You've got your new horse, now what?

So your new horse has arrived, now what?

Your horse comes with a story. You may know everything or very little about your horse, where it came from , how many owners it had, how old it is, what riding experience its had, how comfortable it is around dogs, trucks, people etc?

With time your horse's story will emerge. If you pay attention and get to know your horse you'll be able to get insights into what your horse has learned through previous experiences that have created positive or negative behaviour.

My horse Pretty Boy was very anxious every time I asked him to pick up his back legs. He would tense and hold his breath as if waiting for something terrible to happen. When I touched his back fetlock (ankles) I noticed a horizontal scar about four inches wide. I found the same identical scar on his other back fetlock.

I asked a client who used to be a cowboy if he knew what would have caused the scars on Pretty Boy's legs. He said that one of the ways cowboys would get the horse to raise his back legs was to tie a rope around the fetlock and then to the horn of the saddle acting as a pulley.

This made sense, Pretty Boy probably fought against the rope and the rope cut into his flesh. Obviously he still held the memory of it in his body.

After figuring this out I made sure to be very calm around Pretty Boys back legs,
I kept my movements slow and confident. I took my time with him and handled him daily.

Within a few weeks he displayed less anxiety around having his back hooves trimmed.
I had to show him that I wasn't a threat and that he could trust me. I kept my behaviour consistent.

Give your horse time to settle in, don't put immediate pressure on your horse, let the horse decompress and get to know and trust you. Remember horses are social beings, they like hanging out!