What's your biggest equine mistake???

charlimouse

charlimouse

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Just a musing. Whilst speaking to somebody non horsey the other day thay seemed surprised I have a horse that has lost value since I have owned him. To them they couldn't see the point if the horse is loosing value you should get rid ASAP as far as they were concerned. Like I said this was a completely non horsey person (in fact they race cars), so I did point out the horse is a living being, and you have to do what is right by that horse regardless.

So onto my point. I bought the horse in question to event for £3250 as an unbroken 3yo. He was very smart, fab paces, good conformation, passed a 5 stage vetting......... and within a year was lame. Turns out he has bone spavins in both hocks. After failing to respond to steroids he has just had the hocks treated with alcohol to break down the cartilage, to fuse the small joints of the hock. So after spending thousands getting him to this point, this horse monetary wise is worth meat value, he is not going to jump, he is not going to be able to do high level dressage, he hasn't the brain to hack sensibly. I would say this horse is my biggest equine mistake. However how can you safeguard against this? Is it something that will happen to everybody at some point with horses?

I was speaking to my trainer about this, who deals in top end competition horses. She told me she once bought a horse for £18K, and sold it for £2K. I don't know what was wrong with it, but does this happen to everybody at some point?
 
yes, i think so, unless they're very lucky. i've known lots of people lose ££s on horses, and very few make big money!
my worst was Katy tbh, sailed through 5 stage vetting, vet (a good trusted one) described her as 'the soundest little horse i've vetted for a long time' and yet she's had lots of problems, something going on in front feet. i'm praying that after a few years off to have a foal, 'Dr Green' will have put her right so we can resume her eventing career... she's a good broodmare if nothing else but that was NOT the point! i'd rather not admit how much she cost, but quite a bit more than £5k... :( :( :(
i've had 3 homebreds that never got to a BE event, they cost a fair bit to breed and raise and all had different nightmare problems.
maybe they were my penance for the good ones that didn't cost a lot and went a long way!
 
Horses are complete pot luck.
If it's not medical issues it's personality clashes you have to battle with!

I've learnt a lot from the horsey mistakes I have made along the way. Any money I have lost on horses I try to justify to myself in that I have gained experience!!!! You have to do that or else you'd just commit suicide!!!
 
"So onto my point. I bought the horse in question to event for £3250 as an unbroken 3yo. He was very smart, fab paces, good conformation, passed a 5 stage vetting......... and within a year was lame. Turns out he has bone spavins in both hocks. After failing to respond to steroids he has just had the hocks treated with alcohol to break down the cartilage, to fuse the small joints of the hock. So after spending thousands getting him to this point, this horse monetary wise is worth meat value, he is not going to jump, he is not going to be able to do high level dressage, he hasn't the brain to hack sensibly. I would say this horse is my biggest equine mistake. However how can you safeguard against this? Is it something that will happen to everybody at some point with horses?"



I am in the same position. my horse has DJD in both hocks, I have had him 3yrs and am on my 2nd ins claim. (The first was for ulcers) I am now in the situation where after treatment he is still lame, even if he comes sound he will only be able to do light work or hack, like yours he does not do "light sensible hacking". He won't settle in the field as he feels the need to establish the fact he is the boss everyday and attacks my other one, he kicks and bites him and also rips the rugs worn by other horses. So it is proving to be a very costly equine mistake!
 
A stunning connemara mare, who was meant to take me onto the next level of competing (3'+) when I was 12. Instead, she proved far too much and took total advantage, tanking off with me and then slamming on the brakes. I wasn't good enough for her by a longshot and it destroyed my confidence. Even sadder, my sister clicked with her in every way and needed a new, bigger pony. They were fab together and genuinely could have gone a very long way (pony with form at 3'9 and stunning paces, and a young and confident jockey!) and yet the owner didn't like that plan so took her away.
 
Yes everyone gets ones that go wrong - does not matter if you have loads to deal in but can be a huge hit to a private individual!!
I've never bought an "expensive" horse but I can bet you if I added everything up I have never ever made money on one even when I sold them for more than 3 times what they cost. Horses = money pits. Just some are worse than others :rolleyes:
 
mll said:
"So onto my point. I bought the horse in question to event for £3250 as an unbroken 3yo. He was very smart, fab paces, good conformation, passed a 5 stage vetting......... and within a year was lame. Turns out he has bone spavins in both hocks. After failing to respond to steroids he has just had the hocks treated with alcohol to break down the cartilage, to fuse the small joints of the hock. So after spending thousands getting him to this point, this horse monetary wise is worth meat value, he is not going to jump, he is not going to be able to do high level dressage, he hasn't the brain to hack sensibly. I would say this horse is my biggest equine mistake. However how can you safeguard against this? Is it something that will happen to everybody at some point with horses?"



