I have a hot, obnoxious draft horse cross. And no, no part of the cross is warmblood or tb. It’s just him. I’ve had him since a baby and every year I said “next year he will mature”. Guess what, it never happened.
Luckily I love my pita and find his quirks endearing, but if you don’t think he’s for you sell him to someone who likes that personality type and move on. Just like with people, not everyone will always get along with everyone…
[QUOTE=Darty;7938693]
Fair point. I guess I just wasn’t expecting to have a hot shire on my hands when the drafts I’ve had were very laid back types and he was very chilled when he was a bub too. Back when I had more time it would have been fine, but being time poor is my life at the moment.
Should also mention I have tons of experience with hotter horses. Used to retrain ottbs and then had a herd of warmbloods, including a couple youngsters. So it’s not that I can’t handle it, I just don’t really want to at this point.[/QUOTE]
A draft’s form of challenging authority is different from a lighter-bred horse. A large animal who wants what he wants (like all of 'em do) and doesn’t mind using his body and stoicism to get it…… that’s just not my cup of tea. I know who I am, I have just one body, life is short and I wouldn’t choose this kind of horse for myself (at least until he were way, way broke…… by someone else, lol).
All this is to say that it’s OK to have taste in horses… personalities and levels of trained-ness.
The other key thing you mentioned was being “time poor” at this point in your life. Also, if you don’t have a foal pasture (plus a bitch of an old broodmare around to keep the colts in line), you are making everything with this colt harder. You’ll haves to be his entertainment, his teacher and his law enforcement officer. Again, I wouldn’t want that job with a yearling draft horse.
Not having the time, energy or facility needed to develop the horse that looked good on paper is a good reason to let him go, even if his personality were a piece of cake.
Some horses are just like that.
I bought a WB who until the day he died at 24 thought his name was “Nico, QUIT”
The next horse I bought showed signs of the same behavior - I had him up for sale within a year. Super talented, well-bred horse, but sometimes it’s just not worth the aggravation.
I bought a 2-y-o who now, at 8, I finally really love. About fifty times in the past 6 years I realized that he wasn’t the right personality for me. Due to some soundness issues, he’s mine for life so selling him is off the table. I agree with the others, it sounds like ou and he are not the right match at this time, and there’s nothing at all wrong with acknowledging that and letting him move on.
Sell. Sell sell sell sell sell sell sell. Sell.
[QUOTE=Darty;7938652]
Said horse is now a yearling and I just don’t like his personality.
Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
and this specifically why we never bred any of our mares, I would rather find what I wanted, I could select the color I wanted and the gender…and make sure we kind a liked each other
Horses’ personalities change when they get older, but only if they’re consistently handled and trained, even before they’re actually ridden. That takes a lot of hours, which is what you have said you don’t have.
That’s life. If you had the time, probably(?) you could work through these issues; but you don’t have the time.
I’d sell if I were you.
They don’t change THAT much. That’s his personality. I know many yearlings that annoyed the heck out of me, and they still do to this day! That’s just the way they are!
Another vote for “sell” - especially since someone else already wants him. As others have said, you don’t have the time right now to devote to working with him the way he needs to be. And there’s always another dream horse waiting for you when you are ready, IMHO.
I bet selling him will be like ripping a bandaid off - very painful at first, and a huge relief thereafter.
Good luck no matter what you decide ultimately!
Since you have a buyer and don’t like him right now? SELL.
Yeah, maybe he will change but IME the more aggressive ones stay that way and need that to be channeled constantly in a proper direction with consistent, correct and frequent handling as babies and grow into needing the same from their riders. Often they are quite talented but not for everybody.
Something I think you admit does not fit what you want in a horse for yourself.
And he’s awfully big to be acting the typical yearling brat.
No shame. No guilt. You have been good to him. New owner will be good to him. Nothing here to worry about. He won’t bear you any ill will or be disappointed, trust me on that. Let him move on.
This is what I am reading.
RIGHT NOW this horse need consistent, firm, knowledgeable handling EVERY DAY
With a young horse, you can’t afford to wait until you have more time.
You do not have the time RIGHT NOW.
It seems to me you have two rational choices.
A- Sell the horse to someone who wants him, and has the time, knowledge and skill to give him the handling he needs RIGHT NOW.
B - Send the horse to a trainer who has the time, knowledge and skill to give him the handling he needs RIGHT NOW.
But even if you send him to a trainer and work through the current stage, he will probably always have a bit of an “attitude”. If that isn’t something you want, then chose A.
I’d sell. We bought the pony as an adult horse in 2009 and I tried him and felt he wasn’t the horse I was looking for as a family type horse - I wanted willingness and steadiness and instead got opinionated and half trained, but my DH was enamored of him and was sure that if we worked with him he’d be great - I knew I didn’t have the time and he swore up and down he’d work with him - and HE didn’t have the time either and we STILL have opinionated and half trained (now it’s a little better after a winter at the trainer’s a while ago, maybe 3/4 trained).
