First let me say, this is not about our horses crossing the Rainbow Bridge.  We’ve done that, and know it’s the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make.  This is about other decisions that a horse owner, barn owner, and trainer/teacher has to make.

While I was sitting and chatting with one of my boarders the other day, she was telling me about another horse of hers.  Now I have her older gentleman, a retired Quarter Horse.  She has a Welsh/TB cross and a Warmblood at a show barn about an hour from here, nearer where she lives.  The Warmblood is five and was brought over from Europe.  He just shut down, won’t do any sort of ring work, plants his feet and won’t move.  She’s had him with several trainers, and is now with another one about another hour further away.  She’s had him checked for pain and nothing was found.  This trainer was recommended by her current trainer to straighten this horse out.  She called the breeder/owner in Europe and she told her, just beat him.  Hello!  That’s what has brought this horse to where he is.  My boarder has not had this horse very long, and has paid quite a lot of money for him.  He won’t even walk through the ring to go out trail riding.  After acquiring a barrel horse who felt the same way about going through a gate, and an open jumper who felt the same way about circles, I know what she’s up against.

My suggestion was turn him out for a year, and start him over.  He might come around, but most probably he won’t.  They do this with Thoroughbreds, off the track, all the time.  He most likely needs a different job.  He’s a good size horse and truly loves to jump, just not in a ring.  I told her that he needs to be sold as a hunt horse or cross country horse.  If he loves to jump and run in a field, find him a home that wants to do the same thing.  He needs to be hacked out on the trails with other horses. Gallop across fields and over jumps with other horses. He needs to be a horse again.  She said that she didn’t have a year or more.  She needs this horse for her 16 year old daughter now.   Well then you have to let him go.  They’re investing so much time and money into this horse, that may or may not work out, it’s time to bite the bullet and move on.  Then you have the process of finding another horse for her older daughter all over again.

It’s kind of like an old car.  You loved that car, (you named it Brad, you two have been through everything together – only kidding) it served you well.  You’ve been buying new tires, fixing the transmission, and a few other parts here and there, but you have to recognize when it’s time to let it go.  It becomes a money pit that’s just going to continue to go down hill.

Now I don’t consider any horse a money pit.  Sometimes they just need a new job description.  If they’re not happy, and you’re not happy, nothing will ever be right.

My lessons and their parents, become like family.  But when it’s time for them to change instructors, it’s so hard for me to let them move on.  I love these children.  I love to see them progress, but I also know what is best for them.

The other thing that is hard for me is to watch one of my horses move out.  They may be owned by others, but they are all my babies.  I have one that is being adopted by someone else.  He hasn’t been here that long, but he is quite a character.  I’ve contemplated just adopting him myself, just to keep him here, but it wouldn’t be fair to him.  He loves people, loves attention, and he needs a person of his own again.  The woman who owns him now, took him because her friend had to make the choice of paying his expenses or her grandmothers, who was going into assisted living.  She was helping her friend out of a spot.  Now she’s found someone who will take him and love him.  I can’t be selfish, I must think of what is best for him.  Yes he loves being retired and running around the hill with his best buddy, but he also comes to the fence anytime he sees a person.  He will leave his friend in a heart beat for some human attention.  So he must go to (hopefully) his forever home.

There are other painful goodbyes beside death.  In the end they are all in the best interest of the animal, and the success of both the animal and the person.

You’ll miss them, but be happy for them.  Know that you are doing the right thing.  The right thing is always a “Good Thing.”