i’m considering buying my first horse. i have been researching it for a while now. i already know they’re expensive and require a lot of time lol. i have spoken to my trainer and she is on board (although i haven’t said for sure i am buying) and will be helping me choose a horse to buy. i would be getting a horse to jump, hunting (paces, etc), and maybe some basic cross country. what advice would you give a first time owner and/or someone thinking of buying?
Do. Not. Buy. A. Green. Horse. Just don’t. Please don’t.
Too many variables to give you a decent answer.
How long have you been riding?
How long have you been riding with this trainer?
Purchase price is the least of your expenses.
Are you aware of what it will cost you monthly to keep a horse?
Will you board or keep at home?
And so on & so forth.
Answer these & maybe I can give you better info.
Be honest about how much you will ride each week, and what you want the experience to be like when you get on. Then find a horse who is geared to the same frequency, style, and attitude that you want.
If your trainer is helping you buy a horse, she may expect a commission (depending on the situation).
Be open to older horses who have proven themselves to be loyal, sound, steady, and wonderful.
[QUOTE=lrp1106;7674221]
Do. Not. Buy. A. Green. Horse. Just don’t. Please don’t.
yes not getting a green horse.
yes my trainer even suggested an older horse 
[QUOTE=2DogsFarm;7674353]
Too many variables to give you a decent answer.
How long have you been riding?
How long have you been riding with this trainer?
Purchase price is the least of your expenses.
Are you aware of what it will cost you monthly to keep a horse?
Will you board or keep at home?
And so on & so forth.
Answer these & maybe I can give you better info.[/QUOTE]
over 2 years (mostly with this trainer)
i will be boarding. i realize there are also farrier costs (monthly-ish) and some med/supplement costs. although i have already found someone who is almost certainly going to half lease (we want the same kind of horse). (yes i know i cannot always count on this).
i have leased twice. it’s hard to find feed/free leases and i’m not really interested in paid leases (rather just have the horse [ie i hate car leases for the same reason]).
From my horse buying experiences there are two key things I look for.
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GOOD feet. This is a complete deal breaker. When buying my current horse I walked up and picked up his feet first before even saying hello to him.
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Don’t buy a green horse it is heart breaking.
Most times there isn’t a perfect horse.
If you fall madly in love with something, take 3 steps back. Being madly in love won’t overcome holes in training or soundness.
My reaction when I saw my first horse? a resounding “She’ll do.” It turned out pretty well. The one I fell in love with has been a nightmare.
OK. I’m going to be a hardnose & say 2yrs is not enough to know what you want or even if this trainer has your best interests in mind (rather than a sale commission).
After such a short time are you even certain of what discipline you want to continue in?
Keep riding a variety of school horses so you get to know the type of personality you want to avoid & what makes you enjoy every ride.
Factor in semi-annual vet bills that can run several hundred for just routine vaccinations.
And figure out where emergency funds will come from.
Few longtime horseowners can say they never had to come up with a large sum ASAP.
Sharing board is fine as long as you are aware of what the other rider wants from the deal.
Some charge 1/2 of everything, I just asked for 1/2 monthly board.
I also offered the 1st month for free so I could judge how well they got along with my horses & that way if I was not happy I could cancel w/o needing to refund or let them ride out paid time.
I did some shares with novice riders, but then required at least a monthly lesson with my trainer.
Until you have lots of mileage avoid buying with your heart.
I respectfully disagree. Everyone has to start somewhere. I was lucky to have started horse ownership as a child. My parents knew nothing about horses, but I was in 4-H. That helped a great deal. And you learn over time. The OP has a trainer and will be at boarding barn. She will learn, I’m sure.
When buying a first horse, I would purchase the best trained, most experienced horse with a quiet disposition. Forget about color, gender, breed, and even size (to a point because you can’t ride a mini). The mantra is trained for my focus area, currently experienced in doing what I want (not did it 5 years ago) and quiet. If all boxes can’t be checked, then pass.
And an acceptable PPE goes without saying.
Waiting two years is too long. OP has been riding for two years. That’s enough to know whether you want a horse. And unless she wants to compete at higher levels, most horses will be able to adapt to most styles of riding, given a good trainer and a chance to figure things out.
As you have already said you know, best not to rely financially on a half-lease, as you just never know whether that is going to work out for the other person and it’s not fair to the horse if you can’t afford him on your own.
My only hard and fast rule is it must be a GELDING. I know plenty of lovely mares and the people who love them, and more than a few idiot geldings, but my personal preference is to start with something that isn’t as prone to hormonal mood swings and strong opinions.
