11th January, 2012 He's not new! He's secondhand

There's no such thing as a brand new horse unless you breed one. Just like second cars, second hand horses can come with all sorts of hidden problems and idiosyncracies some of which will cost time and others costs money. Some horses are mis-sold and some are mis-bought. If you have bought a horse and his behaviour changes dramatically then it's always a good idea to put the last owner on notice just in case you want to be able to send them back. Of course, that isn't easy if you have fallen in love, taken the horse on warts and all, if you can't bear the thought of them going back there or the previous owner is adamant that the horse has never done that with them. Unfortunately if you are not prepared for the long haul, it is the horse that pays if you have to sell them on again to rid yourself of the problem. With more and more people turning to IH when they encounter a problem, human/horse relationships are surviving those initial weeks and going from strength to strength. Of course, all horses will need some settling in time but a horse is much happier if reliable leadership is set up in the earliest days and at the first sign of wobbliness.

I went to see one such horse today and my goodness he is beautiful. 17.1 and still growing he is an innocent of this world and so so sensitive. He was delightful to work with and so willing to give everything a try. I hope I persuaded his owner that actually he is just a baby with a few holes in his education. She was brilliant too (photo hopefully tomorrow). He has been worried about having his bib over his head and so we worked on that was well as the basic groundwork. I did some single line work with him and he got it in three goes.

Originally from Ireland and very very tall, I wonder whether he has set the theme for the week. I've answered a few questions about Irish horses lately and am just setting up appointments with their owners but on Friday it is big tall Irish Phin's turn to go to Longdown Farm to meet all the animals. It's his birthday present from his owners and we are hopeful that he will take everything in his big long stride. Watch this space.