shaylux
Member
Hello Im not a regular poster on here in any way, but I did come to ask for some advice on buying my daughter a horse late last year, and have lurked somewhat since then.
Im currently at absolute loss as to what to do and really needing some suggestions/advice; Ive made this post long to include as much background as possible, so please bear with me.
After a good 6months or so of viewing horses my daughter & I settled on what we thought was the ideal one (16.2hh 7yr old ISH gelding, costing £6000) which I admit now, for what he has (or rather hasnt) done was overpriced.
We viewed him at a livery yard, where I was told that he had been given to a friend of the sellers, the livery yard owner, to hunt and sell. I was told he had been hunting 2-3x a week with the Beaufort, so he was obviously fit and well. He was very easy and calm in the stable, just stood there quietly to be brushed/tacked up. My daughter and I rode him, and found him a very uncomplicated ride, not at all forward going, spooky, sharp or anything. Let me say now, my daughter has had a break from constant riding, and despite this being her third riding horse she has never excelled into eventing or anything, much preferring days of hacking out/gallops on the beach and a few hunts, and we were looking for something to help get her back into riding smoothly. My daughter then hacked him out with the livery yard owner for about 30mins, going through woodland, country lanes and on a fairly main road near the yard. He was completely relaxed, not at all spooky, didnt bat an eyelid at anything, so of course daughter came back grinning 5 stage vetting was organized for the next week and he passed with no problems (the vet was local and suggested by the yard).
Although we have ponies at home, horse was to spend first few months on livery at our stables, which although I wont mention are well known, friendly & lovely yard with good reviews on here too.
Anyway horse arrived a few days later, end of January. He settled well, was very calm and easy on the floor. Daughter came up the next day to ride him and although I wasnt expecting him to be completely calm and settled yet, I didnt expect what happened next; he was completely different to the horse we viewed, very hot and anxious, flighty & spooking at everything, very strong etc. with his head right up in the air. My daughter was not the most confident but did hold him in continuous circles and serpentines in a slow walk/trot. She then took him up into the second half of the school, only got halfway before he spooked and took off down the school. He swerved at the gate and she came off, whereas he cantered around the school once then came back to the gate. She did get back on bravely, just intending to walk about to calm both of them, and he did begin to relax but then repeated the taking off in the same space.
Anyway I discussed this with the yard manager, and we agreed it was most likely due to him not being ridden/turned out in the week between vetting and arrival by the seller, and extreme fitness due to hunting, agreed for him to go on full livery and be ridden daily he was also turned out, fed the same as before purchase and in the horsewalker daily.
I could go into detail on the next few weeks but this post would be awfully long, so Ill summarize and say he was very much Jekyll & Hyde; some days my daughter came back from riding grinning, other days in tears at being taken off with again, or having him spook at every last possible object. She tells me her 'record' was taking off 3 times in the space of about 8 minutes.. Even mounting him, both with my daughter and others he refuses to stand still and gets worked up.
Confidence gradually diminished until she confessed that she was dreading getting on him, and when she did she was very nervous, which he obviously felt and took to his advantage, being extra spooky/running off wherever he could. She struggled to hold him back when he took off anyway. He was being ridden by the yard manager/employees during this, and they agreed that sometimes he was lovely to ride, other days he tried to take off with them too, even hacking (although theyre a lot stronger and more skilled than my daughter, and after being told once he generally listens). Yard manager had also asked to see the advert that wed been him through and agreed that he wasnt as described, being a lot more green and not having done overly much.
So we agreed to sell, clearly overhorsed my daughter. Several online adverts but no interest, but then found someone through the yard manager whos been up in the past few weeks and fallen for him, which was great. Yard manager has all the while been schooling him, taken him to small events, jumping etc. and has commented on what lovely potential he does have (Ive ridden him several times myself and agree in the right hands and with work hed be a fantastic horse).
So I spoke to the buyer, who wasnt sure whether to vet or not considering my 5 stage vetting only 2-3months earlier, but decided to go for a 2stage.
