This is a lot of fun, loving to read these stories all! Ill start from adult, those are the ones I purchased myself.
I’ll play.
Horse #1 - I found her online through Horseclicks.com, she was listed at more than double my budget. She was a unbroken 2 y/o half DWB and half App (Pacific Star STV). Her unusual colouring, buckskin leopard, made for a not so attractive option for those looking for the typical bay WB in my area. I watched long enough, price dropped and I went to see her on a whim. I hit it off with the seller and found out she had an unadvertised injury as a foal, broken sesamoid suffered after jumping a fence when weaning. Filly had 4 months stall rest and recovered with only a minor blemish, a slightly larger sesamoid bone.
Seller agreed to a lower price and offered to pay for xrays to verify the healing. Luckily, the vet who bred her dam had taken care of her all her life. A vet I knew I could trust.
Mare, well filly then, came home with me after getting the clear. She was unhandled for the most part, stubborn, bossy and very MARE though while spooky, she was very considerate and reliable. The best horse I could have asked for being that it as my first time starting a horse from scratch on my own. I had always done green beans and been the guinea pig for my coach so I knew babies just not from real scratch!
Long and short, I had her for 6 years, we grew up and learned a lot for each other, in the end she didn’t want to jump and was a bit too behind the leg for my liking. We parted ways after meeting her perfect match, wanting exactly what she was. Mare ended up travelling from one coast to another and now resides in Nevada where she lives out her days happily.
Horse #2 - This guy came into my life after I did the no - no of horse shopping, I shopped for a specific colour and marking combination. He was a classic, chrome filled chestnut, 3 huge stockings and a white face. Puppy dog personality despite being an unstarted 3 year old APHA stallion who I found on Kijiji, Canadian version of craigs list. Breeder had kept him to be her new stud though after a brutal accident, she was selling all her breeding horses. He was gelded and came home to me. This guy remained a saint for the years he stayed with me. He started out pretty forward but sane which was what I was hoping for, though around 8 months after gelding, his ‘mojo’ depleted and he became very very quiet. We working on making a hunter out of him for 3 years before I finally admitted he didnt have the drive to compete. He also didn’t grow an inch after I bought him, making him small at 15.2H. Luckily though, I had a horse for those years who I could take anywhere and park, no spook, no baulk. He later sold to a therapy home where he now lives helping children and disabled adults experience the joys of horses.
Horse #3 - Current.
My most recent horse. I saw her ad a year and a half before I purchased her. She was majorly over my budget, by a well known dressage PRE stallion and out of a prized event mare, plus I was not looking for a horse at the time. I ooed and awed, sending her to my friends and adding her to my bucket list. A few months before I purchased her I decided horse #2 wasn’t a match, the downfall of starting horses on your own, you never know what they will become, so I put him up for sale. When I had mentioned I was on the hunt again, two friends, who do not even know each other both were helping me search, each sent me horse #3’s for sale ad. (One from Warmbloodsforsale site and the other FB). The price had dropped $3,000 yet still out of my budget and not really wanting to start ALL over again with potential to run into the same boat of reselling, I didnt read into it much.
A couple weeks after I kept thinking about her and said what the heck, I will go see her, she was close by.
The moment I met her and saw her move, I knew she was mine and bought her on the spot. Yeap… Impulse buy… how to tell my husband? Surprise I bought a horse and I still hadn’t sold my gelding. The breeder was awesome and held her for me with a deposit while I sold horse #2.
Now here we are a year later, we did a ton of ground work with some more advanced parelli work and I am just getting her under saddle.
The mare is typical warmblood type baby, looky, jumpy, unbalanced and a little spicy but the best cuddly personality in the world, and totally LOVES having her ‘hair’ brushed. Despite having short work sessions, she is a total trier, has a walk and canter to DIE for with a trot that has some beautiful moments that will become more prominent in future.
Third time is the charm!
It is funny though looking back, all the greenies I had before and then with 3 babies whom I have started solely on my own, each one progressivly more challenging, one cannot help but make the undenieable connection that life always builds you a path you can handle, each path progressively more challenging yet brought to you by the one before it.
