Advice on building trust with, and turning a harness racing horse into a riding horse?
So, I recently got myself a Norwegian Coldblood Trotter. She's a 15 year old former harness racing horse and she has had 3 foals. Her last foal was born in 2016 and she hasn't been used for anything since that.
I rode her for the first time yesterday. She's a great horse, just... not a riding horse. It became quite clear to me that she hasn't been ridden nearly as much as the previous owner claimed. She's skittish and stressed, obviously uncomfortable with me as a rider and very sensitive to my legs. Any pressure I'd put on her would certainly have her shoot off like a rocket.
She doesn't walk - she trots. That makes sense, seeing as how that's what she was bred for. I mean, she won't ever be a high class dressage horse, but I'd like for her to at least be comfortable with me as a rider.
Runa has a very smooth and clean gait, and is very soft in the mouth, in another life I'm sure she could've been a pretty decent dressage horse. That train has unfortunately left the station now. But I have high hopes for her in terms of turning her into a riding horse. The only problem is... I have no clue as to where to start. My first thought is definitely to have her saddled up and double line lunge her. Without a rider to start with, I think.
I'm no expert - this is new to me. And it's new to her. We definitely have to build trust for this to work, but how? And where do I go from there? Does anyone have any advice for us? 😄
Submitted January 12, 2018 at 02:51AM by ShutUpNaomi
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Horses/comments/7pvltf/advice_on_building_trust_with_and_turning_a/?utm_source=ifttt
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