Do you have a particular horse you regret selling?

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SpringArising

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When I was younger and at a bit of a crossroads in my life I bought a 'little' gelding, who was four at the time.

He was a bit of a nightmare (both on the ground and ridden) and pushed every button I had. He was my first youngster and the first truly challenging horse I'd come across. He was generally quite predictable with his behaviour, which meant we could usually nip whatever he was about to do in the bud before something more grave could happen.

He wasn't in pain, he was just an anxious youngster who hadn't ever had proper handling or boundaries set. Over time (with a lot of work!), he did mellow out a lot and became a sweetie in all ways. I did all sorts with him and really feel he was my horse of a lifetime, even though I've had others since and am sure to have more again.

I sold him a couple of years ago due to a change in personal circumstances, but don't ever feel like I'll truly be happy without him (as sad as that sounds). I don't believe horses are capable of love, but I just feel like we had a special connection. Sometimes I just sit looking at old pictures and cry!

Does anybody else feel like this?
 
Yes, the anglo I had as a teenager. I was only 15 when he was sold and it wasn't my decision but I wish that I'd kicked up more of a fuss just incase it would have had an impact on the decision.
 
Ive only ever sold one, and nope. Not one bit. I loved him so i miss him the horse and i miss having him but i do not miss riding him one bit and he was too good to waste being a lawn mower.
 
I do sometimes wonder if i did the right thing selling my first pony Star. He was a stunning but loopy welsh x i backed him and sold him to a teenager. All was well at first but she soon started to cut corners. As he was in the stable next to our youngster (horses were in at night in winter) we could see what was going on. In the end i got fed up of seeing him in a dirty stable and went and had strong words with her nice but clueless mother!! She told her to muck his stable out, but we know she paid her sister to do it. A couple of years later we taught the same sister to ride on my cob and she had Star. She schooled him properly and did really well with him. I know when she got too big for him he went out on loan. I often wonder if i should have kept him though.
 
Sonic (passported sonny) he was a chunky spotty with a massive head, jogged everywhere and used to naff off with me. Jumped anything if I could get him to it. A toddler could handle him though and I would have him back in a heartbeat if he was for sale.
 
About 8 years ago I had a lovely little Chestnut Welsh D; a ride & drive, who was 9 years old but had only relatively recently been backed so was very green.

Unfortunately he wasn't the right horse for me, at that time, I didn't have the experience needed to bring on a green horse and he began to get a little out of hand. He'd also started to buck - later developed a saddle sore - and I know now in retrospect that I should have had the saddle checked far sooner than I did (easy to be wise looking back :)).

He was a lovely boy, a very genuine little horse with a very workable attitude, BUT he just wasn't "right" for me at that time. I'm confident now that I would have been OK with him and we'd have got on fine, and I'm just full of regret that I sold him (to a lovely home where he wasn't ridden, but was driven).

I wish I'd asked for professional help with him coz I'm sure that if I had the lovely person I've got now who's helped me with mine, we might just have been able to make it work. I never used him as a driving horse, which was a shame as he'd done HDT and was a real expert at it.

Learning points: (1) always always get a saddle check done if there are any issues however small or insignificant they may seem and (2) NEVER hesitate to ask for professional advice if you hit a problem.
 
Yep all of mine that I sold but mainly a QH mare who I had as a foal but had to sell as a 4 year old due to finaces (she was high maintenance!) and the shetland who was her companion. I broke both myself and taught me loads. Had I had the foresight of having a baby I would have tried my hardest to have kept the shettie. But everything happens for a reason and as a good friend once told me "regret is a wasted emotion".
 
No but I have one I regret not buying. He was a welsh D called Jack 5 yrs old 15hh and gorgeous. He had had very little schooling and I pat loaned him for a few months. He has fab learnt loads in the time I had him and hacke dout by himself without batting an eyelid. One day a police car over took us on a blind bend at speed lights and sirens going and all he did was tense up a bit. A double decker bus then came flying the other way and still he didnt react

A year later I put up a wanted ad on a local forum and his owner messaged me about a filly she had for sale I asked about Jack but she had sold him, to this day I regret not buying him :(
 
Yes I sold a youngster that I absolutely adored with every fibre of my being.

It was the right thing for him though, we'd come to the end of our journey together and it was time for someone else to continue the journey with him.

Broke my heart in two though and I still desperately miss him.
 
