Better the devil you know?

[malibu211211]

I love my horse to bits but I am well aware that I have over horsed myself. He's not just large height wise but he's also long too and I do have trouble getting him together and keeping it too

I came across a 5yo ex racer yesterday which I really like and its not too far from me. This horse is 16.2hh so a little smaller than my boy and he is chestnut

I love chestnuts

Thing is I have had my boy for 2 years now and we have been through it a bit. I know him pretty well and know he wouldn't do anything too stupid but I do often wonder if I would be better with something a little smaller.
Do you think it is better the devil you know?
Does anyone else have these thoughts?
Sorry bit of a wobbly moment

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

Ex racers can be a) wonderful horses or b) total psyco;s!!! and c) often come with a number of anatomical issues (tendon probs, feet probs, etc)

I know a number of people who have ex racers and have done superbly well on them (one of my friends qualified for HOYs on hers the first year of owning him!) and others have had real issues with them

Its really your call, can you imagine not having your current lad? I am not sure what you have been through but think about where you 2 were at the start of the 2 years and think about where you are now............ and think where you may therefore be able to in 6months-1year.................. can you give that up?

if so, then yes maybe a new slate and start might be in order........

its really your call

 

[PaintboxEDT]

i think it is better the devil you know but saying that if you are having these feelings then the bond isnt as strong as you think and maybe its time to have a change,almost like having an affair why would you if you are happy in the relationship !!!

il get the stable ready for monts arrival

 

[bellaboo]

We all have good and bad times with our horses and you have certainly had your fair share of bad times! but look at how he is going now and what feeling he is giving you, we would all like to have it easy when riding horses but how do you know that just because this other horse is smaller you will find him easier to keep together? You know that every horse rides different, look at the difference between Liz and Monts!
If it isn't broken don't fix it!

 

[Annagain]

I went through a similar situation this summer. My boy is a darling to handle, a dream to hack and THE best horse I've ever ridden in traffic, but he gets very nappy at competitions and can throw in the odd dirty stop when fences get bigger. After being told many times by my instructor that he wasn't the horse for me, and after 4 years of owning him I was onthe verge of advertising him.

But at the last minute I decided that the money I would get for him as a 13yr old with melanomas wouldn't allow me to spend much on a new one. Anything I bought would either have issues, would be older or very young (which I'm not good enough to deal with) and I figured I was better of with issues I knew about than ones I didn't. For a horse who was 95% perfect I could forego the other 5%. I mostly hack and only do local riding club stuff so just decided to stick with smaller classes. 2 weeks later he went lame and has been off work for 5 months, but that's just sod's law - and he probably always had a problem that meant it was hurting him to jump big, which I should have realised earlier considering he's so lovely with everything else.

The only way you can do it is to be completely objective. Make a list of your priorities and a list of what he's good at. Where they don't match, decide what, if anything, you can compromise on. You also need to be realistic on what you can afford to replace him and what you'd get for that money.

Good luck with your decision, even with the 5 months off I'm glad I kept mine - especially as all I'm doing is hacking at the moment as he's coming back into work, which is his forte!