selling a horse

I am not making this post as an ad :) I am just saying that after thinking long and hard (for a few years actually,) We have decided to sell our mare, Emma. There are many reasons.. first off, her temperament. She has no aggressive bones in her body (toward humans) but she is just very, very spooky. Now, for someone who has hours to de-spook a horse, and train, she would he an absolute dream. She's beautiful, healthy, fair confo.. sound.
It also seems like she is bored here. Here is the issue. I want to work with the mares, but I usually work them alone. Put one in the barn, and it is HELL. One in barn goes absolutely nuts trying to get out and be where we are. One outside completely is distracted (though I can control the horse outside.. it is the one in the barn that I am afraid of injuring herself. This goes both ways. Even our other mare, who I would never sell and whose temperament compliments me awesomely, is buddy sour.) I want Emma to go to a professional; someone who can do things with her that I have no time or real knowledge to do. I have much experience with broke, despooked horses.. really, none with spookies, save for Emma. She is fine 95% of the time; a dream to groom, tack/un, etc.
Emma wants a job. She wants someone to devote hours to her, in some kind of discipline.
So I put up an ad for her today. I am really looking forward to the days when horses will not be a chore anymore for me, but something to be enjoyed. With my one mare here, I can actually work with her instead of risking the barn falling down from the nonworked horse.. or being in the middle of spontaneous outbursts of horse dominance in the pasture. Cuesta (mare I am keeping) was a lone horse for years at her previous home and was fine; I might get a companion for her anyway (goat) but this is my plan for now.
I actually have worked with Emma over the eyars (owned her since 2002.) There is just this innate sense of spookiness in her that I do not think can be trained out.

What kind of spooking does she do? Is she a spook/ bolt/ bucking fool? Or are her spooks the kind where she leaps sideways and spins? Breed? Age? ;)
Gotta hear the whooooole story...

She's a 10-odd-year old QH type pinto. Her spooks involve her trying to get into your pocket, as my trainer puts it. Like, last week, she spooked at nothing while my husband was walking her, and semi-reared, and landed on his foot. Pretty bad damage to him.. Riding-wise, she is a bolter. Ignorant.. needs training.. more professional than I can offer I guess.
I am just a relatively nervous person by nature, and I need a calm mare.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

She's a 10-odd-year old QH type pinto. Her spooks involve her trying to get into your pocket, as my trainer puts it. Like, last week, she spooked at nothing while my husband was walking her, and semi-reared, and landed on his foot. Pretty bad damage to him.. Riding-wise, she is a bolter. Ignorant.. needs training.. more professional than I can offer I guess.
I am just a relatively nervous person by nature, and I need a calm mare.

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my horse was the same way.. just takes hours and HOURS of time.. Trust me, but the pay off is worth it =]

I just don't feel any kind of bond with this mare. I know that there is someone out there that can take her places. She is one of those that are bored with pasture life; I can see it in her eyes when she is standing around. She's high-energy (not due to feeding; just her nature.) My other mare, now, that is a mare that I have a bond with. I can't explain it. But actually Emma was originally my husband's horse. He just doesn't have time for horses really; they are more of my thing. This leads me to say that I really only want to have Cuesta (my mare, not getting sold.) I can't take 2 horses here and do anything productive with them for the before-mentioned reasons.. so I think that this is for the best...

It does sound like a good decision. You ought to post her on dreamhorse and on equine.com. Pictures would be great even here. Horsepeople always know someone who is looking for a horse, eh?

We had one that spooked out during police training at my parents and did a half backflip onto her so shes had a ton of major hip surgeries the last year and ever since then that horse has not been right. I'm hoping she can give him a good home somewhere because the new little guy we've got over there is a dream!

Ouch.. I do definately know that we are doing this for the best. I posted my ad on Equine.com.

Well anyhow, good luck with it!:gj:

If I was only closer! I have been looking into getting a horse, but I bet a rope would spook her, and cattle for that matter. Good luck to her and you! Im sure she will turn into a great horse for someone!

Well I have a woman interested in trading her trail gelding for Emma :) Cross yo' fingers..
Em is ok around cows; she was pastured with them for alot of her life. I can swish a leadrope around over her back, under her belly and around her tail with no real problem.

Sigh :) If only life were easy. If only it were easy and one-dimensional to make decisions!
I worked with Emma today. Instead of me being impatient and giving up, I did something about this situation. The flies are already bad here, and the horses were suffering. I had my flyspray, and treated Cuesta with it with no problem. She could let you spray nuclear reactive fluid over her and not care :)
Now it came to Emma. Right away she eyeballed the spray, semi-reared, and retreated about 3 paces. I set the bottle down on the ground. Went over to her, not saying anything.. petted her when she behaved and made herself easy to catch. Petted more, and began walking her toward the spray. She was scared; that I could see in her eyeballs and her ears back a little. I did not so much as coax her.. I talked her down and made her relax, and then gradually I got her to walk within a foot of the bottle. Now my trust in her came into play. I kept hold of the rope but bent to pick up the bottle. She predictably started to react and spook. I talked her down.. petting and eventually working the bottle closer to her face, which she eventually tolerated. I got to that point where I could spray her with it, and eventually she did not care :) I feel like this silly little event is really a leap forward for me personally. It was almost like I could see the gears working in her head, and she thought the situation through instead of spooking.
I am too focused on riding with this mare. I don't even really like riding that much. It is the keeping, care, groundwork with horses that I love and could not live without. So I think that I will make more baby steps with Emma, keep her on here, and not sell. I think seriously that I have taught her and myself more today than I have in the years I have owned her. It Is a big jump for me, since I was only ever really used to horses that had been there and done that and did not flip out at things like flyspray bottles and blankets. But I think that I am going to make Emma my project this month, to work with.
June first, anyway, she is going to the camp up the road. They borrow horses for the summer and train them. She will be exposed to all sorts of awesome things that I do not have the facilities for; other horses in training, arenas, indoor arenas, jumps.. you name it. And they have said that I could come down anytime and ride and learn too.. so I really think that all signs are pointing toward us keeping Emma.. wow does life surprise me sometimes.

Jen I left you a long reply on your myspace blog about this. I personally would persue a new home for her.

As for this camp. I'd make sure to get all paperwork in place. If Emma hurts someone who is responsible? If Emma herself gets hurt or killed who is responsible? Are they taking insurance out on her? I've been out of the horse world for only two years and I very much remember the legal side. You NEED to make sure you're covered because legal fees in an equine case can go through the roof and then some.
Also, what are the training habits of this camp? Have you gotten references?

I wish you luck girl. I can't wait to get back into horses when I get home to Indiana.