Sad,confused thread :(

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SarahRicoh

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Well to cut a long story short I have a 143.hh,12 yr old coloured ish gelding who I bought a year ago as a project who is now generally a very good boy. He has a brill jump and I did want to compete him but now and in near future I just wont be able to afford it...

A couple of days ago my horse and my friends bolted down a field over a road and jumped a wall causing us both to fall and me to have a severly bruised back,scartches everywhere and a mashed face and concussion. Iv fallen off before but this time has just made me think.. I love my boy but should I sell him? He loves his work and would love to go out and compete and do more and I dont know whether I want to/can afford to.. We have amazing hacking where I am and whilst hes normally good he's very strong and forward and I just dont feel like I can totally enjoy the hacking. Added to this I'd love to try driving(Which hes totally unsuitable for).,
The other reason making me think of selling is I have another project pony who I have no time to do at the mo and I need to make £500 to buy her asap which selling him would give me...

I just dont know what to do. Looking for a new job thats better paid but I feel like the sensible option would be to sell my boy then move my project pony to yard im at so I can progress with her and sell her on then when they both have new homes look for a nice 14.2hhish cob type that I can ride and drive and just enjoy. Feel like im constantly poor for no reason as I cant fully enjoy riding. But then I love my horse and I'm attached to him-Need to think of whats best.

What would you lot do? Is it just after fall thoughts? :(
 
hi,

What a bad experience you've had. I can fully understand your position.

TBH this is your call - if you feel this horse isn't for you then i'd put the work in over the winter - schooling/jumping etc. Make him a better prospect for sale. If you have lost confidence with him then ride him out with a steady companion - to keep him ticking over or ask another rider to take him out for you for a hack. Sell him in the spring ready for the new season and look for a ready made ride/drive - not ideal time atm to drive.

:)
 
The problem with "project" horses is that they do usually test you, throw in the unexpected and often take far longer than bargained for, a 12 year old 14.3 unproven in competition that is not a completely reliable hack is not going to be that easy to find a good home for. I would concentrate on one at a time rather than buying another, try and get him and yourself more confident, get a bit of competing into him then sell in the spring when there will be a better market, then look at finding something that you really want.
 
I would put the project pony out of your mind. Decide if you really want your boy or not.
Then if you don't - sell him, and either buy the project pony or find one that is right for you. If your losing confidence, is this project pony right for you?
 
Why did the horses bolt?

Sounds like you have had a nasty fall, it is bound to shake you up but if you think his too much for you it might be best to sell him, nothing wrong with that but then to go and buy another horse that is still not what you want that you would need to also sell on does not make sense.

Have a serious think about the horse you have is he suitable for you? Do you enjoy riding him, give yourself time to get over the fall does he bolt all the time?
 
I bought him as a 'bolter' but he's only bolted one other time other than this time and he is generally a good hack he's just very forward and whilst I love it sometimes it does get tiresome to me as somethimes Id prefer something I have to nudge on. I dont even have to touch my boy. I was fully aware as a project he'd need work and I have worked really hard with him. He was awful when I first got him and really he is good to hack out now just not a novice rice as no horse is 100% perfect. I just feel like I want something a bit less forward and something with the potential to drive. As well as the fact I feel like im wasting his potential as he really does love to work and he'd thrive somewhere he was lunged/schooled/hacked/jumped religiously if you get me.
The project pony is already mine and bought but to be paid for in next few months so I have to think about her you see..
Its not that Im loosing my confidence as such more Im fed up not enjoying my hobby and an expensive one at that :( Thanks for all youre replies so far. Sometimes I love riding him but I struggle to school him as he's quite a complex ride and I'm not the best/dislik schooling and I like to jump him but again he's almost too forward and strong for me :(
 
Also this fustrates me.. We ride them through woods,along tracks with hedges so theyre used to this. The other day all that happened was my friends leg brushed against a bush so her horse spooked and mine went and then they both bolted.
Yet a few days before we'd been hackimg and the shoot started right next to them and my boy didnt put a foot wrong. Hence why he is actually a good hack but as he is sensitive he'll never be a novice ride/happy hack
 
SarahRicoh said:
I was fully aware as a project he'd need work ...............but I struggle to school him as he's quite a complex ride and I'm not the best/dislik schooling and I like to jump him but again he's almost too forward and strong for me :(
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How did you think you were going to work with 'project' to get him good enough to sell on without schooling?

