It is okay to take money, but if two people offer to buy my horse and one has more money and a lesser quality home while the other has less money and a higher quality home, I will always sell to the latter.

Asking for money is a good thing, so the title is a little misleading. People often associate value with the cost of things, so it is useful to ask for a certain amount of money to present a certain value for the horse you are selling. But in the end, asking for money is only the beginning stage of any purchase agreement; the final sale is dependent on the quality of the home my horse is going to.

Over the years, I have given away horses for free because the home was so good and the potential for the horse's health and happiness was so high that I was content with the offer. I have also sold horses for tens of thousands of dollars, but the final decision was always dependent on the quality of the home.

What makes a quality home?

Four things that conveniently start with the letter F: Food, Friends, Freedom, and Focus.

Some trainers offer a horse a lot of focus, preparing them for events and competitions and so on. Some people think this is enough to give a horse a happy life, but focus is the least important item. Good food, good friends, and freedom to move are the most important items on the list.

I do not want to sell my horse and then find him confined to a space that is too small for his freedom of movement. Generally, a horse needs the space to express all types of movement, including galloping.

I do not want to sell a horse to a place that offers poor-quality food or that does not offer friendship, leaving my horse alone, standing in a stall all day long.

Safe fencing is important and shelter is important. Many people work to create these types of facilities that offer beauty and structure but fail to offer the horse freedom of movement or quality friends.

A horse does not need to "reach its potential"; that is a human anthropomorphic idea. Horses can be happy with much less. If two trainers came to my barn to buy my horse and one offered to take the horse to the Olympics while the other offered to put him out to pasture with his mates, I would take the latter.

It does not matter his breeding and it does not matter his potential; what matters is his happiness and safety. In the case that he is given all the things he needs and has the ability to move towards great competition, then that is one great dream to pursue.

Statistically, however, horses with hyper-focus towards big goals often struggle emotionally and physically unless the trainer is highly aware of the horse's other needs. So, given the option to sell, I am always going to sell to someone who is going to offer the horse a great home instead of a great potential for winning medals and ribbons.

Clearly, I am not speaking as a businessman in the buy/sell sector of the horse industry. For those in that part of the industry, my heart goes out to you, and I hope you can find a special balance.

Primarily, as you can see, my heart goes out to the horse; he has given us so much over the decades and centuries, and he deserves so much from us.

​Thank you for reading. I'm Don Jessop with Mastery Horsemanship