Some horse training questions ( Pictures added - pg. 2)

[s6bee]

Chickerdoodle- I will just chime in here with this. For what you want to do with this horse, he's fine. It's hard to find a very confirmationally correct horse. Almost any horse can have it's picture on here and people will pick it apart.
My two cents ( sorry ) would be first-You may want to consider another farrier and the cost doesn't mean he's good. I sometimes think the older ones are "old school" and not up to date on what's really good for the hoof. Just think about it.
Second- the saddle is not right. It's really hard to get a good fitting saddle and in all honesty if he's not conditioned yet, don't try to fit him with one. He might change with conditioning. I use an Equine Chiropractor and she has done wonders. She also makes sure the saddle is right and will tell you if and what may be wrong with the fit. My horse actually came to us with a slightly tilted pelvis and with her work, he's so different. I would invest in a visit, it's different from a massage therapist. I see you live in NJ so I can only guess the cost is much more expensive, but I live in Upstate NY and mine costs me $85 for the first visit, and $75 there after. I only use her 2-3 times a year.
Third- Get off sweet feed, there is no good use for sweet feed for him. And talk to your Vet about a possible ulcer.

Last, whatever you do, do one change at a time. That way you know what seems to fix his problems. I'm sure there is more than one if he's a rescue so be patient, he will come around.
Don't give up.

 

[WrenAli]

Just a few notes here:

If he just shakes his head in the arena he may be bored. Try spicing your arena riding up with jumps, barrels, walking over/under tarps, going through a ground pole maze.

If he doesn't like Curbs he would hate a bosal as well. Bosals work on the same principles as a curb. I would try a mechanical hackamore or rope halter instead.

And on the worming issue - I deworm once a year (maybe twice if Bot Flys are bad) unless my horses start loosing weight or fecal egg count are high. I see this every day in the other livestock breeds (Cows, Sheep) where they have terrible issues with Worm resistance and it WILL happen with horses if we continue to deworm horses the way most do. One thing most people don't realize is that there have been no new "types" of dewormer created since Ivermectin came out in the mid 1980s. New brands yes, new types (Drug Compounds) no.

I also do similar things with my vaccines. I only vaccinate every 3 or 4 years and then usually only for tetanus. The antibodies last far longer than the drug companies present to the consumer. Some of the vaccines even can potentially cause problems further down the road, like the Strangles vaccines is thought to.

Call me crazy, and I am sure some will. But it works for me and I have 3 very healthy happy horses that have never been sick since I have owned them (one over 8 years) and I do show sometimes so it is not a totally closed herd.

Our 24 year old TB mare (Pic taken on friday) p.s. she is not an easy keeper but also not on any sweet feed or alfalfa.