Broncing mare. I really need advice

Thanks you for the idea .

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Option 4 is my vote (assuming the friend is capable with tough green horses, and has pros to turn to as needed). It’s the only one you haven’t attached fear to in your post, for one thing.

Unfortunately, I don’t think you’ll be recouping any large percentage of your money, realistically. On paper, this mare now has a history of a gnarly buck, front end lameness associated with navicular, and issues on the ground (lunge line, running you over). All of which would be unethical to not disclose to any future buyer.

Now. There’s a good chance that a chunk of this is a green mare being pushed too far too fast, likely not just by you (the timing of that baby…). She does not know the things your average 6YO sporthorse does; she’s been passed around a bit, doesn’t know her job, and might also have some foot and repro pain to go on top.

I just don’t think you’ll be recouping your money/stopping the money pit by sending her to a cowboy and then rehashing this again when she comes back - there’s nothing shameful in admitting a horse has your number, and IMO it take more than 90 days to get over that. That takes YEARS to get the horse and rider to work, if ever it happens. So you’ll be paying board and training for however long, potentially to end up selling her because y’all don’t fit well regardless. Not to mention the risk to your confidence and physical health along the way!

Or you send her to the cowboy and sell. It’s not a bad choice, if the trainer is good. She’ll still be a green horse with a history, and no record following. I’d take what money you can get and place her in a competent home.

Sitting her in a field sounds like a middle ground, but you’ll still have a horse that has your number and that has admittedly scared you - and now she’s perhaps a bit more feral. And older. And needs to go to the cowboy or young horse trainer for a ground-up restart. (I wonder if this is how she ended up having a foal - for a lot of people a tough mare showing reactivity under saddle, but darn she ā€œshouldā€ be worth a lot = breed her! She can always be sold after as a ā€˜green broke broodmare’, out of shape and unrestarted.)

So. Option 4 (sign her over to a competent friend) would be my choice. Advice worth what you paid for it, of course.

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I may have missed your answer, but I know it’s been asked a couple of times. What does your trainer suggest?

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I’ve almost accepted I’ll be losing $$. But it still hurts . Thank you very much for your input!

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Some programs need recip mares.

But be careful - not all donated horses are kept alive, and some repro mares live tough lives. A good program takes good care of their animals, but I’d be wary of one that leases out recip mares off-site.

Most schools have some teaching horses, but they need to be very docile and easy to handle - a LOT of students (vet med and otherwise) come through the barns that have never touched a horse (or an animal larger than a golden retriever). So, read those contracts y’all. A lot have a euth clause when the horse is no longer useful. Not all, and not a bad thing, just something to keep in mind when imagining the horse’s future.

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Agreed . The facility I had my horse bred at had the chillest group of mares. It’s a very valid concern

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Or maybe go slowly with her and restart her…? Which is what you should’ve expected?

This is beginning to feel like a creative writing prompt, with the ā€œmisunderstood horseā€ that you buy thinking ā€œshe just needs loveā€ and then are surprised…that she’s as billed. She ā€œhas no tellsā€ on her bucking but is herd and barn bound, and anxious.

This is a young horse that has had very little consistent training, that you picked up and immediately put into a serious work program, w/t/c, on and off the property, despite thinking that kindness alone would turn her around.

You didn’t give her time to settle, you didn’t start her fresh from the beginning, you didn’t even listen when she was anxious. You just treated her like a made, experienced horse, which she definitely was not.

Fixing a green horse with an inconsistent history and a trick is a whole different ballgame than taking over a made horse, or even bringing along an unmade one. It’s okay to say this isn’t your jam, but geez. This poor horse. She’s had no one in her corner.

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Sir or lady,
You have a problem with literally everything I say. You are putting words in my mouth, and making false statements . I am not explaining myself any further, but I am trying REALLY hard here.

Go kick rocks and leave me alone
I’ve really had enough of you being so judgemental and unfair.

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Reading this horse’s backstory it sounds familiar, I think i know who had the horse before you. Her trainer is pretty fearless and competent, and that tells me they saw this nasty buck. From reading the mare’s history, it sounds like there is something that triggers a very painful response which gets the violent bucking. Given that you know she is bilaterally lame up front, you already have a big part of the answer. She hurts, in more than one area, and likely has compensatory pain as well. She’s been passed around a good bit since she was imported, which tells me there have been issues for awhile. It’s always a gamble to buy a horse with a known problem, especially if you paid five figures. If I were you, I think my first hard decision would be, do I want to keep trying to solve the pain issue or not? You’re not getting rid of the bucking as long as the pain in unresolved. I’d answer that question first. I’m sorry you’re having a tough go.

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It’s clear this mare is not a good fit for you. I wish you both the best of luck finding her a more suitable situation.

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OP, your posting style has a lot of similarities to some of the sh*t posts we’ve all seen over the years. Not the full picture, not answering specific questions like what your trainer thinks, contradictory information etc.

This quote would lead me to believe if you indeed were that familiar with green horses, this mare would not be so much of a mystery for you, but here we are.

It may just be that you are very overwhelmed with the horse and the feedback here, which is understandable, but this is part of the reason why there’s some skepticism.