The only reason we wound up at the trainer’s was because the little bugger chested the gate in the snow and knocked me into it face first and gave me a lovely split lip so it was trainer or some other method besides shoot him. They’re mighty hard to bury when the ground is frozen.
He’s cute as heck, athletic too, but I don’t have the time, and he came without registration papers (they’d never bothered to register him) so my trainer couldn’t get the value out of him to take him as a project or he’d have gone to her and probably be a successful show horse because he does seem to understand about crowds and attention.
My vote is sell and once you have the time find another prospect.
Given what you have posted, I also vote for sell. And if he turns out to be a great horse for the buyer, be happy for both of them.
He wants a job
Young horses that are destructive and challenging are bored silly. (IMO).
They need stimulation and new experiences. My take on it is that he IS a good boy, but bored and looking for attention, be it positive or negative, hence the acting out.
A place I boarded at had a young Friesian, he destroyed everything in his path, fencing, landscaping (when he escaped his paddock), barns, bent pipe corrals because he could, etc…he was an absolute sweetie, just bored out of his mind as his owner was VERY inconsistent in handling him and he was a clever monkey and looked for ways to get attention and have “fun”.
Sell him to someone who can give him that mental stimulation and outlet for his boredom. It’s not fair to him or to you as it is now.
He sounds like a smart, creative horse that wants a job. 
[QUOTE=The Crone of Cottonmouth County;7938932]
Sell. Sell sell sell sell sell sell sell. Sell.[/QUOTE]
Yes!
[QUOTE=Darty;7938693]
Fair point. I guess I just wasn’t expecting to have a hot shire on my hands.
.[/QUOTE]
Some shires are quite hot and it will stick around well into adulthood. The shire I had could be a pistol from weaning to 10 years. Lovely horse who was generally fun to work with. Gave him a ‘job’ as a yearling of ground driving. If I wanted to go for a walk or jog he was with me. It gave him confidence and a place to put his energy.
However…while fun they can be very frustrating and it sounds like you are only finding frustrating. Sell and run without looking back. Babies are babies and they need companionship and leadership. If you cannot provide either then you are doing the colt AND yourself a disservice.
Another vote for sell.
.
I would agree with you that he is destructive because he’s bored out of him mind but he does it while in a large pasture with a herd as well. He does it when he’s in with other draft babies his own age he loves to play with. He leaves the herd, pushes on the fencing until it gives and takes off. He’s not only like that when he’s by himself (as he is now with weekend turnout with my retired grumpy Clydesdale when I’m home to watch him to make sure he’s not on the fences)
Anyway, after reading all of this, you guys have reiterated what I’ve known myself. I think I’ve really been SO back and forth that I wanted people to tell me what to do because id never make my mind up on my own any time soon. It’s not fair on either of us to keep him and he will just end up a 17.2hh 2yo giant with bad ground manners because of my inconsistencies and no one wants to deal with that. It’s my responsibility to ensure he grows up to be a good equine citizen and I don’t think I can with my time constraints and his personality.
I think I’ll have I give it a month or so as I have bought a new horse and Im conscious that his breeders will think ‘out with the old, in with the new’ which is not the case at all. I’ve been thinking about selling since I had the offer which was over a month ago. It’s an open ended offer of ‘if you decide to sell, I’ll take him’ the lady wanted him when he was born but I beat her to it.
Look. Why are you waiting? Explain, please, why you, as a responsible adult and owner of this horse, admit that you need advice, get consistent advice, say you’re going to follow the advice, but then say you’re going to wait to follow it because you’re worried about what someone else will think? I am fairly sure that the breeder would be delighted to hear that the horse would be going to a situation that would help him reach his potential more quickly than you have time to get him there, at this point.
If you really believe your own line of “It is my responsibility to make sure he grows up to be a good equine citizen and I don’t think I can with my time constraints,” do not wait. Why have him have another month of developing bad habits and potentially hurting himself or you? Sell him before the offer goes away/the lady finds another horse, and both of you get on with your right and proper lives.
[QUOTE=Darty;7938652]
What would you do if you purchased your ‘dream horse’ as a weanling, only to discover over time that the horse, itself, does not mesh well with you and needs a more hands on environment than you can provide?
Said horse is now a yearling and I just don’t like his personality. Would you stick it out til he was an adult and hope with maturity he would be better suited to you or accept that he’s just not right for you and sell him?
I have a buyer wanting him for the price I would accept. Been tossing and turning over it for a month and still haven’t decided. I’m starting to think I’m going to have to move him on but I worry I’ll regret it.
Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
Get a fair price and SELL.
So what if it IS ‘out with the old & in with the new’? Why are you so concerned with the breeders judging you?? Buying yourself time is only enabling further wishy-washy-ness. You know what you want, you know what you need to do, so go do it! (Meant motivationally, not meanly!)
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