Update on bucking new horse

0ldmare

0ldmare

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Just heard back from the old owner. I asked her to take the horse back as it was on a weeks trial (this is the horse who bucks everytime you ask for canter). She says she has spent the money so will either have the horse back and sell it on for me (undefined length of time) or will give me £1500 instead of the £3000 I paid a week ago. Not sure what to do
 
I wouldn't let her have the horse back... you might never see your money again. If you really do not want to keep this horse then I recommend you sell it yourself!
 
I did respond to your original post - feeling that you're being a bit quick to judge this little horse.

Personally I think you're stuck with her - I certainly wouldn't send her back to where she came from as this person doesn't sound particularly legit.
 
If the horse was on a weeks trial, how come you had parted with the cash
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Do you have a written proof of contract that states the horse is on trial !? If not, then i don't fancy your chances.....buyer beware and all that
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She is a private seller, I did pay the money up front, but the weeks trial was agreed in front of a witness (friend was with me). I know some of you think I am being hasty and not giving the horse a fair chance, but am not keen on breaking my neck with this horse. Plus this is supposed to be a dobbin for a novice friend to ride!
 
if the horse was on a weeks trial then you shouldnt have paid anything (apart from an deposit) until the weeks trial was up.

There could be lots of reasons why its bucking when going into canter, does it buck once or bronk contiunously until you trot? If it only bucks once/twice i cant really see the problem. Get its back/teeth/saddle checked out too.

Sorry if this has been said previouly, i missed your original post.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If the horse was on a weeks trial, how come you had parted with the cash
crazy.gif
Do you have a written proof of contract that states the horse is on trial !? If not, then i don't fancy your chances.....buyer beware and all that
tongue.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto

Sorry I missed the earlier posts regarding the problem but you need to give a horse at least a month I think before you see their true colours.

The person who sold you the horse is taking the pee though if she agreed to a trial!
 
It needs to be a written contract stating a trial... was it, or just a verbal one? If verbal I am afraid you do not have a leg to stand on regarding getting your money back. Like I said, if you are not willing to give the horse a bit more time to settle in then i would sell her yourself.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I did respond to your original post - feeling that you're being a bit quick to judge this little horse.

Personally I think you're stuck with her - I certainly wouldn't send her back to where she came from as this person doesn't sound particularly legit.

[/ QUOTE ]


Ditto amymay

But to be honest I wouldnt be parting with any money if she was on a weeks trial .
If she wasnt going to allow the weeks trial knowing about the bucking problems ( possibly even if i wouldnt have known) I wouldnt have taken her .... What I am trying to say is I would have liked a trial and def would not have parted with money .



and yes it was all english with a little bit of irish thrown in for good measure :P
 
A few bucks does not mean that you're going to break your neck - unless of course you feel the horse was actually trying to get you off, acting in a dangerous manner.

Even the most placid of animals will act out occassionaly - and perhaps there is a bigger picture that you need to consider.

Presumably as someone who, by their own admission, is not great at making equine choices you took a professional along with you who could give a fair and unbiased assessment of the horse that you bought???
 
Is it a bronco thing (ie pain) or excitement?

Sounds like possibly a saddle/back thing - if you are lumbered with her, then it's worth getting these checked out before you sell her.

Didn't see your original post x
 
I reckon you are stuck with her as has been said before have back, teeth etc checked and give her time to settles in. Then get someone else to try her for you or at least watch you and see what the problem is then you know whether it is easy to solve. Pity that you handed over the cash.
 
Amy May and Stimpy, not sure why the bucks. They happened everytime I asked for canter and continued until we had bucked to a standstill (other than when I smacked her mid buck and we zoomed around the menage). They werent joyful 'Whey Hey' bucks, they felt like they definitely intended to remove me. I agree I have been silly parting with all the money and silly not to take a professional with me. Also that I trusted the 'trial' and overlooked the fact that I was only able to hack her up and down the road in walk and trot when I tried her. You are right I think I have to sell her myself, but that implies I need to crack the bucking which might be impossible if its ingrained (added to which I am seriously lacking in nerve at the moment!)
 
Maybe try riding in spurs so you don't have to hit her? Not sure if you're needing to use the whip to move her forward or not!

Get her checked out - you're fighting a loosing battle if there's something wrong with her!

If there's not, then do you feel confident to ride her out of it? Keep her moving forward etc. Hack her out - does she do it then? Does she buck on the lunge?

You have to make the best of a shitty situation and get to the root of this.

There's always small claims court of course - you've had the horse for a week and the owner hid the fact that she bucks so badly from you.
 
I would get a trainer up asap, someone that has been recommended and see what they say about the bucking when they ride her. At least then you will know more about the situation and have someone there to help you.
 
Dont know about lunging, am going to lunge her later after the farrier has been (feet are diabolical). Will let you know what happens.... Thanks for all your help, at least you dont feel quite so alone when there are such nice people on this forum to help!
 
I'm sorry but I wouldn't send her back at all.

As I said to you in the post yesterday, my own horse displayed similar behaviour repeatedly when I tried to school in the first week or so after I bought her. Worse for me was that Patches refused to behave at anything but the walk. This is why I consciously decided not to attempt to school her for a month or so and just let her chill out hacking.

If this horse is only bucking in canter, I would take her out on hack upon hack to build up her confidence and trust in you, and of course vice versa. It will also give her plenty of time to adjust to the feel of you as her rider on her back. I ride much longer than Patches old owner and Patches hated my applying the leg, this is what made her react. She got used to me out hacking, without the pressure of schooling, and it paid dividends.

