Advice please! Mis sold horse?

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maxweg

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A Long Story!!! so will keep it as factual as possible
I bought a horse 6 weeks ago, advertised as "confidence giver" emailed private seller stating I prefer to hack alone and lack confidence. reply was perfect horse hacks alone never puts a foot wrong a real confidence giver.

I viewed the horse saw it ridden, it did do a sharp spook in the school but just put that down to horses. the lady hacked it up the road but unintentionally I walked with her and her mother. I then rode it, however thinking back she walked with me.
I had explained that i had a joint replacement only 7 wks earlier so safety was paramount I also explained my expectations of a horse and what
Anyway having hacked with my husband/friend walking with me this horse is tense and worried when out on her own making me nervous which doesnt help and recently has put in a couple of nasty spooks one being on the road when i almost lost my balance.
Im sure this is nothing to some but i feel that any confidence i did have has gone.
After contacting the old owner just for a bit of advice she states now that the horse will be tense as I am and she take her confidence from the rider when hacking alone.
To say i am upset is an understatement. This horse is not suitable for me at all.
Any ideas, comments , suggestions gratefully received
 
NOt too sure if you would class that as mis sold, or just a horse being nervous of new surroundings. If you feel it was truly mis sold, have a look at epona stars, its a group of us who have all been mis sold horses through different dealers, gives lots of advice!
 
maxweg said:
Anyway having hacked with my husband/friend walking with me this horse is tense and worried when out on her own making me nervous
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I was about to say it's probably the other way around, but then you added this ..
After contacting the old owner just for a bit of advice she states now that the horse will be tense as I am and she take her confidence from the rider when hacking alone.
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To say i am upset is an understatement. This horse is not suitable for me at all.
Any ideas, comments , suggestions gratefully received
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You may find you come up against this unfortunately. A lot of people sell beginnery type horses and they really are beginner type horses ... for them. However once they get a real nervous or beginner rider on them these horses often change once they move to the new home. I don't know what to suggest though.
 
I'm not sure how you stand in terms of getting your money back but I had a very similar situation last year when I bought a horse from a charity! The charity lied about the horse, so much so, that they now have it with a behaviourist!! I contacted Trading Standards and got a reference number and we also contacted a solicitor for a free chat. We wrote a formal letter and for about a week we went backwards and forwards. In the end they gave us our money back. It might be worth calling trading standards and lodging a case with the small claims court. I know how you feel, I now have the most wonderful little horse who has finally give me my confidence back.
 
To be honest, I doubt you will have any comeback and I would set about trying to build the horse's and your confidence in its new surroundings by hacking out with other horses and then putting someone who isnt scared up on for a few solo hacks.
 
Hmm, not sure I would say this is a mis-sold horse either. Just maybe a bit sensitive and she's only been in this new home for 6 weeks. This horse could well have been fantastic with it's previous owner but, change the scenery and the horse can be completely different. Of course there are some who will just settle straight away but they are few and far between and in all honesty there is no one perfect horse. I guess it depends whether you gel with this horse at all? If no then sell her to someone who will be able to ride her/get on with her.

Personally I don't think you've given her enough time and you must have liked her enough to buy her? What made you want this particular horse?

If you do sell (I think getting your money back is unlikely to be honest), then when/if you purchase another, please remember horses are NOT machines and, even the most well-behaved horse does indeed get it's confidence from the rider. Even the very best horses can easily lose confidence if the rider is nervous.
 
I have a horse who is very nervous to hack somewhere new and needs a strong confident rider for the first few weeks to get past this. I had a professional rider hack her out for me for a few weeks when I needed to hack her alone from our new home. I've always managed to do this myself but have health issues atm and it wasn't practical to do it myself.
You have a few options, trying to get the previous owner to take the horse back, sell it or get a professional to take it out on a few different routes until the horse is relaxed and happy hacking in a new location and then try to hack it yourself. To be honest I would try the professional rider route whilst seeing if you can return the horse to the seller.
Good luck. If you are nr Surrey I can recommend a very good professional rider.
 
