In my line of work, I meet a lot of people who are struggling with their horses in some way, and sometimes in a lot of ways! While this might sound like a negative situation for those people, the fact is that the challenges our horses present often prove to be a path towards tremendous growth and learning, for both horses and people.
That said, some people are in a truly difficult place where the challenges presented by their horse seem overwhelming. In this situation, people often feel deeply frustrated and possibly even afraid of their horse, and wonder if they should make the decision to find the horse another owner. I’ll give you some thoughts that might be helpful if you are finding yourself in this situation.
Sometimes, the challenges our horses present can feel overwhelming, yet I’ve often seen people make tremendous progress by simply learning to work with a more relational approach to training.
From the outside, the decision to move a challenging horse down the road may sound like a simple equation: if the horse is too much for you, you should sell the horse. In reality, the decision to part with a horse can be a difficult and heartbreaking one. We may believe we are weak because we are “giving up.” We may believe that we have failed the horse and failed ourselves. We may love the horse dearly, despite the struggles we’ve had, and it can be extremely upsetting to think of sending them away. We worry about finding the horse a good home. All of that and more can make the idea of parting with a horse anything but easy. So, how do you make the right decision?