A horse with this history? I certainly don’t think it’s the OP fault, but I personally wouldn’t be getting on it until it had been in my program in groundwork for a good while. I do some work with rescue horses, all of whom have some sort of similar story. There’s generally a hole with triggers that are obvious only when you know the horse from repeated interaction, and I’m not interested in rolling the dice before I know the animal.
I’m a very cautious shopper for this reason. For a client, I’d walk away, I don’t like risk. For myself, I’d probably assess on the lunge, lunge it over some obstacle, make a decision with what I can see from that and ride it later. But not at that price point so I repeat I’m certainly not questioning the OP’s judgement. But I’ve seen what I’ve seen and I’m a lot quicker to opt out of getting on horses I don’t know when my spidey sense sends up a flag. I’m not out to prove any riding skills and not interested in busting my butt for no reason when there’s plenty of chances to get hurt in the normal course of business.
Always, always, always listen to the spidey sense. If it goes off, there’s a reason.
Oh I lunged him extensively and payed very close attention to how he behaved before I ever got on him the first time. I also groomed him prior, checked for any body pain responses, and tacked him up myself. The first ride he was fabulous. Zero issues, very soft and responsive, knew how to collect and extend, and changes. And the first ride he was hauled out to an unfamiliar area that he handled well.
This second ride was completely different. I also lunged and hand walked him before I ever got on him, including hand walking over poles and lunging over poles. I had only been on his back for 5 mins ish at the walk when the bolt happened.
I probably would have gotten on too, before my rescue horse experience. Now not so much.
I just know that in my 45 ish years of experience…for every one horse that was “found in a field” that went on to greatness, there are nine that you end up finding out why they were put in the field.
Agreed on this. I’ve seen some amazing horses come out of some unusual or bad situations but I’ve also seen exactly why there were there in the first place. Unfortunately this one just blindsided me on his second ride, since he was wonderful on the first.
This poor animal sounds like he’s been the subject of something like electricity-assisted training ( ;( ). I can’t think of anything else that would trigger such a severe and primal reaction. What a tragic situation. OP, I am so glad that you are still in one piece and thank you for sharing this story - so much for all of the rest of us to learn here from this. @CBoylen, thanks again for sharing your advice.
Can you share your story? If you have already and I missed it, I’m sorry.
To be fair to the OP, if I’m doing a second ride and am ready to schedule a PPE, I want to get the horse tacked up and be the first one on the second time.
I think the background situation also has a lot to do with it.
If you’re dealing with a person you know who is representing the horse, that’s one thing. Some random stranger on the internet with no previous history is an entirely different ball of wax, and requires an entirely different level of caution.
Can we just have a moment of silence for the OP’s noggin, back and reins as well as for this poor panicked creature that ruined the best chance he is ever going to get?
There.
I just hate stories like this. OP, I hope you are not too much pain today. What a lesson you took for all of us.
No specific story, I’ve just done training for a rescue as part of my business for six years now. Most of the horses are either unstarted older horses or ones that were ridden at some point with a convoluted history, similar to this one. Having come from experience with either trained show horses or unstarted young horses with good early handling, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
Almost none of the horses we get are “abused” in a conventional sense, more benign neglect and inexperienced handling. So they have weird, unconventional triggers and non-standard reactions that you don’t see coming until you’ve done the time.
I also had no experience with just how checked out to human cues a horse that doesn’t default to a lifetime of good handling could get, nor experience with the variety of not readily apparent mental and physical baggage that can make a seemingly basically sound horse unsuitable for safe riding. I do know to avoid WBs with any kind of sketch story. Someone has generally tried to do something with it.
Just an update, I do see she changed the wording in her mutiple ads slightly, and the FB post I originally saw him advertised on is gone. However, she is still claiming this horse came from Beerbaum and there is no mention of quirks or needing an experienced rider. Plus the ridiculous claims of how much his sire and dam are worth in the ad, where she conjured up that info, I don’t know. Especially considering his dam is a broodmare without comp history.