I am in the same position. my horse has DJD in both hocks, I have had him 3yrs and am on my 2nd ins claim. (The first was for ulcers) I am now in the situation where after treatment he is still lame, even if he comes sound he will only be able to do light work or hack, like yours he does not do "light sensible hacking". He won't settle in the field as he feels the need to establish the fact he is the boss everyday and attacks my other one, he kicks and bites him and also rips the rugs worn by other horses. So it is proving to be a very costly equine mistake!
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I think we must have the same horse :rolleyes:. Mine cannot be turned out in company as he is a bully. He wouldn't be a 'safe, sensible hack' ;), and due to the fact he is just coming into his second week of box rest (out of 6) after having alcohol injected into his hocks we have no idea if he is going to become sound :cool: He is now 6, and done equivalent of about 1 year's worth of on and off work.
 
agree with DHB i think everyone will have had one that goes wrong/ not to plan at some stage.

For me a 5yo that only lasted 2 months in work before being forced into early retirement (worst of all can't breed from her either :( ) but equally i believe things happen for a reason no matter how wrong it seems at the time in my case i ended up getting the bargin and horse of my life which i wouldn't have if said above didn't happen.
 
I don't know. If he doesn't come sound I might have to consider PTS. He is on the waitlist to go to the bloodbank up in Sterlingshire, but at the moment they are full. If he comes sound I will probably school him, and try find a home for him with somebody who just wants low level dressage, although noe sure how feasable finding this type of home would be.
 
I bought a horse about 2 years ago now with view to sell on. He was a v nice horse just lacking in experience and I was convinced that I'd get a hefty profit for him after a summer of going out and about, but I couldn't have been more wrong! He turned out to be a bit of a dodgy sale - they advertised him as no experience outside of home yet I was convinced they'd taken him out and had a bad experience at some point. (I obviously couldn't prove anything though). He was a complete psycho to take to shows, couldn't get him out the starting box, crazy napper, would rear, bolt, you name it. I persevered for longer than I should have but in the end I resigned to the fact he was just dangerous (after breaking a few of my own bones in the process!) and sold him for less than half than I bought him for. I'm pretty sure he's now living the high life in a field with the occasional hack - which is perfect but I can't help but feel annoyed as he did have the ability, just not the brain!

I think everyone has regretted spending the money at some point, buying is quite a big risk in reality!
 
Been there! Bought my horse as 6 year old when the market was good and horses were worth money for £4000. He had done well showing, hunting etc so not silly moeny. Did some pony club on him, he got worse and worse to ride, diagonosed with Kissing spine, whuch has been successfully treated, and we have evented etc now, but there is no way I would get £4000 for him now, even though he has done so much more. He is an insurance write off so if I was lucky I might get £1000 max for him, its very annoying to think of all the work and moeny you put in, and in finacial terms get nothing back. However I don't think, hand on heart I could sell anyways. He is a pet.
 
Would be my first horse. Took a punt on a very promising tb x 4yo with dodgy feet (due to neglect) as very very good farrier (as in team farrier type good!) was confident seeing xrays could sort.

Year later had him put to sleep although feet were slowly improving he was developing back issues (possibly kissing spines!) which meant he was lame three weeks out of four with one or the other. Was mutually agreed between us vet and farrier would be throwing money down drain to persevere never garunteeing a sound horse never mind a competition horse. As he wasn't insured (due to vetting insurance companies refused to cover feet!) spent thousands on vets fees and thousands in terms of his purchase price.
 
My biggest equine regret was not taking on an 11.2hh welshie way back in the 80's when I was about 7. He was a cracking little pony, would be very wicked, yet had the ability to do anything. My brother had him before me, (on loan) and I should of taken him on, but for some unaccountable reason I said 'he was too bouncy'. I really regret that. The pony went back to his owners, and I got a plod along, whom I got very bored of very quickly! (sad, but true). Very slim chance that that little cracking chestnut welshie may still be alive - he would be about 35 now.

One of my biggest 'fails' as a groom was when on work experience at a very big posh stud farm years ago, I was asked to put out £££ mare into X field... only I put her into the wrong field. I was lucky she didn't get kicked, BUT I did realise 30 mins later and rescue her. Whether or not anyone else knew, I don't know!!
 
