Did I buy the wrong horse and what do I do now?

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If you can't turn her out, graze her in hand and let her browse the hedgerows. Not a substitute for a buck and a fart but, it helps with the mental side of things.
 
Appreciate it’s tricky - I’ve had horses on a stint of very little turnout (arena turnout while you muck out) from necessity but its not something id do for more than a couple of months really. She needs turning out or at the very least lunging twice a day.

I feel for her really, I think you’ll find with turnout she’ll be a different horse! Also feel for you, you’re very young and reliant on parents a lot of the time (also been there) which makes things harder x
 
This reminds me of my first horse 40 years ago, no winter turnout, I rode every day . Then I learnt this is not acceptable to horses so moved my horse somewhere that was very inconvenient for me but 100% better for the horse. Sadly OP you need to find a more suitable place, incredibly unfair on any horse going backwards & forwards from school to stable for months on end.
 
I don't think now is the time to try to make decisions. You say she is a "big" horse - she is probably physically and mentally unhappy by not having enough turnout. Find somewhere, anywhere, and give her some time outside. If she comes good, you know the life she needs and you can make the final decisions then.
 
I was in your position … although older and more flexibility with life.

Had a mare who was a sweetheart. Love her forever and always only 14 so not old. My first horse and still fit and active but exceptionally quirky!!

I had 2 options as I wanted to showjump and she was never going to be happy doing that.

1) semi-retire her to a field with only hacking.

2) loan her out to a more suitable home

I went with option 1 then chose option 2 just as option 1 was meant to happen. She’s still my horse , she’s living her best life being a dressage and hacking diva :) I now have another horse who is going to become a showjumper.

Best of both worlds in my opinion! But I am in a position where if needed I can have her back home and can afford it / deal with it.
 
Not the wrong horse. She needs turnout. She is telling you the issue. If you can't provide turnout then you need to sell as you are being unfair. If you get another horse you will just get the same issue with no turnout. My horse would be unmanageable in your situation.
 
jumping.polo said:
No way too dangerous and would take hours unfortunately
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Not an electric scooter, a 50cc or electric equivalent moped/motorbike. Very often the quickest vehicle to get anywhere within 5 miles on. You could go up to 25 miles in a half hour journey, depending on the route.
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If I was suggesting electric I'd have been suggesting a pedal bike 😂, at least you can put panniers on it for stuff 😂
 
Well you can’t keep a clearly very unhappy horse in the situation much longer. So something has to change.

You either send her away on full grass livery somewhere nice until you are in a position to find and travel to another yard or

You send her away to full livery with good turnout to see if some pro riding and management will get her to a sellable state
 
ihatework said:
Well you can’t keep a clearly very unhappy horse in the situation much longer. So something has to change.

You either send her away on full grass livery somewhere nice until you are in a position to find and travel to another yard or

You send her away to full livery with good turnout to see if some pro riding and management will get her to a sellable state
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I’m not planning to sell.. she’s fine when turned out. She doesn’t want or need pro riding. She wants to be a horse in a field with mates
 
May I ask what the point is in this thread when you know what the problem is and you refuse to fix it?
every horse on earth would struggle with being trapped in a 10x10 (possibly) box for months and then being called the “wrong horse” 🙃
The horse is being reasonable
 
My opinion, for what it's worth. Any horse is likely to go stir crazy being stabled for 6 months. I would find decent grass livery as close as possible, so you only have to visit once or twice a week. Let her relax, run off steam and just be a horse for a while. Once she's been out for a while you can reassess her temperament, there's a fair chance she will have calmed down a lot.

Before I passed my driving test I got a moped and took my CBT. I couldn't travel on motorways so my half hour journey to work was nearly an hour on the back roads, but it meant I had transport in an emergency. Not the most fun but it was necessary. Any chance you could do that so you can visit her if you move her?
 
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nowhere local with turnout…so send her somewhere further away with turnout on part livery?
 
jumping.polo said:
No way too dangerous and would take hours unfortunately
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I had a scooter from 16 to 22. I went 10 miles each way to work on it every day and the 5 miles to the pony every day. I packed my tent on the back and rode it all day and camped. It was great, except going to work when sub zero in winter.
 
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