That would be really nice, since it looks like this horse is headed for a bad end after being labeled “problem.” Your concern for horses is touching. We need more people just like you in the horse business.
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I only used that in the title to gain some attention for the thread. Im not selling her as a problem horse. Get a grip shes not headed to a bad end Im only letting her go to the right fit. I was lied to about her i wouldnt have purchased her had they been honest about her.
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I do have some nice photos of her shes a gorgeous but no video since i only have trails to ride on. Sadly i bought her based on lies but i have gotten her standing tied and lunging with a good woah. She only seems to have the basics under saddle, but needs more work on that even. Shes good to handle on the ground, and she is a sweetie and loves attention. Nice solid feet and kept barefoot. Lots of people seem to want projects, but nobody seems to want a project with a bad habit. It definitely comes from anxiety. Shes not papered either.
Im not looking to send her for training at this time. I cant sink any more money into her right now. I may get a friend to come ride that offered to as she has a horse that used to rear as well but im worried about someone getting hurt and it being my responsibility.
and Im literally open to any offer on her as long as its a good fit.
Sounds like i have another person that wants to come pick her up but this is usually the point i dont ever hear back from them again.
She learned that behavior from you. In your above post, you say she is anxious. What have you done to reduce her anxiety? Horses that are calm and relaxed don’t rear and buck. And if you don’t figure it out, you’ll teach it to the next one. Horses get anxious when the move to a new barn. It’s not dishonest sellers, it’s clueless buyers.
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She did this for the previous owner as well which she DID NOT tell me. Ive bought plenty of horses that dont rear and buck under saddle. She is not new here anymore going from calm to nervous to rearing in 5 seconds is not normal behaviour from moving to a new barn. Clearly im selling her because i cant help her so im not sure what the hell ur problem is.
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OP, where did you say you are located? Feel free to PM me. 
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If you get to a point where you are not so worried about they money, but just want her gone and to a good home, think about all of the best horse people (not necessarily trainers, but they can be) within a few hours drive of you and call or e-mail (with pics and videos) attached and give a brief description of the horse. Ask if they would be interested or if not, do they know anyone who would be. If anyone is, give the horse to them or sell very inexpensively. I’ve seen several horses placed in good homes this way, relatively quickly. It typically takes much longer to sell them if the owner insists on waiting until they get a cash offer by which point the owner has spent more to maintain the horse in the interim than if they’d gone the give to a nice home route.
It can be daunting to just pick up the phone and start calling around about a “problem” horse, but I really have seen this method be more successful than placing ads to the general public for such animals.
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I dont really know anyone well enough to have contact info. Those that i have on facebook i have given her info, the local barn in the area knows since they saw her meltdown at the clinic. I let my farrier know as well. Im going to ask my vet as well when he comes to look at my other horse. I have friends that are keeping an ear open for me. Im really not concerned with the money at this point as i said id take any offer. I posted her expecting to get less than i posted for but didnt want people interested just because of a super cheap price that didnt know what they were getting into.
Ummmm that is really not a problem horse, she just is a good horse for a ring rider, which there are many many of. She just does not like trails, there are lots n lots of people who don’t like trails either. You move her on by just writing the ad to market her as she is a simple “great in the ring, but not on the trails at this time” OR just leave it out completely when people call ask if they are looking for a trail horse and if so then proceed to say she is not confident and balks, but you realize that you are not confident either so it may improve with skilled experience…which is honestly what I think the case is she just needs some training on trails to see if she will improve and again if she doesn’t no big deal, she is still a great horse in the ring. Sorry you wound up with a mismatch, but honestly you are creating a problem by labeling her a problem, no horse is perfect.
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Well, what you have done so far to sell her has not worked. That is clear because you are posting here asking for tips on how to sell a problem horse.
Since you have not sold the horse so far and seem to feel you have exhausted the local market, now is the time to think outside the box and up your game.
