To SELL or NOT to SELL my horse :'(?

ok so i got fell (she did not buck) off my horse about 6 weeks ago and i broke my arm- not a huge deal. My mom who used to ride (like 20 years ago!) was riding my 10 yr old paint mare and she bucked and my mom fell of fractured vertebrae, ripped a groin and possible internal bleeding. now my dad and my mom are leaving it up to me whether to sell or not. I know it may SEEM obvious but this is my HORSE, whom i have spent hours upon hours riding and caring for. I have owned her for about a year and 3 months and we think the reason for her getting "hot" is we have her on a weight gaining supplement (which im weaning her off right now cause shes gained her weight) and she is feeling MUCH better because we had her teeth worked on (they were bad) We will be moving next year to the next town but the horse will stay here with my dad. I would be able to take her but now im thinking if i sold her i could take some riding lessons (we wouldn’t be able to afford horse and lessons) please HELP!!!

To SELL or NOT to SELL my horse :'(?
Perhaps you can sell her to an experienced rider. Whoever takes her would have to know her history, and be able to handle her. Note, I took riding lessons, and the school's horses seemed to be the tamest in the world, but I still saw people thrown off, dragged, etc.
Reply:Its a hard decision, you invest so much time and they are like a best friend. if it were up to me i would say no, since your taking her off weight sups she should cool down, but also try lunging her before u ride and wear her out a bit.





good luck w/ u'r decision!
Reply:i hate these kind of questions, i cant see your horse,i would love to be able to help,but the decision has to be made by you,shes your horse you ride her groom her feed her spend time with her,only you know in your heart of hearts if you want to work with her and keep her.


good luck
Reply:I guess I would first decide what the pros and cons are. As corny as it may sound, write them down. In my experience, although riding instructors are helpful, horses are the ones really doing the teaching. So lessons, to me, aren't so important. Saddle time is. But before you decide to ride your horse again, I would try to figure out what went wrong and why seh keeps bucking. I would first check all of the labels on any supplements you are giving her and see if "hotness" is a side effect. It might, also, be that she is in heat.
Reply:I don't see any reason to sell your horse just because you fell off. If she has some bad habits, you should consult a trainer to have them fixed. If you're not a good enough rider, you should take some lessons and do some exercises to make your legs and balance better.





It's also a very good idea to work your horse on a lunge line for fifteen minutes or so BEFORE you ride her, to take the edge off her energy and give her some discipline. A good trainer or most training books will show you how to do it properly. And she should also be turned out where she can run and play to get rid of her excess energy safely.
Reply:OK, why did you fall off? Did your mare shy? And since she DID buck your Mom off, this mare has the tendency to do so again.


I have a mare who has never bucked until last December, when she spooked at a plastic bag I tried to carry while in the saddle.


She is moody and I had her on a higher-protein feed, which likely made her nutty, but even so, I do not trust her anymore. She rides OK when she wants but when she gets the idea, she will act up and do small rears and I believe she will buck again.


For a more confident/younger/more skilled rider, she is fine. For me, pushing 40 and having been riding since I was 6, I don't think riding her is worth my breaking bones again (broke a rib when she threw me). I broke a knee 7 years ago, broke my tail bone 10 years ago, and it's time fr me to sell.


I would sell your mare and get one a little more broke, especially since you will have limited time to ride and admit you need lessons. But that's just my opinion - the ultimate choice is yours.
Reply:This is a big decision for you. I know a girl who, just a couple of weeks ago, got thrown off her horse and her face was cut and split all over, not to mention the other injuries but she is keeping her horse. If you think it is the supplement, then try her out after you get her off of it. If you don't want to give her up, then don't because you will regret it if she is a good horse. You also don't want any more injuries or any injuries that could end up more serious. This is a tough one but think it through really hard. Good luck and I hope your horse is happy wherever it ends up!!!!!!!!!!! Tell your mom to get better soon!!!
Reply:I really don't know if you should sell your horse. You will not get much for her given the circumstances and you will probably be very sad to see her go.





I think it may be best to get a trainer in your area to come work with her while the two of you are healing. When you two are feeling ready to get back into the saddle, your horse will have been working all along and the trainer can help you "reunite," so to speak, with your beloved horse.





If you are living in the next town and the commute is not bad and you will still be able to ride regularly, it will be worth it. Further, if you decide to move farther, you can take her with you. Either trailering her yourself or having her shipped are options.
Reply:No, just work with her!
Reply:It's your horse so you should decide, not us.





I personally would keep it. It seems like you've really bonded with this horse. Since you are taking her off her supplement, she should calm down a little. Maybe lunge her a little before you ride her?
Reply:Ohh.. i got buck off my horse 1 week ago. I have a broken arm. I am still keeping her. So read this and hopefuly this might beable to help you. It is going to be hard to decide. I don't know where you live but I live in Wisconsin and I have a trainer to train my horse Dove who just had a filly named sprite. Ummm...So she only charges 25$ an hour training and a riding lesson. So if you can find a horse magizen with in your state that would help you to find activeties and horsesale and lots more. So keep the horse She will make you proud like my dove.
Reply:It's a question of: what is your horse really worth to you?





