Tia
Well-Known Member
I think I have mentioned on here this dilemma of mine, although perhaps I haven't, I can't remember.
As some of you know, I have a horse called Oscar. He was the first horse I bought when I moved out here. He is a sorrel quarter horse with the most stunning bloodlines and he is turning 4 years old in a few months.
I bought him as a yearling from his breeder. I backed him, took him to a couple of cattle events, he has many hours trail riding under his belt, he is super-gentle, never flinches at anything and calmly does anything I ask of him. He is completely non-spooky and was used last year as my second lead horse out on the trails at only 3 years old. He has never put a foot wrong and any small child can ride him quite safely.....in fact anyone can ride him whether they be a total beginner or an experienced rider. Everyone enjoys riding Oscar.
Although I own all the horses, Oscar comes under the category of being one of my 2 personal horses.....on the trails it is only me who rides him and he is not available for hire so anyone else who rides him are friends or family.
My neighbour, who has already bought 2 horses from me, started to profess an interest in Oscar last summer. She asked to buy him and I declined. She asked me how much I valued him at, I answered with his market value at 3 years old which was probably about 4 - 5K and it was only this low because he is sorrel. Well she likes sorrels and more importantly she adores Oscar, even though she has never ridden him.
Anyway all through haying she continually asked or made comments about buying him. I stood firm back then and said no I wasn't planning on selling him as he was my horse and not a seller-on. Don't get me wrong, she is a really lovely person and didn't make it uncomfortable or anything like that - more quirky comments like "are you sure you don't want to sell him LOL!" and "any time you decide to sell him please sell him to me".
Anyway most times I see her she makes a comment about Oscar and asks how he is doing. I've ridden over to her farm a number of times and she always adores seeing him and gives him special cuddles. She really does seem to be in love with him.
She was round a week or so ago and once again she said please can she buy him? I still said that I really didn't think I was able to sell him as he is very special to me. Anyway this was why I started to look around for another horse which would be just as nice as Oscar for her. I didn't tell her I was looking and when I found Taco last week I actually bought him with her in mind. However on driving home I decided that he was actually perfect for the trail riding this summer (especially since I have sold my giant Spotty Horse so I have no weight carrier anymore) so I wouldn't mention him to her and would continue looking for something else.
Well my husband took my daughter to the end of the lane this morning to catch the bus and he came home and told me that he met our neighbour and was telling her that I had bought another horse and her immediate response was "will she sell me Oscar now?". Husband's response was that I was still having trouble coming to terms with the thought of selling him and he didn't think that I could at the moment and would she be interested in buying Sureshot one of our appaloosa's? She said she liked him, but no, Oscar is the one she really wants.
I know she would give him a fantastic home, she idolises her horses, they own the most beautiful farm and she would pay whatever I asked for him, not that I would ever rip her off as she is a very good friend.
The thing is; I still need 2 lead horses as none of mine go out for longer than a 1 hour trail in any one day and I generally take 2 rides out per day. However I do actually have other horses who could become lead horses and I have a couple of youngsters that I could easily train up for the job, so that excuse is sort of redundant now.
I was hoping to take Oscar to more cattle events this year and my daughter wanted to Team Pen with him. At this moment in time, he is her favourite horse (apart from Cloud of course) however this does change every few months.
I just don't know what to do. I am not generally particularly sentimental about horses and she is definitely one of my preferred customers and more importantly I know he would be fabulous for them and I also know that he would love the lifestyle over there. He would be very happy; they would be very happy so why am I having this trouble with deciding?
I have 13 horses with another couple of foals on the way this year; one of foals is being bought by this neighbour when it is weaned. I have enough other horses to fulfill the job that Oscar performs.
What do I do?
Here is a picture of Oscar at 23 months - he is the horse at the back. Please excuse the state of Jet in the foreground, this was when I had only owned Jet for 1 day. Incidentally Jet was 3 years old in this picture so a year older than Oscar.
