Did you get butterflies when you first sat on your horse? Update at post 52!

[Scribbler]

@AdultEmmy

These are so so helpful. And I identify with you on having my guard up. I am serious to buy, but don’t want to get it wrong again.

I like the horse I saw yesterday. I suspect he’s back sore though so I’m gonna go again Wednesday and if I like him, definitely get his back checked out as part of the ppe. He didn’t want to move forward, swapped behind a lot, and resisted leg.

See this is all a hard no for me. Why buy someone else’s problem? Are you buying from a trainer? Then they have him tuned up as good as he’s ever going to be. Are you buying from a backyard ammie? Then he could have a million things wrong

Sound is the basic baseline for buying a horse.

You don’t get a PPE on a visibly unsound horse. You get a PPE on a horse that looks sound to your eye but you want more certainty.

On a horse like you describe, you get diagnostics and a treatment plan. You already know he is unsound and not fit to ride. Why take this on if you don’t have to?

Back problems are notoriously hard to fix and won’t resolve in a week unless he gets some medical help (undisclosed or disclosed) from the seller

Walk on this one. You are in for a world of heart ache.

[anon40672407]

@AdultEmmy

I like the horse I saw yesterday. I suspect he’s back sore though so I’m gonna go again Wednesday and if I like him, definitely get his back checked out as part of the ppe. He didn’t want to move forward, swapped behind a lot, and resisted leg.

What did you like about him? You’ve written what you didn’t like.

IME, one does not even bother doing an exam on a horse showing these problems.

To answer your original question, maybe when I was young I had butterflies because I was excited about getting a horse, any horse. (And my first horse turned out pretty well.)

But when I’m spending my own money? No. I’m very analytical, I’m very careful. I’ve had too many horses go bad. I can’t count how many horses I’ve ridden (not counting “for sale” rides, just the horses I’ve owned, leased, borrowed more than once, etc.) and the # I’ve actually owned is not small, so I don’t have a sense of romance with a “heart horse”. There have been several nice ones.

There have been several nice ones that went nowhere, got injured, had to be put down or moved on to a different job that what I wanted, as well. Horses are hard enough without “falling in love”. I don’t recommend that viewpoint. Don’t get me wrong, I love my horses. Even the hopeless ones. But they cost a lot of money, and you invest so much of your dreams in them that you don’t want to pick badly at the few junctures when you actually have a choice. You have a choice at the beginning when you are considering a purchase.

(Completely off topic, but you don’t want butterflies when choosing life partners, either.)

[RMJacobs]

I found my butterflies were a bunch of liars. I’d been riding a pony sized Appy cross at a local barn for several months. The barn owner claimed she was going to sell him, and I was crazy about him, so I bought him. This was a serious mistake.

Looking back, I’m sure the BO was lying about selling him, as I found out she was lying about a lot of stuff. After hitting the dirt in various ways, I sold him for $100. I thought the new owner would be able to deal with him (I think he just had my number), and I was willing to take a huge loss to get him a better fit than I was. He went back to doing trail rides, but needed a firm hand after learning he could so easily dump me, so the owner decided to only put her wranglers on him. The wranglers loved him.

Rebecca

[flexion]

Horses I’ve bought - no, the butterfly moments don’t come until later, when the things I’ve learned or they’ve learned are finally clicking and it feels correct and amazing. That’s when I’ve been overwhelmed by emotion and shouted out I LOVE THIS HORSE!

And with all the lovely horses I’ve ever thrown a leg over, I’ve never felt anything near that on one that I didn’t already have a relationship with. Even ones that were super fancy, or unicorns, or exactly my type. The closest I ever got was with one that was tall and extremely narrow and my tired joints would sing happy operas when sitting in his saddle. But I wouldn’t have bought him for that reason.

[WavyRider]

From another amateur who needed safe, I just want to say THANK YOU for looking out for your client and discouraging her from buying a horse that was not suitable. I have seen so many overhorsed ammies recently and so often it is because the trainer did not want to hold their ground and tell the client “no”. Sure there is a limit to what a trainer can do, but they need to speak up when a rider is at risk of making a purchase that could end poorly for either them or the horse. It is refreshing to see a trainer who does so

[Baysn_Blondes]

The horses that I’ve gotten butterflies about have, without fail, all ended up being either terrible matches for me or plagued by health/soundness issues. Every horse I’ve felt “meh” about has ended up being a great horse and wonderful partner.

I think if a horse gave me butterflies on first sight/ride, I know myself well enough now to run the other way.

[SLW]

No, butterflies come after the trust and safety is firmly established. Up until then it’s “trust but verify”.

