Franklin Levinson's
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Timid Riders/New Horse
Last week we welcomed a 9 year old registered Paint gelding to our family. After heartbreak with a failed vetcheck on our first choice more than 2 months ago, we were elated when this one passed. His ad said that he had been ridden on trail rides and that he was easy to ride, gentle for the whole family. I took my 10 and 7 year old daughters to try him out. My normally timid 10 year old did not even want to get off of him. He seemed so laid back in the arena. He looked but did not react to motorcycles going by, just great all the way around. After giving him a week at his new place, we trailered him down to the lesson barn for my oldest daughter to take a lesson on him. He was extremely fidgety, and the instructor said it appeared he had never done anything outside the arena and that he was extermely concerned about the other horses around him.
My question is this: Seems like he has a LOT of potential, but I am timid and my daughter is timid, so how do we acclimate him to trails and pasture riding? I scraped the bottom of the barrel to buy this horse, so I cannot afford to invest lots of $ in training. I also work FT so don't have a lot of extra time to work with him myself. Any suggestions?
Cat Schlueter