Buying your old horse back

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misskk88

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I read a lovely story on here last week about someone purchasing their much loved horse back after not quite hitting it off with any others. Sorry I forget who posted it, but it was a lovely story!

It got me thinking, how many others have bought back a horse they once owned and why? I sold my old horse 4 years ago for pittance compared to what I bought him for so that he could stay with someone I knew and trusted. But I think should/if/when anything happen to my current girl (who I love dearly!) I would try and purchase him back if the opportunity arose. I sold him in the first place as he was not quite the all rounder I wanted, but my aspirations have changed dramatically, and for what I want to do now, he is the oh so perfect horse. Not to mention I miss him dearly, and if I could afford two, I would!

Have you ever done it, would you consider it, or has there ever been one that you felt was the horse that got away?
 
i sold my boy to a friend when my husband was made redundant, she had him for 2 years and started doing BE with him but as he just scrapes 15hh on his tiptoes she put him up for sale. i hated the thought of never seeing him again so i took out a loan and bought him back for a ridiculous amount (which nearly ended said marriage).
 
No personal experience myself, but some friends were subject to an amazing coincidence. They bought a pony mare for dad and his sons to ride, and then mum decided it would be nice for two to ride out together they bought another slightly small pony. As they were discussing the purchase with the sellers they found out that in fact this was their mare's only foal! When it arrived it was the spit of its mum who had an odd-shaped merged star and stripe, with a body coloured spot in part of the star - and the foal had the IDENTICAL facial markings.
 
we did!! we sold a 14.2 welsh which was my sisters ponyclub pony for her to move onto her big dressage horse, the years inbetween selling him and getting him back (4-5 years) my mum lost her confidence competing after a naughty big warmblood and hadnt ridden properly for a year or so, so when my sister found said 14.2 for sale she and my dad brought him back hid him at a friends yard and picked him up xmas eve and brought him home... mum went out with dad that night so had no idea until she found him xmas morning when she went to feed the yard! He is an awesome all rounder he xc with me and my sister, hacks and does dressage with my mum and is generally everyones spare pony! He now has a home for life!!
 
SteadyOnEthel said:
i sold my boy to a friend when my husband was made redundant, she had him for 2 years and started doing BE with him but as he just scrapes 15hh on his tiptoes she put him up for sale. i hated the thought of never seeing him again so i took out a loan and bought him back for a ridiculous amount (which nearly ended said marriage).
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See, that is how I feel about my old horse. If he was ever up for sale, the prospect of never seeing him again reduces me to near tears! I can imagine the same reaction from my OH... I bet I wouldn't get him for the same price I sold him either...

Fatpiggy- did your mare seem to recognise her only foal at all?!

Arniebear- what a lovely xmas present.... If only I could convince the OH to do the same for me :D
 
I sold my 17 hh TB, thinking he was bored with us, he was nappy, spooky and I didn't think being self taught, I was good enough to ride him, going to a 'competition' home it seemed perfect, so it was with heavy heart I loaded him into the trailer, the only time he refused to load first time, I kept in touch with his new owner and was told he was happy, later found out he had reared and scared his rider, so pretty much stood in a field for two years, anyway, two years later got a call asking if I would take him back, thinking I was being asked to care for him, I found a rider, found out when I went to collect him, that he was being gifted back to me and it was also my birthday, he loaded himself and came home, one of the best days of my life, so not bought back, although I would have paid for him, but returned to me
 
I've not but i have asked for first refusal on my old TB if he was ever to be sold on. I know that he has found a loan home that is pretty much his forever home and they love him so i'll never see him again but he was great until i lost confidence. I would jump to have him back now though, i know him inside out.
 
I did not buy him back as sadly he would have only of been a field ornament and with my horse in livery and me being at university, it would have been very unfair on the parents. However, after seeing my first pony for free on a certain website we got in contact with the people we bought him off 11 years ago who bought him! So even though I did not get him I like to think that I helped get him into a safe home :)
 
I just got a pony back today that I sold 4 years ago and had lost track of. Saw him on FB for sale, his previous owner had given him to someone as a companion and he had somehow ended up for sale. He is now back out with his friends, his previous owner managed to sort something out and we are all relieved he is back home and are very happy.
 
I went and bought one back because his new owner starved him. Thankfully, she also leased him out to someone who cared enough to let me know. He was in a terrible state when I picked him up and she'd only had him four months. The RSPCA were involved, he was that bad :'(
 
Not quite the same but i recently sold one back to his old owners. I had traced them through facebook and they had owned him 3 homes ago. Win win all round as he was very difficult and reared and went over so id have felt so guilty moving him on elsewhere. He now has a home for life with them.
 
cptrayes said:
I went and bought one back because his new owner starved him. Thankfully, she also leased him out to someone who cared enough to let me know. He was in a terrible state when I picked him up and she'd only had him four months. The RSPCA were involved, he was that bad :'(
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Cptrayes- what a horrible situation to receive your old horse back in :( I can only imagine that gut wrenching feeling upon hearing about it and then seeing him. At least he has ended up back in good hands.