The butterflies come when I’m taking that same horse to try something new to us, new to me or new to the horse. Butterflies are the anticipation of having a fun day.

[Larksmom]

when I found my horse, she belonged to my trainer’s best friend. She lived 200 miles away. She brought Dr. Pepper down for another client. She was way out of my price range, but I saw her and thought she was a beauty. The other client didn’t buy her, so a couple of months later, her price came down a bit, and this time I drove to her, in a big snow storm. It was dark, we were outside, and I tried her over a couple of jumps. I fell off, of course, but I was madly in love by then. It must have worked, she became my unicorn. I kept her for 29 years, and she is buried where she lived her last years.

[rulex]

Unfortunately the horses who gave me the “love this” feeling and huge grin when I tried them didn’t vet! It sure makes it hard to want to move forward with a horse that just feels meh.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I don’t know about ‘butterflies,’ per se, but all of my horses had Something that clicked with me instantly. Nothing I could really pinpoint, just an instant feeling that This Is the One.

My first horse, Sugar, was purchased out of a kill auction. We saw her go through the ring, a little 14.2 hand Pinto mare with a soft eye, and apparently I beat my dad’s leg urging him to bid higher .I do not recall this.

Deuce was in an abusive situation, and when I went to see her, she was just shut down; then, she suddenly pressed her head into my chest and heaved this great big sigh. That was it.

I knew I wanted Bodie after one ride (ironically, he is the ONLY horse of mine that I actually rode before I brought him home). He was a lovely, safe boy, a real tryer. It was two years before he was able to come home, but my only regret is that I couldn’t buy him after that first ride.

Alex was a freebie, a “come get him today or not at all” thing. We went, saw his gorgeous trot with so much suspension, and then he stopped and came to the fence and said hello. That was it.

Now that I think about it, I’m probably not the model to follow . . .

[atr]

I had one like Deuce. He was a skinny, filthy wreck. I was standing in a group of people talking, and he cocked his head towards me, walked very purposefully up to me and licked me.

That was it. That and my “voice of reason in horse shopping” DH saying. “Well you can’t leave him here…”

[AllSport]

I still haven’t pulled the trigger for many years because well, fear of it not being the one I guess? But I’ve definitely had a few “this is the one” moments. What’s really struck me reading some of these responses are so many people noting that those horses that gave them the good butterflies turned out to be unsound. And that was my experience with the last two horses I was excited about. But the “meh” horses I’ve worked with, even for years, despite bulding great relationships with them, didn’t motivate me enough to want to buy them. The horses that gave me butterflies ruined me for buying anything else, it’s not good!

[ammys_havemorefun]

I did! Before I even finished the first ride I told my trainer I thought we had found the one! Ended up buying a couple weeks later, best decision ever

[trakehners]

@Critter

I just felt I really liked something about the horse. Can’t exactly say what the something was…but it was an instinctive, this one will be fun.

Seconding this—I always say that I’m a terrible person to ask for horse buying advice because I bought my horse as a 2yo off the gut feeling that I got when I saw his CANTER ad, plus the world’s cheapest vet check that was basically just to get hands on him and make sure he wasn’t entirely broken since I bought him sight-unseen. It’ll be four years next week and I still can’t actually articulate what it was that I liked so much about him.

He’s got a sticky stifle (no bone remodeling or anything though, based on the x-rays, and it’s never been bad enough for it to actually lock, just catch for a moment), but luckily I live in Pennsylvania so there’s plenty of hills to hack out on to keep that area strong. Any real physical issues he’s had have been consequences of that (combined with all his growth spurts), and now that he’s stronger and done growing he’s been doing really well. We also did full neck and back x-rays two months ago for the first time since I bought him and he has beautiful spacing between all of his spinal vertebrae, plus no visible abnormalities in the cervical area, so that was a relief. He’s a saint, everyone loves him, and our performance vet has no concerns about his long-term soundness even if he does insist on having chiro every six to eight weeks and requires wool-flocked saddles because he’s Very Sensitive hahaha.

I can’t say I loved him immediately—having bought him sight-unseen, I was mostly just hoping that he was sane and would be on board with the whole eventing thing—but we’ve built a good partnership in the last four years and I couldn’t ask for a better horse. The owner of my previous barn told me that he’d go stand at the bottom of his field near the top of the driveway to wait for my car if I hadn’t been out for a few days, and when I went out to ride this past Tuesday after not riding since the Wednesday before, he saw me coming, came trotting over (typically he ignores me until I’m right next to him if there’s food), and immediately shoved his face into his halter, so that was a nice ego boost. I’d love to have a project horse or two someday, but he’s staying with me forever unless something goes horribly wrong with my life circumstances.

