Best bang for your buck when buying a green horse (from too young to ride to very green).

[Dance_To_Oblivion]

@Arelle

You’ll need to go into it knowing exactly what you want.

If they don’t sell in their first year (foal - weanling), there are usually two camps of horses - horses that weren’t quality enough to sell for $$ when they were younger so fingers crossed they find a niche, or horses that are nice enough to hold on to and pay to get going under saddle. Like someone up thread said, once they’re going under saddle - even just 30 days - the price increases dramatically if the horse is nice.

This is somewhat true. I will say a 3rd possibility is the foal that just hits the ugly duckling stage faster than normal. I had a colt once that was spectacular for the first 3 weeks…and then it just went down hill LOL like refused to move at all at his inspection, was not even photogenic for a few months. I knew he was quality but could not for the life of me get anything useful as far as advertising materials. So I left a sale ad up but didn’t really promote him. Someone contacted me when he was a yearling and I forlornly went to get video and then BOOM that quality I knew was there actually showed up that day.

As a small breeder my goal is to sell them before weaning, sometimes even in utero, unless I plan to keep the foal for myself

[EventerAJ]

From the description of the type of horse you want, it should be in a reasonable price range…you don’t need FEI quality. What you DO need is a very ammy friendly brain; a horse you can start yourself and enjoy every step of the journey with minimal professional management.

Personally, I would buy from a breeder who has started their own horses from their bloodlines. They will know which mares and stallions tend to make easy horses, with a good work ethic, compared to a more “pro” ride. Do your research: find siblings and half siblings, ask their owners how they are to ride and live with. Find bloodlines that are consistently able to produce the right mind and conformation for the job. Many foals are cute and easy to handle as babies, but then turn out to be lazy, unmotivated (or conversely, hot!) when started under saddle at 3.

A breeder can have a basic idea of a foal’s personality (curious vs spooky, brave vs shy) but it’s harder to predict work ethic until enough of them are going under saddle.

[Mukluk]

Thanks all. I would love one with a mind like my current horse. She is friendly, wants to please, and is a “go” ride. Super agile and athletic. She can be a bit excitable when she wants to run but she is also a reasonably sensible trail horse and very fun to ride! I got very lucky with her. If “ammy friendly” means sensible then I am all for that!

[Jleegriffith]

I guess I can offer some insight from the TB side of the house. All I do is TB resales and although I don’t try to buy 2yr’s because they are tough to resell there are some 2yrs that I just deem nice enough that I will buy them. I look for breeding, size, conformation, brain, good feet, soundness and athletic ability. I don’t mind 2yrs because those that are at the track have been properly started and generally not pushed too hard. I like getting horses that are already started with the basics and just finishing them off how I like them. I personally am a fan of Tb’s though and horses coming from good race barns are started so nicely in my opinion. They go forward, straight and know the basics. I can at least sit on them and evaluate their brain.

I also LOVE LOVE 3yr’s. Most that I try to buy are coming off the track because they are just slow. They have a nice foundation and you can do lots of fun things to put mileage on them without pushing them too hard. I prefer Tb’s vs WB’s because I know the work history, breeding and can get a bit more evaluation on their temperament because they are already broke and in work. You can’t beat the work ethic on good tb’s and honestly if you know what you are looking at you can get an extremely top quality tb with a great brain for half the cost of a WB considering you aren’t aiming for the upper levels.