To sell or not to sell? Have you ever sold and regretted it?

C

Coffee_Bean

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This could turn out to be long!!
I have a 15hh trakehner mare, who is very lightweight. I am 5ft7. I am getting tall on her, but the thing is I don't know if I can part with her, she is my first horse and I've had her nearly 2.5 years. She is a great little mare, and in a way I think I am mad to want something more.

I just feel like I am getting too big and too leggy for her, but she's my baby. I can't see myself keeping her for next 10 years as my only horse
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And I know that having 2 will definately not be an option for at least another 9 years- it will be a stretch to be able to keep 1 through uni let alone 2. So if I did have to sell before uni, I would be better to sell her now and get something to bring on for a few years- as she is much more saleable at 10 than 14. Having spoken to my instructor- she says she is a lovely mare, perfect for RC/PC activities,and I have all the support I need to buy a new youngster to work with.

If I did sell I would then be looking for my horse of a lifetime (without meaning to sound to cliche
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) but with a budget of about £3-3.5k depending on how much I get for B and how much I've managed to save- which may well be an impossible task?!!?

I think I need to face the fact that I need something bigger. Selling her will never be easy,and is never going to get any easier. It will break my heart to see someone drive away with her, knowing that she is no longer mine to love and protect, and knowing that there is a chance I will never see her again
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I have never sold a horse before, and I am so so attached to her, but I know that I probably need to move on.

I just don't even know how to do it. Has anyone ever sold a horse and regretted it? I am so terrified of selling her and regretting it for the rest of my life, and so worried about her being passed on from pillar to post for the rest of her life. But at the same time I want to get something new, have a new challenge... but will I be able to move on?!?!?

FYI I would be looking at selling her august time, after exams and after I've been away. *sigh* Any advice/experiences appreciated!!
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What would you look to buy? Mare or gelding? How old? Schoolmaster? Youngster? Something in between? What sort of breeds?

If answering any of those questions gave you even the slightest glimmer of excitement it is time to acknowledge that you need a new beasty. It might seem sad now but to have written your thread you must already be thinking about it? IMHO I think it sounds like a good plan
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Yes I've been thinking about it on and off for a year now! But I am never 100% enough to bite the bullet and do it.

When I imagine bringing home a 16.2hh, steel grey, 5yo, warmblood mare (dream horse lol!!) I do get excited, but the thought of selling B is also heartbreaking!! Do you ever get over it??

Thank you though, its a good way to look at things
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Yep it is tough, I sold my competition horse last year and brought an unbroken boy to bring on as a replacement. It broke my heart to sell Jack but I didn't have the time to go off to parties with him and its what he needed to be doing. Bentley the new boy is lovely and coming on really well but every time I hear from Sarah (the new owner) she and Jack are off winning or getting placed
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I admit I do get jealous but it is mixed with the biggest amount of maternal pride (I got him as a 5yr old who had been broken and turned away and sold him as a 9yr old who'd done a bit of everything but never really competed that much) and ultimately it is so good to know that he is off having such a good life
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i have one i told my OH id break in then sell (yeah right you might say
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) and when i advertised her i was gutted...i was like a bad customer service on the phone and thinking please dont buy her please dont buy her to viewer (while at the same time being so proud of her behaviour with a new person on her back)
i didnt sell her and only yesterday OH said you know, im glad we didnt sell her she's turned into a stunner

so i get to keep her, ha

but you are right, if you feel she is to small for you now, better to sell her before uni as a 10 yr old, its really hard having a horse and being away at uni, expensive too, also she's doing nothing and growing older...
 
if B is well behaved and generally a sensible ride then finding her a family home where she can do RC/PC and where they will appreciate her and get as much pleasure from her as much as you do then i find it very unlikely that she will get past from pillar to post.
 
Coffee_Bean - I think heading off to University is often the hardest time of your life decision wise.

