Tell me your green-on-green stories... The good, the bad, and the ugly!

[shakeytails]

Depends on the horse, depends on the kid.

The kid (me!)- about 14 yo. Had taken at most 20 riding lessons, and not regularly. I read everything I could get my hands on, and a kind old man down the street had allowed my friend and me to groom his 3 retired standardbreds. Mom said she's allow me to have a horse, so I saved up about $400, and bought-
The horse- 5 year old mare, said to be QH/Arab cross, about 14.3, bright chestnut with lots of white. She was the first one and only horse I went to look at with my grandfather (the enabler). Green broke, but of course I didn't realize it at the time.

I boarded her for a while at QH trainer's leased facility. He was an odd dude, and wasn't around much so I didn't learn anything from him. A family friend gave me some grooming stuff, and I bought a cheap snaffle bit and bridle at a local tack shop. It was one of those bridles that wasn't put together- I looked at a picture in the Sears catalog to figure it out! After a couple of weeks of tooling around the indoor arena bareback, my grandparents decided I would be safer if I had a saddle, so I found a used hunt saddle (remember suede knee rolls?) in the newspaper classifieds and they bought it for me. I rode that mare everywhere- we had some great trails! After a few months, the QH trainer decided he was moving, and I had to find a new farm. The new farm was a small Morgan training farm about a mile down the road. The owner was a family friend. I became fast friends with his daughter, who was a few years older than me. This is where I really learned about leads and diagonals and such. Even though I still couldn't afford any lessons, I learned by watching and getting tips from the daughter. I developed a helluva extended trot on my girl working along the side of the road, and I even did stupid shit like jumping a single pole set on top of 2 55 gal. drums, which she cleared with ease. My little mare willingly learned everything I asked her to do and did pretty well when I took her to little local shows where I showed her both English and Western.

Sure I fell off a few times, but it wasn't the horse's fault. She'd just stand there and wonder what I was doing on the ground. She had her moments (she was a mare), her only true bad habit was pulling back on cross ties every now and then. She never took a lame step, and was basically all you could ask for in a first horse. She taught me a lot, and I don't regret for a minute learning almost everything on my own with a green horse.

[gingerbread]

These are some great stories.
I have a good one: as a 50 something re-rider looking to buy a horse after many years away(and not the best rider back then in my teens either, but devoted to my saintly backyard horse) I ended up with a three year old Arabian mare. I was not looking for a 3 year old at all!(though wanted an Arab like my childhood horse---had endurance riding as a future goal too) but none of the older horses I was trying worked for me. Her classified ad made her sound perfect(for her age)--and. strangely enough, not only was she exactly as described, but I felt an immediate heart connection to her.
She was well started and well treated at the farm she came from, had no issues of any kind and a wonderful temperment.
We have gone really really slowly, and have gotten help as needed. I also DID understand what Arabs are like (sensitive) from owning one before so knew how to work with her in the best way.
This is why it has worked so well.

[pAin't_Misbehavin']

I bought Quanah because a) he was short (14.0 hh); b) he was mischievous, which I found charming at the time ; and c) he was cute. He was a recently-gelded rising four year old who didn't even know how to canter in a circle, and I was a 40 year old terrified novice.

Guess which category my story falls into?

We both worked with trainers. For years. Didn't help a damn bit. I mean, we both got where we did pretty well with other partners, but we were still a train wreck waiting to happen with each other.

I gave up riding for about three years and moved Quanah home to my farm (along with Bram, the horse I actually learned to ride on). Then I started taking lessons at an h/j barn, with a lady who grew up foxhunting. After about six months of that, I sent Quanah to her to bring back into work.

And guess what? We had three fantastic lessons together.

And then he went lame. For keeps. He's pasture sound now, but goes off if he's ridden.

So now I have an eleven year old pain in the neck (he's still "mischievous") for a pasture ornament. Which he's good at being, since he's still cute as a button. A button from hell.

And he's a good companion. Houdini adores Quanah - proving, I suppose, that opposites really do attract.

[jeano]

OK, another fifty something rererider who went out and bought two horses who allegedly had many trail miles on them. Well, yes, but both had always been ridden by drunks, and one had been ridden only by drunks that didnt know how to ride At All.

