Here are a few tips and things to think about after bringing your new horse home
Please read this and keep it in mind after getting home • Horses are living, breathing animals and have a mind of their own. They will react to things they are not used to and even if they have seen it several times they can react to it still. They are predatory animals and their first instinct is to flee, it is your job to remain calm and get them through the situation. • Give your horse plenty of time to adjust to their new surroundings. It can take several days, weeks and even months for them to completely adjust. Remember each horse has their own personality just like people, dogs, etc. Just like if you were to bring a new dog/puppy home you will give them time to settle in and let their personality come through. • We always recommend lessons if you have not rode or consider yourself a beginner/intermediate rider. Even if you do have experience with riding it is always a good idea to get lessons with a new horse so that you have a professional there to help you get acquainted. Make sure they are a knowledgeable trainer, not all are. Which trainers from time to time to broaden your knowledge. • When you first go to ride your new horse or pony remember to go slow. Make sure your saddle is fitted properly and all tack is adjusted correctly. Start in a round pen or arena or controlled space. Walk for a long time and make sure you are able to stop, back up and turn each direction with ease before you go any faster. There is no rush in going fast, this may take several days or weeks to get accustomed to each other. Remember you are going to ride differently than we do and the horse will ride differently than other horses you have ridden. • For ponies- we always recommend lead lining your child on their new pony for a while. Let them get used to each other. Children can not react as quickly as an adult to correct an issue should it arise. A lot of bonding between the child and their pony will come from grooming, petting and just leading them around. Let the pony get used to how your child moves and yells and runs around. Make sure to teach your child about the dangers that can happen with this lifestyle and ensure they have a respect for the pony. This can be a lifelong love if they start out with a good experience so make sure to set that up for them. There is no rush in turning a young child loose on a brand new pony. • If you haven’t rode your horse in a while, even a few days, it is very easy to lunge the horse around and if there is any sort of energy they need to get out or play around they can do that before the ride. it takes about 5 minutes and can really set the ride up for success. • If out on the trail and they get spooked it is important that you are the calm one, make sure your feet are not squeezing and you are relaxed and can work through it. Even if you have to step off and walk the horse up to whatever it is and then continue on with your ride after everyone is settled. • Horses really need time to be horses. They enjoy turnout time and time with other horses. When introducing new horses they may squeal, jump, run, and kick at each other. That is just how horses interact with each other and it is nothing to worry over. What they do in the pasture is their time to just be a horse. Don’t judge them when they are on their time, like us we need to have free time. • Feed- We feed alfalfa cubes only. if your horse has a lot of grass they won’t need full feedings of cubes. We NEVER recommend sweet feed (or oats) it is full of sugar and has little to no nutritional value for the horse, can cause ulcers and behavioral issues. It is like feeding your kids tons of sugar. Most trail horses do not need any sort of grain in addition to the cubes/hay. If your horse needs a little extra weight you can feed a dry alfalfa pellet feed. Ponies get absolutely ZERO grain of any kind. That is very important, they can become overweight quickly and founder. Make sure your horse has a salt and mineral block out for free choice. • Care- Teeth need to be floated every year, feet trimmed every 6-8 weeks. Do not cut manes or tails as those are for deterring flys. Horses need de-wormed every 8 weeks or so. • Remember they are animals, not machines. They think for themselves. Just like children or any other animal you can’t expect perfection and have to realize they will have off days. And remember even if you have been riding a while or used to ride a lot, none of us know everything and we can all learn something new. Even us who ride daily and have been riding our entire lives make mistakes and are constantly trying to learn. And even our personal horses give us a run for our money on occasion. • If you have any issues with your horse please feel free to let us know and we can help you work through them. We strive to sell horses that we enjoy riding and try to match horses to their person as best as we can. If you give the horse and yourself time to settle and get to know each other, we are sure you will get along great! • Sometimes despite our best efforts and yours its just not a fit with personalities and riding abilities. We recommend giving it at least 6 months to get to really know your horse and know if its a match but sometimes due to no ones fault things just might not work or personalities clash. • We do not refund money but we will either trade the horse in on another (if we have one available for trade or that will fit) or resell for you at our current consignment rates. • Consignments can take a while to sell. We can not guarantee a sale by a certain time. • Please call us with questions and keep in touch. We love to hear updates and try to help in any way we can. • Enjoy your new horse/pony. Thank you, TnT Ranch!