I’ve had extensive conversation with her post incident and there is a lot of head in the sand reasoning. Everything from “the barn owner told me that a lot of horses spook at that end of the arena” to there must have been predators in the bushes that spooked him 
I explained in depth the level of severity the bolt was and it is not normal response but rather trauma based or possibly neuro/physical. I’ve also brought up several points of misinformation I’ve been given from the timeline she keeps stating she’s owned this horse for, to where he was bred, to her directly telling me he hadn’t been ridden in a month the first time I tried him and she was barely riding, to “I ride him all the time” after this weekend’s incident happened. There’s a lot excuses here and that’s what bothers me. I just sincerely hope she doesn’t push this horse off to another rider without letting them know what happened. I also suggest she find a very experienced trainer to work with him over and around fences that she tells his entire history to, including what happened this weekend before anyone else even considers getting on his back. I was left with dead air on the last comment.
Wow, this woman is a piece of work. She’s opened herself up to massive liability if someone else get injured by this horse. I hope the attorneys find this thread. 
Spooking does not equal bolting.
Such a weird excuse.
What I found weird about her ad is that it is full of not flattering photos, taken at different times in this horse’s life.
I could see if she had a lovely conformation shot that was a few years old and she did not have a current conformation shot. But no. An old photo of a bent horse showing part of a head and neck where the mane is still dark, and an equally horrible photo of a bent horse showing a head and neck where the mane is all white.
I’ve been thinking of this. A farrier I know was seriously injured by a mule he was going to buy. He got health costs (broke his pelvis) and loss of wages. Even with recouping money he said he learned the lesson. ‘Believe / trust no one selling an equine’.
Exactly what I said 
I said I was fully expecting him to be a bit up, hotter, even having a bit of spook since it was a new environment and I always take horses at face value, their dispositions can change. I went over how and why this was a severe response and not remotely ok.
So I think these are photos of when she first got him back in April or later spring after she had him for a couple months. He was quite thin at the time, and he does have an odd mane that appears dark and then lighter depending on how well groomed he is and the angle. Even in the extensive vids I took of him, he looks lighter or darker depending on the angle. I also know she was boarding the horse at a friend’s place up the street, and that is not her small farm the background in her ad photos, most likely her friend’s stable.
Speaking of the grooming part, he was filthy when he showed up on Saturday and clearly hadn’t been brushed in days. I did mention this to her later stating that if you are asking 15k for a horse, I would expect him to at least be brushed. She stated she couldn’t give him a bath because it was too cold, and that she sees mixed breed horses going for that price all the time 
which is not at all what I asking. He had visible mud all over him that was a very easy brush off, wouldn’t have even taken 10 mins. A small drop in the bucket in this whole issue, but it bothered me. Especially on the mixed breed comment. I’ve sold horses over the years and no matter what the price, my turnout was always impeccable whenever I presented them. I would expect someone to at least brush them off and pick hooves.
Well, maybe there are some problems with ground manners she failed to mention? Or she is scared of him, which would explain why she won’t get on him? I would surely be scared of him.
Do not try to have a rational conversation with an uncaring liar. Just let this go. Unless you did not sign a release and decide to file suit to recover your damages caused by her misrepresented sale horse. Or did sign a release and claim negligence on her part. Which you have every right to do and is about the only thing you can actually do.
I’m not sure. When I first initially saw him, I met her at her property and spent a solid 45min to an hour brushing him, spending time feeling him over/checking for injuries or a pain response, and in the paddock and in the stall with him. He was extremely well behaved with me and very personable, that was my initial draw to him. He also looked much better in person and had more weight on him vs in the pics in his ad. He is still under muscled and needs a bit more weight.
Edit: just to add, I didn’t sign any kind of waiver or release with the owner, she didn’t present anything. The only waiver I signed was for the stable I rode at the second time for the stable business waiver and also sent over his coggins test results to them as well
At his home and possibly another hint he may have had a little something just for your visit.
