What to do...Horse Question.

[GwenFarms]

Okay, so I had a beautiful cobb sized bay here. We bought it for our boys more then a year ago, but they took no interest in him. They prefer to ride our other, more familiar horses. I rode him for the past year and had him performing really nicely on the trails. This horse never bucked, never reared, never ran away, never bit, never kicked. Very safe horse, if a little hard mouthed at times.

A very, very good friend and her family is looking for a horse and this one fits the description. The dad of the family started riding in Jan. He hasn't had any formal lessons. The two very young girls began taking lessons this past summer. They are interested in my horse and ask if they could take him for a week. I agree.

I had a friend tell me that this was not a good idea. That these folks weren't experienced enough and with the horse being somewhere new, he would act up at some point and they would try to overcorrect him and do everything wrong until there was a blow up. I said " Nahhhh, no way with this horse."

Thats exactly what happened though. She called tonight and said the horse sort of ran away with them at one point. He flew into bucking when the dad got on to correct him and then ran away with him "sort of" too. So, they've decided not to buy the horse. Which is fine. The problem is that this is a small town. How am I going to sale this horse now. Everyone is going to hear what happened and I'm stuck. This was not this horses fault. This HAD to be rider error. I do not at any cost want this horse ran through the auction barn. I don't know what to do.

 

[ibpboo]

Oh my, such a sad story. Go back to riding the horse yourself again, and get him back to where you had him. Real horse people will understand that it wasn't the horse's fault. Good luck

 

[Little Chicken Farmers]

Wow ....That is a bad situation. It is definitely a risk to let a horse out on a trial, especially with beginners. The dad probably wanted to be "the man" in the situation and put the horse in his place...really he probably had little idea what to do. If anybody says anything bad about the situation I would just handle it as " I let the horse go to a green rider / handler and it was just a bad match. Obviously the horse needs a more relaxed calm/confident person" Have you tried advetising on Dreamhorse.com ? It is really popular here in Oregon. Not sure where you are at....It is a nationwide site though. Good Luck!

PS... In the future....maybe a trial undersupervision with the trainer they are taking lessons with? It is a hard situation because it is resonable to want to try a horse out in different environments but you are liable for any big problems....

 

[GwenFarms]

Thanks for the site. I had heard of it, but never looked at it. The only problem is I see people asking way more for similar horses than I'm asking for mine. I'm afraid if I list him for my asking price folks will think he is a junk horse when comparing to the others.

In the future I won't offer a trial period. They are welcome to come here and ride many times, but I won't send one home with someone else again. These folks kindly offered to trailer him home for me, but I asked them please let me come and get him. Not to be mean, but they are so inexperienced I'm afraid they may not tie him right in the trailer, or be fearful causing him to hurt himself. The whole situation has me pretty upset.

I'm not angry, or upset with them, they are great people, but with myself.

 

[WrenAli]

One thing for getting the horse's image back, though I totally believe you about it not being his fault, is show him in some local shows. Maybe a trail class or something to show he is level headed trail horse. At the show put a for sale sign on the stall. I find this works well when selling a horse.

I agree that if you let him out on trial again have it be with a trainer. Though I understand not wanting to try it again.

It sounds to me like you have a wonderful horse who knows how he should be treated and that is not roughly. I blame no horse for any actions they do. I have never seen a horse act out when it was not the fault of the rider, either physically or by not being tuned into their horses enough to see the signs.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

There are several online classifieds websites that you can advertise on for free. Some even offer free pictures.

If they asked if the horse has ever bucked before, you simply answer "Yes, there was one(!) isolated incidient where a family of beginners took him somewhere new and said he acted up. Unfortunately, I or another experience horse person wasn't there to evaluate the situation. Both I and a friend of mine believe the husband tried to "show the horse who's boss" and didn't know what he was doing."

Don't lie and don't try to hide it. Simply be honest because you really want to find the best match possible. Any person who has been around horses should know that even the best have their "temper tantrums" especially(!) in the hands of the inexperienced.

I advertise my horses online for the maximum exposure. Just be very wary of scam-artists, we only advertised about 4 horses online and someone attempted to scam us. Usually this involves sending you a check for the horse AND shipping and they expect you to send money to the shipper(which is them). In the end you end up paying them and you still have the horse. Be VERY VERY careful of these. This guy tried to scam us out of $3,000. We caught it fortunately. (LOL. he confirmed he was a scam artist by signing the wrong name to one of his emails. Idiot.. when I asked him about it, just jerking his chain, he said he got his name mixed up with his "shipper".. LOL)

-Kim

-Kim

 

[PoultryPedia]

Quote:
Sounds like very good advice!
Riding him in a parade would be another possible way to demonstrate his good nature.
Another idea maybe is to post a flyer of a package deal of the horse with a few riding lessons (if you're comfortable with that and associated liability). The person can just pay for lessons initially and if the person decides during lessons that that horse isn't the one for them, then they can just not pay the remaining balance. Or something like that.
Sorry for the unfortunate incident! Horses DO act really differently with different riders, don't they!
We are selling a horse here that isn't as calm as it sounds like yours is, and can be troublesome for riders that aren't very experienced. I'm planning to ride the horse first so prospective buyers can observe & decide if they'd be comfortable, and then allow them to ride her in an enclosed area. If they feel good there, I'll go with them on a trail ride.
You want to trust people and they want to trust you and you all want to be safe and happy, but logistics can be complicated.
I wish you the best in a good sale of your horse.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

This sounds so familiar, we had a similar thing happen. We had a greenbroke gelding we advertised as so, and a lady came to ride him and we did the same as you almost, and said it was alright for her to use her saddle and bridle, since after we inspected it ..it all looked great, she got bucked off twice, and the third time she dug her spurrs into his sides, he bucked her off and she broke her left femur. We got sued, although someone did end up buying him! So I gues... just keep going, we don't live in a tiny town, but the horse industry is tiny, and so everyone knows everyone, and word gets around. Advertise out of your immediate area, if you're familiar with kijiji.com you can use that to hit up cities closeby, and the person who does end up buying the horse can do pick-up.

 

[Crunchie]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Anyone who comes to look at the horse who is experienced will see the situation for what it is--a green rider(s) who took on a horse without the right amount of experience--and will be able to evaluate the horse for themselves with an impartial mind. All horses "act up" occasionally, I'd be more wary if someone told me that the horse never had, kwim?

I agree with the other posters. Be up front and honest about what happened with the family who took him on trial, if it comes up. Like I said, someone who does know their stuff won't think anything of it (it really doesn't sound like a big deal, anyway). And I also think it's a good idea to get him out in public--local shows, organized/judged trail rides, etc. He sounds like a good boy, so I wouldn't worry about it! When the right buyer comes along, this incident isn't going to amount to anything, I bet.

Good luck!! Oh, and if you want to put him on Dreamhorse, put the asking price higher if you're worried that your low price looks bad (you know, it honestly sometimes does give the wrong impression to potential buyers....though I have yet to figure this out

). It will just give you more room to bargain, no one ever buys a horse without making a lower offer than the asking price, right?

 

[chickbea]

I agree - show him in local shows so that he gets more exposure to experienced riders.