Though it will be heartbreaking I think you would be sensible to sell her. Four the next fours years you will be working the hardest in your life - I've just done a Business Degree as a mature student and it took over my whole life time wise.

I was fortunate that my horse was only a yearling so didn't require the high level of work that a ridden horse requires. I saw her daily and worked with her at weekends.

She sounds lovely. It's a good time of year to sell and I'm sure that you will find someone who will love her as much as you.
 
I sold a New Forest filly at 3yrs old when I'd bought her from the sales as a weanling.

She was 13.2hh and I'm 5ft 7", so far too small for me. But I loved her all the same.

She'll be 6yrs now. I sold her to a lovely home. But I still miss her and very much regret selling her.

Friends tell me she was much too small. I know that, but I loved her as a pony to have around, not to ride.
 
How old are you? 14?
The likelyhood is that you are going to grow another couple of inches before you level out and if you are feeling a little uncomfortable on her now then those extra inches are going to feel a lot bigger. I think a lot of it is down to personal preference - some may feel comfortable on a horse a little bit shorter than ideal, but others don't (I'm only an inch taller than you and feel too tall for anything under 16.2hh!)
If you can't bear to sell her then have you thought putting her out onto a long term full loan? You could still visit her then to check she is okay and no possibility of being passed from pillar to post.
 
I am going through something pretty similar. . .

I have a 15.3 rising 6YO conni cross. . . .who i love till the end of the world. . . . But recently i have wanted to do more things especially bigger things. . .my dream is to do BE. . . .My lad will do it but i just feel big on him. . .

I have talked to my instructor and other people and we have decided that after this season is over. . .we are going to think about sellign him on. . . he will have hopefully been out at intro with my instructor a few times. . .

I think i am being horrid thinking and getting excited about the prospect of a new horse, when it really breaks my heart but sometimes it is for the best for you and the horse. . .

Think long and hard about it. . .

I would get your exams out of the way. . . and then sit down and have a think. . . i hope it all works out for you what ever you chose!
 
I'm 15 and may well grow a bit more. I'm not heading off to uni just yet- not for another 3 yrs, so thats not the issue, as I would be planning to keep whatever horse I had through uni
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I can't put her out on loan- I would need the money to buy a new horse.

Thanks for everyones inputs
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Tell me about it I know how you feel, posted a post similar yesterday and since then have posted adverts up for my 13.2hh.

After him giving me the nicest ride earlier :/ I feel like I just want to bear hug him and not let him go lol but I think he needs to be out there being some little girl's\boy's dream pony and be able to get out and do pony hunt and compete etc as it's what he loves doing and can't do it with me really. [5ft9/10" and 19 lol]
 
i sold my 15.2hh to years ago (im 5"7/5"8) to buy a better horse. he had won every thing he could and had a fantastic BSJA record but just couldnt go any higher that i wanted to do, i got a fantastic horse in replacement but i regret selling him s much i put my phone number in his passport but they havent contacted me and i dont know where he is and he has been reregistered (called toy prince anyone????) if i ever get the chance to buy him back i will. i dont regret it but i miss him and just wish i could find him
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think long and hard
 
I really really really regret selling shadow (see my before/after post contribution) he was my dream horse- haltented, funny, kind and I loved him. He was doing really well in dressage and felt I coudnt do as well as him- my instructor could counter canter him beautifully when I tried he was wobbly etc. I was also running short of money for lessons so sold him. i think about him every day - no joke- maybe even 10/20 times a day- i still sometimes call my current horse his name by accident. If I could buy him back I would- no matter how much.
 
I know how it feels I have had to recently give up my little 14 HH pony to my brother as I am 16 and was pretty big on her I don't exactly regret it as there was no other option - I had already had her a year longer than planned but am still gutted I didn't have an extra year on her as she had just started PN BE. I think it was harder since I had had her from a 5yo and bought her on. But I know so many people who don't sell soon enough then give up because they lack the motivation.

To cut it short it will be sad but I would still sell.
 
