....if no one ever sold a horse....

[Chisamba]

I am not very good at selling horses. I once sold a horse that ended up being sent to an auction. Perhaps the panic of it has stuck, but on mulling it over, i have had another thought.

My sons first pony was aged and beloved. If he had not been sold, he would have.missed out on a very precious part of his life.

None of my clients have the time, desire or commitment to bring on green horses, yet they all want to be able to find a horse to have, ride and love.

So thank goodness for people who train horses to sell. I am not sure why there is a stigma attatched to it. Isn't it an unrealistic expectation that every person buy a horse for its whole life time?

What is the opinion on this?

[PaulaO]

I'm fine with training horses for resale. It is unrealistic to think every horse will be kept for its lifetime. Like you said, horses and ponies can go to new owners in order to teach them. I think us casual riders tend to keep horses forever, but competitive riders move up the levels and often go past their horse's abilities. Of course, I believe (perhaps wrongly) that every buyer should be vetted.

[orono]

I have bought more than I have sold, since I usually keep them until they die . But I have no interest in breeding, foals, young greenies..so I am very grateful that all of my beloved mounts were sold to me.

[DJR]

This is a hard one for me.

I am one of those who enjoys bringing along young horses. I have two now that I bought out of a bad situation with the plan to make them solid citizens, back them, and resell them down the road. All of my current horses were trained mostly or entirely by me.

But, I'm not a pro, and my big problem is twofold re: selling horses. First, I get attached to them and see the potential in them and think "I should keep them just a bit longer". Second, and even more pressing, is that I fear that despite how much I vet a buyer (and I do vet them all), the horse will end up in a bad situation later in their life (i.e., neglected, sold at auction, sent to slaughter, etc.). We've all heard the stories time and time again of someone's branded, registered horse ending up in a kill pen despite that person trying to get them in a good situation.

And, buyers (as well as sellers!) can be huge flakes. I'm currently marketing my "oopsy" palomino colt-foal and the ONLY two bites I've had were from novice horse owners who have never even owned a horse let alone trained a youngster. They both had starry-eyes with thoughts of "learning together" and all of that garbage. Needless to say, I declined both (and one was VERY put out and offended despite my gentle explanations of why it wasn't a good situation for anyone concerned!).

But, I did sell my Percheron earlier this summer and am extremely pleased with the home he's now in. I trained him from the ground up and he was a wonderful horse. He's now living in paradise just 2 hrs from me and is adored by his new owner.

Anyway, I do agree that the concept of 'forever home' is not helpful in all cases with horse buying/selling. I even think that for other animals that change hands. But, the problem of finding a suitable, good home for a horse is ongoing and I don't know of any magic to preventing a bad outcome other than due diligence, vetting the buyer as much as possible (and following up with them post-sale as much as possible), and crossing one's fingers.

[Quelah]

Since I have no desire to breed my own (did it once, a success, I'll not tempt fate again!) I am grateful to those that breed good horses, train them up, and sell them on

[Code3]

DJR pretty much summed it up for me. I think there are times a horse does need to be rehomed to a better fit, but I have had my own disaster story which is why I won't ever sell another horse. I have a horse out on free lease for the very reason that, should something happen to the owners who are very good with her, she won't end up in a kill pen. She has been with the family for 17 years and is 25 years old now. Of course my horses came from homes where I was vetted thoroughly myself.

In theory I don't have any issue with it buying a horse and moving it on. In real life I'm not good at it.

[exploding pony]

There are wonderful people out there who buy horses.

That said I had some experiences with the one and only horse I have ever sold that has made me question humanity. The reality is that you can't guarantee anything once you sell a horse.

I really should sell my AQHA. He's a great horse but it's much harder for him to really do the dressage than for my GRP and my wb. But I just can't do it, because he's a bit "quirky". So I'm currently on the hunt for the perfect leaser. Maybe I can find my very own Paula!!!!!

[heddylamar]

I generally buy/breed for a lifetime.

Between my mother and I, we've bought five horses, adopted one. One was permanently loaned out (euthanized in his 40s), two were sold, one died (or committed suicide?), one euthanized (see seniors forum), the fourth is still as ornery and sweet as ever (Appaloosa). I've bred two more generations from the euthanized mare, and have no plans to part with either.

My aunt (Mom's sister) has bought/sold too many horses for me to even begin to enumerate. She's only had one die, none euthanized.

Neither situation is better than the other. We are different people.

[kande50]

Neither situation is better than the other. We are different people.

Agree. I keep my horses because I don't want to find them in a bad situation that I may not be able to do anything about. It's a control issue, but because I feel that animals are not that different from humans, and others don't, I don't trust others to adequately protect them. I've just seen way too many promise the moon when they're in "want-get" mode, and then forget all about what they promised when they're ready to get rid of what they wanted so badly before.

I once sold a pony with a money back guarantee, and then found her a couple months later at the local auction barn. I asked the owners why they didn't just bring her back, and the husband said it was because wifey was mad because the pony dumped her. I had told them not to just get on and go galloping across the field because the pony would spook and she was quick. So what did wifey do?

And then the common bitch wanted the pony to go to slaughter because she wanted revenge.

And these were just the nicest people when they wanted to buy the pony.

I bought the pony back for half what they paid for her, which was probably half what the auction barn had given them for her.

[PaulaO]

So I'm currently on the hunt for the perfect leaser. Maybe I can find my very own Paula!!!!!

We are out there!

[Hayburner]

I smiled at exploding ponies comment too! Go PaulaO !!!

My new mare has turned out to be more than I expected - she pretty much needs ridden 5 days a week, typically needs lunged first and can be a bit much for me especially when she's in season. I did expect to take a few lessons a week, but right now, it's 5 lessons! and I don't ride without my trainer. So, I am really putting a lot of money into her and into my learning to actually ride! LOL

Since she's young and was pretty green, I said I would give her two years and if we haven't progressed much, I'm selling her...

Do I really believe that??? NO, She won't go anywhere unless she decides to do something really dangerous to me, and even then I'd probably still defend her and keep her.

Since I'm no spring chick, I do worry what will happen to her should something happen to me. Yes, she'll be in my will, but my sister is not a horse person, her managing and checking on my mare would be a major burden.

I am thankful to those that can sell, without them, I would not have either of my much loved horses.

[Ponichiwa]

As with everything else in life, it's not black and white. Selling is necessary: I've bought every horse I've ever owned. But there are definite risks to selling.

I've sold 0 horses. They just seem to end up with me/my family for the rest of their natural lives. In the case of my first schoolmaster-- he absolutely earned his retirement with us by just putting up with me for so many years.

My GP horse, who is now on indefinite free lease to my sister, similarly earned his retirement with us (although that hasn't happened yet). He's the first horse I've ever trained to FEI, and earned both mine and my sister's silver medals (and my gold). Because I've asked him to perform in shows all around the country, I feel like I owe him a soft place to land when he needs to retire... which I hope is still years and years away.

My current horse (subject of this thread) is unlikely to land softly should I try to sell her, because she is so very cute and yet so very difficult. If she were easy to ride and well trained but otherwise just wasn't a personality match, it'd be a much easier decision to sell. I also think that we're probably pretty close to a(nother) breakthrough, so I'll keep trucking along.

I do try to keep recent(ish) show records on my horses because a) I like showing, and b) in the unlikely event that I need to sell them, it's quite a bit easier to do if they've got proof of training aside from just my word.