I love my current horse to absolute bits and would never ever sacrifice her care or needs in order to afford two. I adore her to the ends of earth. But I so terribly miss my old gelding too. My mare and I gel well, and she is my rock at times. But my old boy... It is a feeling that I can't put my finger on. There are only 3 horses I have truly felt that way about. My old loan horse I had as a teen, my current horse, and my old one. And the one I feel the strongest about is my old boy. *sigh*.

ETA- The last couple of months have been me daydreaming about how to afford two. How do those of you do it who have more than one?!
 
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He had a fairy tale ending misskk88 He couldn't stay here with me because he had arthritic hocks and I have nothing but hills, so after getting him well, I gave him to the woman who snuck food to him under the livery owners radar. She took him with her to America, where he lived like a Prince until he died of colic.

This was him in February. In mid October he had been solid muscle and well covered.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IaGqwoQlnmA/RdWayC2aqOI/AAAAAAAAAD0/RiKQEUg0q70/s1600-h/DSCN0793WR.jpg
 
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I had to sell my husbands horse, after a couple of years, as husband was working away a lot and his horse was just not getting enough work and attention ..... then a few years later we were in a position to look for another horse for him ..... started scrolling through the for sale ads and came across his old horse ..... so, Flame is now back with us and wont be going anywhere else. :D
 
Sprout said:
I had to sell my husbands horse, after a couple of years, as husband was working away a lot and his horse was just not getting enough work and attention ..... then a few years later we were in a position to look for another horse for him ..... started scrolling through the for sale ads and came across his old horse ..... so, Flame is now back with us and wont be going anywhere else. :D
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That is lovely to read! I wonder if these horses ever remember us or their old homes... They surely must do!

Maybe there is hope for getting my boy back one day yet. I have frivolously counted every last outgoing and penny over and over and over to see whether money would ever allow 2, and while it would, if any big bills came up it probably wouldn't be ideal.. dammit :(
 
Not quite...

14hh pony was sold when i was 13 and i moved onto horses, seen an add he was for sale a few years later so went to view him, my parents convinced me i was too big and if i wanted to continue with pc/rc id need something bigger. A few years after that, again saw he was for sale from a different owner, went to view, by this time i didnt care about pc just wanted my pony back, after much deliberation my parents refused and bought me a new horse instead (hated that thing!) Said 14hh pony is now a grand age of 22 and is still used in riding lessons only 20mins from my house. he looks cracking and still gets up to all his old tricks.

More recently i had a 16.1hh gelding which i sold as he grew too big (17.1hh - he was 6 when i bought him!) within 2 months the people passed him on to someone who doesnt have a great rep, but one of her staff was looking after him and he seemed ok. have recently seen photos of him in a horrendous state, all ribs and broken hooves. Tried to see if she still had him as was planning to buy him back if she did. Turns out someone bought him 6 months ago due to the state he was in and hes now getting back to good health. Went to visit him last week (yes hes up for sale) but reminded myself of just how big he is...... but im happy hes looking good and cared for and the owner promises to pass my details on to who ever buys him.
 
Sold 14h pony in 1994, aged 7 after owning her for 3 years, to a lady to do endurance with. Ideally suited oddly enough, pony was quirky, lady was novice but it worked.
Some time later through a mutual friend, found out that pony had jumped out of field, after being frightened by bees (?) and lady was told by a newly aquired friend of hers that pony wasn't safe, so to sell on, which she did. No idea who had pony, until went to a local show and there she was! Family loved her, and boy who rode her was lovely, good and sympathetic. Story was she had had several homes since original lady. Boy was clearly going to outgrow her very fast, but they wanted to keep her for their daughter. Daughter then sadly got very ill, and they asked if we'd have her in the meantime on loan. Of course!! They brought her over to ours, she sighed and I tied her up. They couldn't believe it (how relaxed she was) and even commented that she was home again.
She never left. We had her PTS june 2011, aged 23. Still miss her.
 
