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.