Come so far ...what do i do now !

[xapplex]

I have had horses all my life and we were brought up with my mums horse that we have had pts in december she was 32, rode her every where she was a star . But 3 years ago brought a pony for my daughter which she rides and does little local shows then decided to buy another for me as i knew i wasnt going to ride my mums horse for ever so brought a horse 2 1/2 years ago but got a bigger one 15' 2 tbx which this was big for me hope i havent lost you already ! well i had some isues(sp) as i lost all my confedence and wouldnt/couldnt handle him, and just cryed and shaked alot handling him , so i went away with him for a week to address my isuses and was fine, but sometimes shakey with him.And then i started to ride him but he didnt fill right so had the vet out and he had treatment for his back and so on... by this time he was off work for about a year

I thought this is becoming an very expensive pet so asked for my daughters instrutor to have a look at him .And she helped me bring him back into work, so i also changed physio and farrier as i felt they werent helping , time has gone on now and his feet are about 90% better and we all have been working together as a team

So now at this stage his back has been great,his teeth ,and feet and a new saddle and lots of supplements (well for his feet and another for his joints) but in the last 8 months have spent 1k getting him sorted but the dentist thinks hes older than what i brought him as , got him as a 12yr old but now thinks hes 16-18
Well i am riding him 3days then a day off then 3days and so on and have bonded great but now he paces in trot which we (my team instru/and phys) cant get him out off which i want to do dressage on him but now i think this horse is just good for hacking we have come so far together and i dont want to sell him as i wouldnt get much for him so do i just ride him now then (few times a week) and look for something else

i fell like i have done as much as i can for this chap but dont want him to go but i also need the money to get something else

thanks for reading

 

[Mbronze]

Is there nothing you can do about him pacing? My friends horse used to be used as a pacer and with lots of lessons he turned into an excellent dressage horse, although he would revert back to pacing if he got stressed?
Maybe clicker training may help, I believe you can do it to get them out of bad habits, maybe its worth trying him down this avenue before you have to sell him on.
Or how about loaning him out instead so that you will be able to keep an eye on him so you know what is going on and you know that all your hard work won't go to waste.

 

[the watcher]

I think that you have to accept that a horse that has been trained to pace, or has learned to do it when stressed, is not the ideal for dressage..but will be a fine hack and could probably still jump if the back is sorted.

Could you get somebody in to share him as a hack, to cover some of your costs..or loan him locally so you can keep an eye on him? I agree that his sale value would not be substantial.