Advice needed, decisions about possibly selling my personal horse
So about 6 years ago I got back into horses after a 10 year absence. I purchased a wonderful OTTB named Neo. I've had him ever since, and he really helped me regain confidence in my abilities as a rider & ammie trainer. He went from being a wild man to now packing kids around safely and is just the sweetest horse I own. Fast forward, and we have 12 horses now, mostly Arabs. We lost our stallion to old age a few months back so I have been doing some soul searching. The economy sucks, so I don't want to breed anything else. I don't want to purchase another stallion, and I think stud fees and AI are insane given that your lucky to ever see that amount of money for a foal if you need to sell it. I always said I'd only breed what I was willing to keep, and we had a total of 3 foals, all of which I'm happy keeping. I don't want anymore. So I made the decision recently to scale back my herd, starting with some of my mares. I want to get things back to where I have just 5 or 6 horses, which my family (I have me, my husband and my 10 year old that ride) can easily work with them all on a regular basis and just enjoy showing and trail riding without the pressure of so many others that NEED worked each week. I'm also very pregnant and know I'm going to be busy for awhile. We tried free leases, but had no serious bites.
A very good friend of my husband's parents, who happen to be very wealthy, contacted us looking to purchase two horses for their daughters, a gelding and a mare. The girls have been riding for awhile, and the parents just built a beautiful small barn and fenced in ample land with gorgeous fencing. I'd have a buy back clause in my contract and I know because they are long term friends of his family that they will allow me to check on my horses and will give me the first right if they need to sell them at some point.
Neo has reached his potential. He does not trailer well (previous starting gate injury triggered response) and he is really happiest as a pet. He likes to trail ride and do arena work, but hates shows. I tried him for lessons, and he's miserable with different riders. He likes it best when just one or two people work with him. I'm at a point where when I down size I want to get into showing seriously again, so I'm torn. I have the perfect mare already for what I want to do, but when faced with the idea of letting my baby boy go I get all emotional. I really think he'd be over the moon happy being spoiled rotten by two little girls. He's the type of boy that loves having ribbons tied in his hair and being groomed for hours but is not a horse they'd outgrow.
How do you make the decision to let your "first horse" go? I know in my heart it's best for him, but my selfish emotions make me want to hide him in the back pasture when they come see our horses. I KNOW these girls will fall in love with him, the older one requested a black gelding, and he is everything the parents want too.
Please know this is not a financial decision. My horses are fat & sassy and in no danger of that changing. Its a quality of life decision for both my horses & me. They deserve to be someone's spoiled partners, even though they are happy as larks just being horses right now.
Thanks for listening to my ramble. I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks.
A very good friend of my husband's parents, who happen to be very wealthy, contacted us looking to purchase two horses for their daughters, a gelding and a mare. The girls have been riding for awhile, and the parents just built a beautiful small barn and fenced in ample land with gorgeous fencing. I'd have a buy back clause in my contract and I know because they are long term friends of his family that they will allow me to check on my horses and will give me the first right if they need to sell them at some point.
Neo has reached his potential. He does not trailer well (previous starting gate injury triggered response) and he is really happiest as a pet. He likes to trail ride and do arena work, but hates shows. I tried him for lessons, and he's miserable with different riders. He likes it best when just one or two people work with him. I'm at a point where when I down size I want to get into showing seriously again, so I'm torn. I have the perfect mare already for what I want to do, but when faced with the idea of letting my baby boy go I get all emotional. I really think he'd be over the moon happy being spoiled rotten by two little girls. He's the type of boy that loves having ribbons tied in his hair and being groomed for hours but is not a horse they'd outgrow.
How do you make the decision to let your "first horse" go? I know in my heart it's best for him, but my selfish emotions make me want to hide him in the back pasture when they come see our horses. I KNOW these girls will fall in love with him, the older one requested a black gelding, and he is everything the parents want too.
Please know this is not a financial decision. My horses are fat & sassy and in no danger of that changing. Its a quality of life decision for both my horses & me. They deserve to be someone's spoiled partners, even though they are happy as larks just being horses right now.
Thanks for listening to my ramble. I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks.