Dilemma - Loan/Send to Pro/Keep

[NNS5244]

I haven't posted on here before, but am interested to know what others would do. I have a lovely 16hh3, ex-racehorse with stunning paces. He has won 5 out of 8 Novice tests and 3rd first Ele, working Medium at home. He would easily be competitive up to Advanced-Medium, though may struggle beyond that as at heart he is a TB though a very, very smart one! He also events and doesn't stop at anything, ever, and is a lovely ride XC, though has the odd pole SJ. I decided to sell him this year as have run out of time for him and have another horse who is at a higher level. Unfortunately he failed the vetting, nothing major (passed all flexions and heart/wind) but he needs some remedial shoeing as he wasn't quite right on the lunge circle on the hard - he was fine in the school on a 10m circle so it's very minor. The vet thinks within a few shoeings he will be out competing and should not need any time off, but realistically to pass a vetting it may take 6 months for his heels to grow a bit.

I keep my horse at a very expensive full livery yard and now I've decided to sell it's hard to justify the livery. I also have literally no time to ride him and it is an absolute waste of a really nice horse with a good temperament. He's hardly been ridden since the vetting and I feel so guilty as there's nothing wrong with him but I just can't find the time. He is a quality horse who turns heads everywhere he goes and should be worth about £10k if there were no issues, so I'm loath to sell him cheap and feel it isn't right not to sort out the problem first.

Given I cannot fit in riding/competing him myself, my options appear to be:
1. Loan him at current yard. Ideally I'd find someone to loan him where he is, I would pay for his shoeing, and they would hopefully compete him a bit to keep his form going. Downside for the loaner, I want to sell him in the end, though would be happy to loan him for 6-12 months to the right person. Downside for me, hard to find the right person who can afford the livery, and I need to get him ridden and kept fit ASAP or he won't be fit for people to try him.
2. Loan him to another yard. Downside obviously that he might be not looked after properly. (I would still pay for his shoeing.)
3. Send him to a pro, dressage or event. Downside, it will cost me the best part of £1000 per month. Upside, he is really talented and they will add competition form, plus I can sell him whenever I want. However there is no guarantee he will still pass a vet on x-rays so may be of limited value to justify this expense.
4. Pay for him to be ridden where he is. Downside, cost and he won't be getting any competition form. Upside, I can keep control of him and his feet!

Any thoughts, or any ideas I haven't thought of that mean getting this situation sorted asap!!

(By the way if anyone is interested in loaning him, do get in touch but I am making a decision by the end of the weekend as he can't just do nothing for another week or I have wasted all my work over the winter! I would only let him leave the yard if it were to be kept at a professional livery yard to an experienced horse owner, and not to DIY, as I have had a bad experience loaning before. Have videos/pics etc. He's stabled in Berkshire.)

 

[EllieandGeorge]

What about finding a rider for him? They you only have to pay current livery/keep costs and no extra for riding and competing? Im sure you'd be able to find a rider, especially if they has the chance to compete him.

 

[Firewell]

Are you at Farley?
I would keep him where he is but find a decent amature rider for him that won't charge you pro prices and stick him up for sale again getting his feet sorted in the process. I can't imagine how he won't sell as he sounds fab!

 

[Luci07]

Ok, thinking outside the box. How about finding an up and coming event rider ( say what level your horse is at) with the idea that they will take him on, keep him going and add to the record, sell him after x months (to be agreed upfront), take off their costs and take a percentage for selling him? if you agree up front aimed for price, no of runs and have an idea of price that should work? that way you can get references (and by this I mean vets/trainers etc not just friends of friends). I am reasonably up with pricing for event horses and there is a massive difference in say, a horse with a decent grassroots record and 1 who has qualified and run well at 1*.

Is it simply a case of rebalancing the foot or is it ligament damage in the foot? and lunging on a tight circle in the school won't show a problem as its a soft surface. Rebalancing should even out relatively quickly.

And I would drop any mention of your horse being an ex racer in an ad. As soon as most people see that they instantly think the horse will be cheap and cheerful, regardless of what competitive record it has achieved!

Anyway, if my suggestion is of interest pm me and I can ask the person I was thinking of.

 

[NNS5244]

Hi there's no ligament damage as far as I know, it seems to be that his heel has collapsed and that is causing probably heel/foot pain when he turns on that foot. He's never been unsound trotting on the road so it can't be too bad - not that I will be trotting on the road any more until this is sorted!

Good idea Luci I have PM'd you. It's just finding a young rider who will definitely improve his form but more importantly look after him well in the meantime.

 

[NNS5244]

PS he's entered up for BE100s now but should do a Novice this summer with a pro on him if all goes well, as he's very straightforward. Re the person above saying he should sell easily, there aren't that many people wanting a 16hh3 TB! I don't advertise that he's an ex-racer for the reasons you say but he's too tall and blood for a novice and I get a lot of novices phoning up if I don't put that he's TB! I have no idea why people are so biassed against TBs as I love them!

