27/09/2026
Great advice! Give your new horse time to settle. Their whole life has changed.
๐ด ๐ก๐๐ช ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐.
There are a thousand different terms for that period when a horse is settling into a new home โ and I donโt think we talk about it nearly enough.
Dr Shelley Appleton Calm Willing Confident Horses refers to it as โNew Horse Syndromeโโฆ and sheโll probs tell you she heard it from someone else. (Do yourself a favour and go seek out her webinar on this!)๐
It doesnโt really matter what we call it.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒโ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐.
Because, in my opinion, we often donโt give our ponies nearly enough time to genuinely settle when they arrive at a new home.
And I get it!!
Weโre EXCITED. ๐คฉ
Weโve bought the horse.
Weโve waited for the horse.
Weโve imagined all the things weโre going to do together.
So naturally we want to get on and ride off into the sunset, living happily ever after. ๐๐
๐
And thenโฆ
Things start going a little pear-shaped.
The horse we tried before we bought suddenly feels different.
Behaviours appear that we didnโt see before.
Confidence changes.
And we start wonderingโฆ
๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐?!
This isnโt a post where Iโm going to go on and on about New Horse Syndrome.
Itโs simply a little awareness post and a gentle reminder:
๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐.
Weโve taken them away from everything they knew โ their herd, their routine, their environment, their humans โ and plonked them into an entirely new world.
They need time to figure out where they fit.
Time to learn the new routine.
Time to feel safe.
Time to learn ๐ช๐จ.
And sometimes?
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐.
So if youโve recently brought home your dream horse and things arenโt quite looking like the sunset you imagined just yetโฆ
Maybe nothing has โgone wrongโ.
Maybe you donโt need to fix everything immediately.
Maybe your new horse just needs a little more ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐. ๐ฉท๐ด
And maybe our first job isnโt to show them everything we want to do together.
๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐โ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐โ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ.
