You just can’t count on people being honest these days. I’m guessing since the horse was 10 hours away from you, that their vet did the PPE? Or you used a vet they recommended? That might explain a few things.
Get a good vet out for a full physical on the horse. I recommend not riding until that appointment. Show that vet the FB posts - he may be able to make more sense out of them. Not sure you’ll ever know why he was originally sent to that “retaining” barn, but you can always ask them.
@4LeafCloverFarm FB page would not load for me.
Can you post any info I could use to search FB?
Need to pass time while I make the guac & allow the Cardbordeaux to breathe 😉
Search “[name removed]”. That should work.
Retraining a ruined horse is HARD. It can take infinite patience, and the re-trainer has to learn not to take anything the horse does personally–as in he (the horse) is not trying to shame you or show you up.Actually, if he is pain as you ride him he IS showing a decent disposition–as in he is not trying to kill you OR running around so amok with pain that he is simply self-destructive.
Try and track down the pain. If he is not in 24/7 turnout try to find some with friendly horses, because sometimes constant turnout plus the ever invaluable “Dr. Green” can help a horse start to find his own way out of some of his pain.
If you decide to keep him you are faced with a CHALLENGE. This challenge will take a lot of patience and you will have to have to put whatever dreams you had of competing with this horse in anything in stasis. It may take years of patient work before he is physically strong enough in the correct muscles to even think of specialized training.
I have always trained my horses, either from too young to ride hard to dyed in the wool rebels against human brutality, according to “Schooling Your Horse” by Vladimir Littauer. This is the basic training all hunter, jumper and dressage horses need as a basis for more advanced training.
Since your horse is older and already has problems with being ridden, it is going to take you a LOT longer than his suggested timeline, which is for a 3 YO who has just started carrying a rider. It is Forward Seat training, and very non-abusive for the horse, no side-reins for lunging, loose rein riding for the first few months, very slow jumping training, all based on a logical framework which he got from a Chilean Cavalry Olympic competitor when Littauer was a spectator at the Olympics in Berlin in the 1930s(?), combined with Forward Seat and Forward Control (Littauer explains this in the book.)
For slightly more advanced but similar training I heartily recommend “Training Hunters, Jumpers, and Hacks” by Brig. Gen. Harry D. Chamberlin, who ran the US Cavalry School at Fort Riley. Chamberlin’s training program is longer in time than Littauer’s (2 years vs. 9 months) but Chamberlin goes further, to the borders with true dressage as it used to be ridden (not today’s competition dressage.)
If you follow either book, listen to your horse, keep an eagle eye out for any signs of physical discomfort from your horse, you have a decent chance of learning how to train a horse properly, a skill that will help you throughout your riding career. It will take longer than ideal with him, but I have uncovered hidden gems of horses under all the crud of improper training, improper riding, and the resulting deep seated physical discomfort of the horse. It just takes time, a lot of patience and non-abusive training and riding.
I did it this way. I started with a green-broke (as in 3 weeks) 5 YO just gelded Anglo-Arab, as a beginner with just 4 years of trail riding. I did not ruin that horse even though I was a rank beginner. Later, many years later, a local dressage rider/student leased him as a confidence builder, neither she, her barn manager, or her dressage teacher could get over how soft, responsive and willing that horse was. I, as a rank beginner, was able to train a very green horse without ending up dead or ruining my horse, ending up with quite a decent riding horse by following these principles.
Mostly without a riding teacher, I could not afford a trainer, and for many years I was completely on my own when I finally bought land.
Your path may be different from mine in technique and experience, but every true horseman/woman puts the horse first, before the rider’s plans and ambitions, tamping down their egos so they can truly listen to what the horse is saying by his actions, his body language, aiming always toward the goal of a horse that is truly willing to work with you when you catch him in the pasture. Listen to your horse, he will tell you when you are right and when you are wrong. Horses can be the best teachers IF the rider has a sound theoretical knowledge of the art of riding and LISTENS TO THE HORSE.
Have fun!
@4LeafCloverFarm Well that worked, but confusing re: original owner of Pistol & how she passed him on to the Sale barn.
Guess we’ll never know since OP has determined horse is now “saved” 
From what?
