To sell or not to sell

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tubby1

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I'm currently thinking of selling my horse & wonder g if it's the right thing to do. I've had her for a year & she is my first horse. I think I was naive in buying her coz she was a green 6 year old with a few quirks. It's been going ok although I do find riding her quite stress full. On the ground she is a lovely girl but needs confident handling . She also needs a confident rider. She bucked me off a few weeks ago & to be honest I don't trust her anymore & my confidence is knocked. I just want to enjoy my hobby without being totally stressed about riding & she needs ridden everyday. I don't want a plod but maybe something older that's been there would be more suitable. It's a rambling post but I'm torn my heart wants to keep her but my head tells me she's not the right horse . X
 
Lots of people in similar situations at the moment and some good advice if you look up similar posts. At the end of the day it's a hobby and supposed to be fun! Absolutely no shame in deciding that a horse is not suited to you and that you and she would be better off if she found somewhere else
 
I was faced with a similar situation a year ago with a young green 4 year old , had nasty accident and thought I was gonna lose my leg, anyway I stuck with it but spend a lot of money getting him professionally schooled , and now we fine. But he was not my first horse I've had horses for 25 years so I new with some help I could get through but I understand what it feels like to be worried riding your horse and its not a nice feeling. You sound sensible and also sound like you know what the right thing for you to do is.

Put it this way it's not worth ending up in a wheel chair or worse because of a horse and what happened to me last year really put things in perspective for me. And if my boy had kept throwing me I would of sold him because no horse is worth breaking your neck for. Put your safety and happiness first. If you part with him I'm sure the next owner will love him as much as you do. So don't beat yourself up.
 
It is a difficult time to sell a horse, so if it was me (OK I was in the same position several years ago but battled on), I would take a double edged approach. I would start looking for a good home, but also use the time productively to try and get the information I need to start dealing with the problem, so I can a least learn from this situation and be more likely to find the horse a good home and a good future for the animal - I feel you have a responsibility to do this if nothing else.

If you can, while you are looking for a new home for your horse, pick some problems, probably on the ground and try and find a way to improve her confidence. Then if you can't find a new home, you may have found that you have started to build a basis of trust. Also, try if you can to find some good people to help you find the right steps. If you are really stuck, I think the 'Hannah Dawson' web site may give some inspiration of improving ground manners/confidence.

Good luck.
 
Polos Mum said:
Lots of people in similar situations at the moment and some good advice if you look up similar posts. At the end of the day it's a hobby and supposed to be fun! Absolutely no shame in deciding that a horse is not suited to you and that you and she would be better off if she found somewhere else
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Could not have put it better myself /\
You must do what is right for you, if you feel your not matched with your horse and not enjoying it you should find another one that does suit, they are much too expensive to make do and not be happy with your horsey. Good luck with it, its not an easy decision to make, but it is sometimes the right thing to do
 
are you having lessons on your horse?
How experienced a rider were you when you bought her a year ago? Had you been riding long? You said she has some quirks - what are they?

It sounds like you need some help with her...sometimes things like this happen to the best of us, and us riders can lose our confidence after a fall. A knee jerk reaction to sell her may not be what's needed.

Like canteron said, you need to look at it from different perspectives.
I would suggest also looking at the management of the horse - what is she getting as feed? - maybe something in it is making her a bit wired? Have you tried any calmers? Have you tried having a more experienced rider school her regularly?
Any horse, even a plod, can take advantage of a situation, and decide to take control - if they feel the rider is not a strong enough leader. So, changing the horse might not change the problem. It might re-occur if you don't work on yourself as well, and improve your skills in riding, ground handling etc.

So to summarise, look at her feed and nutritional intake. Is she getting enough turnout? When you ride her, what do you do with her? How many times per week is she exercised? Try getting an experienced confident rider to ride her, then ask them to help you with her. Get some regular lessons booked in for yourself with a good trainer. Buy a body protector, so that if you do fall off again, you'll be protected, and always wear a hat. Think about trying a calmer to see if it makes a difference. Try to find a course in ground handling of horses and learn the basics - maybe parelli, natural horsemanship, Australian Horsemanship, or with a local equine behavioural expert. Is she hormonal? maybe a stroppy mare supplement might help?

Given she is your first horse, and she's quite young, you could look at it as an opportunity to learn some new things / new skills. It's a big learning curve with a first horse!!

My current horse threw all sorts of nasty tricks at me for the first year, and I went through this same dilemma as you...however, I've stuck with him, I've learned loads along the way, I learned how he needs to be managed, and he's turned into an amazing horse, and he's made me a much better rider.

Chin up, Keep at it, don't give up.

Good luck. :)
 
Thanks for your replies some very good advice. Andiamo I think her management is ok she get daily turnout , chaff, speedibeet & adlib haylage
 
Sorry silly phone. I have had regular lessons & we have done great over the past year. She has taught me loads. She has reached a point where I don't think I can take her much further she is very clever & needs regularly challenged and varied routine. I am a busy mum & just want to be able to relax & not always have to stress about riding properly or about not doing my best for her. She has knocked my confidence but she has done this before in just not sure I want to go through this every few months.
 
Horses are too expensive to not enjoy.
Bearing in mind she is still a young horse, she could pick up nasty riding/handling habits and if you don't have the experience to nip them in the bud they can turn into a long term problem.

