by Laura Crum
Several
years ago my friend Wally bought a pretty black horse that belonged to a roper
who needed to sell the horse quickly, due to losing his job and being unable to
pay board. Wally knew this horse slightly and believed him to be gentle and a
decent heel horse. The horse was said to be nine years old, he was quite sound
(we jogged him in circles on the asphalt driveway), and he was priced to sell.
So Wally bought him as a backup horse.
The
black horse (named Coal) turned out to have strengths and weaknesses—like all
horses. He wasn’t a very good heel horse, and he obviously did not care for
being a rope horse. He was, however, a lovely mover and very smooth gaited. He
would willingly lope endless circles in a perfect, collected lope and he didn’t
seem to mind this at all. He would pack beginners with good grace—in the arena.
He wasn’t much of trail horse and acted sulky and reluctant outside and hated
walking downhill. After a couple of years of messing around with him, Wally
decided the horse didn’t fit him and asked our friend Mark (who is something of
a horse trader) to sell the horse for him.
Wally
wanted to do right by Coal and we knew a rope horse home or a trail horse home
wouldn’t suit the horse. So Wally asked Mark to try to find a Coal a good
“forever” home as a walk/trot/lope arena horse. And truly, Coal was ideal for
this.
How
many people out there would like a sound, gentle, eleven year old gelding—very
pretty, solid black, very smooth gaited and very solid in the arena? Coal was
not a particularly friendly horse—more stand-offish-- but reasonably
well-mannered. He would pin his ears when cinched and sometimes made little
“dolphin” bucks at the lope when he was fresh. But these were not vices that
would bother even a beginner. And Coal would pack beginners patiently—I watched
him do it many times.
So
Mark found what he thought was the perfect home for Coal. A middle-aged lady
with a lovely horse property who owned five horses that were either too old or
too lame to ride. She was keeping all of them for the rest of their lives. She
just wanted a horse she could ride in the arena and do very low level dressage.
She rode Coal and thought he was perfect. She seemed like the perfect home.
Coal was sold and Wally made a nice profit. We all felt good about it. We
thought we had done the horse a favor and placed him in a home where he would
have a good life.
The
woman kept in touch with Mark and it became clear that she was very timid and
even this quite-gentle gelding intimidated her with his ear pinning and
occasional crowhop. Mark encouraged her to take lessons on him, which she did,
and this seemed to work. She said she was very happy with him and sent photos
of the horse at the small dressage shows she attended. Coal looked good. We
thought all was well.
Coal
remained with this woman a year or two, but a month ago Mark got a call. The
woman said that Coal had bit her and she was now afraid of him—and she wanted
to sell him back. Mark agreed to take the horse back. Wally wanted no part of
it. And, no matter how much I would like to help every good horse that crosses
my path, I have no place to put another horse and no time to ride one. Sunny
doesn’t get ridden as much as he should. I simply had to pass.
So
now Mark has Coal and is trying to find another home for him. But…and it’s a
BIG but. Coal is not the same horse. He’s pushy and disrespectful and testing
the boundaries at all points. Mark (or any other competent horseman) can fix
this rather easily. But the horse won’t be truly suitable for a beginner to
own…ever again. And this is a very sad thing for the horse’s future.
This
story is very similar to my Sunny horse. A flunked out heel horse (like Coal),
gentle for beginners (like Coal), Sunny was sold (by Mark) to be a family horse
and to do low level dressage and trail riding with beginners. Three years later
the horse was for sale again and I bought him to be my trail horse. I soon
found out why he was for sale.
The
previously polite and well-mannered Sunny now offered to kick and nip, balked
at loading in the trailer, crow-hopped when annoyed, sulled up when he didn’t
want to do something, was hard to catch…etc. He was, in short, very spoiled. I
soon cured him of this, and at this point he’s pretty well-mannered again and a
pleasant horse to ride and handle. But he hasn’t forgotten. If I do something
stupid, Sunny is quick to show me that he will take advantage. He has learned
his lesson. If the humans don’t know how to be in charge, the door is open for
the horse to take charge. Sunny has not forgotten this. He would not be
suitable for a beginner to own—though I could sure put a beginner on him for
one ride. But over time it would not work out. Sunny has been effectively
ruined for beginners—he is lucky that I came along for him (as I am lucky to
own such a reliable trail horse).
So
people, take heed. This has been my single biggest problem placing horses over
the years. I send a gentle, reliable horse to a home with well-intentioned
people who are, quite frankly, dudes. But they mean well and have the money and
the time and the desire to do right by the horse. I encourage them to get
skilled help—and they usually try to do this. But the story so often ends like
this. Several years later and they are afraid to ride or handle the horse—who
now has learned to buffalo the person and is more or less a spoiled monster.
Such once-well-broke horses (like my Sunny) are not that hard for a horseman to
remind of their manners. But they won’t forget what they have learned from their
non-horseman owners. And if they are owned/handled by beginners again, they
will be quick to take advantage.
It’s
hard to say what the answer is. Never sell a good horse to dudes? That seems a
little extreme. We were all beginners at one time. And beginners really need
these solid horses. But this is a very frustrating and extremely common story.
Well-intentioned non-horseman can almost be guaranteed to let a horse run over
them more than they should allow, and most gentle, solid horses suitable for
beginners are that way partly because they are level-headed and tough minded.
Such a horse is quick to understand that the owner can’t make him obey, and
said owner is constantly giving way to every whim that the horse displays. And
soon the horse is a spoiled monster. Such a sad situation—not good for horse or
person-- and so very common. Anyone have any thoughts on how to prevent this?
