would you sell your quality horse to ??

soulfull

soulfull

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taking into account that the horse had a suitable temperament

Someone who wanted a really quality horse but only wanted to start with RC and unaffil DR & SJ but maybe never do any more

So an average riding club rider who was a bit rusty, a bit overweight due to not being able to ride much for a while (horse and rider lameness over last 3 years)

But wanted something that would go on and do well when she was ready

Also wanted as her best friend
 
horses do not care whether they compete at a high level, they only care that they are fed and well looked after. if this person is going to give your horse a good life and look after it well and you receive the financial compensation you want, you should be satisfied.
 
I would as I think the horse doesn't care what he's doing as long as he's well cared for but I wouldn't sell any cheaper than the value of the horse if that makes sense!
 
Yes. When I was trying to sell the GBO one lady who loved him and came back 3 times wanted to do RC with him and her big ambition in life was BE90. Sadly her instructor did not love him at all, but he totally looked after the lady. No horse thinks 'well, if only they'd get on with it I'd be going round Badminton/beating Totilas'.
 
Yes, provided it was the right home, the horse will not care if it does not reach its full potential and as the seller I would be more interested in the home offered.
The only time I may view this differently would be if it was a homebred and part of a commercial breeding programme I may then prefer it to be more exposed in order to promote future siblings.
 
My friend recently sold her very nice show quality Connemara to a lady that does LDR! Now this pony was a 14.2 jumping machine,would of easily evented/shown/dressaged. It literally would of done everything very well but the lady offered the right money and although i thought it would be a shame he wouldn't be jumped/shown anymore it then occured to me that he was going to a 5 star home and wouldn't want for anything and would live the life of reily,i then thought what a lucky boy he was! So for me as long as it was the right person and right home then it wouldn't bother me.
 
Totally agree with red.. in this day in age if my horse was going to a home where she would be loved, cared for and provided with everything to keep her happy i would be very happy.. who cares if she never does a competition again. You only gotta look around to see poor horses whos owners cant be assed or who dont get get fed enough or provided with any shelter.... competitions just a bonus
 
I sold mine to someone rather like this, amateur who wanted something to learn and have fun on, not the greatest rider in the world but fine for what she wants to do. The horse coudln't care less that he's been dropped down three levels or so; he's treated like a king and she adores him. Perfect home for a horse who had plateaued and is a good schoolmaster, but wasn't going to go much higher up the levels. He has an easy life, does the work without any stress or pressure, and has the best of everything on a plate. Everyone is happy!
 
measles said:
As above. If you thought that the rider and horse were a good match and it was a good home it wouldn't concern me at all.
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This ^^^^

I have on a couple of occasions sold a horse not to the best rider who viewed but the one that the horse went well for and could give the best home.
 
Yes, because that sounds like me! I don't have the bottle to do anything bigger than BE90, but I'd love to have something that could take me around that kind of course and give me confidence. In return, it would be spoiled rotten. As has been said, horses don't have ambitions, they're happy as long as their stomachs are full and they have a reliable slave.
 
yes definately! i brought my boy a year ago from a 4* event rider. I had never evented and wanted to do some PC and possibly event. My horse had evented to Novice and was a talented young horse, but i never dreamed i would do him justice, just provide a 5* home which was good enough for the owners. A year on and we are now competing at Novice, although he would be just as happy hacking/hunting
 
soulfull said:
Also wanted as her best friend
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Think about it from the other angle, why should an average riding club rider not have a quality horse? assuming it was you who was buying would you look at horses that did not necessarily appeal to you just because you were doing RC level? The home is far more important than the level the horse will compete at.
 
I like to think I have a quality mare, sold by a sj'er who wanted a lot for her, I offered her less and said she would have a fab home loved groomed ridden and competed (low level--for now lol) she accepted my offer only if I kept in touch and sent lots of pics :)

She turns a lot of heads for her presence and sometimes I feel i let her down riding-wise, but we have so much fun and she is spoilt rotten and a very content horse.
 
Completely agree will the other poster's - horse's do not have aspirations, they are content with being loved and looked after properly.
 
