what to do ?

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dickybobx

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I am not sure what to do and to convience the parents. I currently have two horse a 4 year old and a 18 year old. the 18 year old is not really ridable now due to arthritis and lameness. However i have been helping a lady ride her ex race horse couple times a week. and she has offered to give her to me for free and pay for extra lessons as she feels she well be wasted with her.
Now I could not bare to part with either of my horses but I the lady is offering to take the older horse as she wants something to pet and look after. only thing is my parents are not so keen

what do you think?/ how could i convince the parents
 
I'm with your parents I'm afraid. The 18 yr old is your responsibility, either give it a good retirement or pts, unless all 3 of the horses are on the same yard, in which case you could let the other lady spend some time with the retired horse, while you care for the TB.
 
How far away is the lady looking for a pet? Would it be a loan only?

What if she likes having a pet only for the summer and then wants to give her back over winter? Will you be able to have three or will you be happy to return the ex racer.
Why do you need to change the current arrangement?
 
she is half an hour from me. She has had horses all her life but doesnt really ride anymore. I am not sure about return. but I would write a loan arrangement if so. She wants her to go somewhere she is going to get worked and do something.
The ;lessons are for someone that is coming to help with things such as mounting and restarting etc
 
dickybobx said:
yeh that is correct patterdale, she also live 5 mins from my bf house
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Ok, well that doesn't sound so bad on paper.
HOWEVER, when you factor this in -

dickybobx said:
i am having diffulties with the 4 year to mount she moves and runs back
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...it sounds like a bad idea. Spend the money on lessons/training with your own youngster, or sell him on to someone who will.
Problems like this in a 4 year old are usually due to gaps in training. Left unfixed, you can ruin a horse for life at this stage.

Instead of thinking 'oh, my 4 year old has problems so ill just forget him and get something else,' why not try putting your time and resources into sorting him out? Or, like I say, if you don't want to, then sell him.

How old are you OP?
 
dickybobx said:
i am having diffulties with the 4 year to mount she moves and runs back
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amymay said:
So have the lessons for her, instead of investing money, time and effort into yet another horse.
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Seriously? Is that all???!!! My baby boy moves back and my loan girl moves forward. Get over it! Teach some manners. If that's all that's wrong with your four year old you've got it good! I can't believe you have a young horse that won't stand at a mounting block and you want to replace it with another!
 
Just get some help with your 4 year old. If that's all you have to worry about with her then you are very very lucky..!!!
Invest some extra time and money into her by way of lessons/training for you both and you will both reap the rewards. The problem won't just go away without work but such a simple thing to fix with the right training.
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
Just get some help with your 4 year old. If that's all you have to worry about with her then you are very very lucky..!!!
Invest some extra time and money into her by way of lessons/training for you both and you will both reap the rewards. The problem won't just go away without work but such a simple thing to fix with the right training.
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I also have difficulty getting her to load. She has been forced in and now worried. She also plants her feet. Any tips??
I wad not gettin another horse to replace my four year old. Just something else to ride and have to hack with her etc
 
Well you can't hack two horses at once....

Get yourself some professional help, and you'll be fine. Or if ultimately the 4 year old is too much to bring on yourself think about selling her.
 
Queenbee said:
Seriously? Is that all???!!! My baby boy moves back and my loan girl moves forward. Get over it! Teach some manners. If that's all that's wrong with your four year old you've got it good! I can't believe you have a young horse that won't stand at a mounting block and you want to replace it with another!
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I can't see where she said she wants to replace her young horse. Just to have another riding horse, and to let her oldie go off to have an easy life being the pet of an experienced horse person. Don't really see what the issue is
 
Auslander said:
I can't see where she said she wants to replace her young horse. Just to have another riding horse, and to let her oldie go off to have an easy life being the pet of an experienced horse person. Don't really see what the issue is
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One issue is that OP is young, and presumably not in a position to finance two horses including lessons.
[we assume parents are paying for horses].
If OP can't manage her young horse there is no reason to think that the racehorse will be any easier, a few lessons won't help if the OP is basically over-horsed.
Horses which need schooling need a decent rider, a lot of good groundwork, and they usually involve a a fair amount of expense at this stage ......... vets bills, instructors fees, R.C. fees, and so on, it costs twice as much to keep two going apace.
I reckon on 20 hours per week per fit horse, a bit less for two.
Older horses may be cheaper to keep, assuming no vet problems.
 
