Would you get in touch with old owners to find out more?

Abi90

Abi90

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Hi all,

I would really like to find out more about my boys previous life. He came from a dealer, and prior to that he has some vaccination records down in Gloucestershire but no owner recorded on his passport.

The last owner on his passport is the guy who bred him in Ireland and must have sold him on as a 5 year old. I'm very attempted to write to him to try and find out more about the horse, out of interest and in a bid to find out why he worries so much about jumping.

Has anyone else done this? Is it weird? How would you feel as a previous owner, being contacted?
 
Fair point. It was more an info gathering thing, as we've no idea what he's done or where he's been. However, knowing his past doesn't change his current state (which is quite a nice little horse who will be a very nice little horse) as you say
 
There is absolutely no harm in writing - nothing ventured, nothing gained! As others have said you may not hear anything, but then again you might be surprised by a wealth of information/ old photos. I wrote to all the old owners of my mare when I first got her, including the breeder, and got sent lots of lovely photos :)
 
I don't expect to necessarily hear anything back, and given the post round here the letter might not even make it. And owner may have changed address!

He's such a well mannered and loving horse that was clearly treated well as a youngster and had a lot of time and effort put into his start in life so I imagine he's probably remembered. I might send something and just see what happens!
 
I've contacted old owners a few times. Sometimes with very little interest and was pointless others with loads of info and old photos.

I've actually found most old owners on fb so not needed to write letters but I'd say definitely worth a try!
 
While I didn't (thankfully!) get in contact with Ned's old owners/breeder, I did manage to find a lady who looked after him and nursed him back to health. I'm so glad I did as it really explains everything. The poor boy was so badly treated :( It broke my heart reading the messages!! I have her on facebook now and she loves reading about him and seeing pictures! He was taken away from her after she'd put all the hard work in to make him well again and sold in auction, so she assumed she'd never see him again. A few of the horses in her care didn't make it, so she was thrilled to hear Ned was with me and doing well :D
 
Jnhuk said:
Worth a try but don't expect a reply and if you do, then bonus
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This. I did not have breeder details, but emailed the stud of the fabulous stallion, just to say I own Jay Man, and think he is fab (a bit more technically put than that though!).

The stallion owner looked up the mare, and passed my email to the owner. The owner nt oly remembered him, but gave me a load of photos, including a foal photo, where Jay had impossibly long legs and was very sweet!
 
It depends
twice I have done this and both times wished I hadn't. Both horses had history of deliberately bucking riders off. This includes my new 4yr old cob; (
 
If I had any clue who they were yes! Unfortunately mine also came from a dealer and it was years ago before passports. I would love to know anything about her but by now she has spent the majority of her life with me anyway. If you have any details what's the harm in asking? They can only ignore you
 
I contacted the previous owner of a horse I bought a couple of years ago. She seemed really happy to hear from me when she messaged back. She added me on Facebook and now comments or likes every photo or status I put up about him so it does seem like she was genuinely pleased to hear from me.
 
I did but knew his old owner only lived about 10 miles from me. I found her through FB. It was nice to find out his history . She regularly likes and comments on stuff I put on fb about him
 
Thanks guys. Nothing ventured nothing gained so I will send a letter. I may get nothing back but I won't have lost anything!
 
soulfull said:
It depends
twice I have done this and both times wished I hadn't. Both horses had history of deliberately bucking riders off. This includes my new 4yr old cob; (
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But horses don't START by bucking them off deliberately. There is always a reason - often that they're being badly backed in one way or another! And of course - once they've found that bucking gets rid of the pain - or the PITA - they'll keep doing it until someone takes them RIGHT back to the start - having first checked them out for kissing spines or similar!
 
JanetGeorge said:
But horses don't START by bucking them off deliberately. There is always a reason - often that they're being badly backed in one way or another! And of course - once they've found that bucking gets rid of the pain - or the PITA - they'll keep doing it until someone takes them RIGHT back to the start - having first checked them out for kissing spines or similar!
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I totally agree. Teddy has bee re started quietly and slowly and so far has been very good no sign of bucking.
But it does make you more wary than if you never knew it had happened
 
I have done with all my horses,some ive had lovely stories and photos of them as foals ,one in particular i found had been passed around ,overjumped and i wish id not found out, another i discovered shed had a foal as a youngster. As long as youre open to hear anything and dont let it spoil the here and now.
 
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. My friend bought a project horse (honestly sold) who has proven to be lovely but incredibly quirky. She did track down his breeder and then his back story and found out a lot. Breeder was delighted the horse had ended up with someone with the desire and experience to sort said horse out and he is currently working his way up the eventing ladder with no signs of finding his limit. Think this horses quirkyness is bred not trained as found a sibling (same stallion) who behaves in exactly the same way.
 
Yes, I have done. I contacted the previous owners of my son's pony, wrote them a letter and the day it arrived I got a phone call off a very excited old owner. She was thrilled to her about her and been to visit. :)
 
When I bought my mare 15 years ago, I wrote to the last owners who were in Ireland. They sent me a lovely letter to say that they had bought her from the dealer, who only lived down the road from them. They had bred two foals from her, both with very good lineage. They were also able to confirm that she wasn't in foal when sold, which was reassuring as she looked pregnant!

The letter has got lost somewhere; I'm hoping it will turn up during our on going house tidy.
 
Yes I've contacted old owners. I was having lots of issues with a new horse and so wrote to the people on his pass port. I found out good and bad stuff and things that just made me understand a bit more about him. I kept him based on the fact I felt a bit sorry for the poor old thing!
On another note, slightly different but I work on a yard and I absolutely love hearing from owners about how past horses are getting on. Genuinely makes my day :)
 
We are in contact with the breeder of our Connemara, and now have some lovely foaly pictures and they are kept up to date with what she is doing.

Our other pony I was tempted to contact his previous owners (10!) after some behavioural issues which turned out to be caused by pain, but in the end just decided to deal with what we had. I'm still curious as it seems it all stems from an early break in the fetlock joint that the vet thinks was not diagnosed or rested.
 
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