So here’s my checklist in order of importance:
- Is it a gelding (or can it be made into one)?
- Is it sensible, calm, and friendly?
- Is it sound and in good overall health?
- Is it going to be capable of and enjoy the kind of riding I want to do?
- If it suffers some debilitating condition that terminates its career as a riding horse, will I be willing to feed and care for it for the rest of its life as a pasture pet?
I keep mine at home, and I’m not made of money, so I’m very picky. In the past, I was much more prone to buying horses on a whim. Many came, and many went. The three who reside here permanently set the standard, and it is pretty high. I’m not into wasting money or time.
[QUOTE=RhythmNCruise;7674891]
My only hard and fast rule is it must be a GELDING. I know plenty of lovely mares and the people who love them, and more than a few idiot geldings, but my personal preference is to start with something that isn’t as prone to hormonal mood swings and strong opinions.[/QUOTE]
I’m inclined to agree.
Like you, OP, I’ve only been riding around two years. I mostly rode geldings in the beginning, but I’ve been leasing a 10YO OTTB mare for the past three months.
Don’t get me wrong, I really love her (deep-down she’s very sweet), but she can be quite the handful. EVERY SINGLE RIDE starts out as a pissing contest between us. Sometimes it can take a good 20 minutes before she finally gives up the attitude and starts to defer to me. (Yes, we’re taking lessons from her trainer. I may be brave, but I’m not crazy! :lol:)
In a way it’s been good for me, because I’m having to step up my game and be more assertive, but not everyone’s up for that kind of BS. Again, she’s not a “bad” horse. I just think in her mind, she’s The Queen and doesn’t like another queen telling her what to do.
You know, I was secretly wondering why I got such an AMAZING deal on the lease. Then yesterday, out of the blue, her owner said to me, “I’m SO glad you’re not put off by her moods. For a lot of people, that would be deal-breaker.”
Anyway, just something to consider.
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Buy a horse already doing the job you want it to do.
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Do a pre-purchase exam with a vet of your choosing. Plan on re-selling the horse and vet it with an eye to being able to pass it onto another owner. (That’s because in a few years, you will have progressed enough that you will likely have outgrown this horse). Know that PPEs don’t have perfectly clear-cut passes and fails most of the time. Rather, the vet will ask you about the horse’s price and intended purpose and evaluate the animal’s soundness according to those criteria. IMO, you should be present at the exam and play a substantive role in deciding how thoroughly you inspect the horse. Those decisions usually get made in situ, as in you see some weirdness on a flexion test and your vet asks you how much you want to spend on X-raying this and that to get to the root cause of the problem.
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Buy a horse with a great mind. This helps you pass it on to the next owner who is like you know. And remember that the horse will have a few more years/miles on it so you need something that will help sell it to the next person.
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Continue with the horse’s education and care-- meticulously. Your best hedge against a horse that becomes yours forever is a horse who is sound (because he was cared for well) and useful to a lot of people.
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Buy major medical insurance, and/or make a budget, and/or a plan with yourself about medical care. This ranges from something like diagnosing and treating a big, PITA lameness (say a problem you can’t find immediately or something life a soft-tissue injury that takes a year of rehab), to colic surgery. If you don’t have the money or desire to pursue these things, do you have the willingness/ability to euthanize or retire the horse?
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Pay the seller of the horse directly and let her pay the commissions. And/or negotiate the commission or finders fee or time spent trying horses/looking at videos with your pro before hand. Don’t pay the agent who will then pay the seller-- that’s often how price-padding happens.
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Stay very involved with your horse’s day-to-day care and training. This properly what you signed up for when you bought a horse of your own. It’s also the best way to keep on top of little problems before they become big problems.
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Trust your trainer, but trust your gut, too, when it comes to decisions about your horse. It’s your money, your animal and, ultimately, your decision.
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Buy good quality equipment, even if that means used.
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When shopping for boarding barns (and really, when making your budget), plan on spending what the middle-of-the-market barns in your area charge. Most of the time, the care (or feed or fencing or footing) is less at the too-cheap-to-be-believed barns. Owning a horse where you know he’s getting bad care and you can’t afford to get him better is the opposite of fun.
The general rule of thumb for owning one: If you can’t afford to own the horse with the level of care (or training for you both or showing) that you want, the whole horse owning thing will be a burden rather than a pleasure. Know that before you buy since selling a horse when you suddenly don’t want it is the worst.
Hope this helps.
:yes: What mvp says!
