained horse that you knew in the beginning.

Temperament and dominance are not really a factor of breed type, although some breeds are much more compliant than others. Not all horses will tolerate beginners and the mistakes they routinely make. A more domineering horse will require a strong and authoritative rider. Some horses will never learn that there is a difference between a beginner rider and a more experienced hand, while others will learn that they can take advantage of a less competent rider. Some horses, by virtue of their temperaments, will be downright dirty outlaws when they can get away with it while others will always watch out for the rider.

Incidentally, there are also some horses that will take good care of beginner riders, but run a more advanced rider through the ringer. These are horses that have learned to appreciate that beginner riders won’t require much of them but that advanced riders will be very demanding and they have learned to prefer the beginners. It is not a good thing when a horse learns that he can act one way with one type of rider and totally different with another. Ideally, a horse would never learn to discriminate between different riders, but the smart ones often do.

When selecting an appropriate horse, the rider’s age, ability level, size and personality should be matched with the horse’s age, training level, size and temperament. Judging the training and temperament of a horse is best done by an experienced hand; someone that has worked with literally hundreds of different horses and can suss out a horse’s temperament and training with minimal exposure to the horse. A lot about temperament can be judged by a horse’s facial characteristics and breed or body type and an experienced hand with a keen eye can judge a horse’s temperament in short order.

I agree that it doesn’t sound like this horse is going to work for you and it will have to go to a very strong rider, which means you may have to take a loss on the horse since the potential buyers are limited. Chances are, in the right hands, this horse will be good for someone. As you consider a new horse, find someone to help you evaluate any prospect and make sure you buy from highly reliable sources. Try to get a trial period or a guarantee of some sort.

We specialize in selling well-trained, good tempered and highly reliable horses, and we look long and hard to find mature, push button geldings with stellar temperaments for novice riders. These horses are worth their weight in gold (literally) and we sell them pretty easily. If you are diligent and patient, you can find them for less money, but you’d better be ready to pounce on them because they sell quickly.

The good news is that you know better now what you are looking for in a horse. Move this one on to another rider and try to find something that you can start right away on building your confidence, improving your skills and having fun, rather than a fight or worse, every time you ride.

This is a long journey you are on and even with good advice, you are bound to make mistakes along the way. Hopefully, you’ll make a better choice next time. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

JG

If you liked this article, Julie suggests the following products to help you continue the work with your horse: