I know welsh cobs seem to be horsey marmite but I defy anyone to find fault with Little Un today.
I'd took him out with two others & we were on a ride that was new to him. A very large group of riders from a riding "school" came hammering up fast behind us so we pulled into a gateway & called out asking them to slow down while they passed because one of ours was a youngster - may as well have saved our breath for all the good that did
. The two older horses we were with seemed to think they'd found the hunt & acted accordingly & who could blame them? Little Un made one attempt to jump forward & got told "no" in a very definate fashion. He then proceeded to follow two very excited prancing snorting jogging horses without turning a hair! Seriously, I was able to put him a few horse lengths behind (out of bucking & running back range) & keep him on a long rein with lots of pats, good boys & reassurance. A bit further on we caught sight of the same group in a field at the edge of the road & they had several loose horses so we decided to turn round & go back the way we'd come because there was no way my friends could have coped with loose horses at that point. Even that didn't alter his behaviour, he came back just as kindly with just a couple of short trots to catch up with the big boys (he's about 14.1, they're 16.2 & 16.3 & were getting really hot at this point).
I think for a 4yo welsh cob who normally loves being up front & has only been broken about 3 months that's nearly perfect behaviour! I didn't doubt I could hold him but I'd expect him to get strong & hyper, instead he was no trouble at all & as long as he got some fuss & reassurance acted as though this sort of thing happened every day & was really quite boring.
I knew there was a reason I liked welsh cobs - they can be little sods at times but when it matters they take some beating!
I'd took him out with two others & we were on a ride that was new to him. A very large group of riders from a riding "school" came hammering up fast behind us so we pulled into a gateway & called out asking them to slow down while they passed because one of ours was a youngster - may as well have saved our breath for all the good that did
. The two older horses we were with seemed to think they'd found the hunt & acted accordingly & who could blame them? Little Un made one attempt to jump forward & got told "no" in a very definate fashion. He then proceeded to follow two very excited prancing snorting jogging horses without turning a hair! Seriously, I was able to put him a few horse lengths behind (out of bucking & running back range) & keep him on a long rein with lots of pats, good boys & reassurance. A bit further on we caught sight of the same group in a field at the edge of the road & they had several loose horses so we decided to turn round & go back the way we'd come because there was no way my friends could have coped with loose horses at that point. Even that didn't alter his behaviour, he came back just as kindly with just a couple of short trots to catch up with the big boys (he's about 14.1, they're 16.2 & 16.3 & were getting really hot at this point).I think for a 4yo welsh cob who normally loves being up front & has only been broken about 3 months that's nearly perfect behaviour! I didn't doubt I could hold him but I'd expect him to get strong & hyper, instead he was no trouble at all & as long as he got some fuss & reassurance acted as though this sort of thing happened every day & was really quite boring
. I knew there was a reason I liked welsh cobs - they can be little sods at times but when it matters they take some beating!