And here is Oscar as a 3 year old last summer:
As some of you know, I have a horse called Oscar. He was the first horse I bought when I moved out here. He is a sorrel quarter horse with the most stunning bloodlines and he is turning 4 years old in a few months.
I bought him as a yearling from his breeder. I backed him, took him to a couple of cattle events, he has many hours trail riding under his belt, he is super-gentle, never flinches at anything and calmly does anything I ask of him. He is completely non-spooky and was used last year as my second lead horse out on the trails at only 3 years old. He has never put a foot wrong and any small child can ride him quite safely.....in fact anyone can ride him whether they be a total beginner or an experienced rider. Everyone enjoys riding Oscar.
Although I own all the horses, Oscar comes under the category of being one of my 2 personal horses.....on the trails it is only me who rides him and he is not available for hire so anyone else who rides him are friends or family.
My neighbour, who has already bought 2 horses from me, started to profess an interest in Oscar last summer. She asked to buy him and I declined. She asked me how much I valued him at, I answered with his market value at 3 years old which was probably about 4 - 5K and it was only this low because he is sorrel. Well she likes sorrels and more importantly she adores Oscar, even though she has never ridden him.
Anyway all through haying she continually asked or made comments about buying him. I stood firm back then and said no I wasn't planning on selling him as he was my horse and not a seller-on. Don't get me wrong, she is a really lovely person and didn't make it uncomfortable or anything like that - more quirky comments like "are you sure you don't want to sell him LOL!" and "any time you decide to sell him please sell him to me".
Anyway most times I see her she makes a comment about Oscar and asks how he is doing. I've ridden over to her farm a number of times and she always adores seeing him and gives him special cuddles. She really does seem to be in love with him.
She was round a week or so ago and once again she said please can she buy him? I still said that I really didn't think I was able to sell him as he is very special to me. Anyway this was why I started to look around for another horse which would be just as nice as Oscar for her. I didn't tell her I was looking and when I found Taco last week I actually bought him with her in mind. However on driving home I decided that he was actually perfect for the trail riding this summer (especially since I have sold my giant Spotty Horse so I have no weight carrier anymore) so I wouldn't mention him to her and would continue looking for something else.
Well my husband took my daughter to the end of the lane this morning to catch the bus and he came home and told me that he met our neighbour and was telling her that I had bought another horse and her immediate response was "will she sell me Oscar now?". Husband's response was that I was still having trouble coming to terms with the thought of selling him and he didn't think that I could at the moment and would she be interested in buying Sureshot one of our appaloosa's? She said she liked him, but no, Oscar is the one she really wants.
I know she would give him a fantastic home, she idolises her horses, they own the most beautiful farm and she would pay whatever I asked for him, not that I would ever rip her off as she is a very good friend.
The thing is; I still need 2 lead horses as none of mine go out for longer than a 1 hour trail in any one day and I generally take 2 rides out per day. However I do actually have other horses who could become lead horses and I have a couple of youngsters that I could easily train up for the job, so that excuse is sort of redundant now.
I was hoping to take Oscar to more cattle events this year and my daughter wanted to Team Pen with him. At this moment in time, he is her favourite horse (apart from Cloud of course) however this does change every few months.
I just don't know what to do. I am not generally particularly sentimental about horses and she is definitely one of my preferred customers and more importantly I know he would be fabulous for them and I also know that he would love the lifestyle over there. He would be very happy; they would be very happy so why am I having this trouble with deciding?
I have 13 horses with another couple of foals on the way this year; one of foals is being bought by this neighbour when it is weaned. I have enough other horses to fulfill the job that Oscar performs.
What do I do?
Here is a picture of Oscar at 23 months - he is the horse at the back. Please excuse the state of Jet in the foreground, this was when I had only owned Jet for 1 day. Incidentally Jet was 3 years old in this picture so a year older than Oscar.
And here is Oscar as a 3 year old last summer:
