Buying a horse! I want to send him back!!!

J

jjrose

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Hi all - can any one advice me a massive problem i had with my new horse.He arrived 48 hours ago.He was adveritsed as a non rig but flirty with the ladies.The owner said he could not go out with mares, which is fine as there are no mares on the yard.He appeared sweet with humans in the stable but when we went to turn him out he tried to kill two of the geldings.They did get hurt! i got on the phone to the owner and explained what happened she said she would take him back.I got got a telephone call from the owner the night before he was due to go back telling me she had no where for him to go .I feel she falsly advertised him when infact he is a rig.What do i do?do i take her to court claim for damages?? I may have to put him down as i have no where to place him alone. any advice would be gratful.
 
oooo you might need to post this in the New Lounge as you won't get many (if any) responses here! If you PM admin they may be able to move it for you?
 
It is possible you're jumping to conclusions? I would NEVER put a new horse in with the herd without introducing them over the fence for at least a week, if not 2 weeks. It could just be that they need to get to know each other over the fence first, then introduced gradually.

Witht the greatest of respect, I really do not feel you have enough evidence to take her to court yet - I think you'd be accused of bad management.
 
Just because he's bolshy doesn't mean he's a rig. Only a vet can tell you that.

My old horse was used at stud before being chopped and was very dominant. Once the other geldings realised that he was boss, everything was ok.

What did he do to the other horses?
 
Beau is a right bolshy bugger when he wants to be!

When I shout him over to come in if any other horse comes over to me he literally GALLOPS after them to see them off, he also challenges Lance to be boss and they just had a big fight a few days ago.

But my horse is not a rig, some horses are just more dominant, mine has been with us for 5 months and is still finding his place, I kept him seperate from the other horses for a week, so they could get to know eachother through the fence.

Sorry but it was very silly to just stick him out with the others, and his reaction isnt unusual! You have no evidence to prove he is a rig!
 
Just re-read my reply to you - done in haste & not meant to sound like I was jumping on you. Very sorry if it sounded rude.

I think you need to give the horse a bit more of a chance if agressive behaviour to other horses when loose is the only problem you have. If it's more than that though, you possibly do need to take it further.

It may be worth having a chat with your vet.
 
Agree with Sal_E, if you simply chucked him out with others, with no integration, then you haven't given him a chance yet! Try putting him by himself in an adjoining field and see what happens.
 
I agree with Sal_E - I don't think you have given him enough time to settle in yet & I don't think his aggression towards the two other geldings is sufficient evidence to assume he is a rig!
The previous owner advised you not to turn him out with mares, she said nothing about other geldings, so I can't see that (unfair though it may be!) she has misled you in any way!

I would always exercise caution in turning new animals out into established groups, as the consequences may be disastrous!
The Baggage would quite possibly kill something that was just dumped into her field & left to get on with it, as she is one of the most violently aggressive mares I have ever met, yet functions quite happily within her own group who know her well.

Your horse may not be aggressive, he may just have been frightened & felt 'attack was the best form of defence', so I would separate him off from the others for a week or so & let him meet them initially 'over the fence' as it were?
 
If I were you I'd;
1. Get my vet to check if he is producing testosterone (bloods)
2. Electric fence him into a part of the field with the geldings so he can meet them gradually over the wire.
3. Contact the dealer again, and state if he is a rig, you are sending him back as he is not of merchantable quality i.e not fit for the purpose you bought him for.
That should cover most eventualities!
Good luck
S
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if he attacked other horses on turn out thats not his fault and doesnt mean he is a rig !! that is natural horse behaviour?! you should have intergrated him first.
what else makes you think he is a rig as if thats all im unconvinced.

sorry to sound patronising but horses arent always simple, you are going to have set backs, problems, illness, accidents, getting thrown off etc all the time and you cant just try to send them back because they arent perfect.
if he has sounded off because he's been chucked out into a herd then i dont blame him its his natural instinct to defend himself and earn a place in the herd, just sounds like he wants to be top dog to me.
 
Your new horse is probably not a rig - just standing his ground with new horses.

How were the introductions done with the new horses? I hope that he wasn't just chucked in the field with them and told to get on with it. Recipe for disaster if you did.

I think you need to step back from this and look at what you have done to create this situation - and what can be done to rectify it happily for your new horse.
 
Agree with the above. Just because he horse is a bully does not mean he is a rig.

If I were you I would put him into the field next to the other horses for a few weeks, or at least until they start ignoring each other. I always do this as a matter of course.

A mare moved up our yard last year and the owner admitted she was a bully. She was out next to the others for a whole month. When she was integrated they barely noticed each other. At previous yards where they didn't do this there had been real problems.

However if the "rig" thing is really bugging you, get him tested and then you'll know whether it is that or if he's a bully.
 
Ahh, you put it in reply to me and I thought I'd written something odd! Sorry!

I hadn't noticed she'd put that. I'm surprised you're the first to comment on it and we all missed it! I think that would be a hasty thing to do!
 
Another thought. To be able to take the old owner to court you would have to prove she knew he was a rig which may well be difficult!
 
Sorry but my sympathy is with the horse!!!

