Can sleep again now

As previously mentioned we had thought Ali the redhead had a new home with some people who appeared a good fit for a nervous mare. They wanted a broodmare.

I had my first pinprick of doubt the day we delivered her when they mentioned which farrier they used. A guy I used once and wouldn't have back as he hit my horse with the rasp for taking her foot back. I said I didn't like this farrier for that reason and Ali's new owner said yes they were aware he could be rough - did I know he had apparently killed a horse by kicking it in the ribs. So forgive me I get this prickle of mistrust about someone who would use a so called professional when they know he is that rough on horses, but I squash it firmly (sometimes you have to take what you can get I guess).

Three days after Ali had gone her new owner rang up to say she had settled in fine and they had decided they were going to start her under saddle now. I have more pinpricks of doubt, this is a 15 year old mare with a puffy knee, not a promising retraining subject. But I figured they practice Parelli so it will take them a million years anyway and they'll either give up on the idea or actually acheive it. She mentions at the same time that she has decided Ali has been having us on - it is unlikely she was abused she was just playing with us. I have some more doubts - everyone who has ever met this mare agrees she has a past that left her with issues and some things genuinely worry her, but again who am I to argue.

Then we get a report about how great she is at playing the seven games. I search my memory banks for what I know of the seven games and I'm impressed the nervous mare doesn't mind being touched all over - well done!

A week after that they are spitting mad - Ali hasn't been caught for three days, she's impossible she rears straight up and tried to strike them with her forefeet etc etc. We get in the car and go down there straight away. New owners aren't there (odd as we said we were going straight down) Ali comes straight up and is simple to catch. She has a huge sore under her halter that is obviously painful (and I imagine why she doesn't want a rope on her halter) We loosen the halter (in retrospect we were chicken and should have taken it right off) and I leave a message on her owners answerphone saying the sore is probably not helping. They ring back the next day - they have caught her but the sore on her nose isn't the issue pressing hard on it doesn't hurt her (tui anyone?) so it is something else - probably just her. We have a long discussion about proceeding forward slowly and cover all sorts of ground. She reiterates several times that she loves Ali and wants to keep her and wants it to work out. So I leave it.

We don't hear anything for a week and then things are apparently going well - Ali is easy to catch, happy to be handled, has been hosed off, her nose is healing up all is good.

Then it all fell apart. I get a phone call to say that she won't ever be suitable for riding so they don't want her anymore. She is impossible to catch, impossible to handle, bad tempered, bites etc etc. The poor mare has no redeeming features. What I really resent is the implication that we sold her as suitable for riding which we of course never did. The woman finishes by saying that obviously Ali is nuts and I shouldn't even rehome her as a broodmare. I lose my cool fairly fast. I point out Ali has been to stud and they had no problems with her at all, that she had a foal I am very pleased with, that she was easy to catch when we had her, easy to lead, tie, move round, whatever. Yes she had some issues and they were told what they were in some detail before they took her but new bad habits were obviously inflicted by new owners not pre-existing problems. She tells me she's offended that I would suggest she mistreated a horse. I tell her I am completely unconcerned about her feelings on the matter. It goes rapidly downhill as you can imagine.

So we go to get the poor mare back - first we can't catch her. We go away and manage to get her two hours later when we come back. Then she shows some completely new behaviour - she loops right out on a 12 foot rope and shows us her new rearing trick. It's pretty impressive, she is close to going over backwards. If you turn and face her she runs backwards - fast. Flick a rope (any rope not just the 12 foot one) anywhere near her and all four feet leave the ground. Her new owners come anywhere near her and she jumps sideways. I'm a bit gobsmacked. I really didn't know you could do so much damage to a horse in such a short time. Of course there is no way she is going to go on the float (something she wasn't brilliant at but did after 10 minutes in the past) she loops out some more. We reluctantly leave her. (this is of course very bad in the minds of these Parelli practicers - we have let her learn that playing up means she gets away with it and we should have put her in with a lunging whip if necessary - thanks, your advice is noted, just as your other mares longstanding loading problems are).

Anyway they went away for Christmas (and put a padlock on their gate being smart arses) so we went down daily and caught Ali, worked with her and let her go again. She started seeming a little more sensible after a day or two.

So yesterday we took the gate off its hinges, got the float in, held our breath while the little red mare looked at it and decided to go on and took her home again. She appears happy enough to be here.

So it hasn't gone the way it should have and I am pretty unhappy about what has happened but we can now get on with dealing with it, instead of lying awake at night wondering how it was going to turn out.

I wouldn't feel quite so bad if these people would even acknowledge that they were the wrong home for Ali - they are still sticking to it is nothing they did, poor little Ali is apparently just a nutter.