Is he really for me?

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1987

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Last June I bought a TB (everything I wanted in looks) and have slowly being continuing his schooling, we have setbacks and we have successes. He wintered out well, hardly lost any weight and was on small(ish) feeds. He lives out in the summer with no hard feed and no rugs so basically he is a brilliant TB in this respect. He is a well built TB, wouldn't look out of place on a hunting field with a man on top - which i'm most definitely not :) but he is genuinely scared of anything rustic looking, i.e. a log out on a hack beside the track. I had hoped to do very low key eventing on him and just general riding club stuff. He will jump coloured poles but has dislikes to any fillers unless you introduce him to them over time. He hacks out alone and is fine in traffic, he can have his moments but so far we haven't landed on a car yet. I took him to his first competition and he didn't care about the other horses and was absolutely fine with the indoor school and schooling mirrors.

Basically he is a 9yo 16.2/16.3hh and i'm 5'4 and maybe I am just being impatient (which I know you can't be with an ex racer) but I thought I would at least be jumping more and the schooling would be more consistent and maybe he is just that little bit too big for me. It is down to me partly as he was only ridden about 6 times between december and february and he was literally pulled out of the field brushed off and off we went out and he was a saint.

I have someone interested in him if I sold him but I absolutely love him, he is everything I want just maybe a little too big and too wussy. I don't think I could be horseless so would either have to get something and then sell him or have something in the pipeline.

I'm not sure what i'm trying to get out of this but I had to write it down and talk with someone.

*Ice cream for everyone that got this far*
 
It can take some horses a long time to settle down in a new home. If he is not being ridden on a regualr basis he will find it hard to make progress. Is there anyone who can help you?
 
Yup, agree with post above.

What you need is someone who is completely unbiased (and brutally honest!) to have a look at you and your horse; to see the way you are together, and then give an honest opinion.

I did this with mine in the early days when I was contemplating selling him: and ended up keeping him! - we needed to do quite a lot of work in building up each other's confidence but it was soooo worthwhile.

I suspect you would miss yours a lot if you did sell him and might always wonder "what if". It feels like you are so nearly there. Just a suggestion for what its worth: perhaps an adult "camp" or whatever might help you both? or a clinic somewhere? Or maybe a lesson or two with someone who's used to looking at different riders & horses and they could maybe give you something to work on?

Good luck!
 
I think he sounds like a fantastic horse and you sound like you agree! You have already admitted you are being too impatient. I know its hard when there are things you badly want to do but I think you need to give him a chance. Why don't you work out a programme with a riding instructor with achievable goals you can both work toward? But I think you would regret it if you let him go, it sounds like he is 80 per cent perfect for you and the other 20 per cent can be worked on.
 
Yes definately get some lessons on him to assess the situation. Perhaps with someone who events? He doesn't sound an overly brave horse when it comes to fillers and XC, so if you do want to event you will have plenty of work... It always helps if an event horse is brave. He may do RC things. You have to be really honest about what you want to do and how much work you are prepared to put in...

Theres nothing wrong with selling a horse that is not quite right for you -especially if there is another good home on offer. You would love your next horse just as much - perhaps more if it suited you better???xx
 
Thank you for the replies they are very useful.

I forgot to mention I am hopefully organising a 3 day intensive schooling package at the end of the month, a bit like an adult camp but i'm the only pupil. I'm hoping I will make a decision at the end of this as they have the facilities (BE course, gallops, hacking, arenas, lunge pens and people) for me to try everything. I can hopefully bounce ideas of the trainer whether we are a match as well.

Being on my own here as it is my parents land can be demoralising at times, the other pony is retired. So facilities are pretty rubbish, i'm working on trying to get an arena as we speak just need to sweet talk the OH some more.
 
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