What would you do if the horse you bought turned out to be much greener than advertised and said horse was still very green (over fences) after nine months’ training? By conservative estimate, it might take two years to turn this horse into the “packer” I’d originally sought. The horse is a lovely horse with a great personality but definitely not a packer over fences and I’m a nervous middle-aged amateur who would like to do some low level showing but there aren’t many shows with classes for riders who trot to 2’ jumps!! Would you keep investing time and money since it is a very nice horse (who cost very low five figures) or move on? I am truly torn and would appreciate the thoughts of those with experience in such matters.
Low fives? Eeek. Is the horse talented, has the jump/scope/step to be attractive in the sport, an “in” breed, desirable in some other way that would offset its green-ness? My first thought is trade it for someone looking to step down a horse for a horse looking for a step up.
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Ask your trainer what the horse would sell for as a going 2’6” baby green. If it’s more than what you bought it for I would have a pro show and market it and then buy myself something suitable.
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My trainer said the horse has promise and has a willing attitude. But no, the horse is not a trendy breed- the opposite in fact as it is mare who is half TB!
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Thank you. I think a pro would definitely have to show the horse as I certainly cannot- not over fences, that is. And since the horse only has a simple not auto lead change that makes her even more limited.
Sell and buy something you can ride and enjoy now.
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Your horse may be a usable junior or ammie jumper in two years but will not be a packer by any means. You want a horse with a good track record. Ideal would be a kid’s jumper in his teens that needs a loving home as owner goes to college or trades up to a scopier horse.
This time pay your trainer to do a trial ride on prospective horses. You aren’t advanced enough to tell if the horse is well trained or not.
Half TB is not a bad thing. What’s the other half? Many WB are actually half TB. People love a nice Appendix QH, or TB x Connemara or draft for jumping.
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Thank you. Sorry I should have said she was an Appendix. It’s because a friend keeps calling her “Half TB!” I had leased a ‘step down’ horse who was wonderful and exactly what I needed but who had to be retired alas.
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There is a market for Appendix. Someone will want her.
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Thank you!
I have a gelding who is “half TB” but the other half is Irish and he’s registered as such, and desirable (I guess I mean I think he is sorta okay 
) and my new filly is “half QH” but the other half is WB (Dutch and Irish). The halves add up.
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9 months of training and still only doing simple changes? Hmmmm. New trainer?
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I think a good appendix is worth their weight in gold, especially for a more timid ammy. If you generally like the horse except for the greenness, I would put my money into training rides.
If you don’t like her the good news is that the market is hot and she would get snapped up in a second. Bad news is your ability to find something else may be limited.
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You’re trainer is telling you that in total it will take almost three years of professional training to make an already broke appendix a 2’3-2’6 packer? If they in any way were involved with the original purchase or even saw a video of the horse first, I’d sell and find a new trainer. There’s something really odd here. Either the trainer is really not equipped or did not have the knowledge to identify that a horse had significant issues requiring extensive remedial work.
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Thank you. Yes, I was a bit baffled by that as well. Yes, the trainer saw the video of the horse- had a trainer friend try the horse (this was back during severe lockdown when we couldn’t travel with lengthy quarantining which my trainner did not want to do). The trainer who tried her and my trainer talked, both agreed she was great and that I should buy her. And, well, here we are.
Thanks - that is good to hear. I think she is a good horse and I want to keep trying but I do wonder why - to your point @Willesdon that she doesn’t have her changes yet. My trainer says she wants to ‘wait’ on the changes until the mare is jumping better. I don’t understand why she can’t be taught both to change leads and jump confidently/accurately?
Agreed. Teaching lead changes will give balance that will only help improve the jumping too. Methinks trainer is a little in her over her head here.
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Well, with further information, I would say keep the horse and change the trainer.
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Swap the trainer. If it was already broke under saddle, the only excuse for still having only a simple change and “wanting to give horse more time” is trainer has bills and your training fees are paying them, why stop the gravy train? Thats a total wishy washy BS answer to you questioning progress, or lack thereof. You cant get much for it without a change and needing a more advanced rider just to step over teeny fences.
But, but, but, to be fair here, how many training sessions a week with the trainer in the irons is this horse getting?
Any trainer needs to be a whole lot more honest then it sounds like this one is, even if the truth, be it horse needs more training rides or its just not a match for OP is not pleasant to hear. Its OPs money and up to OP to keep track of how trainer is spending it. From sales commission to training, OP needs to track it carefully and expect honest accountability from anybody being paid to train her horse.
Any trainer who cannot answer simple questions and provide frequent and specific progress reports to owners should not be blindly trusted to act in the best interest of their client as opposed to squeezing as much $$$ as possible over as long a period of time as possible. Don’t let one treat you like a mushroom.
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Agreed!
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