#horses - #Worked my whole life around horses but I’ve never trained and I’ve been out of the game for a couple years. I have a job now working horses/ doing barn chores and I have questions about one rusty horse in particular.

Worked my whole life around horses but I've never trained and I've been out of the game for a couple years. I have a job now working horses/ doing barn chores and I have questions about one rusty horse in particular.

So in the barn I work at on weekends, the owners have a huuuge middle aged jumper gelding that nobody's ridden in years. Not sure about the specific breed but he was worth a lot of money before he got snipped. This guy has some spark. He's a bit of an asshole but I can tell it's because he needs a job to do.

When I do my morning/ afternoon turnouts I have to leave him in because I'm alone and every time I let him out, he tests the fence and he can clear the 5 foot fences if he wanted to. The last thing I need is a $200k horse getting out or getting hurt when I'm completely alone, have no cell service and have 2 dozen other horses to take care of.

They have a pro rider who comes in and works the horses during the week. I don't know the extent of what he's done with this horse, I know he's always on the work schedule, but I lunged him last week and he was acting like he hasn't run in years.

I've been given permission to work him by the owner when I'm done with my daily chores. Last week we lunged for 30 minutes, this week I'm putting a saddle on him to get him used to the feeling of that weight, and lunging him again. I might have some screws loose but I'm not stupid, there's no way I'll get on him so early, especially because there's nobody around to help if I get kicked off or fall.

I'm sure if I ask the owner, they'd like it if I came in more than once a week to work him. But I have zero experience in the training realm and the only horses I've ever ridden have been docile ones or horses I've known for years. This guy is neither docile nor super familiar with me.

So am I going in the right track? Just slowly easing my way in with this horse? He's been trained, but I'm concerned that my lack of experience coupled with his knack to test me will bite me in the rear someday. Are there any trainers online you'd recommend I watch? Thanks!

Submitted December 23, 2018 at 11:15AM by WheatAndCompass
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Horses/comments/a8wwe9/worked_my_whole_life_around_horses_but_ive_never/?utm_source=ifttt