Hmm, to me it does sound like most new horses in new surroundings with a new rider... it's not going to be foot-perfect immediately, and is bound to have a good look at things while it settles in. Can you hack out with someone else for a bit, or as suggested get someone more confident to get it going? Or do some ground work to get your confidence and create a bond? If you liked it that much when you tried it, you must have some good feelings to build on x
 
I don't think I would class this horse as misold either.
The old owner might take it back .
I think you should get an experianced rider hack the horse out and see what it does.
But you may well have been unrealistic in your assessment of what you are ready to do .
Do you have a freind you can hack with for a while ?
 
thanks for the quick replies, unfortunately I do feel they have not been honest. The ad was headed "confidencer giver" not needs confidence from its rider when hacking alone! I clearly stated in an email and verbally that I hack alone and do not have a lot of confidence, not on any occasion did they say needs a confident rider.
The horse is not bad boy but is clearly not suitable for me. Whilst i have owned horses for over 30 yrs and realise that its a relationship that needs to bond and grow, had ive known this in the beginning I would never viewed the horse.

Im just not sure where to go from here, Ive now got a horse that I dont want to ride and is not fit for the purpose he was bought for.
 
Yes but a 'confidence giver' can't give confidence if the rider isn't. They're animals at the end of the day, they pick up on nerves very easily. As said, as far as the owner was concerned, they may well see this as a confidence giver so have not lied/mis-sold him at all. I would say my horse is a confidence-giver BUT he, like anything else can have the odd spook and has been un-nerved before (by an ambulance with sirens blaring). That shook him up for a bit but he got over it with considerate, firm riding.

I think you have to have some confidence to own and ride horses - otherwise anyone could do it. You can't just be a passenger and expect a horse to just move in and be perfectly behaved and act like it's been there all it's life. I am not sure there is anyone on here who could say 100% that they could sell their horse to a nervous rider and know it would be foot perfect.
 
I really feel for you. I would get in touch with Epona stars and you will get unbiased advice. It sounds like to me that you have already made up your mind that this horse is not for you so there is no point in continuing with him as you will lose more and more confidence. Well done for realising that he is not for you much better to get out now if you can.
 
I don't really understand why you proceeded to buy a horse that you deemed to have spooked sharply when you viewed it.

Anyway that's by the by now. To me this sounds like a horse that's taking a while to settle into it's new home. If I were you I'd spend some time getting to know my horse on the ground, lots of grooming, in-hand walks etc. I'd also get an instructor out to give me some lessons. If that's not to your liking I suspect you'll have more luck selling the horse on via sales livery than getting the previous owner to refund you.

Good luck whatever you decide to do :)
 
I think they would take horse back if they are genuine people, I know I would if new owner didn't want horse.
I've only ever owned one horse and if I ever sold him I would do my best to only let go to a suitable owner .
I feel responsible for for the horses wellbeing full stop
To me it doesn't sound a of case miss sold but I would still give your money back .
Good luck and I hope it works out for the horse and you.
 
wow some comments! being a mature lady and owned horses for a very long time I'm well aware they are not machines, toys etc, having competed BE with a knee replacement 6 years ago I wouldnt really say i have health "issues"and nervous is different from confidence however age has caught up with me and self preservation is important as is my confidence so yes I can take on board the comments and opinions but as for mis buying I think is this unhelpful comment.

yes a horse is always different in a new situation and owner and needs time to settle however you have to be very sure of what you are selling to advertise as "confidence Giver"
 
maxweg said:
thanks for the quick replies, unfortunately I do feel they have not been honest. The ad was headed "confidencer giver" not needs confidence from its rider when hacking alone! I clearly stated in an email and verbally that I hack alone and do not have a lot of confidence, not on any occasion did they say needs a confident rider.
The horse is not bad boy but is clearly not suitable for me. Whilst i have owned horses for over 30 yrs and realise that its a relationship that needs to bond and grow, had ive known this in the beginning I would never viewed the horse.