Sadie tried to kill me repeatedly. She was the mistress of the stop, prop, drop the shoulder and spin school of rider removal. Or she'd bolt and hope I'd fall off. When those tactics failed, she'd get both front feet off the ground and have a hissy fit. I was black and blue from head to foot for the first six months or so that I owned her.

Sugar was content to dump me as efficiently as possible with the least exertion on her part. She'd lay down so I'd roll off or brush me off on trees or run backwards. She threw me once (not really her fault, that rattlesnake was pretty scary) and darn near broke my a$$ in the process. At least I didnt land on the snake.

Sadie was six years old, gaited, and very smart. We are best buds now. Sugar was pushing 20, very pretty, but very stupid. She was rehabbed as far as she'd go and sold.

Then, there's the story of the parellified neighbor and her PMU weanling that she is still doing nearly exclusively PP groundwork with ELEVEN years later.....

[shakeytails]

I should mention the green-on-green that wasn't such a good match.

Frail older woman 50ish, little if any riding experience, decides she wants an Arabian (because they're pretty). Some idiot sells her a 4 year old gelding that's fairly green, and certainly not suitable for a timid beginner. He was a sweet horse that would never hurt anybody on purpose, but he wasn't the right horse for her.

This was the Arab that I rode and showed as a kid, the first horse I showed saddle seat. I did well with him, winning several blues and high points at local shows. But there was no way he'd ever be suitable for his owner. Every now and then when I was trail riding him, he'd spook with no warning and leave me on the ground-and I had a really good seat! It wasn't a major spook, just a quick jump sideways and then he'd just stand there, but if it was enough to unseat me, it was definitely enough to dump his owner and scare the hell out of her. My still pretty green self put a lot of miles and training into him, and he would obey any command instantly (we were tough to beat in a command class), but I could never get the spook out of him completely.

She adored the horse and loved to fuss over him, and would occasionaly get brave enough to take a very supervised lesson on him once in a while. She did love watching me ride and show him, for which I was very grateful. I went off to college and lost touch, but I think she just kept him boarded as a pet and never really did much with him after I left.

[Mtn trails]

My former neighbors were idiots from the get-go. It wasn't that the horse was green, no the horse was trained to the hilt, it was that the owners were total morons.

Wifey decides she wants a horse since she used to "ride" as a child. Husband clears land, erects a barn, plants grass for pasture, the whole nine yards. They buy a gorgeous palomino qh mare who had been very well trained western and had a very kind personality. They turned her out on the pasture and never, ever rode her. Meanwhile I watched her get fatter and fatter and warned them about founder and suggested they put her in a diet pen for a while to lose some of that weight. That lasted 2 days then she was back out in the pasture. Every once in a while the moron husband would get on and ride her for 5 minutes and say she needs to go the trainer.

She didn't need training, she needed riding but they didn't understand that and they certainly weren't going to ride her. I rode her a few times and really really liked her but could see this wasn't going to end good.

Then they decide to get a pony for their kids. They buy a very nice quality pony and threw him out in the pasture and 2 weeks later he foundered He disappeared and never came back so I can imagine his fate. When we moved, they still had the now obese close to foundering palomino and the next time I went by she was gone too.

Such asshats who ruined 2 very nice animals because they knew everything and wouldn't listen to anyone else's advice.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

The Uno story made me cry.

I've seen lots of green on green gone bad, btw.

[threedogpack]

5 years ago, I bought my daughter a green mare, from pictures on the internet.

I'd had horses .many. years before that but had not had one in....oh, 10 years or so.

I knew she was green and I knew DD had almost no experience....but....I actually wanted something that had minimal training. We board at a barn that has a tremendous number of friendly, very skilled people who could help with anything we needed and DD was not to be there w/o me. Xeenie has been nothing but a joy from the start. She loves my daughter to bits and it has been nothing but a good experience. There are a few things that contributed...a mare with a very biddable temperament who tries like *ell to please, a child who knows no fear, a barn full of helpful boarders who are kind. Would I recommend this combination to others? Almost never.

[Sillymoose]

Ok I've got a good one for you. Not completely green on green though. I was 17. I had ridden for a few years and had been taking lessons on my arab for 2 years at that point. Strictly intro level dressage. So I had the simple basics down but zero experience training or even riding other horses.

