Building a Bond and Understanding the Needs of a New Horse

I’ve always believed that we can learn something from every horse we meet. Each one offers us the opportunity to build a new relationship, deepen our understanding, and refine our horsemanship. It really is a privilege to get to know these incredible, majestic creatures. This takes time, more time than we often think, for a new horse to settle, relax, and feel confident enough to show us their true character.

In this article, I want to introduce you to my new horse, George, and share what I’ve learnt about him so far, along with our plans for the journey ahead.

Meet George

George arrived at Wavendon Grange in May 2025. He’s a 17.2hh, seven-year-old grey Irish Sport Horse with a tiny hint of Connemara, which I’m convinced is the reason for his beautifully refined head.

Getting to know him has been both fascinating and rewarding. As with any new horse, it’s important to take your time to get to know them. For me this begins with booking visits from my various multidisciplinary team that includes farrier, saddle fitter and equine dentist. This can reveal a lot and gives you a good place to start from with a new horse as you begin to understand their individual needs.

George's feet and lower limb straightness has improved - after pic to follow soon!

Feet First

One of our earliest challenges was the condition and balance of George’s feet. It took four shoeing cycles before we could really see their true quality. The good news is that he has much better feet than I initially thought. In fact, when I first went to see him, his feet were almost a reason I didn’t buy him!

Managing His Worm Burden

We use Intelligent Worming here, so all our horses have regularly worm egg counts and testing. Unfortunately, George’s first test showed a high worm burden. It’s taken several months of targeted treatments and regular counts to bring him back into balance, but he’s now aligned with the rest of the herd. These things take time, and it’s always satisfying when you start seeing consistently healthy readings.

The Saddle Journey

Saddles are always a process with a new horse, especially when they are still building top line and developing. George arrived lacking strength over his back, so finding a saddle that could support him now but also evolve with him was key for me.

We also discovered something unusual: after being ridden, he would develop fluid-filled lumps along his spine.

They were painless and disappeared within about half an hour of removing the saddle, but it suggested he had previously been ridden in saddles that didn’t fit correctly. This understandably influenced his comfort.

I’m a big fan of WOW saddles because of their adjustability, and this flexibility has been invaluable for George. We’ve been able to make subtle, frequent changes to support him as he changes and develops.

Teeth and Understanding His Mouth

Shortly after his arrival, Dr Chris Pearce came to check George’s teeth. He found extremely sharp edges, which isn’t unusual for a young horse with quickly erupting teeth. These sharp edges had caused ulcers on the inside of his cheeks and tongue. Fortunately, once addressed, the ulcers healed within days.

However, we also discovered bone spurs on his bars—most likely the result of pressure or injury from a bit. Interestingly, George is not a strong horse to ride, so the likely cause is a rider balancing on their hands rather than their seat. This was an important reminder of just how sensitive and vulnerable the horse’s mouth is and why as riders we need to be able ride in balance.

You can see the bone spurs on George's bars in this photo

Knowing this, we’ve experimented with different bits. His bars measure 3 cm, so I avoid anything with joints or lozenges wider than that area that may sit on the bone spurs. He seems happiest in a full-cheek, single-jointed bit that remains stable in his mouth and reduces bar pressure. We are also riding him – roughly half the time in a bitless bridle which ensures there’s no pressure on his bars at all.

Bitting really is a minefield, there’s science behind it, yes, but ultimately, every horse is an individual. George is definitely teaching me exactly what suits him best.

Building Strength and Understanding

If you know me, you’ll know how strongly I value groundwork – lungeing, long reining and different pole work exercises. So, it will come as no surprise that George has already been introduced to these.

He seems quite careful, but initially, he didn’t really have the strength to work through a series of poles, it’s been a case of building him up gradually and I’m really enjoying seeing his improvement each time he does them. Currently I try to do pole work on the lunge or long lines once a week and he walks over raised poles on a daily basis. To begin with he didn’t really understand the exercise, but again with time he is improving every day. These exercises are fantastic for developing his thoracic sling muscles, improving his balance, and slowly building that much-needed top line.

Another simple but essential exercise and one of my favourites is backing up. When he arrived, George had no idea what I was asking. With patience and repetition, he now backs up beautifully. Only once a horse has learned to back up well can we really expect to see the benefits of the exercise.

Developing Strength and Posture

George is still growing, and some days he looks bum-high and other days wither-high, this is all very normal for a horse in this final growth phase. My focus is on strengthening his thoracic sling to help him lift and support his front end.

I’m also beginning to teach him to lower his head on cue using treats, voice and gentle pressure and release. This will help him relax, stretch correctly and build postural strength.

Building Communication through Ridden Work

When I ride George, my priority is building a quiet, clear communication system. He goes nicely, but I want him to fully understand my cues so we can develop a truly harmonious partnership.

One of the best exercises for this and one that I am using a lot is making transitions within the walk using as few aids as possible. It’s something anyone can do and it’s invaluable for a connection.

From a medium walk, ask your horse to slow down using these cues in the following order.

• Stop moving your seat

• Breathe in and lower your energy

• Grow tall

• If needed, add a light knee and thigh squeeze

• Only if your horse hasn’t slowed down after using the cues above do you use the reins to ask them to steady

From the more collected walk, now ask your horse to move forwards again to a medium walk. Using the cues in the following order.

• Start moving your seat again

• Breathe out

• Follow the ribcage swing with your legs

• Add a leg aid only if necessary

This is a lovely way to refine communication. With repetition and consistency, your horse will start to respond to the intention; simply thinking about the transition and you get a reaction.

Looking Ahead

Absolutely thrilled with George. We had a fabulous time at our first event together at Calmsden Horse Trials at the end of October where he won his class.

George has just enjoyed a well-earned two-week holiday, turned out in a big field to simply be a horse and relax. He is comes back into work, our winter focus will be on more strengthening, continuing to build our partnership, and a little more exploring the world together.

We may dabble in some eventing next year, but that’s not the main goal. For now, what matters most is building a strong, lasting partnership.

George is already teaching me so much, and I’m excited to see where our journey takes us.