If you are asking this question, then the answer is likely “YES”
I had a mare that was an extremely tough ride when I was younger, 12 o’clock rears, bucks, general “I don’t wish to work”
Scared the living daylights outta my coach on a regular basis.
It took years to get her to be a good horse. She was finally the ride I wanted when she was about 12. Even then she was STILL a tough nut. She was a tough ride to the end @ 23 last year and would challenge anyone but me. I had bought her when she was 3, green as grass and so was I (and I was 15). Looking back, it was a BAD decision. Somehow I still am living.
In some ways I wish I had quit with her. I almost sold her a half a dozen times and then as soon as I made the ad she would turn a corner. If I had, I likely would have had a more successful showing career earlier in my life.
Now, as an adult, I can not put up with any idiocy on the horses part. When I bought this mare I knew exactly what I wanted and bought it. If you were my daughter I’d sell that horse of yours in a minute and get you something sane and safe to go up the ranks with.
[QUOTE=Reminisce;8035051]
Check saddle fit, teeth, try out a good chiropractor/acupuncture, test for lymes and ulcers, etc. Evaluate what you are feeding him, his turnout situation, riding routine…
If you rule all of the above out, maybe then it is time to find him a more suitable match, or a different trainer.[/QUOTE]
^^^^^^^this^^^
I thought you had just changed barns and we’re looking for a new coach? But that was last week and maybe you have found one? Which one advised you to buy him, if either?
Anyway, what you are doing and have been doing has not solved your problem, you need to ask your parents about putting more money into his training. If this has been going on for a year with you and who knows how long before that. If you want to stop it, you will need to do something different.
Far as selling him? To who given his history? His best shot is getting the bucking reduced or eliminated and that’s going to take a Pro. There may be pain related issues but he has been bucking for years and even if pain is eliminated, might keep right on doing it.
Maybe he’d rather be a dressage horse
Well I had a horse as a kid who bucked and reared because it got him out of work. If he didn’t want to do something, he bucked you off and that was that.
The lady I bought him from was scared of him so if he misbehaved, he got put away. He bucked me off first ride after I bought him. Bucked my trainer off the next ride. I’m guessing he was drugged or something when we tried him, there was no hint of any misbehavior while I rode him. The vet did ask when he vetted him how experienced I was, so I’m guessing the vet did something he didn’t particularly care for.
We were at our wits end, no one could ride him and my trainer refused to ride him again until the bucking stopped. If we couldn’t get it fixed, my next call was going to be to a livestock rodeo agent. He bucked that well. We sent him to a cowboy for 10 days. It was the best money we ever spent on a horse.
He came back and NEVER bucked again! I don’t know what the cowboy did (I’m guessing it wasn’t all good) but it worked. He also did lots of other things when he came back that he hadn’t previously done like letting us hose him off, clip his ears etc after his time with the cowboy.
Sometimes a little discipline goes a long way.
After I had him for two years, I sold him to an adult beginner rider. She loved him and by that time, he was fairly bombproof.
Sometimes you need help with the tough ones. It doesn’t mean he’ll always be like this but it may take a professional to put him right. Some horses never do get right. I just got lucky with mine that he responded so well.
Hello! Everything you have said has made the most sense to me and been very helpful. Very true I am not experianced enough to be riding a horse like this. I am only 14. I have always worked woth horses like this and I think I have just lost my passion becuase I am never having fun anymore. It is obviously not his fault. I was pressured into buying him and it was definitely the wrong descison… thank you.
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Hi, jumperqueen21, just where is this horse?? Just asking
[QUOTE=jumperqueen21;8036787]
My old coach told me to buy him.
I dont believe we have enough money to get him trained. I am doing everything I can possibly do.[/QUOTE]
Not to be blunt, but - training is part of the cost of showing. If you don’t have the money for training, you don’t have the money for showing. Save the $5-10k you’d spend getting bucked around shows this year and invest it in a 2 months of pro rides and a vet workup.
The cost of a competitive horse will either come out in the purchase price or the training. If you do sell him (which be neither easy nor lucrative if he’s as bad as you say), consider 12 months of full-time training to be a built-in cost to the next horse you purchase, or look for a finished packer.
Also, I used to have a soft spot for the horses nobody else wanted to work with. I ended up with some beautiful, crazy, unshowable horses. I’m having a MUCH better time riding since I stopped picking those ones.
This.
If you have the money to show, you have the money for training/the vet, because that should always come before showing.
[QUOTE=jumperqueen21;8036787]
My old coach told me to buy him.
I dont believe we have enough money to get him trained. I am doing everything I can possibly do.[/QUOTE]
Did your old coach not like you?
I hope this horse was cheap. I can’t imagine any other reason to buy a known rearer/bucker that had been passed around for a kid.
[QUOTE=SweetMutt;8037942]
Not to be blunt, but - training is part of the cost of showing. If you don’t have the money for training, you don’t have the money for showing. [/QUOTE]
Ditto this. First you train, then, when you are ready, you show. Training first. Showing second. Then training again…
[QUOTE=jumperqueen21;8036787]
My old coach told me to buy him.
I dont believe we have enough money to get him trained. I am doing everything I can possibly do.[/QUOTE]
See if your parents can call your old coach and see if they can help you sell him or trade for something else that’s safer. No idea why they recommended this one for you unless they may have thought you would be paying to have it trained.
I think you probably are doing everything a 13 year old can do, not your fault you are in this situation. The right, and safe, thing to do is just don’t jump him.
Remember too that not all horses are cut out to be show horses. No matter how well they behave at home some horses are just too stressed out by traveling to show well. It’s not always a discipline issue although it certainly can be.
Skip and few shows and use the money to get a trainer to at least evaluate the horse.
You said you take lessons? So what does your instructor say about the issues? It sounds like maybe it is a typical lesson barn and it might be time to move on to a trainer who can help you in a more hands on way.
[QUOTE=jumperqueen21;8036787]
My old coach told me to buy him.
I dont believe we have enough money to get him trained. I am doing everything I can possibly do.[/QUOTE]
When my horse was being awful at shows I had two choices 1) divert my horse show money into figuring out and fixing my horse, whether it was through more training, better equipment, or more medical treatment or 2) continue to throw my money away at horse shows trying to show a horse that was just as likely to behave and do very well as he was to throw a horrible temper tantrum. Other than maybe a show or two per year, I have not shown in two years because I have spent two years worth of horse show budgets figuring out and fixing my horse.
No matter how you look at it, this horse is going to cost you(r parents) money. If you do sell him, it will probably be at a loss, possibly significant. If you do keep him, you will need to put money into professional training rides and lessons for yourself, and possibly some vet work.
It stinks, but unfortunately that is life and part of horse ownership. You are young enough that you should not work through this on your own. Getting a pro involved will save you a lot more money and heartbreak in the long run.
Posting a video of what you’re talking about may help distinguish if it looks like a riding, equipment or pain issue.
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[QUOTE=jumperqueen21;8041791]
She pretty much just ignores his problems.[/QUOTE]
This sounds like a conversation you should have with your parents.
[QUOTE=jumperqueen21;8035278]
Everyone, I do have a coach I am in a regular program and get lessons once a week at the least.
He had his teeth done got him special tack to make him more comfortable, changed his diet and all that. he is much better at home. Not perfect by any means but much better. At home i have jumped him up to 3’6-4’0 courses.[/QUOTE]
A 13yo in once per week lessons jumping 4’ courses.
My my.
