Honey - For Lease/Sale
6-year-old grade Quarter Horse mare
Honey is 6-year-old, grade, buckskin roan Quarter Horse mare that stands at 16hh and will take your breath away.
She needs an experienced, confident rider/handler to lease my 5-year-old Quarter Horse mare, Honey. She is NOT broke to ride and needs someone with significant experience working with reactive horses who understands the importance of gentle, consistent, and handling that fosters confidence building.
Honey is a grade Quarter Horse with a big heart, but she can be reactive and cautious due to a lack of consistent handling early on in her life as well as needing significant necessary vet work (she had wither surgery in June 2024) that caused her to lose trust in humans. She’s still learning how to build confidence around people and requires someone patient and skilled in groundwork, horse behavior, and pressure/release training techniques. She's a sensitive mare, and will do best with a handler who can build trust and help her become more comfortable in a variety of situations.
She could be a great recipient mare or babysitter. She currently babysits an 8-month-old weanling that is boarded at my facility and is a great “adopted mom”.
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HONEY IS NOT BROKE TO RIDE, but she does great being ponied.
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Honey has been worked with extensively since she arrived in May 2024 and has made significant progress in the following areas:
Haltering: She’s halterable and is getting more comfortable with being caught, though new people need to be patient and have a good sense of pressure/release training techniques as she’s still wary when approached by unfamiliar handlers.
Ponied Work: Honey has been ponied a lot both around the property and on the trails, which she handles well when ponied off of a horse that she knows.
Trailer Loading: She loads into the trailer well but needs some reassurance and patience if she hasn’t been loaded for a while.
Round Pen Work: Honey excels in the round pen, where she’s learning to focus and engage in productive exercises. We work on desensitizing with the flag, tarps, etc. She still needs a LOT of this.
Physical Rehabilitation: Under vet guidance, she’s been working on “long and low” exercises to rebuild muscle strength in her neck and back. This is an area that requires continued care and attention as she strengthens and heals from her past surgery.
While she has made good progress in these areas, Honey still needs a confident, experienced handler who can help her continue to build trust and confidence in new situations. Her back injury is still healing, and she can sometimes re-open the wound, so the person leasing her must have basic horse doctoring skills to care for her properly.
Honey is a sensitive mare who thrives with gentle handling and a consistent routine. She’s looking for someone who has time and patience to help her continue her progress in areas like desensitizing, confidence-building, and further groundwork.
If you have the experience and dedication to work with a horse who needs careful handling and training, Honey could be a great fit for you. I’m looking for someone who is ready for a long-term lease and is invested in her growth and well-being.
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Important:
Honey is still healing from surgery related to a previous injury to her back and can occasionally re-open the wound. It’s essential that the person leasing her has basic horse doctoring skills and is willing to take the time to let me teach them how to care for and work with a horse with healing injuries.
Honey benefits greatly from consistent handling, desensitizing, ponying, and confidence-building work. If you have the time and experience to help her progress, this could be a great fit.
She’s looking for someone who can dedicate time and patience to her ongoing training, with a focus on positive reinforcement (not treats based) and building a trusting relationship with more humans than just me.
Honey does well for the farrier and has been trimmed 5 times while with me. She needs to have her legs/feet worked with prior to the farrier coming out and only responds well to a gentle farrier willing to take the time she needs.
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Honey is typically "low man" in the herd dynamics, meaning she tends to shy away from more dominant horses. In a herd setting with more assertive horses, she can lose weight easily due to stress and competition for food. Additionally, she sometimes rolls, which has lead to re-injury of her back in prior months. For her well-being, a stall with a small turnout is the best arrangement, providing a controlled environment where she can rest and graze without the stress of more dominant herd members. She is also easier to catch when not kept in with the herd.
When kept by herself, Honey can become a bit worried about being alone, as she’s naturally more comfortable in the company of other horses. However, this can also be an opportunity for her to connect more deeply with humans, as she often seeks out interaction and reassurance in the absence of other horses. In a solo situation, she can be more focused on building trust with her handler, which is great for her training and overall confidence-building. That said, a stall with turnout is still the ideal setup, offering her the best of both worlds—time to be around other horses in a controlled environment, and moments of quiet where she can bond with her human caretaker.
July 2024
I have had Charley Snell work with Honey quite a bit. She does really well with a calm, but confident handler.
Handler desired: The ideal handler for Honey will be confident, patient, and experienced in working with sensitive, reactive horses. She needs someone who understands the importance of building trust and consistency and who has the ability to remain calm and gentle in challenging situations. A strong background in groundwork and handling horses with trust issues is a must, as Honey will require time and careful handling to feel secure. Experience with injury care and horse rehabilitation is also essential, as she’s still healing from a back injury. Above all, the right person will be someone who is dedicated to her long-term progress, with a willingness to invest time in helping her build confidence both on the ground and in new experiences.
Lessons w/Lease: Lessons would be REQUIRED to work with Honey. I include 4 free lessons during any lease/sale to ensure the best chance of success for a new horse/rider partnership.
Priced at: $250/month lease (off-property) For Sale: $3,500
*will consider on-property lease for the first month
*would also consider sending her to a trainer that is willing to donate time/training for her or a “foster” type situation.