You really do have to be a good, confident rider to do a 'project' justice.

Fingers crossed that you recover from your fall quickly.
 
Your boy still sounds like he is a project pony to some extent. To pay for the other you say you need £500 which selling him would raise but think about whether the new pony is actually worth £500 and also whether you will be able to sell your boy in the current market for any reasonable amount of money especially given the fact he has bolted recently

The last thing you need is a boomarang pony being returned by a buyer when you have no money!

You could sell him on as a project which would reduce the chances of an unhappy buyer but also dent his price
 
So you want to sell a failed project to pay for another, then sell that to buy another one?

If you sell him for around £500 as a recent bolter, that puts him at the bottom end of a bad market- in all honesty, who's going to buy him? There's not that many adults have ponies, and not many parents will buy a bolter for their child...
 
Why don't you try and get to the bottom as to why he's bolting? And if it's a true Bolter and it genuinely can't be fixed then IMHO it would be kinder to pts than pushing it from pillar to post putting others lives at risk...
 
katastrophykat said:
So you want to sell a failed project to pay for another, then sell that to buy another one?

If you sell him for around £500 as a recent bolter, that puts him at the bottom end of a bad market- in all honesty, who's going to buy him? There's not that many adults have ponies, and not many parents will buy a bolter for their child...
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This. You've bought another project pony when you've struggling a bit time and money wise with this 1. I would concentrate on this 1 for now, is it possible to pull out of the other pony.
 
I think you are mad to even think about taking on another project horse. All this selling on and swapping and changing is no good for you. What you need is a keeper. Find the horse that is right for YOU. Take your time. You are missing out on what it is like to know a horse so well that you feel totally secure and happy and know that you will keep it forever, barring financial disaster of course. Obviously, your current boy is not that horse, so sell him and start looking for your soul mate. You may need to save up and so be horseless for a while though.
 
Sorry op, but not just from what you say on this thread, I think you should stay away from projects. Back in April you said horse had only bolted twice, now its just the once. You don't like schooling & say you aren't too good at it. Is the new project pony the same one you had the legal issues over paying for? Seriously, stay away from projects & buy something that suits you. Sorry about your fall, but given what I've read of past posts you are very lucky it wasn't worse, so look at it as a wake up call. That said I'm sorry you've hurt yourself & hope you recover soon.
 
^ What Wagtail and Littlelegs said.

I'd sell this one (whilst being very honest about past and current and not glossing over) as a project. Then save up for a horse you can enjoy rather than being in this same position in a few months time with the next one.
 
To be honest OP, I think you need to stop buying project horses. If you don't like, nor have the ability to school them, then you are doing them no favours by 'saving' them.

Sell this one to somebody confident and experienced, pay for the other one and then sell that one too - unless either are really dangerous in which case PTS may be better.

Then buy yourself something suitable.
 
A project horse is a project

A cheap horse with a problem that you don't have the ability or time to fix is not a project it's just you buying a cheap horse
 
Right firstly I bought him as a 'bolter' but he's only bolted with me this time and one other time when I stayed on. When I got him he was scared of everything, wouldnt school, ruushed jumps,was tacked down. He's nothing like that now. I do school him and he is so much better, if I could post videos I would. I admit to school him to a high level is above me but he is ten times better and even manages a balanced canter now which is something he could never do. He is ridden in a 3 ring gag on the 2nd or 3rd hole for fast work and snaffle for everything else and a grakle which I admit is strong but I've said his strong thats his one fault. In terms of the hacking and bolting I would not class him as a bolter just thats how I got him as project. I have hacked alone and in company with him and hes been perfect apart from being strong. Every horse if scared will react(fight or flight) and his is flight but he's definitely not a confirmed bolter!
I took on the other pony as she was going to be pts and my pony was going on share. However, the sharer cannot drive so cannot get to new yard and I lost my second job. That is why I wanted to give project back as it wouldnt work but apparently as iv signed to say shes 'sold with money due by feb' she is mine.