As a six year old my horse was sold to his previous owners (for quite a sum) to be a novice mans first horse.
He had been schooling newcomers and reguarly doing lots of RC and was a pro- sj's head grooms horse so I believe he had a very good start in life. He then spent 4 years having a lovely time living on the moors and hunting. I bought him a year ago and he is equally well suited to doing lots of Unaff sj, dr, hunting, hacking, ODE's, H/T and very rarely comes hope without rossettes.

I think he is a perfect example of a horse that has been in 3 homes of diffrent ability and done well in each :) So yeah as long as the horse will be well cared for thats the most important thing!
 
Yes, of course. Wouldn't it be a bit offensive to say to someone who could offer the horse a good home, is willing to pay your price and could ride the horse competently that you simply didn't think he/she was good enough to have your horse?

The best rider is not, by any means, necessarily the best horseman, let alone the best home for every horse.

Is the argument that the horse won't meet its competition potential or that the sale will not potentially benefit the seller in future publicity?

I think the minute you ask money for a horse, like it or not, you are making it business. If you ONLY care about the home then you need to pick the few people you think are suitable to have the horse and then offer to gift the horse to them, no matter how much it might be worth on the open market. I can count on my fingers the number of times I've ever seen anyone do this with a sane, sound, well trained, useful horse. ;)

Now, misrepresenting a horse that's too green or "too much" to a relatively inexperienced rider is not the same conversation. Although, even in those cases, all you can really do is make your feelings strongly known and withdraw the horse from their consideration if you REALLY think the situation will be damaging for the horse and/or potentially dangerous for the seller. That said, I've known many a relative novice with a good trainer and support system do fine with a horse that might not have been considered ideal initially.
 
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I'm looking for something exactly like this! A good quality horse to do a variety of unaffiliated and RC activities, and potentially some low level affiliated. The right horse is proving fairly elusive at the moment!!
 
soulfull said:
taking into account that the horse had a suitable temperament

Someone who wanted a really quality horse but only wanted to start with RC and unaffil DR & SJ but maybe never do any more

So an average riding club rider who was a bit rusty, a bit overweight due to not being able to ride much for a while (horse and rider lameness over last 3 years)

But wanted something that would go on and do well when she was ready

Also wanted as her best friend
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totally...in fact i think i would rather sell my horse to someone like this than someone who was super competitive if i'm honest... :)
 
Absolutely. Esp as I have been lucky enough to benefit from such a decision. When we bought our first pony, an 8yo outgrown competition pony, the eldest of my 4 children could just about canter. The owner advertised her at a relatively low price & was inundated with people wanting to buy her, meaning that she had a number of potential homes to choose from. We were lucky enough to get her because, with 3 younger children waiting in the wings, she would have a long term home. 7 years later, she is a much loved family member, with a home for life. She lives out most of the time in a settled herd, is ridden at most 3 or 4 times a week (less often in winter), does pony club rallies & unaffiliated local SJ, but her favourite thing (apart from XC, which she loves) is hacking. I'm sure she could have competed at a higher level, but she seems pretty happy with her lot.
 
Halfstep said:
I sold mine to someone rather like this, amateur who wanted something to learn and have fun on, not the greatest rider in the world but fine for what she wants to do. The horse coudln't care less that he's been dropped down three levels or so; he's treated like a king and she adores him. Perfect home for a horse who had plateaued and is a good schoolmaster, but wasn't going to go much higher up the levels. He has an easy life, does the work without any stress or pressure, and has the best of everything on a plate. Everyone is happy!
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This ^^^
 
Didn't know you were horse hunting?
Don't see why the wouldn't sell the horse to you, as long as the horse is well looked after it doesn't know it isn't jumping round Badminton and is only jumping 2' ;)
 
JackJill said:
I would as I think the horse doesn't care what he's doing as long as he's well cared for but I wouldn't sell any cheaper than the value of the horse if that makes sense!
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wouldn't expect it to be cheaper because I was going to do less :D

Worried1 said:
Yes why do you have one? I'm looking! Sounds like me except substitute lameness for breeding ;)
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No unfortunately I am looking

Pidgeon said:
Didn't know you were horse hunting?
Don't see why the wouldn't sell the horse to you, as long as the horse is well looked after it doesn't know it isn't jumping round Badminton and is only jumping 2' ;)
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hi hun hope your well
yes unfortunately I am horse hunting again :(

I just wondered if people wanted to sell their horses to more than an average riding club home. I am probably just feeling a bit low and not good enough

I have seen a few adverts that say they want horse to go to a competition home and presumed they mean affiliated or BE
 
Not bad ta you?
Oh dear what's happened with Micah then?
I would just go look at the horses you like and cross that bridge when you come to it. :D
 
As long as the horse was loved and cared for i wouldnt be fussed if it never did more than hack! As far as im concerned if you pay for it you can do whatever the hell you like with it.
 
