Deciding to sell Emma

[Ginevive]

Well, today I made a Classified ad for our mare, Emma. Why am I selling her? Well, we have two mares. Emma is flighty and spirited. Cuesta is docile, obedient and well, a little out of touch. She was trained and also over-desensitixed by her previous owners.. You know how some horses dis-associate and seem to block things out? Cues was BAD with this when we first got her a few years ago. She was a deadhead.. Well she has come out of her shell with me. But thing is.. every time I try to work with her, Emma gets jealous and has to try tearing her stall door down to get to us! I know, this is herd-boundness and I can work on it, but I do not have time for this. I want Ema to go to someone who wants a horse with ZIP and DRIVE. I want a horse with a calm disposition and, well, Cuesta fits the bill. She is much more affectionate and responsive than I ever thought she could be when I saw her dead expression, protruding ribs and lackluster appearance years ago when we bought her (funny, her former owner always aske me about buying her back now that she is gorgeous and happy! fat chance!)
I want to focus on Cuesta. She is great undersaddle and really, both of them are going to waste because I am always alone when I have time to work with them, and it just gets too horrifically stressful on all three of us when I have to keep shooshing one of them away. I want one horse.. I do plan on getting a few goats to keep Cuesta company.. but in reality she did great when she was an only-horse, and all Emma ever does is hassle and annoy Cuesta who seems to tune out the world more. Does anyone have anything to add or advise in this situation?

[SlitherinSisters]

I think you are making the right choice. If you feel that Emma could have a better life, why not try and give it to her? We've sold a horse that was very aggressive and we just plain didn't want to deal with a dangerous horse. If Emma is a good horse in need of some training, there are lots of people willing to give her what she needs!

I have a friend that I've been helping with her mare and she wants something calm and steady. I told her point blank that she needs another horse. I totally understand where your comming from and there's no sense in owning something you can't enjoy.

[SlitherinSisters]

P.S.

My mare sounds just like your Emma, but probably even more psycho I don't have any doubt in my mind that you will sell your mare to someone looking for a fun ride. I've been offered almost double what I paid for my mare because she is so high spirited (for barrels/poles/games). She's 21 years old!!!! If people are willing to pay that for my old high strung mare.....I know someone will want yours!

[Ginevive]

Thanks for your reply! I def. think that it is great that you told your friend the truth instead of sugarcoating it. I will keep you posted!

[Entropy]

I think I responded to this on your myspace way back when you first made the suggestion. I think it's a great idea, the horse market is not the best right now but being able to focus on Cue the way you want will make a world of difference in her training.