So along came Dreamy 16.2 TB, 6 years old with horrible ground manners, bucked off the previous 3 people that worked with him, including his previous owner who broke both her wrists (that's how he wound up with me). He bucked me off the first time I got him. My fault. Anyway, it's been a long 5 years but we're having a blast. We've both learned a ton. He is my heart horse.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29598352@N03/4842531396/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2959835...n/photostream/

Anyway, the point is, I had a very knowledgable instructor who worked us through it all and who has a lot of experience working with green on green (No access to any lesson horses). Plus I have an awesome horse who despite being very naughty at first turned out to be very forgiving and just good natured in general. He's had to put up with a lot from my end and still does. Poor boy. But it's definitely not the ideal situation. It worked out well for me but looking back, it probably wasn't the best idea. I got lucky.

Bottom line, some people get lucky, but all and all it's not worth the risk.

[up-at-5]

What an awesome thread!!
I have a good one...Long story short, as an adult(mid 30's) I decided to take up riding again, after doing the rent a nag route as a kid, once a month during the summers.
My "uncle"(and I use the term with shame, as the horse was abused) had a whack of Morgan stallions, all tide to ropes, attached to hay wagons, out in the field. He said I could have one for 300 bucks. Well, sucker that I am, took him up on the offer, to up-grade the horse to a better home(and dis-own the uncle) Pilgrim was six, a stallion, and tied to a rope. Never been in a herd, never ridden, never seen a vet. Feet were ok, uncle did them once in a while.

So, I called my vet, had her geld Pilly right away, and then I took him to a friends small boarding stable. Had a local cowgirl get on him twice, then it was my turn.....omg if I knew THEN what I know now, things would have been different!! Needless to say, we started Pilgrim in December, when the snow was deep(no indoor) and that same June, we went to our first hunter pace!!
Did I fall off of Pilgrim in the beginning?? Heck yeah, many times!! Did he teach me a lot? Indeed. It's been 16 years, and he's retired now, enjoying his life at my own place, which we had to buy due to the fact that he couldn't be turned out with mares(he mounts) nor geldings(he fights). I have nine horses at home now, thanks to Pilgrim!

Next, I wanted a baby to raise, so I bought a couple of pmu foals. I didn't want to breed any of my own, as I am a firm advocate of not overbreeding just because you have a mare! Had a few falls of those guys, but they are still with me, now 8 and 9 years old.
My latest challenge has been OTTB's, I've always wanted one, but I was not the quietest rider in the world, to say the least. The APHA's can tolerate me, but the TB's are different, so in a way, I was still a greenie. Anyhoo, doing quite well now with a dominant, fit, spicy 6 yr old OTTB mare(got her at age 4) and another 4 yr old OTTB.

Green on green isn't for the faint of heart, I've broken ribs, have scars, cracked tailbones,dislocated shoulder and resulting surgery, and all in all, I have missed about three months of work due to various horse related injuries on my green horses, even with regular lessons from certified coaches.

Great fun, tho!!

[Cataluna]

For me, it all started out the day I decided, at 13 years old, that 3 years of once-a-week lessons and the occasional week-long horsey summer camp was enough to deserve my own horse. I was riding the most advanced lesson horse in the barn after all, right?

I had been saving for 5 long years after doing any chore that was thrown at me by my parents, and begging for "raises" in my allowance due to good grades and angelic behaviour. I had managed to save a whopping $950.

My parents humored me after reluctantly saying yes, without any flippin' clue what they were getting themselves (or me) into. I was told later that they were sure that it was never going to happen. That I would lose interest. That was until a very wise man told my father something along the lines of, "It's better that she falls in love with someone who's tall, dark, handsome and gelded, after all! Better in a stall then somewhere you don't know about". That man sold me my first horse (with a bit of financial assistance from the 'rents).

She was beautiful. She was well-bred. She was also a b!tch. Green, 4 y/o mare with 30 days under saddle. Smart as a whip, athletic, testy, stubborn, and opinionated. I tried to win her over in ways I can't even remember now. I tried love, gimmics, and even crying (maybe she would feel sorry for me and behave?). I read every horse-care and training book I could get my hands on, read stuff on the internet, and even tried what I read in the Heartland series. I hated her. She was too much horse for me and I knew it.

Oddly enough, I was almost as stubborn as she was. I figured it out. How I didn't get killed in the process is still a mystery to me. Since I cared for her at my own place along with my younger sisters gelding, she taught me basically everything I know today. As we grew together, we also learned together. Everything from nutrition to training, to vet care- with her I touched nearly one of everything at some point. I eventually got in touch with a new coach who helped me in ways I didn't think possible, and up until our last two years together I was schooling 2nd level dressage on her with coach #3.

