Buying your old horse back

[comet!]

I bought a horse back that I'd previously sold.

I had sold this horse as he hadn't made the height I'd expected, and I also had an injured horse and an retired horse (who came back overnight from a loan home) and couldn't cope with working double shifts to pay for them only to have to pay other people to help me look after them as I had no time!

I decided to look for a new horse after something like 12 years of no horses. The second day of me looking on Horsemart I saw his advert. I was sure it was him but being bay with no white face markings, he wasn't exactly distinctive! It turns out it was him and he was a couple of hundred miles away. Short version is that I bought him back, but it was a huge mistake. A lot had gone on during those 11/12 years and understandably he wasn't anything like the horse I sold. I would say the only good thing to come out of it was that I found and bought my current horse while at the yard with the horse I'd bought back - if I hadn't bought him back I wouldn't have been at that yard and wouldn't have my horse now.

Lesson learnt through the whole mess and heartache is that my current boy will never be sold, or loaned to anyone. I also learnt the hard way that it's not wrong to sell a horse if it's the wrong horse for you. I kept going with him for far too long, when it was clear very early on that we were not a good match, purely because I thought I owed it to him to keep trying and thought it was wrong to sell him. A front hoof aimed very well at my face, and only missed my face as I put my hand up so had a very sore hand instead, was the final straw. I'd had numerous very close misses before with his front and back legs, but that one made my decision that I couldn't keep him - it wasn't fair on me or him.

 

[misskk88]

I think it was me you couldn't remember the name of

I sold my boy after 4 years, thinking it was th right thing to do as I wanted to be out doing more. But I regretted it so much, and missed him every day. I was just so lucky that the lovely family I sold him to were kind enough to let me have him back. NEVER again.

It was couldn't find the old post to remember the name when I started the thread! I posted on your update too, the photos were lovely!

Elvis- there are many reasons to sell a horse and I am sure those who have bought back their old ones are just a very minute few in the horse world. I am sure your reasons are well justified
My reasons for missing my old horse are because my aspirations have changed and I would be willing to do what he was happy doing. I just miss his whole attitude to life and work. He is an absolute gent and I have met very few horses with his character over the years. For the past 4 years though (how long ago I sold him), we probably wouldn't have been compatible and it would not have been fair on him to continue to try and push for things he was not comfortable with.

Luci07- sorry to hear you bought your old horse back in sad circumstances- but lovely to hear how well they did in dressage!

Comet- wow 12 years is a hell of along time. It must have been heart breaking to find your horse no longer as you remember them? I am sorry to hear it did not work out and given the hoof at your face incident, assume he was hard to handle along with it?

I think for me, the only reason for longing and dreaming over having him back is that I know his home, I see him, and I know that he is still the same horse that I sold, I would be getting back the same horse- just aged. Unfortunately finances mean it will never happen, but god I would really love to

 

[comet!]

Comet- wow 12 years is a hell of along time. It must have been heart breaking to find your horse no longer as you remember them? I am sorry to hear it did not work out and given the hoof at your face incident, assume he was hard to handle along with it?

Yes, it really was a horrible time. It's a really long story, but by chance I found someone who had tried with him for four years. I'd sold him at 4 and I think she'd had him from 8-12 and he was sold to her as a "problem horse", so between 4yo and 8yo something dramatic had changed in him.

He'd always been easy to handle, so much so that a 9 year old used to help me get him in, do his feet and groom him. If I hadn't known him from a weanling to a 4yo I would have said he was pure evil, however being cynical I guess it was probably some kind of mishandling or mistreatment during those few years that made him that way unfortunately.

 

[misskk88]

Yes, it really was a horrible time. It's a really long story, but by chance I found someone who had tried with him for four years. I'd sold him at 4 and I think she'd had him from 8-12 and he was sold to her as a "problem horse", so between 4yo and 8yo something dramatic had changed in him.

He'd always been easy to handle, so much so that a 9 year old used to help me get him in, do his feet and groom him. If I hadn't known him from a weanling to a 4yo I would have said he was pure evil, however being cynical I guess it was probably some kind of mishandling or mistreatment during those few years that made him that way unfortunately.

That is so sad. It is hard trying to work and persevere with a horse with serious issues at any time, but one that you use to know and knew who was so gentle and kind must be soul crushing. It must have been tough to get to a point where you think 'enough'. I feel for you, but glad to see you found your other wonderful horse amongst the mess. And at least the old horse ended up back with you and you can take comfort in the fact he won't ever be passed on again to suffer a similar situation or fate he did when he was 4-8.