That was a Thing, briefly, after the Great Migration.
IIRC, the Mods got rid of it because it was a bloodbath.
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So why did the seller sell him to someone who was those things.
And this trainer seems to be a great example of a pro that’s not providing the kind of ride Jessica deemed necessary for this horse. If she though he required something so specific, why did she not discuss with the pro prior to the sale.
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Holee crap.
A horse hiding the bit is one thing, but those reins are not loose or long by ANY means… he doesn’t have anywhere to go! I’m very used to side reins being used properly (vaulting), but this is a whole different level.
I’m team ESH. The horse was clearly lame in the Benchmark videos (right hind, specifically), but what appears to have been done with the horse since then isn’t doing him any favors and in fact may be actively damaging him. I’m hoping that surgery and a new trainer will have this horse happy in some sort of work. I say new trainer because if this person rides the way they lunge, or teaches “contact” or “frame” the way they lunge, that’s no good for this horse. Not to mention that “showing how lame he is” is no excuse to slap tight reins on a PAINFUL horse and lunge him!
Anyway. ESH, but I’m glad Amos is doing what they can to give the horse a good chance at a useful, comfortable life. If nothing else, they are going to come out of this with a TON of new experience and knowledge, which so often we have to learn the hard way. Ask me how I know - my KS/NQR/neuro horse has been the biggest educator in my horse life, and I hope I’m able to apply all of that to my next horses in positive ways.
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Once again, plenty of people can talk the talk but are entirely unable to walk the walk. You can have all the conversations in the world and still find out that someone lied/misrepresented/thinks they know more than they really do.
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Once again, none of the rider’s history was hidden from the seller.
And the seller appears to have made zero effort to discuss this horse and his needs with the pro lined up for him, despite an offer from the buyer to facilitate that conversation.
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I was confused so I blew it up on my big screen. It looks like the long line on the outside runs from the bit to the surcingle, and on the inside runs from the surcingle through the bit to the trainer’s hands. There are no side reins.
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Once again, the seller offered TEXT conversation repeatedly. The buyer didn’t go for it (as far as we know). And, the buyer presented themselves as a re-rider working with a trainer and presented their program as appropriate. Exactly what receipts are you saying Jess should have required?
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I thought I saw a single side rein on the inside, but it wasn’t very clear. Regardless, seeing someone LEAN BACK with their entire body weight into those lines makes me feel quite bad for the horse. Ouch.
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Here’s the thing about this. I used to buy and sell a lot of TBs, and I had two different brokers I worked with. They did a high volume of horses, and if I got one and it wasn’t working out for what we had intended/what the seller thought it would be good at, or had a physical issue that looked like “trackiness” but didn’t resolve, etc, they TOOK THE HORSE BACK and would trade me for something else.
Yes mistakes were made here, but the buyer here relied on Benchmark’s assurances that it was a behavioral issue, she used one of the vets Benchmark provided info for, who told her not to get back x rays, etc. Regardless of how the trainer rode it when it showed up, those are literally the worst back x rays I’ve ever seen. Hands down. That horse was never going to be suitable for dressage/eventing. Ever.
The conversation upon viewing those x rays and the trainer getting launched/injured should literally have been “send him back. I have this not-as-fancy but really nice amateur-brained horse I will send you instead.” And none of this public brouhaha would have happened.
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Wtf are you talking about? At no point has it ever been discussed that the seller offered to text with the trainer prior to the sale of this horse.
As I’ve said before: a horse that a seller bills as a “pro ride” with “behavioral issues” that needs something very, very specific to succeed probably should not be offered on the open market AT ALL but instead offered to a select few professionals that the seller KNOWS can provide the sort of ride she deems necessary for the horse.
Barring that, it would have been far more likely to find the right fit for this horse if the horse had been offered for sale only to those who could come try him in person, with their trainer, so the seller could assess with her very own eyeballs if the buyer and trainer were capable of providing what she thought necessary for him.
Selling a horse labeled the way this horse was via a sight unseen sale without discussing his needs with the pro that the seller said was necessary (so necessary she didn’t bother to discuss the horse with her 
) is literally the least likely way to have him succeed.
And, tada, that’s reflected here in how this trainer is working him. What a surprise.
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Ah. Okay, I see that now. However, that’s still a LOT of weight/contact on the double lines (the horse is extremely broken over the neck and curled almost the entire video). I know it was purportedly to show the issues the horse was having, but it does seem remarkably unfair to sit that hard on the lines as the horse does BTV rather than to… stop lunging?
I’ll give the trainer a bit more benefit of the doubt seeing at those aren’t side reins, but I’m still getting the feeling this is not the person to restart this horse if it comes to that.
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I totally agree. The seller was unwilling to have a conversation with the buyer, so here we are.
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Where are you getting that the buyer wanted to send the horse back?
The idea that a seller has to talk to a trainer to make sure the ammy owner is telling the truth is a lot to expect.
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Where are you getting that I’ve said the buyer wanted to send the horse back.
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OMG! horrible! Is this the trainer doing this or Amos? wowwowwow. No beuno
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??? The seller offered to text with the buyer after she reached out post purchase. THAT is what I’m talking about.
At no point has any theoretical conversation with any trainer been brought up outside of an abstract “seller should have talked to the trainer” by other posters here. But we also do not know the extent of the pre-purchase conversations they had.
This, I agree with wholeheartedly, though!
To be clear, I don’t think this is 100% the buyer’s fault. What I take issue with is the declaration that the seller should’ve somehow vetted the story the buyer gave her, insisted upon speaking to the trainer the buyer claimed to have (again, people can talk the talk and not actually be able to do the job), etc etc.
Taking the horse back would have been classy, but we don’t know if the buyer even WANTS to do that.
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I was having sympathy for the buyer until the video got posted. I literally said ohmygod out loud when I scrolled down and saw the screenshots from the video.
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Agreed. There’s fault here on both sides. I don’t think any of it is deliberate.
I think requiring a seller (especially a high volume seller) to take the time to do back ground checks on buyers, speak to trainers, etc is unrealistic and can really get a buyer in trouble. Especially in this price range/training. I am sure some sellers do and i have no isses with them making sure a horse is the right fit, but I would not expect it.
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As you describe it, I’d agree. The idea that a seller would want to independently confer with a trainer for a horse she described as having very specific needs and behavioral issues is hardly so far-fetched.
The case may be that this horse should not have been sold to an amateur without a trainer present to evaluate. That was Jess’s judgement call to make and is neither here nor there at this point.
1 Like
So the inside is hooked up like a draw, and the outside is hooked up normally.
And then the trainer is leaning back into the lines.
ouch, ouch, ouch.
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