For those who had a horse that was wrong for them…….

JoBo

JoBo

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So come on own up I know there is a few of us on here that have had our ‘wrong’ horse.
So how long was it before you realised the horse wasn’t for you? Why did you decide the horse wasn’t for you? What did you do with the horse when you decided it wasn’t for you?

I had Otto for actually a year. Brought him because I sold my pony and wanted to do more competing so though an IDxTB was better suited to this. Brought the first horse I saw without having an expert opinion. Started ok but soon realised that Otto’s head wasn’t into competing especially the jumping (infact he preferred to go though them then over them). He was fine with everyday hacking but couldn’t cope with stress. Reared with me a few times and knocked my confidence.
Sold to a lovely girl who wanted an overgrown pet and hacks around the block once a week.
Otto taught me a lot but I knew in my heart he wasn’t right for me. You live and learn.
 
I have had several (when I was young and parents non-horsey)
1 - 15.2hh 6 yo bay gedling (when I tried out was wearing a market harboroigh), Got him home and he would rear when ridden so we swapped him for
2 - 15.2hh 4yo bay mare, unfortunately damaged herself and had box rest when first got her, soon realised she was dangerous - had to sedate to handle and well when I managed to ride she'd bolt - had her PTS after trying to re-home her and she was named dangerous
3 - 15.33 TB x bay roan mare that would bronc, had about 1 month and realised too much for me.

Worked at dealing yard since and learnt to ride, I can now try a horse out and know straight away if suitable
 
My last horse was a 'bargain' I picked up from a friend who had been to an auction...she turned out to be a roarer - so I had a hobday and tieback done on her, then she strained her sacroilliac jount and tilted/rotated her pelvis in the field. I spent a fortune on her and eventually decided she wasn't for me (it occured to me when she went mental on the roads, bucked me off and left me for dead!).

I sold her for a very low price to someone who was prepared to put the effort in to her and wasn't phased by her nastiness! (luckily for me!)

I now have a super horse who I am really pleased with, although this new partnership hasn't gone without hiccups...we are starting to get there now, 8 months in
grin.gif
 
The first horse we bought was wrong in every way! We were complete novices and went out and bought the first horse we tried - a drugged-up 16hh ex-racehorse TB gelding who was lame and had major behavioural probs! Would rodeo you off when you asked for canter and attacked the YO in the field, then went back for more!

We part-exchanged him for Murphy from a dealer. Later heard that he went to be re-schooled in Blackpool, but he was just too much horse for us to handle at the time (8 years ago).

Wonder what he's up to now.............

Lou. x
 
Thumper was just a wrong horse . He'd been parelli-ed in the past, and it hadn't done him any favours.
I had him for over a year, which is longer than anyone else in the past except his owners.
The final straw came when he started threatening to bolt when schooling in the evenings (flood lit arena, so no excuses!).
I saw a wanted ad for a hunter for a gentleman, and sold him straightaway. He thought he was getting a bargain from an inexperienced female, and gloated for a few months afterwards about how fantastic Thumper was for them, and how they had put him in a snaffle etc... the last I heard from them he'd been sold on after depositing the bloke in hospital. I think they had him for 5 months altogether, and I now know that I did a d**n good job considering the stories I heard after I'd got rid. Some bright spark had thought they could cure bolting by lunging him with bags of concrete dragging behind him. It doesn't work!
 
My first pony! i have non horsey parents and they bought her without me knowing, she was advertised as suitable for novice and 7 yrs old, she was actually 4! 14hh grey connemara mare, luckily I found a good instructor and she taught me so much, she was awful in traffic had to look at all jumps at least once before she would jump them and wouldnt go near a ditch! eventually after alot of bloody sweat and tears! she got better in traffic, was jumping 1.10 BSJA and would go round a XC course clear, by then my sister and I had grown out of her and sadly we had to sell her on, she went on to qualify for HOYS with her new owners!
 
MMM, glad it's not just me! I shared horses for a few years, and would say I was a comptetant rider when I bought Bally 5 years ago. She was a 5 year old TBX. Lovely little mare (15.2). Had done lots of jumping/hunted with the people I bought her from (not gonna say to much on them, you never know who's on here!) but NO schooling what so ever - so back to basics we went. Fab little jumper she was, and the 1st summer I had her I won everything in PC, Novice, intermediate and opens! Then I listened to everyone else when they said I should affilitate her - and thats when problems started! She started stopping and sometimes I couldn't even get her over a pole on the floor!! Anyway, she went out on loan as a happy hacker/sponsored ride. But I got her back when she was groosely overweight and bordering on laminitic! Sold her for not alot more than I paid for her - but she went to a nice home who concentrated on her schooling and jumps occastionally! She now competes at trailblazers dressage - I kept her for 2 years before selling her! Me and mares just dont' get on! Have the most perfect boy in the world now - JACK!