Is she worth a 90 mile drive regularly?





What would you feel like if she were suddenly removed from your life completely?





Would you feel better, or relieved, if she were taken by other owners who will take care of her? Like you have more free time on your hands? Or would you instead feel like you lost your best friend?





You have to ask yourself just how close you are to your horse, and just how much a part of you she is. If she's just a pet you can get rid of and do without easily ... she probably does need a new home with people willing to put in the time for her.
Reply:I have experience with this. I used to own a horse. I love him very much i recieved him for christmas in 2000. His name was BUCK and he got his name because he threy me off a lot of times and even caused my dad to have an orbital blowout with his eye. my dads eye is slowly sinking because he broke a bone below his eye. but that is besides the point. I left home in 2003 for college and i was 2 hours away. I was the oldest of 5 kids and i was the only one that would take care of the horse and when i moved it was hard because of travel. I was 2 hours away and also i had to travel throught the mountains and snow during the winter. My parents were getting tired of going and taking care of my horse that one day he went missing. I thought they had sold him, but comes to find out that they took him to the glue factory. I don't want this to happen to you so before it gets this far with your horse consider selling before your parents decide to do whats best. good luck i wish you the best but only you can decied you are just looking for answers to do the right thing. Also im not all that religious but pray about it as well.
Reply:it's a hard decision and it's up to you follow your heart and make the decision with it.. don't sell your horse cause she bucked you off, or your mom, work her before you get on... and try and get her to not get hot..... follow your heart. Remember their like big hearts with fur and they love you unconditionally
Reply:DONT!!!!sell ok its the riders fault not the horse all horses buck get over it! u just need to learn to ride it out and han on!!!
Reply:I know how you feel, I had a horse a while back and I was so sad that I had to sell her but I used to money to buy me a new horse that is a lot better than my mare was! If I was you as soon as ur arm healed up I would ride her and if she does good I would keep riding her but if she bucks again I would be leaning twards selling her~! It is a very had decision but just remember when god closes a door he opens a window! good luck
Reply:It might be a good idea to sell her and take the lessons and then look for a better broke horse .
Reply:Well, since no one has addressed this yet, you need to take a good look at her feeding and turnout situation. What type of feed is she on? You said a weight gain supplement...some of the ingredients in those can hype a horse up. First, I would make sure she is on a high fat, high fiber, low starch diet. No sweet feeds, I use Nutrena Safechoice, but other companies have similar low or controlled starch feeds. All the grass hay and/or pasture she wants, and only as much feed as she needs to keep her in good weight. If she needs something to gain weight, I feed rice bran and alfalfa pellets in addition to the Safechoice and my horses keep their weight and are not hot...and they are all ex racehorses. Also, as much turnout as possible or living out 24/7 if she isn't already. Also, protein percent does NOT matter...any excess is urinated out, it is the starch and carbohydrates (sugars!) in feed that make horses hot. Sometimes a simple diet and turnout change can make a horse completely different.





Also, if your horse has gained weight, you may want to check saddle fit because if she gained weight it could've changed the way her tack fits.





Are you working with an instructor? You should be. A good instructor may be able to point out something you wouldn't notice or think could cause a problem. We people on the internet can only offer suggestions. And whoever said you don't need lessons is WRONG! You've got to learn the correct way of doing things from someone, because you are not learning or teaching the horse correctly if you are doing things wrong. All the saddle time in the world doesn't help you if you are doing everything incorrectly. Practice does NOT make perfect...Perfect practice makes perfect! The only way you can learn to do things correctly is from competent instruction.





If everything checks out, change her diet and turnout situation, and maybe lunge her just for a few minutes in each direction to get her focused before you get on. I have a Thoroughbred gelding that I have to lunge before I get on...otherwise, he's not fun to ride, but those few minutes on the lunge take the edge off and get him focused and ready to work. She also may need to be in consistent work to stay an easy to ride horse...plenty of horses are like that and need riding 5 or 6 days a weeks to stay in the right mind set.