I would definitely sell to someone who could provide a 5* home assuming temperaments were a good match etc. Wouldn't bother me if it was just for RC or for affiliated.

HOWEVER, I'm going to be devil's advocate a bit... I have a horse who, if he's not taken out regularly, completely shuts down. I mean literally becomes depressed, lethargic and not himself at all. Even with extensive turn-out, socialising with other horses, plenty of work and attention at home etc. he just becomes a different horse and really unhappy. I did not realise the extent to which this affected him until he went on loan for a few months (it didn't work out and we took him back). The girl never took him anywhere although did school and hack him, and when he came back he was miserable and it took weeks to get him to do anything at all - the thing that snapped him out of it was getting him to an event. He'd spent a few weeks just not wanting to do anything at home and wouldn't even go over a pole, but as soon as he got to this SJ/dressage event he was back to his old self, like someone had flicked a switch. A similar thing happens when we have really bad snow - even if he's able to still be turned out and worked at home, he becomes miserable without outings.

Had someone told me a horse could be affected like this despite having absolute 5* care at home I probably would have laughed to be honest as it sounds so crazy. I've always been of the opinion that the horse doesn't know how talented it is and the important thing is that it's well cared for. I guess all I'm saying is that when people put 'competition home only' on an advert there could be a reason similar to the above - it's still about the happiness and wellbeing of the horse. But of course some people just believe that their horses should be competed because that's what they've always done!

All that said - my horse doesn't know the difference between an affiliated and an unaffiliated competition so I certainly wouldn't hesitate to sell him to someone who didn't want to do affiliated, I would just have to make clear that he does need to be competed, if that makes sense!! :)
 
Natpillai said:
I would definitely sell to someone who could provide a 5* home assuming temperaments were a good match etc. Wouldn't bother me if it was just for RC or for affiliated.

HOWEVER, I'm going to be devil's advocate a bit... I have a horse who, if he's not taken out regularly, completely shuts down. I mean literally becomes depressed, lethargic and not himself at all. Even with extensive turn-out, socialising with other horses, plenty of work and attention at home etc. he just becomes a different horse and really unhappy. I did not realise the extent to which this affected him until he went on loan for a few months (it didn't work out and we took him back). The girl never took him anywhere although did school and hack him, and when he came back he was miserable and it took weeks to get him to do anything at all - the thing that snapped him out of it was getting him to an event. He'd spent a few weeks just not wanting to do anything at home and wouldn't even go over a pole, but as soon as he got to this SJ/dressage event he was back to his old self, like someone had flicked a switch. A similar thing happens when we have really bad snow - even if he's able to still be turned out and worked at home, he becomes miserable without outings.

Had someone told me a horse could be affected like this despite having absolute 5* care at home I probably would have laughed to be honest as it sounds so crazy. I've always been of the opinion that the horse doesn't know how talented it is and the important thing is that it's well cared for. I guess all I'm saying is that when people put 'competition home only' on an advert there could be a reason similar to the above - it's still about the happiness and wellbeing of the horse. But of course some people just believe that their horses should be competed because that's what they've always done!

All that said - my horse doesn't know the difference between an affiliated and an unaffiliated competition so I certainly wouldn't hesitate to sell him to someone who didn't want to do affiliated, I would just have to make clear that he does need to be competed, if that makes sense!! :)
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makes perfect sense and hats off to you for realising. I do know where your coming from because one of my horses was similar he would get depressed if he didn't go out, not necessarily competing, but a trip to Somerford park, or a day over Cannock chase, would likely cure him and days hunting definitely would:D
 
i was the buyer. my horse can do medium dressage and novice cross country and has worked for the rda.
with me she happy hacks, prelim and novice dressage and 60cm jumping up to 90cm when im brave and she has now taught me a little bit of cross country.

she is my best friend. so yes as long as you get the money u want sell it.
 
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