I had bought and backed a youngster, with the intention from the outset of selling him once he became a functional, rideable member of equine society. I had no choice because I was moving from the US to the UK a year after I bought the horse and only had plane tickets for one horse, and there really wasn't any question that my other horse, who I'd owned for a long time, was coming to Britain. Unfortunately, the youngster turned out to be better than I had anticipated and I was bummed about selling him, but too horrified by even the passing thought of selling my mare to even contemplate the alternative, finding her a new owner and taking him. So the young gelding had to go.
 
Two. Mainly, because if I knew then what I now know, they would have been lovely horses.

One was 'cold backed' and when to a riding school (trust me, I was 100% about my concerns) - while that may seem illogical the fact he was worked every day and they new how to manage him I now believe that a really good chiro would have sorted him out - or at least I would have known where to look for help.

The second on is my beautiful big girl. Bought as a troubled 6yo I couldn't manage, lent to an eventing home where she was successful, but now back with me. Slightly pottery at 17 due to her life and I am loving every second with her - she is still an opinionated mare, but I now have the skills to deal with this sympathetically. I love riding her so much I feel resentful of the years I missed!!!!

If only I had met the great people then that I know now, I would have had the skill set to manage both of these horses.
 
canteron said:
Two. Mainly, because if I knew then what I now know, they would have been lovely horses.

One was 'cold backed' and when to a riding school (trust me, I was 100% about my concerns) - while that may seem illogical the fact he was worked every day and they new how to manage him I now believe that a really good chiro would have sorted him out - or at least I would have known where to look for help.

The second on is my beautiful big girl. Bought as a troubled 6yo I couldn't manage, lent to an eventing home where she was successful, but now back with me. Slightly pottery at 17 due to her life and I am loving every second with her - she is still an opinionated mare, but I now have the skills to deal with this sympathetically. I love riding her so much I feel resentful of the years I missed!!!!

If only I had met the great people then that I know now, I would have had the skill set to manage both of these horses.
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At least you have your mare back now :) Maybe she wouldn't have been so manageable had she not gone off to work; you could look at it like that I guess!
 
Years ago when I was breeding to sell I had a big chap who was so unbelievably genuine, he would go anywhere and do anything (and frequently did, with a smile on his face, just because I asked him to). But I had mares in foal, more youngsters to bring on and he went to a home I thought was a good one. It didn't work out though and they sold him on and I lost touch with him. I do hope he had a nice life, he was such a generous horse and I would like to apologise to him for selling him when he had given me his all :(

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Yes. My connie x arab that I outgrew. She was 14.2hh and a jumping machine who was lovely unless she was in season... I fell off her 4 timea in 4 years, once when I was 10 and thought I could jump the top of the 5ft wings. She did amd I flew off the top as it was too big for me! Other 3 times were going too fast round a corner bareback in a headcollar and leadrope. Unfortunately at 13 I grew to 5'7 and I was knocking poles down with my feet when jumping her. Kept for a year alongside my 16.2hh and I'd ride her a couple of times a week and my sister who was only 4ft would walk and trot on her but P was being wasted so we sold her and brought my sister her 12.2hh whos now out on full loan. Wish we'd kept her for my sister as in a years time she would have been tall enough. She really was an awesome pony and I miss her everyday but she was very fine and couldnt carry more than 8.5stone at my height thats not healthy and shes out doing BE still with her little owner even though shes now 18 but I still miss her!
 
Yes completely. I had two horses, and got a job on a yard, and could only take one, so I sold the smaller one who I didn't feel had the potential. The one I did take in the end was a terrible horse, couldn't cope with the level and completely ruined my confidence. If I had taken the other I think things would have taken a different route and the one I sold was a very honest horse and a real trier.

Hey ho, such is life, no point living with regrets! :) I have two cracking horses now who are fabulous!
 
Yes - A gorgeous Welshie I had when he was 4, but after a few years I discovered I was pregnant at a young age and I was approached by somebody who offered me £10,000 for him. I couldn't do anything with him for months and I needed the money as I didn't have a full time job. It broke my heart in two but 7 years later (last summer) the same aunt that gave him to me called me saying she had a surprise, I got there and there was my beautiful boy, a strapping 14 year old but I thought he looked more like the 7 year old I said goodbye to all those years ago. About two weeks ago was the anniversary of the day I got him back. I will cherish him forever.
 
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