Lesson learnt - don't buy youngster when you're only a competeant rider and not experienced, and don't listen to anyone else when they tell you what you should/shouldn't be doing with your horse!

Mx
 
Yup two

First a chestnut TB who turned out to be too sharp and threw me (and others) badly. Sold her for peanuts
Second - bought a lovely natured youngster - now learnt that being so precarious and nervous after the TB, that a youngster to bring on really wasnt a good idea and have lost my confidence even more. He is currently up for sale
smile.gif

Lesson for me: I need a schoolmaster to get my confidence back!!!!!
 
Yup two

First a chestnut TB who turned out to be too sharp and threw me (and others) badly. Sold her for peanuts
Second - bought a lovely natured youngster - now learnt that being so precarious and nervous after the TB, that a youngster to bring on really wasnt a good idea and have lost my confidence even more. He is currently up for sale
Lesson for me: I need a schoolmaster to get my confidence back!!!!!
 
Yes I specialise in buying unsuitable horses although I am lucky enough to own 3 wonderful horses at the moment. (For those that remember me buying a new one earlier this year - she has turned out great. I even let a total novice (and I mean total novice) ride her last weekend for a walk round the block!

But.... there was a barmy ex racer who was frankly dangerous (dumped the macho 'I can ride anything' dealer who came to buy him from me! (Strangely he didnt buy him after that). I had him for 2 (very long) years. He finally went to a lady who specialised in ex race horses (I told her everything), but I learnt some years later that she had ended up in hospital.

Then (after owning a lovely horse who died young, very sadly) I bought a mare called Minty, henceforth known as Mad Minty. Couldnt get a dealer to buy her either. (Said she was dangerous, which she was).

Then followed a chestnut mare who was wonderful to ride, but a total nightmare to handle. She went back to her original owner after putting my blacksmith in hospital.

Then there was a piebald who couldnt be led (which made catching and leading him in to ride a challange as he would just turn tail and run!!). Even putting him out in the morning was a nightmare as he would just tank out the stable slamming you into the wall as he went!. He went back to his original owner too.

So I have had my fair share of horrors, but as I said earlier I now have 3 wonderful horses and hope not to have to look again for a very long time!!
 
Took 4 years! A long time but I hate giving up on a horse. He was the only horse I had to finally realise just didnt suit me. I wanted a horse to compete - he didnt want to. I found out later he'd had a bad past (was beaten up in the SJ ring a lot as a youngster.....) so no wonder the poor horse didnt have the heart to compete. He was the nicest natured horse in the world, I think he was the only horse Ive had who made it obvious he loved me to pieces
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Thats why it was so hard to make the decision to sell him. I still miss him a lot eventhough we had a hell of a lot of frustration together. He's now very happy in his other home and goes out hacking all day!
 
yep, had two and both have turned out to be wrong - though my current through no fault of his own
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First a 4 year old haflinger mare, had every vice under the sun, reared bucked bit kicked charged headbutted planted herself and ROLLED if she didnt want to go anywhere! She was from a lovely breeder as well, vetted, the works.
Exchanged her for a skinny neglected angloarab gelding, who was perfect in everyway, until a few months after I bought him he threw in a couple of bucks and got cold backed. We retired him after the vet said he thought it was chronic lameness in a hind hock which was giving him a sore back, and thought it was unlikely he would ever recover. HOWEVER - after two months off he has miraculously come sound. Bless his heart. If he stays sound, he'll be reschooled by a friend and sold on. I dont have the confidence to reschool him, even though he is the gentlist creature on the ground.
Nice idea for a thread - and glad its not just me thats bought wrong-uns!

xx
 
Well, PF was probably NOT the best horse for me at the time I got her. I found her very hard to ride. If I wanted to be jumping big tracks by now I guess she still wouldn't be ideal, but I suppose it's partly about what you want to achieve and I've learnt sooo much from her and love her to bits.
I liked Antifaz very much the first few times I rode him. He was very well-behaved but suffered a huge personality change and tried to hurt me several times. I would've sold him then, but he wasn't mine to sell. Having a stubborn streak a mile wide, I stuck with him and now he's a joy.
 
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