All change.....or not? Your opinions please.....

[Cazzah]

I am having a real dilemna at the moment in relation to my current horse and future plans and would appreciate your thoughts. This may be rambly - but please bear with me.

I've had Baz for three years now and he was pretty much fresh off the racetrack when I bought him. In the past three years I have had a baby but have managed to reschool him and compete him in several disciplines successfully, including SJ, dressage, XC, ODEs and showing. He's won in them all and is generally a star who I can literally ride once a week when pushed for time and then take him out and he'll 'deliver'. We compete locally to around 1m but I lack the transport to affiliate and develop his further potential - we've schooled up to 1.20 and he just gets better over bigger fences.

He's a very well bred TB, 16.2 and is well put together. He moves straightly but isn't the most extravagant. He lives in or out (currently lives out with a stable in field) and is pretty low maintenance to keep - holds onto his shoes, lives on nuts/handfull of balancer, never lame etc. His bad points are that he can be grumpy (had a history of biting but hasn't for nearly 3 years) but will pull faces. He had a tieback operation before I got him which has been completely successful. He's straightforward under saddle and has excellent manners on the ground (apart from the grumpiness) but I wouldn't say that he wouldn't take advantage of a novice handler

Here's a pic of his handsomeness:

So, my dilemna.....
I really want to affiliate BE but to do so I need transport. This will take me about a year to save for, by which time Baz will be 11, going on 12 and will have never competed affiliated. If I am ever to sell him I think that due to his age now is the time but I'm not 100% I do want to sell. However, if I did sell I'd hope to achieve enough money to buy a trailer and a youngster to bring on (and I would then have the transport to do so in the manner I really want to).

The added issue is that my OH absolutely will not let our son near Baz due to his distant past history of biting (I do agree with him on this though feel that the risk is significantly lower now than then). I really want my little boy to have a pony and the practicalities of keeping horse and pony separately don't stack up so to achieve this (and harmony in the home) I need to consider selling.

Aaargh, what would you do?

 

[Mildred]

Look up the frustrated evener page on Facebook which is set up with the aim of getting people sharing transport to events.

I'd keep him personally, there is a biter on my yard and I just ensure my little boy is never in a situation where ge could get bitten. There's also nothing to say a new young horse won't pose a risk to a child either.

 

[Firewell]

The age issue of Baz isn't an issue. It is VERY hard to find decent horses and a youngster is going to take a couple of years to be trained up to be successful at affilliated whereas Baz could go out and be successful now. 11/12 is not old for a low milage horse.
I tend to think if you are lucky enough to have a decent horse you should hang on to it!!

The only issue is the biting and your baby but only you know if that is really an issue or not. Your OH maybe worried but non horsie people always worry more about things like that, you know the horse and are horsie, you know
If you can trust Baz and your OH should trust your judgement.
As a child my mums horse could bite and we were taught to be careful with his face. He did grab my sisters friend once by the hair !!! But he wasn't that bad.
That's the only thing in my mind which could be an issue that would make me think about selling.

 

[be positive]

He is a very smart horse and if you decide to sell should find a buyer.In the current market the tieback op may have to be reflected in the price you ask for him.

I would try to find a way to BE him,can you not borrow or hire a trailer,if you plan your season well you may be able to fit in with someone and share costs of transport.He sounds as if all the hard work is done and he would be ready to go out and enjoy.

Regarding the situation with child,I would not allow a young child to be around a horse unsupervised anyway and a small pony would probably be unable to share grazing as they nearly always need restricting.Also a different horse may pose other risks.

 

[Cazzah]

I wouldn't let my son unsupervised around any horse anyway. Its more the stigma my OH has attached to Baz that is causing the concerns.

The more I think about it the less I want to sell. I do love his grumpiness to bits. And he is a good horse - completely genuine under saddle. He's never put a stop in and will hack happily alone or with others all day. I think I've answered my own question really

So, perhaps my objectives should be:
1. Save lots of pennies for a trailer
2. Catch lifts wherever possible in the meantime (will check out that site Mildred - thanks)
3. Save even more money and buy a pony for son
4. Save even more money and buy a youngster to bring on over next few years for if/when Baz is ready to steady up
5. Tranquilize OH everytime I want to take son to stables
6. If all else fails, win Euromillions to fund the lifestyle to which I could most defintely become accustomed with lots of horses, ponies and a luxury Oakley box

 

[Dancing Queen]

personally i wouldnt sell him - save up for the trailer/box. you may just seel and get the box and end up with something that you cant do anything with - how gutted would you be?
xx

 

[Tnavas]

I would keep him and in the year it will take you to save up improve his performance more - then as soon as you have the trailer you will be able to compete affiliated.

He is a lovely horse and you have obviously done a good job on him. Don't sell him yet.

If you buy a youngster you will not be able to go out and compete for some time and that will be a waste of the transport.

Extravagence is not the be all of dressage - but accurate test and correct way of going is. Get the right TB and they are brillient at just about everything they do. You certainly have.