GinaGem
Well-Known Member
Me and my sister keep our horses at my mum's place. we've got three stables and enough grazing for three. Jo has her youngster (Bodey) and i have mine (Ru). We also have Gem who we've owned for 13years. She was originlally bought for Jo but was then passed on to my mum and then to me. I got to a point with Gem where we couldn't really go any further together so she was semi-retired and i bought Ru.
At the mo Gem is used by a friend to have lessons on every fortnight and also mum rides her occasionally to hack or have lessons. The problem is; is that mum lost confidence with Gem over the years and has never really got over it. She's a reasonable rider but her confidence gets knocked easily and Gem just isn't the right horse for her. Me and Jo would really like to get her a confidence giving pony that she could go out and have a bit of fun on but it means that we'd have to do something with Gem as we just don't have the space for four.
We really don't want to sell her as she's been with us so long and also i don't think she's actually worth that much. We had considered retiring her but we can't think of any suitable yard near to us and she's got plenty of life left. So our only real option is loaning but i'm not sure if she's the sort of horse that would suit many people.
She's 16yrs 16.2/3hh, grey, IDx (the grey in my sig). She spent many years as a youngster being ruined by an 'instructor' when we were too novice to realise that she was doing a lot of harm. She had her strapped into gadgets and harsh bits and Gem learnt many tricks, her biggest being that if she can get away with it she will hang heavily on your hands and set her neck and jaw. She also became extremly unconfident with jumping (as she was never allowed to have her head up).
I've spent many years trying to correct these problems and to a certain extent she has improved a lot and i've done a lot with her however she is very quick to judge the rider and will take the piss with a novice or nervous rider. She has two extremes - the majority of times she will be dam lazy and go around as slow as possible looking like a giraffe on the wrong bend. At the other extreme when hacking if she knows she's on her way home and isn't controlled she will sometimes set her neck and trot full pelt home. She knows she's strong and with an inexperienced rider will tire them with her constant pulling.
On the positive side i've competed her successfully up to noivce unaff dressage, we've done clear rounds up to 2'9 and hunter trials up to 2'3 (all in a loose ring snaffle). We've also done loads of XC schooling up to 2'9 and she's great with water, stpes, banks as well as the usual jumps. She is not bold jumping in new environments and will refuse if the rider is not confident, however when she is jumped regularly she does get more confident and is the sort that will sort herself out even if you screw it up. However when she is confident she can get strong.
Other things that may go against her is that she had a couple of sarcoids as a youngster, she has melenoma's (although none have changed for as long as i can remeber), she has narcolepsy (although has never gone down and it does not affect her daily life in the slightest) and she has a hind leg stiffness that is treated by a chiro every 6 months and means she has to be warmed up correctly. She's also had colic a few times and gets foot abcesses occasionally.
Plus sides she loads perfectly (although is not as steady as she used to be and needs space), she's easy to clip, great to shoe, worm, handle etc. she is a bit of a moody mare sometimes but the worst she does is put her ears back or stamp a back leg. She hacks alone or in company. She has never reared in the whole time we've owned her as far as i know and the only time she has bucked is a little excitable one. She's great on the lunge (and has given many kids and beginer's lunge or lead rein lessons) and she free schools/jumps really well. She's also great fun on sponsored rides.
At the mo she's wintered out and unfit.
So really i just wondered if anyone had any ideas? Do you think she is loanable and am i likely to be able to find someone experienced enough to understand her that doesn't have too high ambitions?
At the mo Gem is used by a friend to have lessons on every fortnight and also mum rides her occasionally to hack or have lessons. The problem is; is that mum lost confidence with Gem over the years and has never really got over it. She's a reasonable rider but her confidence gets knocked easily and Gem just isn't the right horse for her. Me and Jo would really like to get her a confidence giving pony that she could go out and have a bit of fun on but it means that we'd have to do something with Gem as we just don't have the space for four.
We really don't want to sell her as she's been with us so long and also i don't think she's actually worth that much. We had considered retiring her but we can't think of any suitable yard near to us and she's got plenty of life left. So our only real option is loaning but i'm not sure if she's the sort of horse that would suit many people.
She's 16yrs 16.2/3hh, grey, IDx (the grey in my sig). She spent many years as a youngster being ruined by an 'instructor' when we were too novice to realise that she was doing a lot of harm. She had her strapped into gadgets and harsh bits and Gem learnt many tricks, her biggest being that if she can get away with it she will hang heavily on your hands and set her neck and jaw. She also became extremly unconfident with jumping (as she was never allowed to have her head up).
I've spent many years trying to correct these problems and to a certain extent she has improved a lot and i've done a lot with her however she is very quick to judge the rider and will take the piss with a novice or nervous rider. She has two extremes - the majority of times she will be dam lazy and go around as slow as possible looking like a giraffe on the wrong bend. At the other extreme when hacking if she knows she's on her way home and isn't controlled she will sometimes set her neck and trot full pelt home. She knows she's strong and with an inexperienced rider will tire them with her constant pulling.
On the positive side i've competed her successfully up to noivce unaff dressage, we've done clear rounds up to 2'9 and hunter trials up to 2'3 (all in a loose ring snaffle). We've also done loads of XC schooling up to 2'9 and she's great with water, stpes, banks as well as the usual jumps. She is not bold jumping in new environments and will refuse if the rider is not confident, however when she is jumped regularly she does get more confident and is the sort that will sort herself out even if you screw it up. However when she is confident she can get strong.
Other things that may go against her is that she had a couple of sarcoids as a youngster, she has melenoma's (although none have changed for as long as i can remeber), she has narcolepsy (although has never gone down and it does not affect her daily life in the slightest) and she has a hind leg stiffness that is treated by a chiro every 6 months and means she has to be warmed up correctly. She's also had colic a few times and gets foot abcesses occasionally.
Plus sides she loads perfectly (although is not as steady as she used to be and needs space), she's easy to clip, great to shoe, worm, handle etc. she is a bit of a moody mare sometimes but the worst she does is put her ears back or stamp a back leg. She hacks alone or in company. She has never reared in the whole time we've owned her as far as i know and the only time she has bucked is a little excitable one. She's great on the lunge (and has given many kids and beginer's lunge or lead rein lessons) and she free schools/jumps really well. She's also great fun on sponsored rides.
At the mo she's wintered out and unfit.
So really i just wondered if anyone had any ideas? Do you think she is loanable and am i likely to be able to find someone experienced enough to understand her that doesn't have too high ambitions?
