Good Pony week
- Thread starter MrC
- Start date
Can I thread hi-jack and ask about Annie - she's a welsh d - (I might have asked this about welshies before!) how would you describe her really? You say spicy (love that!) but I'm curious about the breed. I've read and heard so much about them being "interesting". Are they difficult? How would you describe them overall?
My experience of the breed is that they're sensitive with a tendency to be drama queens. They also tend to be kind, incredibly loyal if they decide they like you, and will try their hearts out. Don't bully them, but don't be bullied either. Calm, consistent, kind, and fair are traits a rider or handler needs, and a sense of humour won't go amiss either unless you intend to develop a drink problem!
They can be the best or the worst, they're seldom inbetween. You'll either get them or you won't.
They can be the best or the worst, they're seldom inbetween. You'll either get them or you won't.
Ive had a few part Breds and ridden a fair few full Ds and Faran is full D.
All part and full have been good allrounders, athletic, good stamina and good sense. However all have had quirks, and Kia was the only one who wasnāt greedy, Stella epitomised the word greedy but sheād be starved by the herd leader so she was made that food orientated. They have all had their opinions and liked them heard but with varying degrees of OK then Iāll do it when you put the foot down. Stella was probably the most compliant to this and Kia the most argumentative
Faran is the most chilled welshie Iāve had, even Kia was not as laid back in his youth as Faran is, Kia had beautiful manners and was bombproof out a hack but once he was wound up that was it, Faran calms down a lot quicker and forgets things easier, Kia was a grudge holder.
Iāve been riding Annie for two years now. Sheās fab, very quirky and opinionated, jumps like a stag, as long as itās not a filler
, she however can be a right boot as her owner calls her, she gets impatient and if you have to get off her donāt expect to be getting back on as she is done, I had to get off for a pee about five mins after getting on and the rest of the 45mins she was a cow as In her head youād had your ride that was an interesting jump group .I like Welshies and their crosses, I believe them to have the best of all world but then again I donāt mind character and opinion and āspicinessā in a horse as long as there is no malice in it and they arenāt out to hurt you
I donāt bully my horses I am however firm handed ie I set boundaries and we work within them, I donāt tolerate crap from them but I wonāt beat compliance out of them either, I find this works well with them, you can blow their brains if you are too harsh, this is true of any horse I suppose but welshies take it to heart sometimes hence Kiaās grudges, he went in a total huff after I tobered him, heād pinned me to a wall in the stable not long after I got him and was giving me both sets, needless to say he regretted that almost immediately then decided it was my fault, we made up but he held onto that one for a while, I ate dirt quite w few times that month but my mother he was a saint for
old shite
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With most Welshies the sensitivity is very marked and colours everything else. Of the ones I've owned - two partbreds and one pure - you worked on a different level and it's something some people just can't seem to get, for example Little Un could be sent into near hysterics by a squared up body language or sharp movement if he was already on edge, or pull Luka's rope even slightly when he's unsure about something and watch him run backwards snorting. But drop the shoulder and slow all movement and Little Un would relax, keep Luka's rope slack and stand calmly telling him he's a plonker and he'll high step to you and come along. I think it's the ability to manage the sensitivity that determines if someone can deal with Welshies, once they know you can then a lot of the need to vanishes anyway.
The words āpack it inā or ācome on then numptyā along with a sigh and a long lead rope has always worked for me, theāpack it inā comes with varying degrees of eye rolling and occasionally volume but is normally always complied to. Iāve always used a slack rope with my horses and a no rush attitude, seems to work for me, especially with anything Welsh. They seem to get more wound up the shorter you hold the leadrope.
If you had Kia by the head collar for what he deemed no reason they youād have had to hold on as he was not going to have you there for long.Now that would have destroyed Little Un, his confidence and ego would have been in shreds and he'd have been too worried to even try. I doubt Luka would be much better, he also gets very upset if he thinks he's wrong or has caused offence. William was a bit different, he'd have replied by telling you your name was eff off
"Really?" in a tone of bored disbelief works for me
Or the shouting their name up the field before it usually stops their carry on as they look at you
I used to find it interesting that unless I said "Jim" before a warning or telling off he would assume it was nothing to do with him and pay no attention whatsoever even if he was the only horse I was handling at the time, whereas Little Un would assume every cross tone or warning was aimed at him even if I'd said "Jim" first. Likewise body language that would cause Jim to flick an ear and consider if it was worth carrying on when I was clearly annoyed (probably!) would have Little Un in a panic - what was used to reprimand Jim if he was really going off on one would probably have made Little Un drop dead of terror! They were opposite ends of the spectrum in that respect, it wasn't that Jim wasn't sensitive but he certainly wasn't as reactive to humans and had a much higher self esteem for want of a better word. And while Luka in many ways reminds me of Jim he definitely has Little Un's response to tone and body language.
Sensitivity is one of those things that it's easier if they have a reasonable amount of but has the potential to be a real problem if they have a lot of it. That said I find the very laid back types frustrating as the size of ask needed to get a reaction can end up being relatively huge and the response minimal. Each to their own though.
Sensitivity is one of those things that it's easier if they have a reasonable amount of but has the potential to be a real problem if they have a lot of it. That said I find the very laid back types frustrating as the size of ask needed to get a reaction can end up being relatively huge and the response minimal. Each to their own though.
I can confirm that - with feeling - see my most recent post in hacking thread!
I seem to have the best of both worlds with Faran, he is very chilled and very laid back and will do what is asked if asked correctly and he is very responsive especially to voice, as I train most of mine to voice, very rarely use a stick unless Iām lunging or doing certain groundwork training and sometimes he might have a think about a new question he is very willing to respond to requests
won a watch really I pinch myself with him
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