I have only ever sold one horse, my first pony a 12.2 who I had seriously outgrown when I was 13 (he was fine and I was chunky...) I never even advertised him a family approached me at a show... I still regret it to this day and have tried my best to trace him as I would have him back in a heartbeat.

When I bought his replacement I knew it had to be a forever horse (was looking at 15.2 - 16hh as I am only short), unfortunately due to my tiny budget I ended up with a green 5 year old 14.2 which I enjoyed jumping throughout my teenage years but who was meant to be sold on for a bigger horse. 14 years on and I still have him! I could never have sold him, now we do a bit of veteran showing, dressage and pleasure rides.

When I went to Uni I literally turned him away for 3 years having the odd sit on in the holidays (left him at home on full livery) infact if it wasn't for him I would have given up on horses / riding.

IMHO I think you need to decide what job you want the horse for, if you want to hack out, local shows etc why sell a horse you clearly love. If you really want to work towards something the horse isn't capable of then it is something you need to consider.
 
is this your first horse? if so it is very, very hard to sell them on... i hated selling my first pony.

i was 15, he was 14.2hh and i sold him and bought an unbroken 17hh 3yro mare.
i was so upset about selling him i didn't name my new horse for about a month and just called her 'the mare' but funnily enough that 'mare' ended up being the most beautiful, lovely horse to work with and we had a fantastic relationship- she would have done anything for me.

unfortunately the story doesn't have a happy ending as she was kicked in the field and broke her leg but i am so glad i sold my pony and bought Lotti as she was wonderful and i don't regret it at all
 
I had the same problem, I knew I was too big though for my 14.2 pony me being 5ft10.
I knew I was too big but it broke my heart thinking about selling her, I loved her so much she was the best pony you could ever have, brought me so much fun, But I like you was thinking about it for a year on and off.

I decided after I had been on holiday I needed to bite the bullet and do it, I couldnt show her in ridden no more as I was way too tall. So I advertised her, I cried doing it. Anyway she was sold within a week to a lovely home, home for life as a mother and daughter share.

I dont regret it as such, I know she is a fab home and gets spoilt, I miss her but I think I always will she was my first horse and is bound to leave a gap but I have a fantastic 17.2 grey irish draught, what I always wanted.

I didnt aim to fill her shoes as nothing could, But I wanted a fun horse that I could do riding club shows and not be told I am too big, and he is very much that. Best decision I ever made I wouldnt have the horse I have now if I didnt.
 
I had my mare from when she was 6 months old til she was 7. She was untouched when I bought her and was my baby. Problem is she was only 13.3hh. She was a chunky cobby type so took up my leg but I still always felt too top heavy to do anything more than inhand showing and hacking with her. And it was a waste of a cracking pony.

I eventually bit the bullet and put her out on loan to a local family who kept her at a yard in my village and they took her to many shows, competing especially successfully in SJ. The asked if they could buy her, and I eventually agreed, selling her to them for much cheaper than she was worth because she was at a good home and was happy and they also agreed that I would have first refusal if they ever wanted to sell her.

Well 8 weeks later she was gone from the field. They had sold her for nearly 8 times what I sold her to them for.
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So yes, I did regret it, not so much because of the money, but because I had been well and truely duped and was worried that my mare was going to be passed from pillar to post.

As it happened, I randomly bumped into a chap in a pub last summer and through conversation discovered that his daughter now owns her, is doing exceptionally well competing and the pony is well loved with a great home so thats good enough for me
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The first horse I bought after having had 10 years off horses was a stunner.....big brave chestnut chunky TB.....he was just too much for me at that time, I did the classic thing of over-horsing myself.....the more I rode him, the fitter he got...you know the situation.

Sold him, got my lad who I have still have and love to bits.....I would never have not had my current horse, but I do sometimes wonder if I did the right thing in selling Badger. He would be right for me now, he just wasnt right for me then. I always wonder where he is and what he's doing.
 
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