I would never sell him and not say the 2 times he has bolted but that is just him. He's not a bolter. He's been good as gold when my friends horse has taken off in the past and when my project pony rears, he is genuinely a good pony but he is very sensitive. A good rider would enjoy him and he has the potential to do quite well competitively, thats how he was sold before the lady who had him before me had him.

The project will be my last one and I have decided enoughs enough now and like someones said I want a horse for me to enjoy...
But fact of the matter is.. Is that my boy? I dont know? I feel he needs a better rider than me. I am confident and I am good but not enough to school him to dressage level(apart from low levels) and not enough to compete him 1m tracks which is what I think he wants...

I'd say he was an allrounder atm with potential to go further but hes not a novice ride!
 
I do not mean I wont/dont school the projects etc. Iv done him better than he would have been if I hadnt have bought him. He's a happy balanced horse now, if he was any other horse this bolt would've have just been a bad accident but as he's done it before he's now a bolter.. He's not. Its only been twice and once thats been serious.
I just feel maybe he needs to go on to someone better than me to progress?
And after my new one I will stay out of projects
 
Agree with the others.......you are struggling with the project you have, now want shot of him so you can buy another?
Sell both and buy a horse you CAN deal with.
As said already, you are doing them no favours by "saving" them.
 
SarahRicoh said:
Right firstly I bought him as a 'bolter' but he's only bolted with me this time and one other time when I stayed on...he's definitely not a confirmed bolter!...
He's not a bolter.
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Sorry but these are completely contradictory statements.

He had a reputation as a bolter when you bought him... and he has bolted twice since you've had him.

So yes, he is a bolter I'm afraid, and you will need to disclose this when you sell him.
 
Sorry op, on your previous thread 8mnths ago he'd bolted twice, & done it again now which makes 3 times, not twice. So I'm not sure how much else of what you say is altered to fit your current opinion. Either its bolted 3x, which imo makes it a bolter, & thus both dangerous & not a common vice. Or it tanks off because it needs schooling. Either way its difficult to offer advice if story changes.
 
Hi Sarah, I dont really have any useful advice but didn't want to read and run!

You are a good, confident rider and I'm sure if anyone can get the best out of Pelo its you. When we were looking to rehome Berti and after seeing you ride him, you were the only person that we felt happy to let him go to.

I would suggest giving yourself until after the new year to get over your fall, and then have a serious think about what you want for him and you. x
 
I can 100% promise you he bolted this time.... It was a blind gallop down a field across a road and over a wall, I had no say as to where or what he was doing and both horses just went... The first time,,, maybe it wasnt a bolt and more him tanking off because he was scared.
He came to me as a 'bolter' but in reality the women never rode him,was petrified of him so when she asked him to do more than walk he tried to go and it unnerved her. I would tell them about this bolt and the last time but I would never call him a 'bolter', he's just not
 
Thanks Bertolie, everyone so quick to shoot people down on here.

As I bought him as a 'bolter' he tanked off with me in a field which I think was just me panicking he was going to bolt but just him being rude, then he bolted down a track because he was scared of a picnic blanket. This time he bolted because of my friends horse really and this was 100% a bolt.. I think I assumed he was bolting before as she's said he bolted but it didnt really bother me and he's come on leaps and bounds since then, and has been perfect until the other day.
So in reality I think it was him tanking off and now iv schooled him and everything hes over that now. Iv let a girl ride him out who was going to share him and hes perfect. 100x times better. But this was a bolt... So okay lets say that he's only bolted this once then
 
SarahRicoh said:
I can 100% promise you he bolted this time.... It was a blind gallop down a field across a road and over a wall, I had no say as to where or what he was doing and both horses just went...

I would never call him a 'bolter', he's just not
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Both your comments above completely contradict themselves.

However, I wish you luck selling him.
 
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