I assume you are joking. I think we have a responsibility to the animals we bring into the world. I kept an unusable horse I raised as a pasture pet for 18 years and even did surgery on him. I think it is fine to sell a sound or actually serviceably sound (not cruel ring sound) horse just not a broken or old or old and broken one. The chances of bad crap happening to them is just too high. If they are yours when they break, you are stuck with them.
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So are you selling him because he is off and canāt jump as high as you want anymore? If so, then yes quite possibly, if he doesnāt end up worse like a dead lame lesson horse or dog food.
There is a difference between selling a sound horse or a horse that can fairly be asked to do the intended job and dumping a broken on or pawning off an old one. I would not dump an old or lame horse. I never have. If that meant I would have to sell a young sound one to afford to keep the old lame one so be it.
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You know, the solution you should be pushing here is making euthanasia more acceptable and economical. So many people hold onto horse well past the time they should be humanely destroyed, prolonging their pain to satisfy our desire to keep Dobbin because ākilling themā is ācruelā or āunnecessaryā because you (g) should bankrupt yourself to keep trying everything. Sure, I can retire my horses at my small farm but the vast majority of people who own a horse board it and have no way of āretiringā it themselves. Board is expensive and often not suited to an older, painful horse.
So many posts here on COTH ask when or if a person should put their old/lame/unsafe/diseased/you name it. We all answer to do it. But it is expensive and often controversial. We should encourage bolt or bullet euthanasia as well as chemical.
There, I brought a solution to the table.
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I 100% agree
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Why do you think it will be born unridable?
What I wrote was, āAt some point I wonāt be physically able to ride and compete him anymore.ā
Me. Iāll be the one whose health issues preclude me from continuing to ride and show him.
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I meant that chance that every foal has, i.e. serious deformity, injury as a result of birthing trauma, etc. Iām following a few cases on FB of foals seriously knuckled over to the point of surgery with the outcome to be a paddock-sound animal at best.
There is always that chance that your long-awaited foal just doesnāt cook right.
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Not at all. I see people putting foals through all sorts of interventions with a moderately sound but unrideable animal at the end, and trauma along the way to boot. It is a genuine question to the floor.
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I agreeā¦ mostly. I bought what I thought was a long yearling from a dogger auction. Turned out to be 25+, unbroke, unbreakable, emaciatedā¦ and pregnant. We foaled her down and sold the foal (he was too small for me, absolute shame because he is a gorgeous, quiet boy). She was lent to a lot of people for lawn maintenance over the next five years. I threatened every year to put her down. She was old, uselessā¦ but sweet. A literal money pit.
Eventually she went in to heart failure and we had her laid to rest, amidst lots and lots of tears. I had no history with her, she was a more-fool-you sight unseen pity purchase. She cost me a lot of money and a lot of rugs. I had no obligation to this horse. She was spared the knackers truck and brought her baby into the world.
But, we kept her. Cursed her. Loved on her.
No one would shame me for putting her down early, and I wish I had done so as her ending was unfair and traumatic.
I agree: you break it, you deal with it. But quiet euthanasia needs to be a viable and supported option. Not every horse needs a ten-fifteen year long retirement.
Oh yeah, I have one of those too. Sucker.
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I wholeheartedly agree. I have a heartbreaker that I bred too (still have her). She was an absolute rockstar for a year 
She is retiree #2. I love her to death, but I will never do it again.
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This. The judge should be able to spin or simply not pin a horse and say to the trainer, āLovely horse but he looked a bit stiff / footsore / took a bad step. It happens, Iām sure heāll look great next time I see him,ā without it being a big drama or raising concerns of lawsuits.
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Why canāt USEF insulate the judges? Why canāt it be part of the general show agreement that no one can seek recourse if a judge whistles out or eliminates a horse they deem lame? The culture needs to change where people are not emboldened to show horses that are so lame they shouldnāt be ridden on the flat let alone over fences.
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What would be the basis of a lawsuit?
I didnāt get a blue ribbon!
Really? What kind of damages would one expect?
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Perhaps in the lower levels that would be the āargumentā.
At the higher levels thereās enough money to be won that I suspect someone somewhere has figured out a way to sue for a loss of income or something like that. Itās dumb IMO, but money makes people crazy.
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Loss of value on the horse for a lost sale.
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I doubt if judges arenāt spinning horses because theyāre afraid of being sued, they are much more likely to be afraid of losing out on the business of selling horses to these trainers down the road.
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I think that the judges are sometimes afraid to spin a big name trainerās horse for fear of not being hired back. I think this because Iāve been told this by judges.
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Oh okay I thought you meant a different thread. I guess I donāt understand how itās relevant to the conversation here
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