As for selling...well, if it's a horse that needs to be ridden a lot and you won't be able to ride that often, you probably won't enjoy riding her. If the diet change and turnout work, she may be fine to just hop on once in a while. If you want to keep her, I would find some low cost way to keep her closer (maybe do pasture board...would probably help a horse like her anyway). Otherwise, I would probably sell her and just take lessons until you can afford to buy another horse, take lessons and keep it near you. Also, I believe (like I said earlier), that good instruction can help tremendously, and can benefit anyone. In your case, I think I would recommend selling this horse and taking lessons regularly so in the future, you will be batter able to handle a situation like this. If you have a horse, you need instruction at least occasionally to make sure you and your horse are on the right track...you will never know everything, even experienced riders and trainers take lessons to keep learning and improving. Good luck.
Reply:don't sell her, the reason why she bucked on your mom is probably because she realized it wasn't you riding, falling off isn't that bad, and you can always get back up. In my opinion, everyone should realize the risks of owning a wild animal(or one th@ descended from a wild animal).
Reply:Maybe you should sell or trade her for another horse that is more trustworthy. If she scares you, even a little, you should find a new horse. Holding on to a horse just because you don't want to see her go is not enough of a reason. Especially if you won't be able to work with her daily. There are alot of good horses out there that might make you happier. You could even look into leasing a horse at your nearby stable or getting a well schooled horse for lessons. The bottom line is don't hold on to your horse if she isn't for you. I have seen my friends keep a horse that they weren't perfect for and suffer in their riding. There might be someone else who has a more experienced horse that would rather have something else.
Reply:big question first- do you feel safe and comfortable riding this horse?


smaller question- do you enjoy riding this horse? or do you think you would be just as happy riding a lesson horse?


last one- do you get to spend enough time riding as it is, or do you spend most of your limited time doing chores? do you feel your time would be better served with lessons or with owning a horse?


if you feel keeping this horse is best dont worry too much about getting thrown, just try to look at it (the incident) over again, what could you have done diffrently, what should you have worked on with the horse to prevent this from happening, what can you do about this in the future. myself just today got bucked with, had one think about rearing and another took a huge bucking fit on the lounge line. i know why mine acted up, the bucker is a rescue who hasnt been ridden in at least 6 months and we tried to canter, she took a crow hop, got corrected and was fine the rest of the lesson. the one though about rearing because i changed her bit abruptly. my fault purely, shouldnt have done that. the other one was also my fault, had some legal issues with him and he had sat for about 7 months with a few spuratic lessons here and there. (alls good now, stable lien paperworks finished and new momma coming in july to get him). my point is to look critically at everything, spend a few minutes after every session and evaluate what happened. what was good, what was bad, what needed improvement, and what can you do about it. even if you dont want to sell, can you fix why this horse is doing what shes doing, will you need help, can you get help. do whatever you feel is in your and your horses best interest.
Reply:If she truly is unsafe I would take her to a good trainer to sell under comission. That way if someone is injured while trying your horse out then it won't be your fault. Also the trainer may be able to give potential buyers good advice about how to handle your horse's behavior. If you feel that this is something that you can work through with your horse then by all means keep the horse. If she continues this behavior and you decide to keep her anyway then be sure to wear a helmet while riding and make sure that someone is nearby in case of emergency.
Reply:i think you need to take her to a new trainer and have her re-trained if it still goes on check with a vet because she may be sick or hurt because some horses don;t like it if you ride them while theyre sick or hurt.
Reply:It must terribly suck having to decide this difficult discion. Has anyone else ever ridden your horse during the period of time you've owned it? If not, I believe your horse has gotten used to your weight, voice, commands, hands, etc,. Maybe it must have felt frightened or strange having your mom on its back, and when somethings on your back you dont recognize your first reflex is to of course get it off. I'm sure your horse didn't intend on hurting your mother, obviously, but I dont think its something to sell your horse over. I mean yea it sounds like your mom got hurt bad and I hope shes alright but I know what its like to leave a horse and I regret it every single day, so if you love your horse as much as I did mine you wouldn't sell it.
Reply:Tough question. You sound like you are in basically the same situation that my daughter was in. She was thrown from her baby and broke her back. She is healing nicely but needed to think about finding a different horse.





Have you considered that your horse might be the perfect mount for someone.. just not you or your mom ? It's a difficult decision to make but you have to think about what is best for the horse and the people riding her. My daughter sold her horse on Saturday and he chose his new owner. He showed her more love in 2 hours than he did the whole year and a half that my daughter had him. It took 5 months of praying for the perfect situation but it appeared and he's happy.





I wish you luck with whatever decision you make.
Reply:I dont really know


Um sell her,make a prophet off her


buy another horse idk!
Reply:i would sell your horse and get some lessons. i am in the process of that right now. i am doing fine without a horse, but will be getting a new one. but, i would sell your horse to brushen up on your skills. to me, a horse is just there to get me to the next riding level. It is not a pet, but i still luv horses with all of my heart. you can always buy another horse.
Reply:I think that maybe you should go and have someone work with your horse maybe touch up on training!?!?
Reply:dont sell she will come around
Reply:You will be living so far away from her that you won't be able to exercise her as regularly as it sounds like she needs and if you have only had her one year then you aren't that attached. Practically you probably need to sell her and take the riding lessons so you can stay in shape to ride IF YOU WILL BE ALLOWED ANOTHER HORSE IN FUTURE. The less you ride a horse the more apt they are to buck. Does she have a pain or something hurting her causing the bucking?
Reply:Your decision.

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