Yep. Sold my first pony (14.2) to her loaners when I went to uni and my sister wanted something bigger. 3 years later they told us they were gonna sell her as the girl wanted something more challenging. She went to a tiny 10 year old (she was built like a tank, ploddy but very strong jumping). It was really unsuitable then there were medical issues etc. I'd just finished uni and had had a huge confidence knock on another horse so we bought her back and the young girl got a 13hh instead. Had her back about 6 months now and I'm loving it. I have all my confidence back and can't wait to get her out competing again when she's fittened up. She's 16 now, she was 7 when we first bought her, and will be with me until she dies
 
never sold a horse, but when my sister and I grew out of my Welsh mountain pony, we traded her for 2 years with someone in the PC, who had bought a larger pony that the daughter couldn't handle (then trade back after 2 yrs) Everyone in the PC knew of this agreement and I was allerted some 1.5yrs later that they had bought a bigger pony for the daughter.
I went over there with my parents asking to buy her back. They said they were so attachted to her they didn't want to sell.

2 weeks later she was gone!!!!!! we went over there again, they wouldn't tell us where she was. Needless to say they didn't have many friends left !

10 yrs I placed adds, in various papers (was before internet existed) when at some point there was a flood in Netherlands and the people that had her had to move her. They found me through the vaccination book. I'll never forget that phonecall I got on that sunday night.

The next day they brought her over because we were in a safe area. It was the beginning of a friendship with the new owners that has now lasted +15yrs. Whenever they went on holiday she came over to me.
And sadly, about 8 yrs ago now, we had to make the joined decision to pts (she was 28)
 
I sold my Haffie just over a year ago. I'd owned her for 5 years prior to that, I'd backed her myself and she was my first pony of my own (had previously ridden other peoples but never owned) I was devastated when she came back from her wonderful loan home as she had been outgrown and I was financially unable to keep her and my event horse.
Unfortunately the woman who bought her decided a year later that she wasn't for her as she was unsuitable for her novice daughter (hence why I stated 'not a novice ride, can be strong' on her ad!) so I bought her back in a heartbeat, I would move heaven and earth to get that pony back!
Thankfully we had moved to a cheaper yard, closer to home and my mum had taken an interest in horses in within this year. She is now 'on loan' to my mum (I own her, she pays for her!) and they are doing fantastically and I can ride her and see her whenever I want!
 
We sold my dads aged driving pony to a 'retirement type' home, promised lots of love and cuddles/easy tootle up the lane once or twice a week.
Found out the year after the couple had got someone loaning him to ride, the following year a lady got in touch with us (our name was still on the passport as owner) she had bought him to ride and he had become very lame. She basically needed to re-home him, so I went and collected him and told my dad when we got home! He was a bit cross and said I was a soft touch, but he loves that pony, and is happy to see him out in the field every day.
The pony settled in like he'd never been away....
 
Slightly different but one of liveries sold a pony in 2008 ... in 2012 a stranger called in response to an advert for livery, it was arrange, and my new livery turned up ... with the same pony :D It was nice to see her again, and despite 4 years having passed, my herd of 25 horses went absolutely ballistic when they saw her on the yard and she was right back she belonged within minute of being turned out again,
 
Not going to lie, feeling slightly teary this morning anyway... so some of these stories have me sobbing (in a happy way!).

To those who already had one horse and ended up taking or buying back their old one too- how did you manage coping with two horses and the cost for them?
 
We put the one we bought back on grass livery until we could sell the other one (he was my sisters horse and a bit to much for her). She only hacked lightly for a few months. We tried full loaning her but she got sent home in disgrace within 2 weeks cos the lady couldn't catch her. She then went to be a companion and light hack for another few months until we were in a position to have her on livery full time.
 
I have never sold a horse. However, I have had a couple on loan that their owners then sold. I often look online to see if they come up for sale.
The first one, I was very heartbroken when he was sold (practically under me) and would try to buy him, if I ever saw that he was up for sale. He must be around 20 now, so I would buy him to give him a good retirement. As for the other, I managed to trace him a bit but it seemed like he fell on the wrong hands (dodgy dealer) and then lost track of him.
 
We had two of our jumping ponies back when they'd finished competing. My 12.2 started hollering as soon as he heard my voice at the bottom of the garden and ruled the roost until he was pts.
 
I did. I had a stunningly well out together horse who had been showing and I wanted to event. Long story short it went wrong and horse was so wildly inconsistent I ended up selling him for dressage and showing. This was a horse that would just decide to stop, mid way between fences when going XC ... Fast forward 6 months or so and I see my horse advertised as an eventer on a dealers site when I know he just wouldnt cut it. Better riders than I had tried! I bought him back although was heartbroken when I actually saw him again as he looked pretty poor. I worked him back up and then sold him when he was looking great again to a contact of a friend for pure dressage which he had great talent for. He was cherished and got up to advanced medium with his new owner though I sold at a very big loss as the home was so important to me.
 
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.
 
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