Such a reassuring thread!!

i've had a selection of mishaps, both very cheap ones, and more expensive ones,

cheapest one was a horse I bought as an unbroken 3yo for £200, produced him to be a fab hunter/team chaser, until aged about 10 he started stopping & after treating for ulcers & having no improvement, we had him diagnosed with KS, made the decision to PTS, as he was not a horse that coped well with box rest/hacking/anything that wasn't hunting/TC, but as he only cost £200, TBH, he was a bargain despite all that!

bought 2 P2Pers one year, in my attempt to win a ladies race, both had won previously under rules, so had bags of talent, the more expensive one was kicked in the field before i'd even started fast work with her, (so i hadn't insured her!!) & the other dropped dead on the gallops mid way through the season

decided breeding one might be easier, 2nd year of breeding them, 1 foal was born with a crooked knee, sent to Liverpool to be pinned,(or whatever it is they do), came home, leg straightened, went back to have pin out, died under anaesthetic. other foal that year was kicked in the field by it's mother, fractured it's shoulder, so that was the end of that!

have had a reasonable few years since, but ALWAYS have in the back of my head that at some point, they will all, at the same time, start breaking, dying, and generally causing great heartache

tonight, after one horse has sliced a massive part of it's foot and another still hasn't got normal blood results & I was moping about the house, my husband suggested that there should be a support group for the husbands/partners of horsey women, so they could compare notes & vets bills!
 
Bought Ulrich for a fiar some of money from Holland as a 5yo, passed 5 stage vetting with X-rays easily. Got him home, worked him for aorund 18 months and then found out he had PSD in both hinds which the vet said would have been there previosu to us owning work had just made it worse, so an operation, lots of box rest and recuperation later and he won't stand up to hard work. We were fortunate in that we got the money back through insurance and vets fees but it was still a nightmare!

I think I have just found a lady who wants him to do hacking and low level stuff.
 
getting involved with the bl***y things in the first place :(

i could be walking about in jimmy choo's and such like ,hitting the town on a sat night and staying in bed all day sundays :p
finger nails that are not full of s***, hair thats not stuck to my head with having a sweaty hat on ,not to mention the tears and stress when things go wrong :(

having a bad day moi ? :)

seriously though i think every one will get a bad one , iv'e never had more than £k to spend on a horse so have always done ok although never really made much profit because i start to enjoy the project horses iv'e had and have always sold with "home more important" than price and by the time i can part with them iv'e spent any profit on livery bills

the only real mistake i made was swopping my old 4x4 for a horse then being promptly hit by a ton of snow and could of done with keeping the jeep really :(
 
Ok, actually glad I'm reading this thread&its not just me. Starting to wonder if the horse I have just bought is my biggest mistake. I lost my gorgeous gelding 4 months ago& just bought a 5 year old lovely dressage youngster. Problem is, and this sounds awful, I don't know if I like him. He is lovely to school but panics horribly when in a trailer.so, i haven't been able to go anywhere or do anything& tbh the thought of being stuck at home makes me feel like giving up. I felt really excited when I got him and now all of my plans seem to have faded away.
I lost my wonderful horse 5 months ago and only had him 2 1/2 years so a bad year :(
 
I think IHW's poInt about experience is very true in my case. On paper my worst mistake was my first horse, aged 15 suddenly able to get a horse of my own having almost given up on the idea after years in riding school. Had several fail vet/disappoint in various ways, so when I found one that passed vet we grabbed her quickly! She was a 5 year old chestnut trakhener mare.... Oops. She bucked me off more times than I could ever count and never really got anywhere with her schooling as I was frankly clueless plus she kept going lame - navicular, broken splint bone, arthritis the list went on! But I still have her almost 15 years later, and she taught me a huge amount about how to sit a buck :) and if I had never owned her, I'd never have coped with my Arab who was a bit of a handful when I first got him, but never to the extent she was!! And if I hadn't had him I wouldn't have improved my riding to the point I have whereby i can now do my youngster justice to a reasonable extent.
So yes she was an expensive mistake in terms of vets fees and bruises! But learnt an awful lot from her and wouldn't change her for the world. She is now enjoying retirement aged 20 in a field with 4 welsh ponies and a donkey!
 
Back in the 80s my family was in to breeding and showing Morgans. My sister bought a yearling colt for $5k, plus 12 promised breedings back to the breeder. He went in to training as a 3 year old. Never managed to really get him backed. Went on to another "big name" trainer who then promised to get him in to the show ring. Never happened. However, a client of his spotted the horse and offered to buy him while in training for $10k. Trainer told her that he was worth far more (like $25k) so she turned it down. He never managed to get in to the show ring. Just a bit sharp ;) Anyway, she brought him home, coudln't really manage as she doesn't ride. I bought him from her for $3K. I got him in to training, gelded him, showed him - he did well. Sold him for $1k! Talk about a downward spiral of worth - but to be honest, some of that was down to falling market and some of was down to the need to sell quick (on both my sister's part and my own).

To me, the biggest mistakes tend to come when I try to put a monetary value on a horse. I'm just not cut out to buy/sell them. ;) My biggest success? Buying a £1 horse that has taught me so much and the best is still yet to come.
 