I would say sell her to someone with the correct experience and that has the time for her to reach her full potential.
Don't give up, this can be a hard decision but in the long run you can have a horse you enjoy. If you do sell I'm sure the new owner would be more than happy to allow you to stay in contact her :)
 
What breed is she?

Her diet:
A molassed chaff could make your horse lively if she is sensitive. Also, speedibeet can do the same. I can't give either of these things to my sensitive horse or he'd be unrideable.
Haylage also has a much higher sugar content that just hay. It sounds like she is getting too many calories / too high a sugar content. If she is naturally a high energy horse, her diet could be making things worse.

If she calmed down with a change of diet, would you keep her? Or are you at the end of your tether? Not all at once, but you could gradually try switching her feed to a very low sugar one, grain free (keep it less than 7% for sensitive horses), I feed A&P Fast Fibre to mine for the same reason. Simple Systems do some good feeds, and also check out the Pure Feed Company.

You could also start mixing some soaked hay into the haylage over a couple of weeks until she is completely on hay only, no haylage. For these dietary changes to have an effect, you'd be looking at giving her at least a month to enable her to adapt. In the meantime, you could also have someone take some nice pictures of her, and do a ridden video, so that you can start advertising her as well. In the time that she is being advertised, she might settle down on her new diet, and you might decide to keep her. But at least you would be keeping your options open.

At the end of the day, there are a lot of things you could potentially change, which could bring about a positive change to her ridden temperament. It's a question of whether you want to give her the benefit of the doubt, and give her time to adjust to a new low sugar diet for instance.

What does she actually do, that makes you feel stressed when riding?
How often are you riding / exercising her on a weekly basis? If she's a lively type, she'll need exercising 5-6 times per week. If your lifestyle is too busy for that, then you are better off to find her another home, with someone who is willing to make that commitment. I know with my horse, that he needs to be worked 5-6 times per week, or he'd go off the rails, and would be very difficult. If my lifestyle did not allow for that, I would find him another home.

I'm taking the time to respond properly, because I've been through this same situation. The short responses that people have put up - to just sell her, aren't all that helpful, when it's such a big decision. I hope you'll give her a chance, and have a good look at changing her diet. Maybe get a nutritionist to come to see her, or call the above-mentioned feed companies (they are all specialists in feeding sensitive horses), and explain the problem, and they'll recommend something.

Keep us updated please!
 
Andiamo again thanks for replying. I currently feed her on cool fibre which I thought had low sugar but its certainly worth looking into her diet I will give company's a call tommorow . I will also get some hay & try mixing it with her haylage . I was riding 5 times a week but have been finding excuses not to ride so she probably isn't getting worked enough. ( my bad) I'm going to get a body protector tommorow & have just downloaded a self hypnosis thing. I'm also going to try to get an instructor to come out maybe daily for a week to try to improve my confidence again . If I do end up selling her I want to do it for the right reason not because I've lost my nerve.
 
I would also get some Bachs Rescue Remedy, wonderful stuff to take the edge off of the nerves, it has helped me get back in the saddle when I have had some hiccups.

Good luck with your decision, whichever way it goes, I know what it is like to have one that just isn't right for you, as everyone else says, riding should be fun, and only you know if you can get the fun back with your girl, or if you really need someone else.
 
Go with your gut feeling and I feel you want to sell its not a failure to do this.
To me your key point was when you said you dont want to have to ride every day that's the reality of many young horses at that stage many young horses need exactly that six perhaps even seven days a week work some I do twice a day so they get two short periods of work but that's easy for me to say and do .
Horses are fun if you are not having fun make It so you are your horse will be perfect for someone and some where is your next horse waiting for you to find it.
 
do you lunge her before you get on? - just to check her mood, and to get any extra energy out? Which breed is she?
This time of year, they're all feeling fresh. It's cold, they have less turnout /are in their boxes longer, and clipping them can make them even more sensitive when you ride them (because they're cold).
I know mine's been nutty, so I've gone back to lungeing him for a bit before I get on, so he can bronc and buck, and go airborne, without me on him.
Is there a horse walker she could go on for 20 minutes each day?
Have you thought about finding a sharer to ride 2-3 times per week?

Great to hear you're going to get a body protector.

I looked up the Spillers Cool Fibre, but it only lists an analysis, not the ingredients. So, good idea to ring them.

If you still believe she's worth hanging onto, then by all means, take the multi-pronged approach to resolving current issues.
However, if you've fallen out of love, and don't feel you'll get it back, then get some photos done, and get her advertised.

Whatever you decide, good luck.
 
tubby1 said:
Andiamo again thanks for replying. I currently feed her on cool fibre which I thought had low sugar but its certainly worth looking into her diet I will give company's a call tommorow . I will also get some hay & try mixing it with her haylage . I was riding 5 times a week but have been finding excuses not to ride so she probably isn't getting worked enough. ( my bad) I'm going to get a body protector tommorow & have just downloaded a self hypnosis thing. I'm also going to try to get an instructor to come out maybe daily for a week to try to improve my confidence again . If I do end up selling her I want to do it for the right reason not because I've lost my nerve.
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Does she really need any hard feed? Or could you feed her on nothing but hay for a few weeks, to monitor the feect upon her?
 
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