I had her for 10 years, and while she mellowed and sweetened with age, we still have the kind of relationship that I feel that you have to earn with dominent-type mares. I know her inside out and backwards, and will always be thankful for everything she taught me.

She is a broodmare now with her new owner in Quebec. I own her daughter . I hope someday she can return to me for a well-deserved retirement.

With my mother about a month before she sold: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...e/DSCN9839.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...014150_780.jpg

I miss her.

[Fun Size]

Good story!

My last trainer had a lot of babies in the barn. She was excellent at breaking babies, consequently she always had a few around. I used to ride a 4 yo TB that had never been on the track, but had come in pretty green.

All of us very green riders would jump him around and ride him, and as long as you left him alone (we're talking 2'6" and under) he would always find the jump for himself.

Riding the younger horses made you really think about the horse's needs rather than your own riding, and I found that it made me a better and tougher rider. The same applies to me now, even though my current horse is 15 and more experienced than I. I find when I ride for his benefit, making him (or trying to) move properly/bend or put his feet exactly where I want him to, my riding is much better than when I am worried about heels down and keeping my leg still.

[ASBnTX]

These are all great stories and more than one has brought tears to my eyes Thank you

[Thomas_1]

I've scores of stories and again all bad. Suffice it to say that I'm a strong believer that:

Green + green = black and blue.

[goeslikestink]

i have loads of stories some good some bad

but agree- with thomas green on green equals black and blue

[Ozone]

It was not so much good or bad...more so scary for the most part.

Trailer shows up with a guy N a horse. Did not know a new boarder was coming in until that moment. Guy: Need a place to keep my horse. Ok, let's start with your name and go from there. Horse comes off the trailer 15 something hand Anglo 7 years old.

Guy is greener then green. Know how you can tell just by talking to someone if they are horsie or not? This was a not.

Me: what do you do with your horse? Guy: Just bought him yesterday. Me: Oh ok... Guy: I bought him out of a field, he is 7 and not broke. Me: (In my mind holy crap here we go).

Welp from guy tying horse to the hitching post to horse flipping over taking the whole post with him. To guy mouting for the first time, horse taking off and road rashing the horse. Did I offer help? Of course. Did guy ever want it? Well, no - he was Monty Robert didn't you know?

They almost drowned when guy took horse for a "trail ride". Horse came home more times than I can count without the Guy.

From riding the belly of the horse after me saying 2X's, tighten your girth to the horse rearing up on command (that was taught to him BTW, because it was "pretty and fun" to watch) it was SCARY.

However or a lighter note... the horse turned out to be a fine horse. He was virtually bombproof from all the things he was put through with his owner... and best part ... the guy survived!

Uno's story mad me sad

[Lucassb]

Middle aged adult amateur rider at my barn ... nice lady, took lessons on schoolies for a couple years, a bit timid but at least she'd had some instruction (basic WTC.)

She "fell in love" with an extremely unsuitable horse whose owner at the time more or less abandoned her at the lesson barn. (I imagine said owner figured out the mare was unpleasant on the ground and even less pleasant under saddle and decided it wasn't worth supporting anymore - she left a note for the trainer saying she was giving the mare "as a gift" to the trainer and was never heard from again.)

Anyway this woman offers to buy the mare; the trainer says the horse isn't suitable for a beginner and the woman says, "oh, that's ok, I don't want to ride her - she can just hang out in my friend's pasture and maybe I will breed her." (Not even going to get into what a stupid idea that would be.)

Trainer figures well, I did the responsible thing and told her it wasn't suitable to ride but it can certainly eat grass just fine... so sells it for a very minimal sum to the woman who brings it to our barn.

Of course she wants to ride the horse!

She can barely afford the basics for the animal so doesn't take many lessons. She has gotten to the point where the horse is semi-manageable on the ground (due to trainer and kind boarders helping her learn how to use a chain shank, etc.) The animal breaks about two sets of cross ties a week, though; she's really a PITA. And the woman is still very timid, so unless someone else is around, the "correction" tends to be ten minutes of sing-song baby talk ... "Ooooooooh Pookie! Don't do that, sweetheart! No, no, that's not a good idea, Pookie! OMG! What was that?! Are you scared, Pookie? Is that why you pulled back! DON'T WORRY I AM RIGHT HERE!!! "

At one point the trainer was able to find a kid who rode fairly well and who half leased the horse so it got ridden a bit more regularly and was a bit easier for the woman to ride. However, the mare is one of those evergreen types, not particularly athletic, and not at all pleasant to ride so that soon came to an end.