You have no proof at this stage that he's a rig, his behaviour in the field is only to be expected if you just tipped him out with strange horses. What you probably saw was some serious showing off & jostling for position - horses can be rough, injuries happen but that doesn't mean they're trying to kill each other - which is why it's advisable to introduce a newcomer gradually rather than put him out & let them get on with it.

If you have grounds for thinking he's a rig then get him tested by your vet.

From what you say I don't see that you have a case against his old owner. She's under no obligation to take him back or give you your money back unless you can prove that she fraudulently misrepresented him.

To say you may have him put down because of this incident is, IMO, ridiculous. He's had no time to settle in, not been properly introduced to the herd & done no mare than act like a horse. What the hell do you expect him to do?! If you can't cope than sell him on to someone who can & in the short term find somewhere he can go out alone.
 
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I may have to put him down as i have no where to place him alone. any advice would be gratful.

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The original poster said it.

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[sorry] but i think that is bloody disgusting.
 
I can only agree with everybody else. You have not given this horse a fair chance. You have not mentioned any other behaviour to support the suggestion he may be a rig, so in all probability, he just appeared a threat to an established herd and all hell let loose.
As for putting a fit healthy horse down because of a situation you created, that is just not on.

If we are being unfair in our judgements and advice, maybe you would like to give us more information?
 
I think that you're totally over-reacting! You've had him only 48 hours and already chucked him out with a heap of geldings when its quite obvious that he may have issues settling since you already know he's weird with mares. I think it was nice of the owner to say she'd accept him back at first, as she's under no obligation to do so! You should put him in a paddock next door to the other geldings for a few days first. Then introduce a chilled out horse with him and then eventually put him out with the rest once he begins settling in.

There is no proof at all to say he's a rig. You would need the vet to check this. But from the fact that he attacked 2 geldings - that does NOT suggest he's a rig straight away at all. One gelding I used to own was a real bully. He would beat the crap out of new horses - he even chased one of my new horses straight through a fence! And that was with a week of slowly introducing them! But he very quickly settled down and once he established he was boss then that was it. He was the nicest horse with them after that!

I have had a rig and I can tell you that he really really was one! He beat the living hell out of one of my geldings (unfortunately he jumped the fence into the geldings field once), and permanently tried to mount one of my mares if he managed to get in with her. He bolted with me when I was riding, towards the field of my other horses and generally was a shite with other horses. He had to be kept on his own which was very sad.

I think that when she said he wasnt good with mares - I would have asked how he was with geldings. Did you? Did you also ask to SEE him turned out with other horses?? If he actually were a rig and she knew that then I would have expected him to be kept on his own....

It irritates me to hear you say you might have to put him down. He's done ONE thing wrong when he's in a brand new environment and been put in with other horses pretty much straight away! And what about selling him to someone who CAN keep him on his own (if that IS what he needs)?! Why on earth jump to putting him down? I think thats a horrendous attitude.
 
Guys can we calm down a bit? Have none of you had a situation you felt you couldn't handle so spout off idle threats? I know I have, many times....

I think we should give OP the advice she needs rather than all start slating her.

I think she's made a few mess ups but can probably see that now.....I wouldn't want her to feel that she can't get advice on her after being told off by everyone!
 
There's spouting off and there's claiming that they'll end up having to kill a horse! Thats seriously worrying IMO. How can we be all nicey about this when she's saying such things and making such big mistakes within hours of buying a new horse?

I just hope she actually listens. If I made such big mistakes then Id like to be told like it is. I wouldnt mind being told off, it would make me learn far quicker than if people pussy footed about trying to say things in a gentle way!
 
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There's spouting off and there's claiming that they'll end up having to kill a horse! Thats seriously worrying IMO. How can we be all nicey about this when she's saying such things and making such big mistakes within hours of buying a new horse?

I just hope she actually listens. If I made such big mistakes then Id like to be told like it is. I wouldnt mind being told off, it would make me learn far quicker than if people pussy footed about trying to say things in a gentle way!

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I'm not saying condone it but she's obviously panicking about a horse that she can't sort out - I've certainly been there.

I've considered giving Ty away before to anyone that would have him - wouldn't do it though
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The advice is here, over and over, should OP wish to take it. \maybe postings here have been a bit strong, but I would hope that OP will take it all on board and learn from here. mistake. We have all, I'm, sure made mistakes we would wish we had kept quiet about.

OP, have you had time to reflect and think about this, maybe realised that your statement was a little rash? Lets at least give OP a chance to react.
 
Whilst I agree with the others that it was extremely silly to put a new gelding out immediately without gentle introduction, I get the feeling that you may have done so on the advice of others - is this your first horse? The old owner advised not to put this horse out with mares, was he out on his own or was he out with other geldings, if he was not out with geldings then my first question would be why not. Did you have the horse vetted and was riggish behaviour mentioned?

I also feel that you have not given this horse enough time to settle in and 48hrs really is not giving him a fair chance, it also seems a shame to destroy a perfectly good horse because you are not in the position to handle his behaviour, which, to be fair has been a normal reaction to joining a new herd.
 
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