Events to this point are nothing in comparison to what followed; he was vetted last week, and from what I can understand so far (the girl who was going to buy is in the process of sending me the vets report), he was found to be 1/10th lame before the test, 3/10 after, with what the vet thought to be an underlying stifle issue leading to his lack of muscle in the back end, alongside a sore back.
Now I must say he does hold his head very high, from day 1 onwards, which I discussed with my yard manager before the vetting and she thought was probably just due to lack of schooling/being forced into different tack pieces to drive his head down unnaturally, and needed work to soften, but the vet commented on how his back probably led to his head carriage/difficulty in being mounted. The vet also said that his stifle issue is most likely to cause a breakdown later in life. (excuse my description I dont know enough about vetting to describe it well enough without the report on hand!)
So, HHO, Im at loss as to where to go now. £6000 horse, passed a 5stage vetting roughly 3months ago, didnt turn out to be as described, and has now failed a 2stage vetting with the vet predicting him to breakdown in a few years due to an underlying problem.
So what do I do? I have 2 issues here, the first is the matter of the first vetting surely if this is an underlying problem thats led to his lack of muscle in the rear it must have been there 3months ago, and would explain his behaviour in the months hes been ridden. Should this not have been found in the 5stage vetting, and prevented me this entire disaster? Do I need a 3rd vetting done, to confirm this, then take it up with the 1st vet?
Secondly, the horse. He doesnt appear at all unsound when ridden and is in fact moving on leaps and bounds since I bought him, in terms of schooling and putting on weight, and is still on fully livery. Unfortunately Im paying roughly £600 a month for something that is too much for my daughter to handle, and now wont be sold for the price I paid, which I absolutely do not have the money to continue. Initially loan/companion crossed my mind, or PTS as a very last option, but my yard manager has offered to take him but wont pay I cant help thinking that I paid £6000 for him 3months ago, and hes still rideable, well put together, a classy hunter type can a horse like this be sold for any money at all considering the vetting failure & vets advice about his future?
Really at my wits end here, have been having sleepless nights & general panic about the whole situation.
Gosh, such a long post, excuse me. I really appreciate anyone reading this who could direct me in relation to selling horses like this, and following up with the vet.
Thanks.
Im currently at absolute loss as to what to do and really needing some suggestions/advice; Ive made this post long to include as much background as possible, so please bear with me.
After a good 6months or so of viewing horses my daughter & I settled on what we thought was the ideal one (16.2hh 7yr old ISH gelding, costing £6000) which I admit now, for what he has (or rather hasnt) done was overpriced.
We viewed him at a livery yard, where I was told that he had been given to a friend of the sellers, the livery yard owner, to hunt and sell. I was told he had been hunting 2-3x a week with the Beaufort, so he was obviously fit and well. He was very easy and calm in the stable, just stood there quietly to be brushed/tacked up. My daughter and I rode him, and found him a very uncomplicated ride, not at all forward going, spooky, sharp or anything. Let me say now, my daughter has had a break from constant riding, and despite this being her third riding horse she has never excelled into eventing or anything, much preferring days of hacking out/gallops on the beach and a few hunts, and we were looking for something to help get her back into riding smoothly. My daughter then hacked him out with the livery yard owner for about 30mins, going through woodland, country lanes and on a fairly main road near the yard. He was completely relaxed, not at all spooky, didnt bat an eyelid at anything, so of course daughter came back grinning 5 stage vetting was organized for the next week and he passed with no problems (the vet was local and suggested by the yard).
Although we have ponies at home, horse was to spend first few months on livery at our stables, which although I wont mention are well known, friendly & lovely yard with good reviews on here too.
Anyway horse arrived a few days later, end of January. He settled well, was very calm and easy on the floor. Daughter came up the next day to ride him and although I wasnt expecting him to be completely calm and settled yet, I didnt expect what happened next; he was completely different to the horse we viewed, very hot and anxious, flighty & spooking at everything, very strong etc. with his head right up in the air. My daughter was not the most confident but did hold him in continuous circles and serpentines in a slow walk/trot. She then took him up into the second half of the school, only got halfway before he spooked and took off down the school. He swerved at the gate and she came off, whereas he cantered around the school once then came back to the gate. She did get back on bravely, just intending to walk about to calm both of them, and he did begin to relax but then repeated the taking off in the same space.