With this exception to Point #2:
You may not resell…Ever.
My first horse of my own stayed with me for 20yrs & would be with me still.
Turned out he did whatever I wanted, from H/J shows to Eventing to dressage with plenty of trails thrown in.
OTTB (actually never raced) who was bought through my H/J trainer and then repeatedly I refused to resell/move up while riding with her.
Even when I was offered 10X his purchase price.
That said, I had been riding for over 20yrs when I found him, knew what I wanted & got lucky he accommodated me - and had the talent - for the rest.
I thank the countless school horses who showed me what I did & did not want to own & the years of barn-rat-ism that taught me there is more to keeping a horse than paying board.
.
[QUOTE=2DogsFarm;7674621]
OK. I’m going to be a hardnose & say 2yrs is not enough to know what you want or even if this trainer has your best interests in mind (rather than a sale commission).
After such a short time are you even certain of what discipline you want to continue in?
Keep riding a variety of school horses so you get to know the type of personality you want to avoid & what makes you enjoy every ride.
Factor in semi-annual vet bills that can run several hundred for just routine vaccinations.
And figure out where emergency funds will come from.
Few longtime horseowners can say they never had to come up with a large sum ASAP.
Sharing board is fine as long as you are aware of what the other rider wants from the deal.
Some charge 1/2 of everything, I just asked for 1/2 monthly board.
I also offered the 1st month for free so I could judge how well they got along with my horses & that way if I was not happy I could cancel w/o needing to refund or let them ride out paid time.
I did some shares with novice riders, but then required at least a monthly lesson with my trainer.
Until you have lots of mileage avoid buying with your heart.[/QUOTE]
i’m very interested in doing hunting/trail riding, and i just can’t do this with a school horse. i don’t see myself changing my mind really. i can’t really find any leases i want.
i’m looking into insurance but i do have ways in coming up with money in a pretty short amount of time if necessary.
[QUOTE=RhythmNCruise;7674891]
My only hard and fast rule is it must be a GELDING. I know plenty of lovely mares and the people who love them, and more than a few idiot geldings, but my personal preference is to start with something that isn’t as prone to hormonal mood swings and strong opinions.
So here’s my checklist in order of importance:
- Is it a gelding (or can it be made into one)?
- Is it sensible, calm, and friendly?
- Is it sound and in good overall health?
- Is it going to be capable of and enjoy the kind of riding I want to do?
- If it suffers some debilitating condition that terminates its career as a riding horse, will I be willing to feed and care for it for the rest of its life as a pasture pet?
I keep mine at home, and I’m not made of money, so I’m very picky. In the past, I was much more prone to buying horses on a whim. Many came, and many went. The three who reside here permanently set the standard, and it is pretty high. I’m not into wasting money or time.[/QUOTE]
yes i’m pretty much set on a gelding. i’m currently leasing a mare and she is very temperamental (very sassy is the best way to describe). having decent ground manners is also a requirement (leased another horse who was like a piranha on the ground lol).
[QUOTE=Gidget;7675430]
I’m inclined to agree.
Like you, OP, I’ve only been riding around two years. I mostly rode geldings in the beginning, but I’ve been leasing a 10YO OTTB mare for the past three months.
Don’t get me wrong, I really love her (deep-down she’s very sweet), but she can be quite the handful. EVERY SINGLE RIDE starts out as a pissing contest between us. Sometimes it can take a good 20 minutes before she finally gives up the attitude and starts to defer to me. (Yes, we’re taking lessons from her trainer. I may be brave, but I’m not crazy! :lol:)
In a way it’s been good for me, because I’m having to step up my game and be more assertive, but not everyone’s up for that kind of BS. Again, she’s not a “bad” horse. I just think in her mind, she’s The Queen and doesn’t like another queen telling her what to do.
You know, I was secretly wondering why I got such an AMAZING deal on the lease. Then yesterday, out of the blue, her owner said to me, “I’m SO glad you’re not put off by her moods. For a lot of people, that would be deal-breaker.”
Anyway, just something to consider.[/QUOTE]
My last mare was like that but the best most solid up-for-anything horse I ever had the pleasure of riding was also a mare.
Because I bought my last horse because she had fabulous movement - should have done Arabian country pleasure not try to make her a dressage horse- my advice is sleep on it. And have a more basic requirement like steadiness .
Having a trainer is a huge plus but even if you trust her implicitly money does things to people. If she’s getting a finders fee or a percent of the sale the most honest person in the world can make mistakes. Trust but verify
