The job a horse does once sold. Thoughts & experiences?

[measles]

Thank you again for your thoughts. Largely they are like mine, that there is little we can do to redict the future if she is sold.

blucanoo1990 - I respect everyone's opinions but would be interested to know why a very well bred and well related, talented mare with full recorded breeding whose ridden career has been cut short by injury should not have a job as a broodmare? If horses of her quality are not to be bred from then where are the good horses of the future to come from?

 

[popsdosh]

Blucanoo1990 you are talking out of your backside ,It is one of the advantages when you have well bred mares in that they have another use.

 

[kirstykate]

Why dont you drop AI Scotland an email or MF stud see if they will take her. x

 

[ihatework]

Blucanoo1990 you are talking out of your backside ,It is one of the advantages when you have well bred mares in that they have another use.

I'd argue that it was a perfectly reasonable question to raise.
With the information provided someone not close to the situation wouldn't know if the mare in question suffered an explainable trauma/injury or had an inherant weakness rendering her unsound at 8. The latter (however well bred) you'd want to give serious consideration to before breeding from.

 

[measles]

I'd argue that it was a perfectly reasonable question to raise.
With the information provided someone not close to the situation wouldn't know if the mare in question suffered an explainable trauma/injury or had an inherant weakness rendering her unsound at 8. The latter (however well bred) you'd want to give serious consideration to before breeding from.

Raising the question about whether her lack of soundness should preclude her from being bred from is one I completely understand. I had hoped in my original post to explain clearly that her appropriateness to be bred from has been checked thoroughly and has the blessing of a very senior vet but perhaps I was not sufficiently clear in that.

I do agree entirely that not all mares should be bred from if there are reasons why for some that is not wise. However, this mare is not one of them.

 

[measles]

Why dont you drop AI Scotland an email or MF stud see if they will take her. x

I will pass those on, kirstykate

 

[kit279]

I think if the mare was sold to a proper reputable stud - i.e. one whose primary interest was breeding and selling not riding, there might be a better chance of that outcome. A one-horse owner or breeder situation would give potentially rise to a situation where finances change and money needs to be made or the temptation to 'just have a go' would be greater. Although it is closing down now, something like the Stormhill Stud where the owner is a hobby breeder who takes her breeding very seriously.

 

[SuperH]

Just to add another view.

When I was a teenager I was given a pony that had, several years previously, been written off as unsuitable to be ridden due to injury. She was in her early twenties when I first had her and was sound at walk but not trot. She had been left in a field and was unfit, overweight and stiff. I started hacking her out and gradually she became fitter and sounder. I did local shows with her, one season winning the league showjumping. After a couple of years she didn't want to jump anymore so I did a bit of endurance riding with her instead. As long as we kept a close eye on her former injury and rested her when she needed it she was fine and a very happy pony. When we had to have her pts (unrelated to previous injury) she was 29 and two weeks before had completed a 100 mile ride with no soundness issues whatsoever.

I guess my point is if a horse is unsuitable to be ridden now or in the foreseeable future it doesn't mean they will be unsuitable for life - if my mare had been branded as do not ride she would have missed out on several years of fun.

Finding homes for horses that have issues is always tricky, I understand that you don't want her to be passed around, misused or sold as something she isn't. Ultimately though if you want control over her future then you have to own her, once someone else owns her it is out of your hands.

 

[lauraandjack]

Unfortunately I think the only way you can truly control the destiny of a horse is to a) keep it yourself or b) have it humanely euthanased if this is the only other option.

Once a horse has left your possession you have no control over (and really, no right to dictate) what it can or cannot do, as it is no longer yours.

Selling with caveats or loaning are all well and good, but people's circumstances change and there are always those who talk the talk but are just out to make a quick buck.