Sanity check - do people take on horses like that?

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Hovis_and_SidsMum

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This is a very hypothetical post as we're nowhere near this point in time and might never be, but a conversation with my YO last night got me thinking.

As you know sidney our 11 year old, 17.2HH hanoverian is lame. He has been diagnosed with a severe problem in his foot which will never be fixed. The worst prognosis is he's never sound again and we have to retire him or have him pts. The best prognosis is we get him sound and he can do schooling, dressage and hacking but never jump again.
So my YO was talking about if the best prognosis is achieved that we have a top dressage instructor come to the yard and he'd already mentioned sid to him. The instructor has already said he'd love to work with sidney to teach him dressage - he's very flashy looking with bags of attitude.

He's hubbys horse, hubby learnt to ride on him, but ultimately hubby does not want to do dressage - he's a jump man pure and simple. But he adores sidney and will do anything to do right by him. He won't see him bounced around bad homes or the sales and if push came to shove then hubby would rather never have another horse and pay to keep sidney.

The YO basically said last night - well get him sound, do some training with him and sell him as a schooling / hacking / dressage horse. Or (better in my eyes) loan him for the same thing.
Hubby then gets a horse capable of the kind of jumping he wants to do and all is well in the world.
I guess my question is - is that kind of horse attractive to people? What would he have to be able to do? Do people take a horse on with a known medical condition (we'd never ever lie to anyone about it)?

My dream solution is we found someone who wanted to loan him permenantly, he stayed at the yard with the new owners, we could see that they weren't making him jump and he goes on to give them years of pleasure. But this is the real world.

Now we might never get there with sidney but I guess i want a sanity check before hubby starts thinking this might be a viable option (loaning him I mean) and actually no one would touch him with a barge pole.
 
I think there are definately people that would take on a horse once sound that is capable of hacking/schooling/dressage as I know alot of people who quivver at the thought of jumping !
As long as he is reasonably well behaved and doesn't have behaviuoral (sp) problems along with his foot .
People do take on horses with pre-exsisting medical conditions especially as by what you've said it is just a problem with his soundness ?
Sorry if I have read it wrong
 
I think people do want that type of horse, remember some strange people do not like jumping! Good luck with his recovery.
 
I did
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I took D on with knowing he had a joint problem and had been hobdayed, at the time of meeting him he was lame. I still had him on loan for 9 months and then went and bought him. Retired him in January this year where he spent a happy 4 months before ,well you know the rest.
I don't regret having/buying him at all in fact I think I was lucky to have him
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So yes there are people that would take your boy on out there
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I hope the general opinion is "yes that is possible" as I am potentially in the same situation.

I do know of one horse that was initially loaned to a dressage rider and doing very well indeed. The owner was told never to jump him again & this has given him a new life. So I do think there are people out there who would appreciate a nice dressage horse but it probably will take time to find the right person and who will be close enough to keep an eye on him.

Best of luck.
 
If he is up for dressage and you are up front about his injury, even maybe agreeing to cover costs relating to this if it was to reoccur, you will have no problem finding a loaner, there are loads of people who don't jump and would cut their arm off for a good dressage horse to compete on, or even to just hack about on and gain confidence on a good horse, a lot of loan horses are old hunter types who cant be jumped due to spavins etc.
 
He is well behaved under saddle and usually on the ground although at the moment is a bit of a handful as he's bored and full of spring grass!
He does however need a confident rider. He will forgive bad riding and sort himself out for you every time but if you're nervous he picks up on it. Hubby learnt to ride on him and got on great with him - hubby might not be very skilled but is totally fearless therefore sid has never once pratted about with him. I'm a nervous rider and he and I were not a good partnership.
 
a lot of people would want that type of horse very good idea loaning him no chance of him gettin passed on and on then i am one of those strange people that do not like jumping lol used 2 but lost confidence in uni good luck x
 
I honestly don't think you would have a problem , aslong as there is no bucking/rearing/spinning etc. (although there are some people that like that too
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Good luck with his recovery .
 
I have a dressage horse that simply won't jump because he hates it! He is very talented as a dressage horse and it is definitely where his talents lie so although it would be nice if he would jump as well, the fact that he learnt piaffe in less than an hour more then compensates!

Remember there are quite a few RC type people out there that enjoy dressage because they don't jump for either medical reasons or because they are scared of jumping or some who simply don't enjoy it. If Sid has got a good enough temperament to teach your OH to ride then I suspect he must be generally quite sane so a lot of people would be delighted to have a flash horse to enjoy, even if he can't go jumping. Also, people will consider horses with problems like Sids dodgy joint on a loan horse whereas on a horse they are purchasing then they wouldn't even think about considering the horse. Why don't you try your local RC assuming Sid comes back sound again?
 
