Unusual help needed...

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sassyequine

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I am in a sad situation with my much loved 6 yr old warmblood and as a last chance it would be great to see if anyone has any ideas. The history as short as possible... I bought him a yr ago to showjump, he was competing at newcomers. 3 wks in he went lame with suspensory desmitis and then 3 months into treatment pulled his stifle. 10 months on He has had an operation and treatment and is successfully sound on the flat although must not jump again. On top of that he has developed pretty bad behaviour due to time off and general youngness however it is mainly with me. After a while of trying to overcome it I have lost my confidence (something I never thought would happen), he started to spin and buck when I was bringing him back through rehab and we thought it would calm down. It hasnt gone away with me as he has learnt he can get away with it, he is currently with a friend who is one of the world class potential dressage sqaud and I have been to ride him today. His view is he has been able to work him through it but because he is making me nervous he continues to do it with me, he thinks I need a clean break before I loose any more confidence. He is very well bred (Landgraff) and has great paces, although his basic training is lacking due to length of time off. I need to find an option for him as I cannot continue to afford him when he is not going to SJ which is what I do or be quiet enough on the flat for me. I am totally devestated as I have nursed him through the last 10 months and adore him. He is great to handle and is the sort of horse that would be a super horse whispering demo horse. We believe that for someone who is experienced and confident he will make a super dressage horse, I dont want to sell him for lots as I want someone to accept he must'nt jump, he really would be a project. The trouble is I cant see how Im going to sell him and am running out of other options. All thoughts or suggestions are welcome?
 
Im not in a dissimilar situation myself. I have a 6yo horse that realistically I need to sell; he can still do everything, but he cant do any fast work outside an arena & he has the potential to go lame at any point, possibly to the stage where he wont be able to work at all. So I can fully appreciate your situation.

If he has dressage potential couldnt you leave him with the current trainer for a few months & allow him to build some points on him, then he might be easier to sell? I dont think it is impossible to sell these horsea, just a bit tricky, even if everything appears sound on paper it doesnt necessarily mean that they are actually sound. Alternatively maybe a young rider somewhere would buy him as a project? Or maybe you could try and claim a loss of use & put him out on loan?

Alternatively maybe we could retire both our 6yo's together & give up horses completely, as they are just plain stressful!
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I think your last option is looking favourable after today! Unfortunately the livery where he is is £900 a month, short of selling my house and living in a tent I cant afford it! Otherwise I would leave him there to qualify etc. Good luck with yours, I hope it is not as stressful as mine.
 
Could you prehaps loan him to someone, a dressage rider, stating that he needs an experienced rider. There are a lot of riders who seem happy never to jump that i know and i'm sure someone would love the chance to take on a horse with as much potential as yours, you would just need to find the right person who was confident enough to cope.

Also, £900 a month livery! That's loads, surely there must be somewhere cheaper nearby, still with good facilities, I'm guessing he's either on part or full livery, prehaps you could find a sharer to keep the costs down?
 
Surely your friend will have contacts and know someone who might be able to take him on further even if it is on loan.
I feel so sorry for you I'm sure he was your dream horse and it hasn't worked out .We had this I bought my daughter what I thought was a super horse but it was a disaster and broke her leg eventually after spending a small fortune on it we put it in part exchange with a small time dealer ,it was turned out to have a rest for a month but two weeks later died of liver failure, it must have been in pain for ages [we spent a fortune at a top vets on his back but they never found or suspected anything like that]
We lost a lot of money on him but have moved on,I hope your friend can advise you as they know you and the horse
 
Thank you for all the kind words. It is extremely stressful and heart breaking as he was my dream horse. The livery is full as I work overseas frequently so have to have 100% care and love when Im away overnight. The cost is because Im paying for schooling to try and resolve the behaviour, which to be fair it has with him just not me!
I spoke to a lot of the dressage riders today at the young horse qualifier and they are not interested as he is too far behind for his age! So I am going to try and find an experienced non-professional who would not be intimidated by him!
 
Being totally honest and practical now. I think you will have a very hard time finding a suitable loan home willing to take your fella due to his problems and of course if those get sorted he still has his lifetime physical limitations. At £900 a month and no pleasure at the end of it I would be cutting my losses and selling him to a dealer being honest about his issues, or at the sales without a warrenty, or at a last resort if you can't face those options then putting him to sleep. I will run off now before I get big time slated but realistically what sort of a long term future does this young horse have ??
 
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