The sorrow of good bye

[grasslover]

I am in the process of a very hard decision. I have to sell my horse.
I have had horses my whole like. My mare is perfect. I bought her as a yearling and have done all her training. She is exactly how i want a horse to be, light, responsive, sensitive, good manners, and absolutely gorgeous. She is a horse of dreams. She is smokey buckskin with silver in her mane and tail. her back is short adn strong enough she can practically walk on her hind legs, her neck is a perfect arch. Her eyes a big and dark and kind, like a unicorn, she even has a unicorn horn bump. the legend is that the horses of her breed, lusitano, who have that bump, are truly descended from unicorns. Her gaits are fluid and comfortable to ride. She is poetry in motion, a horse worthy of a king.
But, i just can't keep her for a myriad of reasons. The top one being my and my husband's plan for another kid in 2 years or so. I just have so much to get done on a daily basis i can't justify the expense in time and money of keeping a horse. I want to use my pastures for animals that produce milk, meat or wool that can be shared and enjoyed by the family as well as others. My horse, though she is lovely and beautiful, is a purely private pleasure. I don't really ride with other people, not many horse folks around, and i don't do lessons now, no time for students and i would then have to train my mare rather differently. in order for me to enjoy a horse i train classical dressage, this is wonderful for me but not many folks, especially kids learning to ride, can handle the skill or energy of a high level dressage horse. She is totally safe, no buck, no rear, no bite, but there is a lot of power there. She can canter almost in place when i ask her, or walk a loose rein or piaffe (trot i place) or extend her trot like flying, or just wonder around the trails with me.
I love her so much and hate to think of parting with her, but i think i have to.
Anyway i suppose i just wanted to share my frustration and sorrow. And, if anyone is looking for a true dream horse let me know.

[brenda]

She sounds like a wonderful mare. If I was closer, I would come see her although I am far from being the rider I wish I was. lol But I also have a little mare who I enjoy...I am the only she has had for about 4 years. Can't imagine making a decision to sell her.

[guernseygirl]

grasslover - is there any way you can lease her to someone, so as not to have to let her go completely? This is what I have done. I knew I couldn't ride when I was pregnant with my twins and didn't think I would have time to ride for a few years, but wasn't quite ready to sell. The lease fee covers the board at a training stable and he is getting the care and exercise that he needs. Our lessee will actually competing at The National Western Stock Show with him next month.

Just throwing ideas out there - I'm sorry you have to think about parting with her.

[lively]

I have to agree with geurnsey here. If possible that sounds as if it could be a decent solution. I am sorry to hear about your predicament though. Faced a similar one myself when dh joined the military. Now 10 yrs later I am back with a horse again. It's not the one I sold but she at least needs someone to take time with her and I have to say for me it is so much cheaper than therapy!

[grasslover]

Within 48 hours of deciding she was for sale she was picked up and on her way to a new home. At least she will be loved and cared for and hopefully make beautiful babies. I am glad i made the decision, though very sad to have seen her go. She is the best horse on the planet.

[zolly]

I'm glad that you found a good home for her. Its not easy parting with them 

[milkman]

Awe! It's always better knowing the good home awaits.

[farmgirlsc]

yes, glad she found a good home with someone. I am selling one of my horses too.

[nina]

You did the right thing without a doubt. So many people hang on to horses, and make the horse wait for a future that may never come and wind up never reaching their potential. Most wind up in serious trouble when they have aged some and are not where they should be then the owner has to sell because of life changes. I think a good rule of thumb is, if you have not worked with your horse for 3 months maybe it's time to consider finding another home for it. I have also found if you do all the groundwork you did with a young horse they wind up having a great future. I spent a lot of time working with 3 fillies for a friend of mine and when she couldn't ship them out of state like she planned I had to sell them. Every single buyer contacted me later saying they were the easiest and best horses to train they ever had. I'm sure you horse will have a wonderful career based on all the early hard work you did. I'm so sorry you had to let your beauty go, but that just means you really love her.

[jerseyrose]

Mar 19, 2014 16:08:34 GMT -5 nina said:

I think a good rule of thumb is, if you have not worked with your horse for 3 months maybe it's time to consider finding another home for it.

That doesn't apply living here in Minnesota! I had the farrier out yesterday and I realized I hadn't had a halter on my mare since he was here 8 weeks ago! She gets loves and pats and food during the winter, not much else. But she isn't going anywhere!

[suzorse]

same here way to icy in the winter to ride , and I have had Emmie for over a year and she has only been rode a 1/2 dozen times or so . But she will not go anywhere
Suzanne

[Debbie Lincoln]

I ride my 18 year old mare only once a year now (on my birthday!) but she will be here until the end.
But I agree with the comment that a GOOD horse perhaps should move on before they are past their prime, if you are using them only as a yard ornament.

I sold my rescued race horse a couple years ago because I simply wasn't riding him and he was way too good to just get fat and languish for the rest of his life. I sold him for less than he was worth to someone who I knew would take good care and be schooled properly in riding him. win win

But the old mare gets to start and end her life with me.....and I have provided for her in my will, too (along with the cows).

[nina]

Oh, I didn't mean aged horses or horses with definite future plans. Eighteen is a horse in its prime you shouldn't retire your mare so young its better for their health to keep up some light riding. What I'm talking about are the horses that fill the auction houses. There are lots of three and seven year old horses that probably had good intended owners at one point in their lives but divorce or finances suddenly put them in an unfortunate situation. I'm thinking if your horse has been on the back burner for months because of a busy schedule/life and you keep thinking time is going to free up it won't and you should try to place it now before something happens that forces a quick sale. It's the same kind of thinking that keeps our closets packed with clothes we don't wear. We keep thinking in the future things will be different, like losing weight etc. than they are right now.