u/OliveRyan428

I have been leasing a horse at my barn for 2 years. He brings me so much joy but sometimes wants to make me smack my head against a wall. He’s truly the human son I never wanted (I don’t have kids). I trust him when I ride, he has done so much for my confidence, he’s made me a stronger rider and person. We make a good team (he’s definitely not for everyone) and we’ve really come a long way. I care so much about him, and I’m proud to take care of him and be his partner. In the past 4 or 5 months I’ve been heavily considering buying him at the end of the year. My trainer, who is his owner, is all for it. Other people have leased him in the past and she likes us together. He’s such a staple in the barn and is such a barn favorite with his kookiness. But he can also be a horse that makes us want to pull our hair out. He’s not malicious, but he gives off a lot of menace to society vibes.

I absolutely adore him and I know I’d be so upset if he ever left or if anything happened to him. But then there are days when there are just no marbles up there (which sometimes it’s okay and other times it’s frustrating) that I think to myself “am I making a terrible decision if I buy him?” And wonder if I should buy a horse that isn’t such a ridiculous entity and is just kind of there with not much too it.

I guess I want to hear stories about horses that made you think “is this a bad decision to buy this horse” but it all worked out well.

Added some extra to answer some questions from previous posters:

-we are working on respecting my presence as I get stronger physically. He loves me and takes care of me when I’m riding, but if we have bad days I feel like it’s because he is not acknowledging my existence? Can you focus on what I am asking you to do? (When he focuses, he is amazzzinngggg)

-I’m a small animal vet and do his general care. He is a terrible patient. I had to treat him for conjunctivitis and he acted as if the world was ending and it just made it so difficult to treat him appropriately

-he had an absolute conniption last week when we finished a field ride before his friends did. Understandable, they’re herd animals, but I felt like I had to walk him off of a ledge just to get him to pay attention to me

-he is my best friend. I smile when I see him. I can’t wait to see him every day. Taking care of him never is a chore. He is truly a bright spot in my life!

-I am a HUGE overthinker, and this would be one of the biggest decisions of my life. I’ve been riding for over 20 years and I “owned” a horse when I was in high school (my parents owned him), and he is the first horse I’ve contemplated buying in my adulthood. I think I’m only in the market to buy a horse because it’s him who I’d buy.

I do strength training with hip mobility exercises a few times a week, and I know my right side is weaker than my left. I have tighter hip flexors on that side also. I’m sure it translates to how I sit in my saddle, and how it affects my horse. When I ride, I try to watch my body in the mirrors and really be aware of my body and seat. But as silly as this sounds, I feel like I don’t know my body well enough to make subtle corrections.

I’m actively working on strengthening my right side, and adding stretching into my pre-ride routines. I’ve gotten much stronger but I still think my body constricts my horse’s. He requires a lot of leg, and I think I compensate with my hips and seat to find calf strength, thus shifting on his back. Once I get him going, we relax, stretch, move forward, and flow so well, but I think I constrict him in the beginning when we start.

Are there any monitoring equipments, phone apps, sensor pads, etc that can measure MY instability/asymmetry in the saddle? I’m so curious to see how my body and form is affecting him. I’d be very interested to do one of the physio mechanical horse sessions, but there doesn’t seem to be anything like that in my area.

Thank you!

I have a reading on Wednesday! I really want to be going in with an open mind and heart. I want to take whatever I can out of it. My sister had had really good readings with mediums before. I did one and it was so off and wrong that it really made me skeptical.

I don’t want to be skeptical. I don’t want to have expectations, but I also do want to have people come through to me. I know that won’t always happen, but I want to really broaden all of the possibilities.

Do I talk out loud to those people beforehand? Do I just mentally set intentions?