I’m sorry to hear about the ditch refusal but what an accomplishment. Being game to try new things when Plan A fails is the height of good horsemanship. God knows I’ve had my own reroutes in competitive goals, too. Good luck this coming year, get that Silver. 
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@beowulf that is SUCH a generous post! I’m going to give it my best shot. He seems really happy with the work, which I never would have predicted. I mostly feel like I can’t ride my way out of a paper bag, but since the bag now has tempi changes in it instead of counter canter, I guess that’s progress! It’s been humbling for sure.
This is the second horse I’ve had who made his career change preference clear - they do tell us, if we listen!
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Love this thread. Reading and re-reading posts here, and connecting with many things said, but the recurrent one being that dreams change over time, with rounds and rounds of humblings.
And we learn to look at each moment, maybe, with renewed gratitude for the small things that do work out. And we walk with the constant reminder to ourselves that nothing stays constant and everything can change in a moment, and if we don’t appreciate this ride, these few days of connection, this one opportunity here, or this new door opening unexpectedly there, we might miss the good things altogether.
Horses being quiet and inward, with us as their vocal (and paying) stewards so hugely responsible for their lives, makes the journey ever more special. All the energy spent looking into our four-legged partners, feeling into them, guessing and confirming, and exchanging signals.
Recently I rode a few senior GP dressage schoolmasters at my friend’s before returning home to our 3yr old youngster. I smiled as I brushed his lanky, lean body, smiled at myself at the other end of the journey my friend is at: she’s wondering who to retire and when, and we’re planning in-hand prospect tests for this coming Spring, and Materiale classes. Ours is an eventing type, through and through, while the ones I rode earlier were high-caliber KWPN types with big heads and big hinds and huge hooves. And… I leaned into our 3yr old and felt excited and grateful, all over again, even if he turns out to be more of an eventer than anyone had expected.
It’s the season of gratitude… learning to go with the flow.
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Ah, horses….the rollercoaster of emotions and oh so much heartbreak.
I now look back on my journey of being a “One horse competitor” rather wistfully. I don’t think I appreciated how lucky I was! A very special TB took me from lower levels to wins/placings at CCI2* and around some 3DEs. He’s now rising 25 and retired, but kept eventing at 2* until he was 19! How lucky was I? (I look back now and appreciate him all the more).
Since he retired during Covid, have been a bit lost with my riding and not really jelled with another horse quite the same.Decided to try breeding horses instead….cue, how to pour even more money down the drain.
Of my homebreds, I now have a 5yo that is “not quite right” and still unbroken (not sure what to do there, long story - she may end up PTS), a 3yo (whose dam died), a 2yo (that failed iGg and needed several bags of plasma as a foal, then survived and recovered from a pastern joint infection as a 16 month old), another 2yo, and now 3 delightful 2024 foals (one of which needed assistance from vet during foaling and was slightly “dummy” at birth).
I think, knowing what I know now, I would have been better off financially buying 1 or 2 good going horses rather than entering this “crazy horse lady” phase - but there’s never any guarantees. I am fortunate to live on a farm and have a husband and kids who put up with my madness. I do have a ‘fun’ project horse I have been competing at lower levels on and a very green 8yo I have not devoted enough time to due to caring for a large collection of horses. The irony kind of being, now I have a lot of horses, I can’t currently afford to compete seriously anyway! So multiple horses can just multiply the heartbreak or otherwise hamper/distract you from your goals….sigh 
I’m now working out a plan to make my horse situation more sustainable. I’m not wealthy, live in a rural area and work 2 jobs 6-7 days per week to pay the (considerable) bills. My goals have changed, in that I do plan to sell some of the young horses I have produced, as I have realised I’m unlikely to be in the position to afford to compete multiple horses beyond the lower levels. It would still bring me satisfaction to see horses I’ve bred compete with other riders….so my goals will have to change, even if I don’t want to admit it! Last year, my vet bill tally got way beyond what I ever anticipated spending and I cannot survive a year like that again. I’m still paying off vet bills. Could have bought a nice car or a fancy extended trip to Europe instead (or finally renovated my house, lol). Added to that,we are currently in the grips of a nasty drought that has impacted many parts of southern Australia and feed bills are at an all time high. Questioning life choices severely!
There’s no good answer - I think as horsepeople, we just have to adapt and perhaps continually change the goals. There’s no shame in that….everyone’s situation is different.
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I found myself, as a boarder, with a retired at 15 OTTB (who lived to 23) and a very hard keeping TB who retired one year after I bought him (sold to me as a 12yo, was actually 19…) and then died a year after that, so I bought a 5 month old colt, very well bred, with all my money. Through injury or genetics, he was more off than on, and at age 7 I had to put him down. Heartbreaking. Leased a horse who was supposedly competition ready but never sound enough. Felt like I would never hit my goals.
It took 12 YEARS to get back to Training level. I now have one horse, a jumper bred WB, bought as a green 4 yr old, and for 4 years we have been competing recognized successfully, now at Modified and aiming for Prelim which I’ve no doubt this horse will do, touch wood.
What I learned:
- Don’t buy unstarted babies unless you’re ok with a) waiting years and b) them not turning out OK.
- Get down to business: buy as much brain and rideability and experience as you can afford, and a horse that is in work, right now, actually doing what you need it to do.
- Work with a good trainer, get in a program, and set goals. Track them.
- Do it now. While they’re sound. While you’re sound.
- Face the reality with your current horse: if it’s not ever going to do what you need it to do, and you can only afford one, move it along. That might mean selling it, retiring it or if it’s really unwell, putting it down.
- I cannot buy OTTBs anymore. The average one is not sound enough, and the expense of thorough PPEs adds up.
- Speaking of thorough: Neck and back rads are required, along with a host of other rads. And a really hawkish vet and radiology specialist. I cannot afford to take risks because I can only afford one horse!
Signed, currently making it work with one horse, but paid my dues over and over!
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