RockRiverTiff
Well-Known Member
All right guys--here I am again with another horse conundrum. I appreciate all the advice I got on my Arab, and we did get things straightened out much to my satisfaction and relief. I will be saying good bye to him this weekend but on an airtight contract. Bittersweet, but I've got another issue I'd like advice on now.
When we decided to stop breeding/showing the full-sized horses, we kept two mares as pasture ornaments. My cousin took our last filly and now wants her dam. We have agreed it wouldn't be right to separate the two mares unless we found an equally suitable home for the other one, so I vowed to see if we could. This mare is totally sound. She's a registered Appendix, approximately 16H, and 19 years old. She's an ex-race horse with 90 days professional training in Western (at one point I thought about trying her at speed events). I have ridden her, but she hasn't been ridden since our last trainer left a few years ago. Not a bad ride, but she is NOT a horse that likes to work and will have her way if you let her. She's had at least three foals--two for us. Those two have been shown lightly, are far happier under saddle than her, and are also now broodmares. But like the riding she also hasn't been used for breeding in several years. I don't want to sell her as a riding horse or broodmare, as I don't think anyone would be very satisfied with her as a mount and I'm not thrilled with the idea of her becoming a baby factory after years of leisure. I see a lot of ads from people looking for companion horses, and we are prepared to give her to the right home (I'm very particular about what that is), but what kind of contract do you use to protect your horse in a non-money transaction?
How would you go about looking for a home? Screening homes? Does anyone have experience with this?
When we decided to stop breeding/showing the full-sized horses, we kept two mares as pasture ornaments. My cousin took our last filly and now wants her dam. We have agreed it wouldn't be right to separate the two mares unless we found an equally suitable home for the other one, so I vowed to see if we could. This mare is totally sound. She's a registered Appendix, approximately 16H, and 19 years old. She's an ex-race horse with 90 days professional training in Western (at one point I thought about trying her at speed events). I have ridden her, but she hasn't been ridden since our last trainer left a few years ago. Not a bad ride, but she is NOT a horse that likes to work and will have her way if you let her. She's had at least three foals--two for us. Those two have been shown lightly, are far happier under saddle than her, and are also now broodmares. But like the riding she also hasn't been used for breeding in several years. I don't want to sell her as a riding horse or broodmare, as I don't think anyone would be very satisfied with her as a mount and I'm not thrilled with the idea of her becoming a baby factory after years of leisure. I see a lot of ads from people looking for companion horses, and we are prepared to give her to the right home (I'm very particular about what that is), but what kind of contract do you use to protect your horse in a non-money transaction?
How would you go about looking for a home? Screening homes? Does anyone have experience with this?