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tlkidding wrote:I got updated video on the 2 year old - search Northspring Acres on YouTube and look for videos for a 2 year old Hann colt or 2 year old Sir Donnerhall. Other than a long neck and small head, he looks decent to me, so I'm thinking I'll go ahead and vet him. If he turns out not to be exactly what I want, I figure I can get him going under saddle next spring and sell for enough to buy another young horse.

I found a video, but he doesn't look small headed. But an incredibly irritating click click clicking by the videographer. Is that him?

I wasn't happy with Ecclestone because there was absolutely no communication from them prior to my getting a call from the driver that he was across the border and a few hours out. During the week prior to shipping I had emailed and called and left voice messages, trying to find out even an approximate ship date, but even though I was the one paying, i.e. the customer, Ecclestone refused to communicate with me. Any information I got had to come through the seller.

The driver was very good and the rig was excellent, but based on the way I was treated I would not use Ecclestone again unless there was no other option.

Chisamba wrote:

tlkidding wrote:I got updated video on the 2 year old - search Northspring Acres on YouTube and look for videos for a 2 year old Hann colt or 2 year old Sir Donnerhall. Other than a long neck and small head, he looks decent to me, so I'm thinking I'll go ahead and vet him. If he turns out not to be exactly what I want, I figure I can get him going under saddle next spring and sell for enough to buy another young horse.

I found a video, but he doesn't look small headed. But an incredibly irritating click click clicking by the videographer. Is that him?

Probably him, there's a 4 1/2 minute video and a few shorter videos. I also think it's raining really hard there and that distorts the sound.

The vetting is today, so cross your fingers everything goes well and I have time to do the wire transfer before my bank's cut off time.

Bought him today. He's super cute and the photos for his coggins make his neck and head look much more proportional than what I was seeing in the videos.

Still trying to figure out shipping - waiting for the border vet paperwork may make me miss Ecclestone's shipping date. I'm waiting on quotes back from Doyle, Perry, and one other.

I'm also checking with 2 trainers I've ridden with and one trainer that works out of the barn I'm at to see if they are interested in making the trip.

I just want him here safe and sound and integrated into his new herd safely.

Congratulations! I'm sure he will arrive just fine. The slow paperwork caused mine to miss two ship dates, but Ecclestone did send him by himself in a huge rig when the paperwork finally got done. It's hard to stay patient. I drank a lot of "Tension Tamer" tea!

So I think I've got shipping arranged. What is the standard for tipping the drivers upon delivery? Is there a formula for how much to tip?

Thanks!

By the time I went to tip the driver, he was gone! I was prepared to give him $50 for a 6.5 hour 300 mile trip.

Yeah, KathyK! So glad he has arrived.

That has happened to me before with shipping. Now I say something before we are distracted.

Another super dumb question - does the halter he comes off the truck with stay with the horse or is it the shipper's halter and it needs to be given back to them before they leave?

tlkidding wrote:Another super dumb question - does the halter he comes off the truck with stay with the horse or is it the shipper's halter and it needs to be given back to them before they leave?

IME, the seller sends the horse with a super cheap halter that will disintegrate 3 minutes after the horse arrives. So have a new one ready.

All the horses I've seen off or received for friends have had their own halter, not a shipper-provided one.

Mine came with a high quality leather halter. I guess it depends on who you buy the horse from. I think those coming in from Europe generally come with the cheaper halters.

Thank you all.

I don't know exactly what size halter he needs so I've got a few, but I couldn't sleep last night and was imagining him getting delivered in the middle of the night in a thunderstorm and having to try and switch halters not knowing what will fit him. I have no idea if he's going to be really nervous and bouncing around or just a bit overwhelmed and quiet.

I ended up getting up and writing down some reminders/notes of other things to do to prep for him (in case he is delivered in the middle of the night) and reading for a bit before I could fall asleep.

I haven't heard a pickup day from the shipper yet - I texted him yesterday and don't know if I should call today or wait. I thought he wanted to do the trip Wed/Thurs this week but I'm not sure. So obviously I have a ton of things on my mind and falling asleep has been difficult.

Also, I get to (have to) name him with the Hanover Verband in Germany. Name has to start with an S, they've been calling him Sami, which I like and want to keep Sam as part of his registered name. I prefer one word names if possible. So if you all feel like helping out some more.

Congrats on the new horse!

Since he looks to be black or dark bay, maybe the name Samhaim could be fitting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

AmityBee wrote:Congrats on the new horse!

Since he looks to be black or dark bay, maybe the name Samhaim could be fitting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

Sorry - ended up buying another one -a chestnut with white on all four legs (again, what what I thinking!?). He's got a big white blaze too.

tlkidding wrote:

AmityBee wrote:Congrats on the new horse!

Since he looks to be black or dark bay, maybe the name Samhaim could be fitting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

Sorry - ended up buying another one -a chestnut with white on all four legs (again, what what I thinking!?). He's got a big white blaze too.

Ah, yes. I confused the two new horse/shipping threads, sorry. Still, congratulations!

Congrats on your new horse!

I am terrible coming up with names, but here are two -
Sam-I-Am
Sambar / Sambhar

Samaya

Sampan

Samsun

another vote for Sambar/Sambaar

He arrived! At 1:15 am in the morning and didn't want to get off the trailer/touch the ramp. He is all legs and has so much growing to do. He's super sweet and friendly, but don't touch the hind legs!

Look at that face!!! Congratulations

Glad he arrived safely. Cute face!

tlkidding wrote:He arrived! At 1:15 am in the morning and didn't want to get off the trailer/touch the ramp.

I once bought a weanling and that happened. We ended up backing the filly off. How did you get him off?

musical comedy wrote:

tlkidding wrote:He arrived! At 1:15 am in the morning and didn't want to get off the trailer/touch the ramp.