Off to eat that guac & sip cardbordeaux all by myself…
@2DogsFarm its unclear to me if the owner that sold the horse to the OP, bought him before or after he ended up at Jim’s farm for “biomechanical makeover”. And it begs the question - why did he need “posture modification” in the first place? An accident? A bad former owner that ran him into the ground? Just poor conformation? Or a combination? Not sure the OP will ever straighten out the entire story of Star - even if she gets some half-truths out of the sale barn or his most recent previous owner.
I’m now curious if this man “Jim” is the sale barn the horse was purchased from, or just a place poor Star went to for a month?
Going to the facebook page raised some additional questions for me. Perhaps the rehab farrier who owns that page is the owner of the sale barn?
At an early post, earlier in May than the ones that Arelle cited above, they say that all of their rehab horses are with them for anywhere from 3 months to a year. And after they fix the horse’s physical pain (not really specified how that’s done aside from corrective farrier work), they do various “stress tests”? They also talk about how they “restart” their rehab horses with their “half-circle method” again without specifying what that is.
It’s the reference to the half-circle method that makes me think that this “rehab” place is the sale barn, since that was part of the language on the horse’s sale site.
It’s not entirely clear to me what was actually wrong with the horse, although given his current behavior back problems sound like the right place to start looking.
Triple good luck to the OP.
I bought the horse from Jim. Somehow, no one told me that Star had gone through any sort of “makeover.” Im going to assume that because I’m young and inexperienced in horse buying that they thought I wouldn’t care. To my knowledge, Jim was a farrier who had his own farm and was hired to sell Star. Didn’t even know the barn had a rehab program or anything. I feel like a royal idiot. Im not going to blame Jim though, he was very nice, but my trainer omitted this information for some reason. I was able to talk with her briefly and she said Star was just not conditioned well. He apparently has no skeletal issues. But I’m not sure what to trust anymore so I’m going to take everything with a grain of salt. I’ll have to talk with his previous owner to hopefully get the full truth.
They didn’t tell you about any of this because he’s a dealer aka looking to make a buck. He saw you coming and unloaded this poor horse on you. I would be furious but we’ve all made mistakes. I would suggest getting the heck out of your "trainer"s barn immediately since you claim she omitted all this information. You say you don’t know who to trust… news flash DO NOT TRUST THIS TRAINER! Maybe she had a deal with Jim somehow. Who knows. But she is not going to do you any good now. Clearly, since you are here. Can you get in touch with his previous owner? Maybe take a look at his show record and try to track down whoever had him before this Jim character. You say you’re 18yo… well, it’s time to put your big girl pants on and start putting yourself and this horse first before you get hurt. Stop being naive.
The seller (owner) and seller’s agent (trainer/barn owner) were not honest with you when you bought your horse. They’re not going to start now. I would not advise, at this point, believing anything they may tell you. I might advise that you stop talking to them. Long story very long, taking us back to the first reply on this thread: Your horse is in pain. You need a vet involved. This probably won’t be cheap, but it is the ethical next step.
I’m sorry that this happened to you. I had a similar situation, though I was a semi-professional buying a horse from a program I knew. The seller didn’t disclose everything, the PPE vets missed a glaring issue (and possibly some more subtle ones), and I bought a horse semi-sight unseen. I knew it was a gamble, and that gamble turned into a retired 14 year old who luckily has a very cute face and a safe home for life.
Best of luck. I hope whatever your vet finds is treatable.
OP, I am so sorry this happened to you.
Ask for the previous owner to take the horse back and for a refund. Tell her otherwise you are going to euthanize the horse because of the undisclosed back issues making it unsuitable to ride, and sue her. Better yet, get an attorney to write the demand letter and CC the horse dealer.
A horse that is publicly described as “dangerous” that a pro is unable to mount for days is not an acceptable mount to be sold to a beginner a month later.
Who told you Star had “no skeletal issues”, your trainer? Because unless your trainer is a licensed veterinarian, I still think the best course of action is to set up a vet appointment with a good, qualified local vet for a thorough exam, including lameness evaluation. I’d share those posts on FB with the vet. And although I think Jim fancies himself a bit of a horse whisperer, there may be small truths in what he’s talking about - and a vet can sort that out.
I do wish you luck.