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auslander. thanks for understanding. I think you understand what i mean.. I am not replacing my four year and i will not get rid of her.. but i have the chance of another ride and someone to look after my older mare who has had years of experience
 
i am 22 years old. The horses are financed by me . I live on a farm so fortunate to get hay and straw free of charge for helping on the farm as return. however everything else is paid by me. I have the money to finance two and i have paid for my horses since i was 17. So sorry but that is not the problem..
 
dickybobx said:
i am 22 years old. The horses are financed by me . I live on a farm so fortunate to get hay and straw free of charge for helping on the farm as return. however everything else is paid by me. I have the money to finance two and i have paid for my horses since i was 17. So sorry but that is not the problem..
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Ok, well, I still think you need to get your four year old sorted, if you can borrow a trailer you might manage to overcome fear of loading using the bucket of oats method, just running her through, it is no good trying to load when you absolutely have to. Even if you feel she is too young to to do much ridden work, you need to spend time overcoming her problems. It usually helps to have someone experienced to help you out, even if it seems an expensive lesson, she needs to get the basics sorted, or will never be reliable.
There are plenty of lads in the borders who can ride her through this if you want to go that way. It is impossible to determine which way to go without seeing her.
 
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yeh i totally understand what you mean. I have a 510 trailer. that i have been trying her in with feed but she is reluctant and shoots back. I am trying to get lessons with her for groundwork , would you know who to reccommend?
my problem is I do not know who to use,. In my opinion she has had very little groundwork and just been sat on and ridden away including jumping. i havent done any jumping with her since i got her last june. due to the fact she is all legs and needs to grown and fill out. she is 16.2 and still growing.
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
Just get some help with your 4 year old. If that's all you have to worry about with her then you are very very lucky..!!!
Invest some extra time and money into her by way of lessons/training for you both and you will both reap the rewards. The problem won't just go away without work but such a simple thing to fix with the right training.
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I can't help but agree here and with MrsD. If you are finding your 4 year old difficult and having problems you will not manage an ex racer who needs retraining and being tought how to be mounted non jockey style - which is what I think you are talking about when you say owner is paying for training?

By all means loan out your older horse to this woman - if thats what you want, it would leave you more time for your 4 yo - but I wouldn't advise on taking this ex racer on as you sound out of your depth with your current 4 yo. Of course we don't have any info on your age OP or on your experience but from what you have given us it doesn't seem to be the ideal ingredients for a successful partnership.
 
I don't know anyone locally, but what I did was find a BHSII, who competes, breaks in young horses, and is over 25, experience counts for a lot.

I got her to start with a lunge lesson, we got a lot of resistance and evasions, but after 30 mins things were going fine. That was enough for one day, we went out for a 15 min ridden hack [he was broken], she walked in front while I sat on top. No napping.

When Richard Maxwell gets horses in for loading training he spends 30 mins working them on the lunge, not "lunging" to get rid of fizz, but to get obedience and overcome both active resistance, which you are experiencing, and passive resistance which tends to be horse thinking, "I'll just do as little as little as I can".

When loading "with the bucket", I have a long lung rein attached [may have a bridle on as well], I let him run back but as soon as he comes forward, reward by voice and with a rub on the face. There is no need to get exasperated. Don't stare them out, just present square on, it is impossible for them to walk forwards if the legs are splayed, so you need to keep persevering, keep the legs moving
A young horse may need to sniff the ramp, but I don t think you are asking too much, but you need to ask every day.
I just need him to go a bit further today than yesterday. End on a good note.
RM reckons a horse that has loaded 200 times is good to go!
 
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Auslander said:
I can't see where she said she wants to replace her young horse. Just to have another riding horse, and to let her oldie go off to have an easy life being the pet of an experienced horse person. Don't really see what the issue is
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This! Besides the lessons on the ex racer will help the op with her youngster. I always ran 2, a young horse and an older, more established horse to be able to relax on. Plus with a more established horse you can work on yourself which again is useful when bringing on a youngster.

OP if you are financing your own horses I don't see why your parents have an issue? Sounds like it could be a good swap.
 
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