Im just not sure where to go from here, Ive now got a horse that I dont want to ride and is not fit for the purpose he was bought for.
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Either try to get him returned or find someone to ride him and sell him.
 
I'm not sure you have been mis-sold sorry.

I think you should give this horse more time. Take baby steps, just go for 10 mins around the block, even with someone leading you if it will make you feel more comfortable. Get to know the horse on the ground, do ground work in the school, lunge it etc, ensure it listens to you.

I don't know many horses that DON'T get their confidence from their rider to be fair. And also, to be fair to him he doesn't sound that bad, he hasn't taken off with you or gone up or bucked, just a few spooks. I know they can be unnerving but so long as you can sit them and ride him forward then you will be fine.

If it were me I would get some lessons with a good instructor and stick to the school for a few weeks, have lessons, get to know the horse and gain a bit more confidence before I hacked him out again.

OR sell him but you may be selling a good horse and go from the frying pan to the fire!
 
Surely as some one with so much experience, you knew when it spooked when you tried it, that it would not give YOU; confidence, a case of buyer should be aware.
 
thanks perfect pirouette a nice positive reply! the problem is cant get 50 yards without a leap on the road! but yes i will consider your suggestions. he's a lovely boy and its no reflection on him but very frustrating when I specified a confidence giving horse to hack alone. Even with my "health issues"! I am a competent rider but losing confidence as I get older
 
Meandtheboys said:
Personally I feel sorry for the horse...............
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snap
wouldn't you think old owners would want to take horse back if new owner doesn't want horse, hold back a bit of money for trouble and put it down to experience .
If I parted with my horse I think now it would be on loan and have it straight back if things weren't how I wanted it for my lad .
 
To be honest I can sympathise to an extent but surely there must have been intuition alarm bells ringing on that first spook? do not tell your surgeon that you have been riding so soon after a joint replacement. I really don't think anyone should have elective surgery and put themselves through all that risk if they don't intend on taking the time to heal properly... Sorry but if I were you I'd start over, have a break, get the all clear from your ortho team and get some lessons on a school master. Then think about looking again.
 
maxweg said:
wow some comments! being a mature lady and owned horses for a very long time I'm well aware they are not machines, toys etc, having competed BE with a knee replacement 6 years ago I wouldnt really say i have health "issues"and nervous is different from confidence however age has caught up with me and self preservation is important as is my confidence so yes I can take on board the comments and opinions but as for mis buying I think is this unhelpful comment.

yes a horse is always different in a new situation and owner and needs time to settle however you have to be very sure of what you are selling to advertise as "confidence Giver"
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But, if that was the case the why choose this horse? Essentially, from what you say, you are experienced enough to know horses so then why choose a horse that spooked when you tried it out? Surely no one buys a horse just because it says something on the ad? In my experience you buy a horse that you feel some sort of 'click' with and you feel safe and confident on. What you find you feel confident on may well be different from what someone else feels as well.

I just don't quite get why you bought this particular horse if you knew you lacked the same confidence you maybe had 'x' years ago?
 
Sorry I'm not too sure why you feel for the horse?, he has a lovely home whilst he is with me and if I don't arrange something with his old owner then he can stay with us and our retired gelding and we will work on things and try to improve our relationship.
 
You just need to make a plan for what you are going to do about it.
I really don't think it's miss selling as much as miss buying you knew it spooked but you bought him anyway you tell us how experianced you are but it really is simple you bought the wrong horse for you.
I don't think it's in any way black and white how a court would look as this it's a bit of a lottery going to law.
It always confuses me why people ( experianced in this case ) expect strangers to make an judgement on whether the horse suitable for them .
I am in my fifties I have a reconstructed knee a back I broke twice and a hip replacement if I bought a horse who did not suit me I would blame me.
 
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