should l sell my horse?(long)

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eventersrus

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I adore my horse,l have owned him for 4 years previously had been ridden by top prof. it has taken me a long time to de-stress him,anyway he now has 46 points gone clear round 2 intermediates and also clear round four one stars. Thats the thing l am not sure he is bold enough to go further and have been too scared to ask him,now l dont know whether to sell him and get another or just keep going as we are?? Would happily keep him if l had money to buy another without selling him first!
 
If he has gone clear every time then why would you think that he's not bold enough to go further? Sounds pretty bold to me!! If he's doing this well then surely he will go on?
 
right ok well if he isnt going to do what you want him to do then sell him and let him go to a home where he will be happy and you get another horse that can go further !!

Saying that dont right him off till you have given him a chance to prove himself - have a go at the next level then decide !!
 
I think it might be an idea to get a more experienced rider to take him ride him round cross country and see if he is bold enough to go further. Ask them to assess him and give you their opinion on him. I'm sure you'll have to pay to get someone to do it but I'm sure it would be worthwhile. I'm suggesting this because you say in your post that you have been too scared to ask him. Your horse is possibly picking up on this and may turn into a super bold confident horse capable of going much further if his rider were super bold and confident !!. Does that make sense?
 
Franki,thanks for advice,but l have done several advanced on my previous horse so dont think its experience l am lacking just me being too fond of him or maybe its me thats now happy to stay at this level??? I dont know!
 
Completely agree with franki - sometimes it is all down to the rider, not the horse! If you are worried (beyond the normal comp/moving up a level nerves) then don't do it yourself, pay a professional to ride him round the level he is comfortable at, and maybe up a level and see how he goes.

I do wonder - do you feel totally ready to move up yourself? Because if you don't, then stay where you are - there is no shame in doing that and waiting until you are both bored with the level to move up!
 
who is the brave one out of the two of you? if you are naturally brave, then do some more intermediates next season, see how he copes with them, then do a CIC** (a long Intermediate, really), and if you've had no problems, a few more Is and then a CCI**, with the thought in mind that if he doesn't feel as if he's enjoying it and finding it easy, at any point, you can pull up.
can he jump a big fence or a big combination at home? does he have serious scope?
fwiw, i had a 16h homebred mare who never showed much jump, had the flattest canter ever, no spring at all. she was wussy as a PN, and i thought she'd never go N. she was wussy at N to begin with, then got the hang of it, but i thought she'd never go I. gave her lots of time, until she was whizzing round Ns finding them very easy. started doing Is, thinking all the time that if she wasn't enjoying it, i'd pull up. she did a few seasons of Is, including CIC**s and finally a CCI**, all without xc jumping penalties. my test for whether she was up to a CCI** (which has quite a few A fences) was whether she could jump a 4'6" upright to a 4'6" square parallel at home in the school. if she had scope for that, i was happy to ride her round a CCI**.
it was only at A sj that her lack of scope finally caught up with her, and we tried 2, and both times i pulled out of the xc as she hadn't sjed well enough to convince me. at the CCI**, i decided to play it totally by ear and pull up if she wasn't relishing it. we went round at her speed, all the direct routes, and i've got it on video - she has her ears pricked and a smile on her face the whole way round.
so, i guess what i'm saying is that if you enjoy riding him, and you're quite brave, give it a go.
 
I think that you do know your own horse and if it doesn't feel like he is ready for upgrading then don't do it. I could always tell when my horse was ready for the next level and if you don't feel he is scopey enough, again, don't do it. Other than that, you could give it a go and if he struggles then you will definately know for sure.
 
ok thanks kerilli,l will do that!! We are both brave but l just think he lacks a little boldness,ie. always looks and 'diddles' (technical term!) before jumping steps down sunken roads etc but always goes. Going up a level and jumping things like that l do worry that he will not have enough impulsion to jump through the whole combination does that make sense??
 
my little mare was like that, honestly. she used to drop back to trot when she felt like it just before a fence, as well... she did it at the final water at Weston **, but as i knew she might, it was fine! she always went, and she always got her knees out of the way (my ultimate criteria!), it was just her style.
if he's got the scope, he'll pull it out of the bag if he needs to, i think. if you love him, and love riding him, carry on. i've never regretted giving my mare the chance to compete at that level,even though we weren't exactly competitive. btw i showed my vet the video of her round weston and he couldn't believe she was capable of jumping the fences... i'm sure your lad is a much more impressive specimen! what's his sj like, btw?
 
Sounds to me like your horse is worth his weight in gold if he's done that many clears, and picked up most of those points at Novice level. If you sold him you could waste a lot of time and money trying to find a better model....
 
Did I read somewhere that a horse can jump 4' 6' from a trot?
That isn't a 7' spread I know. But he sounds as though he is looking after himself and you.

You could sell him and then regret it.
 
After reading your origional post, i thought that it was a tricky one.. but on reading all the replies (including yours) it seems clear that you should keep him!!! and progress up the levels yourself..

As Kerilli says.. there are more stepping stones from Int. to Adv. in the form of CIC** and CCI**.. and anyway, you said you've been clear round 2 Int?? which isn't that many in the grand scheme of things, therefore for it to be feeling easy already tells me that your horse has more than enough abality to carry on up the grades..
If i were you, i'd carry on at Int. next spring, aiming for an early CIC** which is a big Int. see how that goes after which you can think about a CCI**, if that goes well, then i'm sure there's no reason why you then couldn't think about doing an Adv.


He sounds like a keeper to me.. horses like yours don't come along every day!!
 
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