When you show that you don't know everything you THINK you know...

Copied verbatim from Nashville Craigslist:  

1) A Sorrel Quarter Horse gelding with white star/strip/snip blaze and a swirl on his forehead. Born on March 1, 2003, he spent his early years in a barrel racing program when, at the age of three, a run-in with a fence post injured his left forelimb. During the recuperation period that followed, another horse took his place in the program and he came to live with us shortly thereafter. Because of his early training, he has wonderful ground manners and a loving demeanor. He always takes a bit on the first try, is neck reined and is extremely dependable on the trails. He weighs approximately 1,000 pounds, stands about 15 hands and loads/unloads from trailers without incident. Detailed records of all shots, worming, Coggins, dental checks and ferrier visits since January 2008 are available. This horse is registered with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA).

2) A Sorrel Quarter Horse mare with a white blaze that includes one nostril and two swirls on her forehead. While her exact date of birth is unknown it is estimated that she is 20-23 years old. She is also a retired barrel racer with many years of service on her resume. Her registration lapsed at some point and attempts to reinstate her with AQHA have not proved successful. Like the gelding, she is responsive under saddle, responds to neck reining techniques and is extremely dependable on the trails. She weighs approximately 1,000 pounds, stands about 15 hands and loads/unloads from trailers without incident. Detailed records of all shots, worming, Coggins, dental checks, ferrier visits and other items since January 2008 are available.

The two horses are almost identical in appearance, have formed a strong bond and will only be re-homed as a pair. They are accustomed to a diet consisting of monitored amounts of quality hay and pellet feed in addition to grazing. The pair, while content to stay outdoors, are accustomed to being brought inside during inclement weather for the past five years. Both horses have recently been examined by both a qualified veterinarian and a ferrier and have been declared by each to be in excellent health. They allow us to clean their stalls around them and pick their hooves after turn-outs. These beautiful animals have received daily hands-on care since coming to us early in 2007.

We have made the difficult decision to re-home them due to a (non-equine related) knee injury, among other motivators, that makes it difficult to ride. They are wonderful trail horses and we simply feel that they need to be under saddle more often than our aging bodies will allow. We will miss them terribly.

Also available is a two-horse straight-load bumper-pull trailer (shown at left) that we have used to comfortably haul them to vet visits and trail heads for years. It's a W trailer with four newish tires and an electric "brake buddy" mount. The inside shows signs of wear but the two horses fit quite comfortably and enjoy hay in the removable feed bags. The trailer offers plenty of ventilation and the recently upgraded ramp is a wonderful feature.

We are entertaining offers for either the pair of horses or the pair plus the trailer. The horses will not be sold individually.

SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY, PLEASE

OK, I give these folks props for trying to do the right thing, for the right reasons, while the horses look good.  However, seriously ... Your horses are broke.  Everything you are describing I would expect from any well-trained, well-broke, teenage trail mount.  This doesn't make them special, superior, or more loving than the horse in the previous or following ads.  It simply means he's be trained to comply.  

And, it's yet another example of fluffy pony syndrome.  These two horses are "bonded" because they have lived with each other for 5+ years.  They are turned out together, they are trail ridden together, they are hauled together, they are fed together.  I'd be surprised if they aren't incredibly buddy sour, which is how you determined that they are too "bonded" to be apart.  It would probably do them good to be separated and expected to work.  I wonder if either one rides apart from the other quietly at this point.  I guarantee if you bought one, took it home and introduced it to another herd, within a week, it would be fine.  It may not know how to do anything but follow another horse, but as long as it has company, it won't pine away for the previous pasturemate.  (I'm not saying horses don't recognize long-lost herdmates or form bonds, but to throw human emotion into the mix, to the detriment of what's best for the horse, is what always makes me shake my head.)

Which brings me to my final point.  The majority of the time when someone sells a "package deal" like this, someone will come up with the money because they only want one horse in the package.  Guess what happens to the others?  Either they are retrained and sold for a profit (best case scenario), or they are put back on Craigslist the following day to try to recoup the money spent on the horse the buyer wanted to begin with. 

Oh, and PS - fArriers trim and shoe horses.

You've probably heard, 'Only sissies wear helmets.' ... or some variation ...

When I was a kid, I was not allowed to ride if I didn't wear my helmet.  It didn't matter if I was taking a lesson in an indoor arena on a schoolmaster, or riding my old man.

When I got a project horse, (he 2 1/2, me, fresh out of college and only 6 months back into riding after almost 2 years off), I continued my helmet habit.

Then, somewhere along the way of dating "cowboys," guiding trail rides where the dress code dictated cowboy hat and the work including riding for 8 hours in 90 degrees, and literally trusting my own horse with my life, the habit turned into, only wearing one when I was riding a green or unfamiliar horse.

Almost eight years ago, I had a wreck that changed my life.  I was trail riding with a group of people, including an ex-boyfriend and some friends.  My (green but had been trail ridden a lot) mare stepped into some creeper vine and hung her back leg for a half-second.  It was enough to turn her into a bucking, rearing mess.  My un-graceful dismount included getting hung in the stirrup long enough to lay me back toward her back feet.

Her kick landed along my eyebrow.  I don't remember much about the ride back to the barn, except that I doubled with another rider.  I remember my shirt was covered in blood.  And, I don't remember anyone bringing up going to the hospital or seeing a doctor.

Here's my first piece of advice:  Never let the injured person make their own decisions.  My "friends" let me drive home (I couldn't ride, but they let me drive?!?), where I went straight to bed (a no-no for someone with a concussion).

To this day, I don't have much short-term memory.  I have to write things down, or I'll forget them.  I also have trouble concentrating on one thing at a time, much like ADD, but I never experienced such difficulty in school.  I can say with confidence that the injury to my head was more than likely the start of both of these issues.

When I started rescue/rehab/retrain and sell, I started wearing my helmet again.  I had a couple of hard hits, broke a few ribs and had lots of bruises, and ... a cracked helmet proved the point of wearing one.

I now wear a helmet 98% of the time.  If I go out to the big field to catch a horse and they happen to be out on the back 40, I might hop on bareback and ride back to the barn.  That's pretty much the only time I'm without.  Believe me, I've heard all the obnoxious 'mouth' in the world.

 - Don't make a video of a horse for sale wearing your helmet; it makes the horse look unsafe.  (Um, I think it makes the rider look smart and prepared and reflects on the rider's responsibility and good judgement, not on the horse.)

- You're going to run barrels, but my horse is broke.  He's not going to do anything.  You don't need a helmet.  (I love this one, especially when it involves kids.  The horse may not buck, but he's running 25+ miles an hour; what if he slips, trips, or falls?  What if your saddle chooses your run to break?  What if you coming off has nothing to do with the horse purposely unseating you?)

- Only those fru fru English riders wear helmets.  The judge will laugh a western rider out of the ring if she's wearing a helmet.  (Again, any judge worth his/her salt will recognize a well-prepared, responsible rider, regardless of headgear.  Judges are not supposed to penalize for helmets - and if one can find fault with me wearing a helmet at a show and places me lower, I don't really care to get a ribbon from him, anyway.)

Care about yourself enough to wear a helmet.  We make kids wear them riding a bike.  Most states have laws requiring them for motorcycles.  A horse has a mind of its own, and a lot of what happens when riding is out of your AND your horse's control.