Paying the Price.. An Open Letter to the Unscrupulous Horse Seller

Do you remember Sailor? He was a beautiful horse wasn’t he? Only he was a shit. And you knew that. But you failed to disclose that he liked to rear and God he was good at it.

You said he couldn’t handle the pressure of barrel racing. When I asked you what that looked like, you replied that ‘he would veer off’. I remember those words as clear as yesterday. I thought no big deal, I’m not a barrel racer.

We met when I brought my 4-H kids to your place for a clinic. I liked you. I trusted you. I bought your horse.

Sailor reared more than a few times,  but the last time was devastating. For both of us. He flipped over backwards on me. In the mountains on a trail riding weekend with my girlfriends. They all saw it happen. He wanted to get home – we were waiting for a few riders behind us. He got mad. And he didn’t just rear – he threw himself over backwards all four feet in the air. On me.

We had to strap my saddle to a quad so that I could get a ride off the mountain. Jim and my girlfriends – they were forever my hero’s that day.

We chose to euthanize Sailor. He was also injured but more importantly we didn’t want him to ever hurt someone else. A mom like me. A kid. A trainer. Anyone!

I spent the next 9 months sitting on a yoga ball. I rotted my stomach so bad with ibuprofen I can’t take that medication to this day.

In the 7 or 8 years since, I’ve spent thousands and thousands of dollars trying to recover from that injury. Yoga, gym, chiropractor, acupuncture and finally cortisone injections.

For the past week I’ve barely been out of bed. I’ve had friends and family taking care of my horses because I can barely walk.

Today. I bought a cane. Tomorrow I go back to my doctor again to plead with them to find some way to help me.

All of this could have been prevented had you been an honest horse seller.

I would gladly give you $5500 purchase price and ask you to keep the horse you sold me so that I could have a life without this injury.

If I ever see you again I might just be tempted to punch you right in the lips.

Today – I bought a cane and I will never forgive you.

~Amberlee

Please feel free share. I never ever thought I would write this.  But just maybe it will give another seller a moment to think about what they might be doing and prevent someone else’s pain – whether it be their wallet or their body.