I think so long as you are honest about his condition there wouldnt be a problem. Not everyone is 'into' jumping..I know people who only 'do' dressage and have no intention of jumping!!
I bought my horse knowing there was problems and all I expected was to hack her - once we could get on her(!)...as it was we did dressage and jumped which I always counted as added bonus.
Good luck with your boy and whatever you decide to do...
 
Yep, wholly agree there are tonnes of peopel out there who only enjoy dressage and the odd hack and if he's capable of good RC or even higher level dressage i don't think you'd have a problem at all. I think the only slight issue would be his height to be honest but many people are not concerned by that. I think loaning is probably the bets idea - I bet there are many people out there who could not afford to buy a horse of the standard Sidney sounds like he is and, provided they fully understood his physical condition and limits am sure they'd be delighted to have the opportunity to ride him!
 
I have read some of your posts & I hate to put a downer on things but in reality, My horse was diagnosed with mild arthritis of the Coffin joint last May, He stayed pretty sound through the last year but, he is gradually getting worse, He is fine hacking but cant school at all, its the circles that cause the problems. If you horse did come sound you have no way of telling how long he will stay sound. If you put him on loan you run the risk of having to have him back @ short notice, I would also worry that who ever had the horse was looking after him & only doing the kind of work that he's intended for. I have resided to the fact that I will keep my boy hacking until, he cant any more then I will retire him, he to is young only 13! its heart breaking, we went from BSJA to happy hack over night I could still cry over it.
 
My old YO bought an ex-showjumper to do dressage on. He couldn't jump anymore because of knee and back problems. She competed him for three years before he had to retire to a happy hacker - he was nearly 16 when she bought him tho.
 
I know someone who is looking for something over 17hh to do dressage and hacking on - she has another horse for jumping etc but he doesnt have enough talent for dressage which is her main thing. She is actually looking for something that she can train as well so it wouldnt matter if he were green i.e. you dont need to spend loads on training him before loaning him.

The point is - I think you will be beating people off with a stick.
 
I am sorry but you are being seriously lead up the garden path by your yard owner.

If a horse will go lame show jumping it will go even lamer doing dressage.

Your choice is either to keep the horse as a pet or put it down.
 
My first loan horse couldn't jump due to spavins, I took her on knowing I'd never get to jump her, and had a fabulous time before losing her to colic
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Not everyone wants to jump, in fact I know a LOT of people who aren't interested in it.

Personally I wouldn't sell Sid, unless you were 100% confident the new owners would care for him as you do, and understand his problems.
I think loaning him would be a good idea, if you found the right person, and keep him on the same yard, so you can make sure he's ok.
 
I wouldn't rule out taking a horse with a condition such as yours has on loan, but I would probably not consider buying it unless it was very cheap. If he is a good hacking type horse and would be up to a bit of low level dressage then I think you would find someone to take him on. I would if I didn't already have my two, as I can take or leave jumping!!

The only problem will be if he goes permanently lame and is completely unrideable - then you'll get him back sharpish and will have a difficult decision to make.
 
I'm afraid I am with Charlie77, I don't think finding a suitable loan home for this horse will be walk in the park. Not many people looking for a hack / low key dressage horse would want something that size, especially if he is a bit bright. Flashy looking with attitude is great for a young horse with potential, but does not make the easiest ride for somene wanting to do a bit of novice dressage. A more experienced rider who could produce a good test on him would probably want to progress up the grades - even at elementary you are looking at 10m circles which puts a lot more stress on the feet especially in such a big horse.

Sorry if this is not what you want to hear, and I wish you the best of luck finding him a lovely home, but personally I don't think you will have people forming a queue fro him.
 
I dont think that's true - my friend who is looking for something over 17hh needs something over 17hh as she is so tall and has very long legs. She is a very good rider, but she doesnt have the desire to do lots of serious competing - just does local stuff for fun. However as she doesnt have the funds to buy such a horse, she is looking for one on loan.

I had another friend (again a very good rider) who bought a 17.3hh warmblood who had navicular which meant that he couldnt jump. She wasnt bothered about jumping but loved dressage and he did really well and was working medium at home. He was sadly pts this year at 19.

Agreed - if someone wanted him for "serious" competitions then he may not be up to it, but it will all depend on whether he comes sound and for what amount of work i.e. light hack only or full work but no jumping. The problem would be finding a way to monitor the situation so that he wasnt being pushed further than he is comfortable with.
 
Hmm. Not sure what OP meant when they posted horse will go more lame doing dressage than SJ, particularly if vet has recommended that? I don't really get it but perhaps they can re-post to explain. I guess we might be talking about different levels - for hacking and a bit of prelim versus maybe intensive 6/7 days an hour plus schooling to get to grand prix level?

Would a sharer be an option - then you get some financial contribution, but get to see & control what gets done with him?
 
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