Adopting horses from Cavalia?

[frugalannie]

I know not strictly eventing related but I didn’t want to go beyond the reasonable folks on this forum :winkgrin:.

A neighbor who is thinking of getting a horse for her kids stopped by yesterday to ask me what I thought of adopting a horse from Cavalia. She says one can sign up on line and then wait for a horse to be retired out of the show. From her point of view this would be a great horse, already well trained and relatively safe for her kids.

I’ve never heard of this program, and would wonder about the reason for retirement not to mention how the horse would really fit in to a family farmette environment.

Any thoughts adoption mavens and fellow eventers?

[Polydor]

If she is meaning Cavalier the cirque du soleil show, never heard of them adopting out their horses. I would imagine the horses are pretty bombproof or not if they failed out of the show. Hopefully they come with a couple lessons to find all of their buttons.

Intriguing may have to do some research on it.

P.

[Polydor]

If she is meaning Cavalier the cirque du soleil show, never heard of them adopting out their horses. I would imagine the horses are pretty bombproof or not if they failed out of the show. Hopefully they come with a couple lessons to find all of their buttons.

Intriguing may have to do some research on it.

P.

[Madison]

I’m guessing this is the program they are referring to:

http://www.cavalia.net/en/adoption#pOSD2Cy04ARDZMOz.97

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=frugalannie;8659760]
I know not strictly eventing related but I didn’t want to go beyond the reasonable folks on this forum :winkgrin:.

A neighbor who is thinking of getting a horse for her kids stopped by yesterday to ask me what I thought of adopting a horse from Cavalia. She says one can sign up on line and then wait for a horse to be retired out of the show. From her point of view this would be a great horse, already well trained and relatively safe for her kids.

I’ve never heard of this program, and would wonder about the reason for retirement not to mention how the horse would really fit in to a family farmette environment.

Any thoughts adoption mavens and fellow eventers?[/QUOTE]

Truthfully, I think if she’s looking for a great kids’ horse, I would go looking for a been-there-done-that QH that’s already babysat a previous generation of kids. It won’t be quite as exciting, but it will be easier to find and also I think has a better likelihood of success.

I’m not knocking the Cavalia horses or program - by all means, sign up, who knows what will come around. But, my guess is that while those horses are used to crowds, they’d be selected for temperaments more like a dressage horse - very focused on their human and responsive. They’re going to have a lot of nonstandard cues installed.

The last thing you want in a kids’ first horse is a horse that listens intently to their body language and does whatever they ask. :lol:

[frugalannie]

Thank you for the great feedback.

FWIW, I’m much in agreement. I tend to think that a great first horse is a retired low-level polo pony. They’re used to taking care of their rider, are great games horses and have been there and done that even to having mallets swung all around them.

[spotnnotfarm]

One odd thing I saw in the requirements was a stallion could not be used for breeding. Why wouldn’t they geld it (unless it was older) to prevent that? That could be hard to enforce.

[SnicklefritzG]

[QUOTE=frugalannie;8660198]
Thank you for the great feedback.

FWIW, I’m much in agreement. I tend to think that a great first horse is a retired low-level polo pony. They’re used to taking care of their rider, are great games horses and have been there and done that even to having mallets swung all around them.[/QUOTE]

Just as long as they aren’t eating the same amount of grain they get when they are playing polo :eek:

[SnicklefritzG]

[QUOTE=spotnnotfarm;8660211]
One odd thing I saw in the requirements was a stallion could not be used for breeding. Why wouldn’t they geld it (unless it was older) to prevent that? That could be hard to enforce.[/QUOTE]

I read the list of requirements and it seems very much focused on a specific philosophy of horse keeping. The organization seems to have a very strong opinion on what is considered appropriate. Some of their requirements are not feasible in all boarding facilities. Not all facilities turn horses out in groups or with a buddy, particularly if they are wearing hind shoes. Not all facilities can handle stallions, and who would want to go to the trouble of keeping one if it were not used for breeding, etc.

They have strict requirements and want to find people with similar philosophies which is why I think their requirements are more restrictive than you would find with other organizations like CANTER that find second homes for horses.

IMHO some of what they are asking is not realistic. So I have to wonder if the adopting out portion is more for PR than anything else, especially if they have their own retirement farm.

[poltroon]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8660282]
IMHO some of what they are asking is not realistic. So I have to wonder if the adopting out portion is more for PR than anything else, especially if they have their own retirement farm.[/QUOTE]

I am assuming that is the case here, to assuage the non-horsemen that they take care of their animals when their usefulness to the show is over.

[Foxtrot_s]

Cavalia is not Cirque de Soleil. It was started by someone who used to work for the Cirque, and is using them, say, as a marketing tool.

[Kimchi]

I am in the get a quarter pony boat. One of the horses in the barn is a retired expo horse (not Cavalia) he is very very sensitive and spooks easily even though he used to jump through rings of fire. Also he had to relearn some of the aids because the ones he was trained with were not standard.

This horse is nice and very lovely but not a kids horse by any means. Kids need horses that are a little dull and very forgiving. Get an aged horse that has been packing kids around for years, they are not as exotic but they are good troopers and know how to look after someone.

[Belmont]

Soooo, you can adopt a flunkee (or retiree), but you can’t show it?

The rules are weird. I would tell the friend to go the ‘been there done that kids horse’ route. This program seems like a major PITA.

[frugalannie]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8660256]
Just as long as they aren’t eating the same amount of grain they get when they are playing polo :eek:[/QUOTE]

HA! When we retired the polo ponies on the farm I worked on, they just went out on grass. Maybe that’s why they were such good doobies?

I’ve passed along your thoughts on the Cavalia adoption and suggestions for alternatives. They’ve heard that quarter horses are nice, but I keep emphasizing that it doesn’t really matter what the horse’s breed is. What matters is it’s training and character.