Get someone to video her while you longe her or even have her run around the pasture. Even 30 seconds showing a nice forward gait and that she isn’t lame will be a big help.
Then extend your field of inquiry. Research all the barns within a three hour drive. Contact the trainers or barn managers and say that you need to rehome a nice enough horse that is above your skill level. Send the video clip and a good stood up conformation shot that you have taken with someone else holding the horse and getting her to look forward with ears up.
Make sure that anyone who buys her, comes out to ride her. Be prepared to sell her for a couple of hundred dollars. Then move on with your life.
Also you might want to contact the rescues that you used to ride at. You could surrender her to a rescue, or even better ask them if they know of people who are interested in cheap or free prospects and are good at problem solving.
I get that you are somewhat isolated both geographically and from the local horse community, and that you feel the horse might have a bad reputation locally. So expand your marketing efforts. And put the best foot forward with the horse.
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Again, i only did that to bring attention to this post since she isnt a normal project. She does this in the arena as well. It is not isolated to the trail. She is more comfortable in the ring but as soon as something makes her nervous she will still do it so its hit and miss.
thats exactly how i have been describing her that she just needs some guidance from an experienced rider but i cant just leave out the fact that she has reared under saddle and as soon as people hear that they are no longer interested.
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The recue i worked at here has since closed. I did email another rescue just this morning in case they know of anyone looking. She is posted all over my province not just locally.
OK…so she needs work. But honestly almost every horse is going to rear under saddle at one point in their life and every single horse has the potential to…so just my opinion, but if you told me what you wrote here I would think “ok horse being a horse needs some consistent work to improve and learn the routine, glad they are being honest but NO BIG DEAL let’s see how everything else about the horse matches up to what I want” again that is just me and yes I do want a safe horse, but “not yet educated” and “problem” are two totally different things. Still sounds like you are making too big of an issue out of it.
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Don’t rescues have experienced riders who back the horses they bring in? If you have ties to a rescue isn’t there someone there who can help you? Some horses are really good at picking up on the riders insecurities and quickly taking advantage.
Corgie, you say “province” - are you in Canada?
The way I see it, you have three options, here:
- Euthanize the horse. Not the worst option - ending up in a bad place despite your best efforts to find her a good home is worse.
- Keep advertising her honestly for however long it takes to sell her to a party that can help her.
- Keep her as a long-term project…hear me out on this one.
You describe a mare who sounds like an otherwise decent horse who likely got a crappy start or got messed up by a previous rider. She needs CONFIDENCE, not “discipline”. She’s certainly fixable, but she’ll need her handler to view her as a horse who needs some help getting right, not as a mare that needs to be put in her place for her “bad behavior” like rearing, bucking, etc (and I say that not because you’ve used that kind of language but because that’s how a lot of people think…all those things are just communication, plain and simple). When I get horses like this, I don’t get on them until I’ve got them 100% calm on the ground, exposed to numerous potentially troubling things in-hand (versus attempting those introductions mounted) and really, really clear on the basics I am going to ask from them once I climb on. With a horse like this (I’ve worked with a few) I might start introducing them to off-farm experiences in hand - hiking with horses is great fitness and less pressured way expose them to things when they are this concerned.
The reason I asked if you were in Canada is because if you are, look up Lindsey Partridge - her horsemanship is entirely sound and her horses speak for themselves. She’s got a unique way of teaching horsemanship which is not my personal taste but it works for a lot of people and I’ve yet to see a horse it hasn’t been helpful to. She has a lot of online content and you can start from the ground with this mare building her confidence up.
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Sounds like a giveaway to me. I did that last year with a filly I had – great mover, put together very well, bred well, papered… but she wasn’t born with the brain to be an “amateur horse”. And that’s okay, not all of them are. She needed to have a job and be worked with every single day.
However, I work a full time job and have a half dozen other horses who need to be worked. The rest of my herd, however, can take a joke and are just fine if they go without work for a day or two here and there when I have deadlines and client events and other matters to attend to.