I once bought a weanling and that happened. We ended up backing the filly off. How did you get him off?

I thought about trying to back him but wasn't sure he'd ever been manually backed up by a person before, plus the ramp was pretty steep. The driver opened the people door on the other side of the trailer and pushed him with a broom (have heard of using a broom to load, never to unload). As expected, he mostly jumped the ramp; both hind feet landed on it but then he slipped off.

Once off the trailer he was fine leading to the stall - I was afraid I'd have a horse-shaped kite at the end of the lead rope in the dark.

Once I get to know him a bit more and work out his forward and reverse buttons, I'll start practicing loading with a friend's trailer that she keeps hitched all the time and just take it slow.

adorable! Congrats!

just an FYI, every single Sir Donnerhall ive sat upon has had an attitude problem. might consider steering clear

Linden wrote:just an FYI, every single Sir Donnerhall ive sat upon has had an attitude problem. might consider steering clear

You're a bit late. Horse is bought, paid for, and in the barn.

KathyK wrote:

Linden wrote:just an FYI, every single Sir Donnerhall ive sat upon has had an attitude problem. might consider steering clear

You're a bit late. Horse is bought, paid for, and in the barn.

Indeed! And best wishes for tlkidding and her few fellow.

I was reminded of the Sir Donnerhall temperament when I read about a trainer whose horse I know in the Chronicle's Behind the Stall Doors:
https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/be ... -summersby

Oh, oops. I'm sorry. Best wishes with your new guy!

Thanks everyone.

Sami got sick July 4th but is recovering well and we've been spending lots of time together during his 2x daily (now only 1x daily) treatment. He was a trooper throughout except for the oral banamine (which is so, so bitter, I don't blame him at all).

Linden, I'd like to hear more about the temperament and attitude issues people run into with Sir Donnerhall I get. I saw a similar post on a FB breeders group, but others raved about his young babies.

He's a pretty insecure horse, low in the pecking order. Right now, he likes to "grow roots" when he's scared, and he'll kind of mentally shut down if you put a lot of pressure on him. However, he's so food motivated, if I've got something to feed him, I can keep him engaged. I'm going to do some clicker training once I find a treat he can chew quickly. My impression is that I won't be able to use negative reinforcement to get him to do something when he's scared. I'm also planning to get some help very early to install some forward/driving/sending from the ground. I think when it comes to backing, installing a very, very good forward button will be super important.

Once he's going under saddle, I figure if he doesn't take well to the pressure of collection for the upper levels, I'll put a change on him and sell him.

tlkidding wrote:He's a pretty insecure horse, low in the pecking order. Right now, he likes to "grow roots" when he's scared, and he'll kind of mentally shut down if you put a lot of pressure on him. However, he's so food motivated, if I've got something to feed him, I can keep him engaged. I'm going to do some clicker training once I find a treat he can chew quickly. My impression is that I won't be able to use negative reinforcement to get him to do something when he's scared.

I had a big white faced, sensitive, chestnut Feiner Stern gelding that was at the bottom of the pecking order in my otherwise all mare herd. He was wicked smart though, and didn't respond well at all to "negative reinforcement", it was a call to arms for him. Clicker training was the best thing I ever did with him, totally changed his attitude and really had him looking /"what do you want me to do?" when a question was posed to him. I highly recommend it. Having survived a wicked fast, athletic bolter of a mare, growing roots sounds pretty good to me!

tlkidding wrote: I'm going to do some clicker training once I find a treat he can chew quickly.

Clicker training is great for these kind of horses. It kind of "empowers" them and engages them instead of them freezing, having stuff happen to them, and them blowing up. I hope you can make it work for you!

As far as treats, these are what I use, see if they might work for you: https://www.mannapro.com/products/equin ... ze-nuggets

They are so small the horse can chew them quickly, but big enough to be motivating, and you can get a decent amount in your pocket. Every horse I've worked with has found them palatable. Plus they're stable to carry around in your pocket, unlike, say, a wet carrot coin sliver that would rot, or a sugar cube that crumbles. A bag is about $9 and lasts me a decent amount of time.

Kelo wrote:As far as treats, these are what I use, see if they might work for you: https://www.mannapro.com/products/equin ... ze-nuggets

Kelo, are these little discs or are they the cylinder-shaped treats?

I got him to jump up and down a small bank by his paddock by holding his grain and moving it further and further away from him while he ate. When I tried to just lead him, he froze and wouldn't even really look at it or think about how to get up the bank. I've found I can do a lot of "things" to him while he's eating his dinner - stand on a stool and pull his mane, fly spray him, hose him off, mess with his sheath, swing a rope around his legs...He's progressed so none of those are issues even without the food as a distraction.

Glad Sami is recovering well! I also have a very insecure, detail oriented horse (tell me what's happening before it happens), so I am watching these ideas

I just so happen to have a couple of the treats in my pocket from when I worked my horses this morning Pen for scale.

At first glance I thought it said "Pen for sale."

KathyK wrote:At first glance I thought it said "Pen for sale."

Well, for the right price!

Best wishes for you and your new horse. It has always been my motto to forget what the papers say. Just ride the horse that comes out of the barn. I have a Furioso/Absatz/Storm Cat gelding which IME is a match made in Hades. Storm Cats are notoriously tough minded, Absatz are tough and Furiosos can trot in two zip codes at once. None of these sound good to me! Fortunately, the horse is not aware of his bloodlines and is honestly the horse of ten lifetimes for me. Just train him to the best of your abilities, get help when you need it and enjoy your new friend.

Ditto what redsoxluvr said.

Enjoy. I hope he is recovered.

I use the Manna Pro treats for my liberty work. They are very convenient.

Susan