Count me another vote for her to go to the friend. You’re not going to recoup much, if any money and will likely end up in the hole.

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Well, I apologize for being crappy

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Things will work out one way or another. I hope you do share any medical findings as you work through all the vet stuff, I think you’ll likely find some more answers there if I had to guess.

I completely commiserate with a dirty bucker, the one I had was the first horse that really did scare me. Those lessons I learned with the one I had were not the ones I wanted. He was supposed to be a horse that I finished for the show pen before I went to college. Those lessons served me well over the years though.

I think in all scenarios except the immediate give away, you are likely to lose money. And depending on how much some of these cost, including additional vet workup needed, it will be your investment plus a lot. It really sucks.

A friend of mine bought a sport horse foal. Lovely horse. Paid to have him started many states away where he was growing up, and the trainer really didn’t get much done. Owner is not inexperienced in starting horses, though it’s been a while. Tries to finish the job herself. Only her support network here let her down, and the facility we are at is not good for baby breaking. Horse also developed some mild physical issues including ulcers that took some time to figure out, some being just growth related. Turning into a large horse.

Bucks owner off some. Rips away on the lunge line. Goes to the local ā€œcowboyā€ who sends him back because he’s too much of a bronc. This is where the ulcers come in the worst. Gets the horse healthy. Goes to a trainer on the west coast at a recommendation. Has a bumpy start but thrives. Owner goes out to see him and rides him there. Eventually comes home. Again, local support not as promised, and owner gets bucked off a couple times. Last time was a serious concussion. Owner offers horse to the trainer as a give away. Trainer can’t send a trailer fast enough to collect him. They stay in touch, and the horse is showing as a jumper and doing great. He was just not the right horse for his person under the circumstances (who also wanted him to be a dressage horse).

Your mare has proven twice she’s not an ammy friendly horse. Is she the right horse for somebody? Maybe. Hard to say without a full picture of the lameness. But that’s definitely a question mark having bilateral front limb lameness in a young horse with no mileage. At this point in time right now, she is not worth anything. And she may never be the right horse for you. You can put more money into her to see if she could be the right horse for someone. That investment could be large to get her back to the value you want her to have, if that approach is successful. She’s no longer priced on breeding and potential. She has baggage. If the vets are throwing around things like EDM, I would hesitate to spend that kind of money on this project if you don’t have people right now in your life that are capable of helping or who (knowing the horse) can recommend someone who can.

You are feeling emotional, and that’s normal. Just because you came here for help doesn’t mean you have to make a decision today, or tomorrow. But do be careful handling this horse.

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Another thought - I’m assuming she had good flexions on both fronts at the PPE, and now she does not and had bilareral Lameness. I know we all get very attached to our farriers, but maybe her shoeing job needs scrutiny? No Lameness on recent PPE, now bilateral lameness is a significant change.

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Yes. Warwick Schiller. This goes hand in hand with my comment up-thread asking OP under which circumstances her horse does NOT buck? OP didn’t answer, but that would be Warwick’s first question = work with this horse only within her non-bucking threshold / comfort zones, and slowly increase = his 50’ trail ride as an example.

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@Bays4days, I want you to know that it is never wrong to realize that you and a horse are not a good match. That is no fault of yours. You are also allowed to be afraid, no matter what anyone else says. Like all relationships in life, we do not all get along with everyone/everything.

The tough part here is that money has been spent which at this point will likely not be able to be gotten back.

I do appreciate that you reached out in an attempt to get help to figure out how to move forward.

Jingling for you and your mare.

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Late to the party but a ton of deleted responses. I think most posters here genuinely care and want to help, but it’s hard to do so without the full picture.

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I think it is sometimes hard to balance the line between giving enough information and not giving too much information so all the parties involved are outed.

Sometimes not giving enough, in an attempt to maintain some privacy, makes people think the OP is intentionally not wanting to give them information for some other reason.

I am sorry that the OP felt the need to remove all their posts.

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Ditto late to the party and the OP may not be monitoring responses any more. But my 2 cents anyway:

It sounds like the OP has been honestly trying with a horse that has turned out to have some (now) known physical issues (navicular) and some possible others. I’d underline that the horse is probably so green that, even for a rider who feels like they’ve had some experience with green horses, the horse has presented new problems for the OP.

For example, running through the OP to get out of the stall is just a green horse move. She wanted to get out, the OP was standing there, she just muscled past the OP because no one has (probably) ever tried to really teach her that she must not do that no matter what.

The bucking could be pain-related, might be behavioral, and could be both. It’s not unheard of for a horse to buck because of pain and then learn it as a kind of ā€œgo-toā€ behavior to evade a stressful situation. And stress can be pain-related as well as a result of the horse being overfaced or simply wanting to get away from the rider and to a friend or grazing or the stall or whatever.

To the OP: this sucks, but you’re going to lose money on this horse. No matter which of the 4 options you choose, you’re going to lose money. Trust me, we’ve all been here. Like another poster above, I also think that option 4 is the best one, because it puts an end to your involvement/ownership but puts the horse in a situation where it will get its best opportunity to turn into a useful citizen.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

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