 

[kc100]

He sounds amazing just the kind of horse I would be interested in!

If your ideal scenario is a full loan, then why not try advertising and see what happens? If you get no interest after 2 weeks or so then at least you can rule that out. You could always advertise LWVTB, that way the person loaning knows upfront he is going to be sold eventually and they are just having an 'extended trial' so to speak. In your advert state that you would like him to stay on current yard (full livery) but you would consider a yard move to the right yard, as long as he would not be put onto DIY. Make the advert as prescriptive as you need it to be, dont be afraid of adding detail.

Perhaps one other idea might be a share? I know it wont cover all your costs of keeping him at the yard, but at least it would cover some costs and he would be exercised frequently and the sharer could compete him too. I'm a sharer, I ride my share horse at Novice level dressage so there are people out there who are 'competitive' sharers so to speak, ok so we might be hard to find but we do exist! I'd jump at the chance to share a horse like yours, it would be amazing experience. Just be clear to the sharer that the horse will be for sale in around a year's time - I've had a share in the past where the owner sold him from under me with only a few days notice, I had no idea that she wanted to sell before that, wasnt very nice!

I think the pro idea is a good one, you can always get a better deal with a pro if you offer the pro a percentage of the sale at the end of it. You'd probably make more money from him in the end as an eventer rather than dressage horse, most people looking to spend decent money on dressage horses want warmbloods it seems, because they can go that bit further up the levels than a TB. But eventers with proven competition experience go for silly money (I'm always browsing!), and a TB is a classic eventer breed - if he can put in a good dressage test and goes well XC he sounds like he'd do very well in that sphere.

An alternative to having a pro is just a competitive rider - yes you will have to pay them, but there are plenty of people about who will ride as many times a week as you want, yes they charge but they will also ride at competition for you as well.

I think if I were you I'd put an advert up for LWVTB immediately, and see what interest you get. In the meantime while you are waiting for people to respond to that, I'd find a competitive rider and pay for them to ride maybe twice a week and compete him at weekends.

Good luck!

 

[Firewell]

He'll sell if marketed and priced correctly . A good horse is a good horse. I love TB's as well

 

[Ahrena]

Where a bouts are you?

 

[wench]

Have you had internal x-rays done of the foot?

 

[kezz86]

You have a PM your horse sounds wonderful.

I'm sure there will be someone out there willing to help you out!

 

[seabsicuit2]

I would not risk loaning. He could break , horses are just too fragile.

Have you trotted him on a circle on the hard recently? He might well be sound by now

 

[Luci07]

No loaning. I hate to sound hard nosed but he is actually too valuable.

I replied to your PM and have seen the rest of your posts. Will text the person I was thinking of as well but just thought - you would need to think about which step you would want him to go to because actually if he goes Novice, you want a couple of good runs and (fingers crossed) a qualification for 1* which sees his value go up OR you want someone to give him good runs at BE100, again try to qualify him for grassroots. Don't forget if he has points it means your immediate market can't run at BE100 unless they go for the open.

 

[humblepie]

Nothing to add other than think ex racehorse can work both ways in an ad. There are the BE and BD ROR classes with excellent prize money so if a horse is out competing and winning the ability to do those can be an incentive.

 

[NNS5244]

Thanks for all the replies and am following up on the PMs. Yes I had x-rays done immediately and there's nothing wrong that shoeing shouldn't fix - just shows a low heel and minor changes to the navicular that most TBs have by his age, and could be improved with support to that heel. I agree with the poster saying he may well be sound on a circle now and it is tempting just to readvertise, but I am not the kind of owner that can just overlook seeing a sound horse trotting like that and would rather get his feet right before he moves on so I know I'm not handing on issues to a new owner, or hiding anything. I sell a horse from time to time when I've taken on a project, and so far all those I've sold have gone to nice homes and I've stayed on good terms with the buyers - I'd like that to continue if possible!

I agree a loan at the current yard would be ideal but I have tried this before when I had a cracking little PC eventer who had done Intermediate and no one wanted to take on such expensive livery, and she was much more appealing to a wider market than a great big TB who's only done BE90! I let her go on loan and she came back looking dreadful. I sold her since and she now wants for nothing with two kids who love her. Because I'm not able to ride my horse at the moment there's some urgency about it and can't start the process of people trying, dithering for 3 weeks, then trying again, right now or he'll be totally unfit by then!

A sharer is a good idea but I want a really competitive rider who is going to do well on him rather than him act as a schoolmaster to a novice. I don't expect perfect results obviously but there's no reason why he should have any problems at BE100 and because he's only done one season still he needs someone to show him the way occasionally.

I am following up on a few young riders I've been PM'd about and will update if I find someone for him.

He's in Berkshire by the way, I think I put that before but some have asked.