Odie is for sale.
- It took about a year for me to accept the idea that I could live without him.
- Ditto, to accept the fact that my daughter really does not like riding him.
- It took about two weeks for me to stop crying and put up the ad.
That was a month and a half ago, and guess how many people have come to look at him?
That’s right, ZERO.
This is sooo much harder than I thought it would be. I bet there are lots of people out there who have sold a horse. This is my first time. I don’t know why I expected someone to snap him up right away. Maybe it’s because I think my horse is TOTALLY AWESOME.
He is for sale because I really want a horse that can be ridden by two people. My daughter loves horses as much as I do. She is a different person however, and she and Odie just don’t click. He’s not a bad horse for a kid. He’s just not the horse for her.
I felt a lot better about this last week when I brought a couple of her friends from school with us for a “barn playdate.” Three girls had a great afternoon petting, leading, grooming and riding. Mostly we just did “pony rides” because I am a mom (read: super-safety-oriented).
One girl is an experienced rider but I did not let her do very much. Nonetheless, she was totally comfortable with him. I finally relented and said she could WALK ONLY in the closed arena over poles, without me standing next to her like a mother hen.
She was having a great time anyway. I had a light bulb moment. Maybe Odie would really be okay with someone else. It was great for me to just see him under saddle without me or my daughter up there.
I can see him now, being just fine. Sigh.
I can totally sympathize with you here. I recently sold a gelding that I had for a few years. I had invested quite a bit of training on him, but the two of us just didn’t click, and him and the mares bickered way too much. It was a tough decision, but remember, you are in control of who he goes to. Make sure you have a contract that states if at anytime they decide to sell, you have first right to buy him back, you can even set a price limit to it. This worked for me, I hope it helps you too