MerryLegs Looking for a Home

I have decided that MerryLegs will not work for me.  Even if I can find a trainer who can work out the bucking problem, I don’t think I can ever have the confidence to ride him, comfortably.  I got hurt too bad—and I still haven’t entirely healed.  I’ve had confidence issues in the past, so this isn’t anything new—but this one is too big for me.

I would love to return him to his previous owner--though it would be expensive--I think it would be the best.  He would be the happiest there--and no one would be taking the chance of riding him and getting hurt.  The trainer that I hired to help me said that he was very dangerous, and returning him would probably be the best thing.  Our barn manager, who has trained many horses in the past, said she would never get on a horse like him, either.  Our barn owner, who in his younger days was a prominent breeder and trainer of top-level reining horses didn't even think he wasn't even halter-broken when I got him--let alone ridden.  I don't agree with that, but something about him is amiss. There were some things, that I won't go into here, that were very disturbing about him.  He won't be an easy project for anyone who gets him--and a life of a pasture potato just might be the best for him.

Unfortunately, the previous owner really wants him trained so he can live a productive life--but she cannot afford that at this time.  She thinks euthanizing might be the best choice if he doesn't go to a trainer.  Regardless, she won't take him until the weather is cooler, so I will use that time to find a different situation for him.

I need someone who can stay on if he decides to do some crow hopping.  He bucked me off twice and a trainer off once, so I am fairly certain that he will do it again—but his rider has to stay on.  MerryLegs isn’t a fighter.  I don’t think he will buck for the rest of his life—that doesn’t seem to be his nature.  He did it only once on the lounge line and only once on a lead rope.  He never tried it again in either of those circumstances—not even a hint of it.  Still, my heart races at the thought of being in the saddle with him.

He is actually a quiet, low key horse.  He is doing very well with his ground work and really seems to like to be with people—I think that is a Morgan trait.  He is only 6 years old, healthy and sound.

Anyone who thinks they can manage him and is willing to help him get past this stage of his training—or is willing to work with a trainer that can handle a horse like him, please contact me.  In the end, he will be a great horse for someone—just not for me.