I could sell you Patches today and I know, hand on heart, that she is suitable as a confidence giver for a complete beginner under saddle. (bit bolshy from the ground so not for a beginner to handle but you get the picture). I have no doubt that you'd also be asking me to take Patches back as I know exactly how she'd behave when she moved to you for the first few weeks having experienced it myself.

Why can't you just lay off the canter work for a bit? How big is the saddle? Are you taller or fuller figured than the previous owner? Do you sit more to the back of the cantle on her? Is the saddle too far back, sitting over her loins or forwards and pinching her shoulders? I really would try the lungeing with and without tack to see if she shows any resentment to the saddle (although I appreciate she'd show more resentment with weight in the saddle).

I have a lovely friend who's been going through a similar problem. Her old mare has tendon problems and can't do more than light hacking. She's been through three horses in a few months in her search for a replacement. All these horses start off well and were fine for previous owners but end up bucking, napping atrociously and even rearing when she rides them. Not every horse can be "bad" of "duff" as you hear people refer to them. The common factor for my friend....was her! The latest horse has been moved to a mutual friends where he was ridden daily and didn't put a foot wrong. He was sold yesterday after a month with her. My friend has now decided to concentrate on some lessons to build her confidence back up before starting the search again.

Sometimes when you expect things to go wrong, very often they will.

I do hope you manage to rectify the situation. However, I don't believe there are any real 100% dobbins out there. Every horse has it's quirks.

EDITED TO ADD: I'd also get the teeth and her back/saddle checked. If you're a bit nervous you could be holding her in a tighter contact than she's used to which could heighten and pain in her mouth. Get a good Osteo to check her back over. They are a combination of a physio and a chiropractor so a good "one stop shop" for you in this situation.
 
Get all this in WRITING. Now write to the seller sayying that the £1500 offered is not the price you paid for the horse etc etc. It is not BUYER BEWARE. you have your rights. The horse is NOT as discribed and you have a witness. You must write and pursue to small claims court. Keep at it, if this woman has offered you half the money she will offer the full ammount to avoid court as she wont have a leg to stand on. You'll need a report from someone experianced tho.. Dont be bullied.. Good luck...
 
One I do think you need to get the ball rolling with regard to getting your money back, BUT I also think you need to remember horses are not machines. They take time to settle, you are new to her, so why should she trust you? Suitable for a novice does mean that she should not have these issues, but then if she was settled at home the previous owner may well not have had these problems. It is difficult because none of us are there to see what is happening. I would never have parted with 3k without this trial being in writting, & it does seem odd the previous owner has spent the money knowing she was still on trial. I think you may be going legal with this. In the meantime I would get a good instructor out (if you have ruled out everything else). For 3k though I would have expected her to have had reg routine teeth, back etc checks.
 
Countless horses never see a "back person" and it's amazing how many are never vaccinated or seen by a dentist or ever have a saddler check the fit of their saddle. It would be naive to assume that the horse had received such treatment..."just because" we'd have offered it had they been in our care.

In today's market, £3k isn't that much especially when you're purchasing a horse supposedly 100% for complete beginners. In my experience, I would take with a pinch of salt any claims of saddler fitters, dentistry and the likes unless I had evidence to support it.

Alot of owners only seek professional help when their horse's show signs of a problem, not routine (I hasten to add I do have all these things checked routinely)
 
Well judging by how slow the market is at the moment, I think 3k is a lot of money. It certainly has turned out to be a huge amount for this one. And why should you not expect a horse of this value to have been properly looked after? I know not everyone believes that reg checks are necessary, but then perhaps that is a sign of someone not caring about their horse. And if they can't be bothered to ensure their horse is happy, perhaps they can't be bothered to tell the truth about it's behaviour. There is too much education available via equestrian mags, books, etc for owners to ignore the basics of horse ownership. Ignorance is not a cop out anymore.
 
Perhaps you should get some proper legal advice? Also write down everything you can - i.e. what was said when you went to buy the horse, what facilities they had for trying the horse etc. It sounds as if they deliberately misled you in sellling a horse suitable for a novice that clearly isn't. You may well be able to make a claim for your money back. Definitely get the horse's back and teeth checked and an expert saddle fitter out. This behaviour sounds as if it is pain related rather than good old high spirits, especially as the horse is good in walk and trot. Don't even ask for canter until you have had everything checked out. Do lots of hacking out and the first time you ask for canter, make sure it is uphill. I think you have got to pesevere for a while if you choose to try and re-sell this horse.
 
That's not what I meant. I'm sure I wasn't that vague with the point I was trying to convey.

Wouldn't matter to me if a horse was £800 or £8000 you can't assume per se, unless you have actual documentary evidence, that any horse has had the routine care the seller claims it has. Just because you or I routinely have teeth, back and tack checked, doesn't mean everyone else bothers.

I'm not saying £3000 is a cheap horse. I didn't pay that much for my horse (she was £2750 naked). In today's market though, certainly around my area, £3k is on the cheaper side of a horse that's supposed to be bombproof. Of course £3k is far too much to pay for a horse with "issues". However, does this horse really have issues or does it just need time to adjust to it's new surroundings?

 
Sorry to hear that. If she is a private seller then you don't really have a leg to stand on I'm afraid.....caveat emptor.

I think it is a shame that you are giving up on this horse; but you have to do what you have to do.
 
Whenever I have let a horse go on a weeks trial I have insisted that they pay up front and written on the receipt about the trial. At least then you can be sure the person is serious about having your horse and not just out for a jolly. I don't think you have done anything wrong by paying in full. If you really don't like the horse and it is on a trial you need to take it back and demand all the money. You don't want her selling it for you as that could take forever. Don't accept £1,500. Do you have any big friends who you can take with you to go see her?
 
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