I lost several thousand dollars between stud fees, mare care, and vet bills, but I gave her to a trainer I knew who had the space and was willing to take her on to profit later. I didn’t have to mess with the stupid questions from buyers (“Has she ever had a halter on?”… “She’s wearing a halter in my photos and videos.”), I didn’t have to worry about someone over representing their time or ability, which means that no one will be mad when they buy an inappropriate horse and then blame the breeder. It’s win-win for me and for the trainer who has far more connections than I do and could flip her reasonably quickly for a decent profit.
For what it’s worth, a horse that rears is not one that someone usually wants. Anxious? Fine. Bucking? Sure. Rearing? Hard pass. And she’s grade as well? And green broke at best? Giving her to someone worth their salt who has the opportunity to make money on her - whether as a resell or as livestock, is probably going to be the best bet you have. Better than getting sued when she hurts someone who overestimates their ability.
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I agree that you can provoke any horse to rear under saddle. It usually goes along with balking, or not wanting to go forward whether that’s in the ring or down the trail, whether from fear, anxiety, or other ornery emotions.
Some prefer to buck in these situations, some prefer to rear. And there is rearing meaning a little popping up in front, and then there is huge teetering on the hind feet suicidal rearing. The latter if ingrained is scary and a bit crazy. Popping up in front, like little bucks when pissed off, is something a rider or trainer just has to ride to prevent and work through.
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First of all OP, don’t listen to Palm Beach and just ignore it. He/She is just stirring the pot as usual and not posting anything that is helpful to the thread.
Anywho… how long have you had this horse? Honestly, she doesn’t sound “that bad” from what you describe. She just sounds spoiled with bad habits, and needs a bunch of wet saddle blankets. Minus the rearing, she sounds a lot like my Red was when I first got him.
You say she is an unregistered quarter horse. How old is she, estimated?
How are you currently keeping her? (stall, pasture, pen…)
What is her current feeding program, specifically?
I would agree at this point not to ride her, but if you feel comfortable and able, do ground work. A horse like this that only knows how to PANIC needs to be retaught to use the thinking side of their brain, instead the fleeing side. She needs to learn to pay attention to you, and not what is going on around her. I truly am a big fan of Clinton Anderson. However, “tone him down”, LOL. He’s way more aggressive (I think) that you need to be. However, I really like how he explains what he is doing, why, when, where, etc and you can still take those concepts and apply them. He’s got a whole FREE series on YouTube about working with a rescue. Here’s the first one.
If you’ve done your ground work, she’s going to do much better under saddle. Honestly, I bet she is not “perfect” on the ground. Start putting some stressful things at her on the ground, like you do under saddle, and the problems will manifest there too. They are usually easier to address on the ground first, though.
It’s not that you can’t sell a horse that has some serious holes in their training, but of course, you’ll be more likely to find her a good home if you can help her some before then.
I most certainly would NOT give her away. You will get MORE tire kickers if you make her free. She certainly has to be worth something. Knowing if she is registered and her age, and your general location (maybe state?) can help tell you if $1500 is reasonable. Is she athletic? Does she move well? Would she (for example) possibly be suited for a rope horse? Barrels? You didn’t really say what her strengths are, so hard to get ideas.
Honestly, you haven’t really said much about what she does that is GOOD. Make that your priority in your ad. Of course, don’t lie, but you’ve also got to include some positive things too.
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I was told that buying horses is buyer beware. So honestly just curious how is it i could get sued for full disclosure on a horse, yet i cannot sue after being lied to about one and possibly being put in a dangerous situation?
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Do you have anything like 4H or pony club or any other sort of youth riding group relatively nearby? A teenager with some solid riding skills and a sticky seat might be just right for this mare. Contacting the group leader may be a fruitful avenue to explore.
And listen to beau about Palm Beach. Don’t feed the troll 
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