What should I be doing when with my new horse? A guide to the firsts, and why it’s not wrong to seek help sooner rather than later

Taking on a new horse or pony is an exciting – and often daunting – experience, full of new firsts, especially if you have never had sole responsiblity for a horse before.

While many will be eager to get a new partnership under way, it can be useful to spend time on the basics during the first few weeks. Don’t put pressure on yourself to have any specific boxes ticked ahead of establishing a good connection and level of understanding with your new horse.

Dr Gemma Pearson, veterinary behaviourist expert and director of equine behaviour for The Horse Trust, says it is important to remember that a horse is going through many changes when it moves to a new yard with a new owner.

“It’s a lot of change all at once – there’s a new owner and new way of handling and riding the horse, a new premises, introductions to new horses,” she says. “It’s important to really look at them as individuals and monitor how well they’re doing.

“I would always say to give a horse or pony at least a week of just allowing them to settle into their new environment, and in that time do a little bit of groundwork with them to make things really easy.”

Look out for signs your new horse is giving

Equine welfare charity HorseWorld rehomes horses and ponies every year and currently has 185 horses and ponies on loan. The charity’s head of equine welfare Sarah Hollister advises to look out for signals a horse might be displaying that they are unsure.

“If they are doing things like refusing to be caught, not wanting to engage with you, spooking, or planting when you’re trying to bring them in, these are all signs that they’re not yet comfortable [with you and their environment],” says Sarah.

“You might need to take the pressure off until you can do basic things like catching, leading and grooming them in their new environment [without them showing signs of stress] before doing anything more.”

Gemma advises that once a horse is showing the following signs of being comfortable, owners can take those next steps.

“When they leave their field companions they’ll walk out confidently, they’re not hesitant or walking faster, or calling back,” she says.

“You’re looking for no muscular tension, and that the horse is relaxed, calm and quiet.

“When you bring them in, they’ll stand quietly while things are happening, they’re not looking around for potential threats.”

Don’t make sudden changes

A new horse might come with the tack they have always been ridden in, but BHSII and UKCC coach Danielle Quigley of Holmside Hall Equestrian recommends having this checked by a qualified saddler to ensure it fits correctly.

“On the basis that the tack fits, you don’t want to make sudden changes if they have always been used to a certain bridle or bit for example,” she says.

“Similarly, if they are on hard feed I would stick to this, or if you are reducing their level of work, consider cutting down or removing all hard feed so they don’t have extra energy that isn’t being used.”

When working with a client with a new horse, Danielle will take into consideration the horse’s age and experience and what they have been doing in their previous home.

“Hopefully the new owner has tried them a couple of times before they took them home,” she says. “I would usually recommend taking things slowly to begin with.”

Danielle may recommend someone experienced putting the horse on the lunge if they haven’t been ridden for a while, as this will give the horse the chance to move its body without the rider.

“When getting on for the first time it is useful to have a friend there, so you’ve got some reassurance – and similarly if you’re going on your first hack, making sure to have some company either from another rider, or someone on the ground. I recommend keeping sessions short and simple while you get to know each other,” she adds.

Some basic groundwork exercises before you get on can be really helpful to establish a connection.

“If everything is going happy and well, and with the help of your coach, you can then proceed with building up the workload in a sensible manner,” advises Danielle. “But it’s important to remember everyone is bound to have teething problems. They are horses are not machines, and it can take time to build up that rapport with a new horse.”

Sarah says where riders encounter problems such as napping when taking a horse away to ride or leaving the yard, this is often down to confidence issues from both horse and rider.

“If you have a horse that doesn’t want to leave their friends, generally it can be that the horse is feeling a bit anxious or worried,” she says. “Maybe the rider doesn’t have the confidence or competence at that point to give the horse the reassurance it needs, so that’s where having somebody with experience to give them a hand will pay dividends.

“Another thing to be aware of is separation anxiety, especially in cases where someone keeps a horse at home or in a field and there is only one other horse as a companion. We always recommend introducing separation as part of your training from the beginning, even if it’s just taking one horse out for a few minutes and putting them back together, and building on that.”

Check out Jason Webb’s advice on how to help horses suffering separation anxiety.

Seeking help with your new horse

Gemma adds that it can be tough for new owners and talking to others can help – and she recommends that people are not afraid to seek professional advice early on.

“Finding other liveries on the same wavelength, or just someone to offload and talk to about what’s going on is useful,” she says. “We know that emotionally it can be difficult for new horse owners so it’s finding someone that can hopefully reassure you.

“If you’ve got a relationship with a riding instructor that knows you talk to them about your concerns. Or, consider a clinical animal behaviourist. If things aren’t going as expected with a new horse we would recommend getting on top of these things sooner rather than later.

“What normally happens is people have gone round the houses and it’s six months or a year down the line that as a veterinary behaviourist I get involved, and it’s so much harder to get that relationship back on board than if we’re involved at two weeks.”

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