According to dealer’s FB page, DO (edited) is former owner. There are at least two posts that talk about what a good job she thinks they’re doing, including one where she comes to visit and ride. She was tagged, which made it easy to see that one of her profile pictures is the same used in the sale ad.
OP, is DO (edited) the previous owner you spoke to?
I’m sorry for all this. It must be devastating to discover the true, complicated, story and feel like you were taken advantage of. You never know what the future will bring for you and Star (edited), once you have the right vet and training plan. As others have said, I would highly highly recommend you stop riding him until he has a thorough vet exam by someone you can trust.
Best wishes to you both. Keep your chin up and focus on doing what’s best for your new friend!
OP. I’m really sorry. This is an awful situation to be in. I recommend you download and save screenshots of everything you are able to find about this. Don’t talk to anyone yet.
Schedule a good sport horse vet to come out with an x-ray machine. Show everything to the vet. I suspect the vet will want to do a basic lameness exam as a starting point (palpate the whole horse, watch the horse walk and trot in hand or on the longe line). From there, the vet may want to x-ray the back (and maybe neck) based on the history you now have. Sometimes you can get a more detailed view of the neck with an ultrasound and skip x-rays of that part - but a good vet will guide you here.
Once you understand whether there is a structural issue with the horse (neck arthritis, kissing spines, etc.) that causes the back soreness, and what the horse’s prognosis is for being rideable in the future, you can take a few days to gather your thoughts about how you want to proceed before talking to anyone who used to be associated with the horse.
I really don’t think Jim is at fault. I know that he told my trainer about Star’s background and I know that my trainer decided not to say anything about it. For a long time while I was looking for horses, I was out of the country and so it was very hard to contact anyone in the US. My trainer was calling Jim during this time. I think Jim believed that my trainer told me about his situation and just didn’t bring it up. I don’t think he would’ve posted about Star’s makeover if he didn’t want any potential buyers to know. I do have a pretty good guess of why my trainer wanted to hide that information.
i don’t know anyone knowledgeable about horses outside of my trainer’s barn, so it will be hard to find references.
When I spoke with my trainer on the phone after finding this out, she told me she still doesn’t believe he is in pain. I wish I could post videos but still doesn’t work.
thank you to everyone for the advice and encouragement! I’m trying to get a vet out hopefully this week.
Yes, the Facebook posts present even more red flags. It’s interesting that Star’s former owner came to visit him at Jim’s place, but apparently declined to take him back. My assumption is that Star pulled some dangerous behavior with her (perhaps the bolting), and she decided she wasn’t going to take a chance on him even if Jim said he could “fix” the horse with “postural modifications.”
OP, it makes me so angry that there are people in the horse world so ready to take advantage of an unsuspecting buyer. I know, because I’ve been that buyer feeling like everyone has a “story” about why they’re selling their horse and you don’t know who to trust. All of Star’s issues should have been disclosed to you.
I hope a good vet can give you an honest appraisal of Star’s physical issues and whether they are fixable. If yes, then I would consider finding a very experienced trainer who might be able to evaluate you and the horse, and figure out whether you can safely progress with him.
He’s a cute horse and we all hope he can have a good life (which might not ever be jumping courses), but your safety has to be the top priority.
Is anyone familiar with professionals and/or vets in her area? Or have any connections that might? I’m afraid I’m no help, but I know I’m not alone in wanting to be sure OP gets the right guidance this time around!
If this was me, I’d return the horse asap and demande my money back asap.
This was a very known undisclosed vice and it is fraud.
RE: the pony thing, in a quick search of the horse’s name and dressage, it appears to be registered with the National Dressage Pony Cup, which offers a “small horse” division for those under 16H. It sounds like the folks who were selling misunderstood this.
The horse also appears to have been doing APHA stuff in both Dressage and Combined Training in 2018, so presumably WAS jumping things in 2018, if it was doing CTs. Whatever happened to take it from apparently showing successfully in 2018 to ending up in this “rehab” program sounds like is the factor it not being jumpable any more.
The fact that your “trainer” was the contact point with the seller, who disclosed NONE of this, is a giant red flag both about the poor horse, and the fact that you need a new trainer, OP.
I think one of your previous posts mentioned you were near Miami, FL @starr331 . While the UF vet school would be too far away, they might be able to provide you with a referral of a good vet in your area. I would not use the barn vet. Get someone independent of your trainer.
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