The timid woman still rides fairly regularly... mostly in the indoor, and at the walk and trot. She does look terrified most of the time, and is hard to ride with because she tends to completely panic anytime someone else is within 20' of her. Of course in the summer heat she has the indoor to herself, so that is not much of a problem!!

[PalominoMorgan]

Mine is a green on green story, but I'm told I'm not as green as I think. I bummed rides from whoever I could growing up. I spent one summer leading trail rides at a local stable. Other than that I had no formal training, no lessons, and no business training a horse.

Bought a coming 3 year old morgan filly who intimidated her owners. They were also looking to downsize their herd. I had bought a QH rescue mare 6 months before and had ridden her in lots of circles at the walk to rehab her.

Said filly is now an 11 year old mare. She is with a friend now because of my current situation. Friend is much more talented a rider than I am and is in love with said mare. I'm told I did a very good job. I never did have any formal training along the way except for when I decided I wanted to learn to jump. I attribute our success to her being a good student without a mean bone in her body. From my end I might not have had any formal training, but have a good feel for energy. I always just did what came naturally and never did try to over think it. Broke things down in to small lessons and built upon them.

I realize not everyone will have the same results, but it worked for us. Again, mare gets most of the credit for being a good girl, but I like to think my unique abilities helped us become a great duo. I hope I gave her a good foundation to really shine under my friend's care.

I have also seen green on green go horribly wrong too. It's never pretty.

[newhorsemommy]

Well, about two years ago, I decided to take riding lessons because I could finally afford it. I never rode as a child, but owning a horse was a childhood dream! I was up to trotting, happily, when I got bucked off a lesson horse.

This really did a number on me! I am in my late 30s, and while nothing broke, I was badly bruised (think large areas of solid black) and could barely move for a week.

After trying a few more lessons on different horses, I decided I wanted my own horse to learn on.

I got a free STB/QH cross that had been abandoned at a boarding stable. He was about 14 at the time, and had not been handled much in a couple of years. The vet during the PPE noted that he was "spooky and kind of rude." He let 3 strangers walk right up and halter him during feeding time, though, and not having to chase him was important to me (some of the lesson horses had to be chased-I did not continue my lessons at the same barn when I brought him home!).

The first 6 months were quite a challenge! I got a trainer to put a 60 day tune-up on him. It turns out he was fairly well trained at some point in the past, and VERY good natured, but spooky for sure. Every time the horse spooked, I would squeal and jump as well! Looking back, I was pretty much terrified and overwhelmed for the first few months! He was also worse on the ground than under saddle. He knocked me to the ground spooking into me a couple of times before I got some guts and convinced him he would die if he ever did that again! But nervous horse and nervous handler was a bad combination I did take some groundwork lessons during this period and bought every horse book I could find!

So... It's been a year and a half. I have been taking lessons since I got him, but I am still nervous each time I ride, and can't/won't go faster than a walk, although I am thinking about attempting to trot again soon! He has actually turned out to be a great lesson horse, and I think I need to start taking advantage of that fact!

So while I don't ride him a lot, maybe once a week (and at this point it is ALL me, not the horse), he is the love of my life! I board, but I am on self-care and go out every single day to see him. We are both much more confident, and while he still spooks, it does not bother me in the same way it used to.

It took some time to bond, but he completely trusts me now, and I trust him. I should also mention that I have never come off him, and in all this time he has never kicked, reared, bucked, or bolted. My instructors have said that he really appears to be taking care of me under saddle. I think I just need to "cowgirl up" so to speak, and face my fears!

I have come to the conclusion, however, that if I can't completely get over the fear, there is no rule that says I have to ride my horse. I LOVE hand walking him, playing chase in the arena (I chase him), and he loves being spoiled rotten (and I mean this poor old grade horse is treated like a show horse).

I would never consider selling him. I intend to keep him for the rest of his life, as I have promised him that I am his last mommy. He is genuinely the sweetest horse imaginable and he is absolutely my heart horse!