Joining NR for tips and advice on helping my daughter’s cheeky horse

Poor Abigail, she is trying so hard and must be feeling very disappointed. I do feel for you both.

Like everyone else here, I think groundwork could be the answer and I'm sorry that the owners have a confrontational attitude towards their horse. Would they allow Abigail to do groundwork with him for the time being, so that they can develop a relationship and he begins to understand that she counts as a grown-up and needs to be attended to? Groundwork can be so much fun, and both horse and handler learn a lot.
 
If only you werent the otherside of the world. Id be offering you my boy to ride. I think hed be far more suitable than the one your daughter currently has.
 
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Look elsewhere.
It doesn't say much about the owner willing to lease you a beginner horse for a beginner child and try to educate both at the same time!
 
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I am overwhelmed by everybody’s input,Thankyou for your words of encouragement and clarity!
I’ll give you an update....We had pony club on the weekend and took along the horse in question against my better judgement of course. We had some funding to enable a jumping and dressage coach to attend our rally day, which I thought would be great for him to witness and provide some feedback on what we should do with Abigail and Tao once and for all. Well, it didn’t go to plan. The day ended early with Abigail on the ground. Tao bolted, then pig-rooted (which he has never done before) which she then fell off after losing balance. We were purely walking the cross country track and he just took off in a canter. He had been off all day so decided she wouldn’t do any trotting so she had a chance to manage his misbehaviours.
We have decided to break the lease agreement and look for other avenues to keep Abigail riding. In the meantime, just to get her back in the saddle after the fall, she will ride another of the owner’s horses which is extremely quiet.
 
I'm sorry you and Abigail had such a bad day, but glad that you've decided to end the lease. I think this and worse was what many of us were worried would happen, and I'm thankful it only ended with bruises. After knowingly leasing you something so unsuitable I think a few rides on something quiet is the least the owners can do, but please don't let them talk you into leasing Tao again if she gets on ok with the quiet horse. Good luck with finding somewhere suitable for her to have some lessons.
 
Main thing is your daughter wasn't hurt. I had to break a loan agreement, many years ago - I felt very bad about doing it, but so relieved once it was done. When you find the right horse for her, she'll have much more fun, and you won't be watching her ride with white knuckles! Good luck :)
 
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Often it is better to trust your judgement, you took him there against your better judgement and it ended badly, thankfully not a trip to hospital. From what you were saying before, the last thing i would have done was take him to this, far too much for him. I am really sorry for this pony, it's not his fault people are not listening to him. Please be very careful what you take on for your daughter, as too many scares can really knock confidence. She needs a nice quiet mature horse who will look after her a bit, not something that has everything to learn and needs someone to teach him.
 
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