Anyway I discussed this with the yard manager, and we agreed it was most likely due to him not being ridden/turned out in the week between vetting and arrival by the seller, and extreme fitness due to hunting, agreed for him to go on full livery and be ridden daily he was also turned out, fed the same as before purchase and in the horsewalker daily.
I could go into detail on the next few weeks but this post would be awfully long, so Ill summarize and say he was very much Jekyll & Hyde; some days my daughter came back from riding grinning, other days in tears at being taken off with again, or having him spook at every last possible object. She tells me her 'record' was taking off 3 times in the space of about 8 minutes.. Even mounting him, both with my daughter and others he refuses to stand still and gets worked up.
Confidence gradually diminished until she confessed that she was dreading getting on him, and when she did she was very nervous, which he obviously felt and took to his advantage, being extra spooky/running off wherever he could. She struggled to hold him back when he took off anyway. He was being ridden by the yard manager/employees during this, and they agreed that sometimes he was lovely to ride, other days he tried to take off with them too, even hacking (although theyre a lot stronger and more skilled than my daughter, and after being told once he generally listens). Yard manager had also asked to see the advert that wed been him through and agreed that he wasnt as described, being a lot more green and not having done overly much.
So we agreed to sell, clearly overhorsed my daughter. Several online adverts but no interest, but then found someone through the yard manager whos been up in the past few weeks and fallen for him, which was great. Yard manager has all the while been schooling him, taken him to small events, jumping etc. and has commented on what lovely potential he does have (Ive ridden him several times myself and agree in the right hands and with work hed be a fantastic horse).
So I spoke to the buyer, who wasnt sure whether to vet or not considering my 5 stage vetting only 2-3months earlier, but decided to go for a 2stage.
Events to this point are nothing in comparison to what followed; he was vetted last week, and from what I can understand so far (the girl who was going to buy is in the process of sending me the vets report), he was found to be 1/10th lame before the test, 3/10 after, with what the vet thought to be an underlying stifle issue leading to his lack of muscle in the back end, alongside a sore back.
Now I must say he does hold his head very high, from day 1 onwards, which I discussed with my yard manager before the vetting and she thought was probably just due to lack of schooling/being forced into different tack pieces to drive his head down unnaturally, and needed work to soften, but the vet commented on how his back probably led to his head carriage/difficulty in being mounted. The vet also said that his stifle issue is most likely to cause a breakdown later in life. (excuse my description I dont know enough about vetting to describe it well enough without the report on hand!)
So, HHO, Im at loss as to where to go now. £6000 horse, passed a 5stage vetting roughly 3months ago, didnt turn out to be as described, and has now failed a 2stage vetting with the vet predicting him to breakdown in a few years due to an underlying problem.
So what do I do? I have 2 issues here, the first is the matter of the first vetting surely if this is an underlying problem thats led to his lack of muscle in the rear it must have been there 3months ago, and would explain his behaviour in the months hes been ridden. Should this not have been found in the 5stage vetting, and prevented me this entire disaster? Do I need a 3rd vetting done, to confirm this, then take it up with the 1st vet?
Secondly, the horse. He doesnt appear at all unsound when ridden and is in fact moving on leaps and bounds since I bought him, in terms of schooling and putting on weight, and is still on fully livery. Unfortunately Im paying roughly £600 a month for something that is too much for my daughter to handle, and now wont be sold for the price I paid, which I absolutely do not have the money to continue. Initially loan/companion crossed my mind, or PTS as a very last option, but my yard manager has offered to take him but wont pay I cant help thinking that I paid £6000 for him 3months ago, and hes still rideable, well put together, a classy hunter type can a horse like this be sold for any money at all considering the vetting failure & vets advice about his future?
Really at my wits end here, have been having sleepless nights & general panic about the whole situation.
Gosh, such a long post, excuse me. I really appreciate anyone reading this who could direct me in relation to selling horses like this, and following up with the vet.
Thanks.