**she had previously evented and I bought her to SJ. Had lessons with some big names, who all loved her, said she would be the making of me etc etc. Didn't touch a pole ever. Took her out jumping she was fantastic. Had her not even two months, took her out, she jumped the first round clear then stopped at first fence in the J/O and wouldn't jump again.

Had 6 months of investigations, intermittent lameness, trips to RVC etc. Has just had her hocks injected for bone spavin, jumped her Thursday and she was unreal, almost the same horse I bought.

The old saying, never spend what you can't afford to lose couldn't apply more when it comes to horses!
 
Biggest mistake was putting my pony out on loan, he has never been found and I still feel sick as to where he could have ended up. I failed him and for that I will never forgive myself.

Money wise we paid 8k for a mare that never stayed sound but has just bred me a lovely foal and been a fab mum. I don't really want another foal from her but part of me feels otherwise she is just doing nothing.
 
I think anyone that has ever had horses would sympathise with you!! And IME it's always the REALLY good ones that break your heart the most.

My biggest mistake was not progressing with my first event mare more when she was sound and happy, we stayed at a certain level too long when we were both more than ready for more. She then had intermittent lameness (pointing towards navicular) so went off to stud to have a baby and got kicked and broke her leg. Luckily we didn't have to have her PTS as she was weight bearing, but has never been ridden since :(
 
Buying a horse off a dodgy dealer who regularly pops up on here and loosing a lot of money. I learnt my lesson though! Buy through word of mouth and only off people I trust! If not at least have the horse on loan first.

Other than that no mistakes, unless you count being horsie in the first place!! Had ups and downs but wouldn't change them or all the other horses I've been lucky enough to have as part of my life :).
 
Just a thought, but is there anyway to try and minimise the risk of making such mistakes, especially with the lame ones?

I'm just about to buy a horse, and will have it 5 stage vetted, but I also think I should get xrays too - but then again, exactly what is best to xray... the whole horse or just the feet / hocks?

Is it worth the investment of having xrays (which aren't cheap) to try and avoid problems in the future that could have been picked up at the time of purchase? I dont know :(
 
I'm not sure I can call him a mistake. But my biggest equine loss was a horse I bought nearly two years ago.

A stunning 4 year old stallion, my ultimate dream horse I never thought possible to own. He was perfect in every way and he made me feel like I was floating on a cloud every time I was near him. Top trainers rated him highly and he was tipped for the top.

£20,000 worth of vets bills and 14 months on, I had to make the decision to have him put to sleep as he was unable to even live a retired life.

I nearly lost my life to him. Was he a mistake - no. In a warped way I'd do it all again just to have one more day with him.

ETA: This is the reason I haven't posted on here for such a long time.
 
HammieHamlet said:
Just a thought, but is there anyway to try and minimise the risk of making such mistakes, especially with the lame ones?

I'm just about to buy a horse, and will have it 5 stage vetted, but I also think I should get xrays too - but then again, exactly what is best to xray... the whole horse or just the feet / hocks?

Is it worth the investment of having xrays (which aren't cheap) to try and avoid problems in the future that could have been picked up at the time of purchase? I dont know :(
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Xrays are absolutely worth the money. I spent fortunes this Spring on failed vettings but it was money well spent to avoid the heartache that would have occurred if it wasn't for the xrays.
 
charlimouse said:
Just a musing. Whilst speaking to somebody non horsey the other day thay seemed surprised I have a horse that has lost value since I have owned him. To them they couldn't see the point if the horse is loosing value you should get rid ASAP as far as they were concerned. Like I said this was a completely non horsey person (in fact they race cars), so I did point out the horse is a living being, and you have to do what is right by that horse regardless.
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The thing is though that just about everything you ever buy depreciates. And selling when the value is down isn't necessarily the best financial decision.

Cars depreciate much worse than horses. With horses if you buy a 3yo there is a good chance that its value will increase for a few years before it starts to fall off again. If you buy a car the you are guaranteed that from the moment you drive it off the forecourt you will be losing money just as surely as if you were burning fivers. If you bought a brand new Landrover Discovery for £35k last year you would only get £29k for it if you part chopped it a year later.

Then there are houses, does everyone go out and sell their house the minute it loses value? No they sit tight put some time, money and work in and hope that they will be able to sell for as much or more than they bought it for in the end. That is what you tend to do with horses, you don't sell it as soon as it goes lame, you try to get it right to minimise your losses. Most of us don't buy horses to make a profit, we buy them as a hobby or sport or "tool of our trade" and if their value increases that is a bonus. Those who do aim to profit from buying and selling will have multiple animals pass through their hands to spread the risk so that the bad investments are made up for by the good investments.
 
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