[candyappy]

Not in the way you are taking butterflies. I have always raised and trained my own riding horses, so the only butterflies I may get come from those few first rides when I back them for the very first time-- because you never know

[AdultEmmy]

That’s a fantastic idea. Thank you!

The seller said he hasn’t been worked in ages and is just out of shape and lazy. Considering what I do know about her and her care of her horses, it would be hard to believe that they just looked over something painful. But you can never be too careful.

Also, I’m combing through all these comments but for those of you asking why I’m going back— I left my spurs there by accident. And it’s an hour away. So I may as well see him again anyway =)

[AdultEmmy]

Thank you all for responding and for your insight. It really helps provide some perspective!

Also, I said it above but in case anyone missed it-- I left my spurs with the horse from the other day. And he’s only an hour away. So I’m bringing 2 knowledgeable friends, one who just went through a whole ordeal doing surgery and rehabbing her OTTB’s back due to kissing spine, to get some opinions on if we think there’s a back issue, if he’s just lazy/out of shape, or whatever else. I’ll keep ya’ll posted.

And to the person who asked what I do like about this horse-- He had such a fun personality. Seemed smart, calm. We hacked in a field which I’m always too nervous to do, and he was cool as a cucumber to pop over some little jumps. And his trot was so comfy. He just seemed like a big puppy dog that would be down to just have some fun with his little adult ammy (me) if it goes that way. Nothing at all phases him. I started with little 1/4 inch spurs on and they told me after I started that they think he got broken out by a tough cowboy with big spurs, so he doesn’t take kindly to them. That’s fine by me (which is how I left them there. I took them off and tried to keep riding), but I’m not sure if I started on the wrong foot with him bc of the spurs or if that was a true and accurate depiction of this horse at all times. But even last year he competed at a dressage show with only like 4 weeks of work put into him and he did great. So I think he has the ability to move forward and be quite nice.

[Scribbler]

@AdultEmmy

Thank you all for responding and for your insight. It really helps provide some perspective!

Also, I said it above but in case anyone missed it-- I left my spurs with the horse from the other day. And he’s only an hour away. So I’m bringing 2 knowledgeable friends, one who just went through a whole ordeal doing surgery and rehabbing her OTTB’s back due to kissing spine, to get some opinions on if we think there’s a back issue, if he’s just lazy/out of shape, or whatever else. I’ll keep ya’ll posted.

And to the person who asked what I do like about this horse-- He had such a fun personality. Seemed smart, calm. We hacked in a field which I’m always too nervous to do, and he was cool as a cucumber to pop over some little jumps. And his trot was so comfy. He just seemed like a big puppy dog that would be down to just have some fun with his little adult ammy (me) if it goes that way. Nothing at all phases him. I started with little 1/4 inch spurs on and they told me after I started that they think he got broken out by a tough cowboy with big spurs, so he doesn’t take kindly to them. That’s fine by me (which is how I left them there. I took them off and tried to keep riding), but I’m not sure if I started on the wrong foot with him bc of the spurs or if that was a true and accurate depiction of this horse at all times. But even last year he competed at a dressage show with only like 4 weeks of work put into him and he did great. So I think he has the ability to move forward and be quite nice.

So huge red flags.

Why was he let sit? Why wasn’t he given a refresher for a few weeks to get the stiffness out? Why are they selling him right off the field?

Horses do not typically present as unsound because they have had a year off in a field. They may be bouncy herd bound or forget their manners but they don’t come in back sore and swapping leads. Horses in a field tend to get more sound not less with constant motion.

He’s been out of work and presenting as unsound and the sellers choose not to tune him up before putting him on the market?

Run away. Now. Do not buy a problem the owners are offloading. Check out the thread about My Very Nervous First Horse which ends in a diagnosis of kissing spines.

They think he was broken by a cowboy? They don’t know? This suggests unknown provenance. Was he a rescue or auction horse or is this a sales barn? All red flags.

Sure he has a nice personality. He may be too sore to move out. He may be on pain meds or s calming “supplement.”

Do not buy this horse.

Edited to add: I went back and looked at your post history to remind myself of who you were. I see that you briefly owned and sold a TB that ended up with back pain. Are you repeating past mistakes with this current prospect?

[AdultEmmy]

The horse is owned by an older mom who never has time to ride and has ridden him like 2x in the last few months. Even when she does ride, it’s just a little bit of trot then she just walks around. She lets him dictate what they do. Those are great questions though–I’m not sure why they wouldn’t tune him up/spend time on him for a while before selling.

I"m sorry if this is a stupid question–is swapping behind and not liking leg an immediate sign of being unsound?

I certainly don’t want to repeat past mistakes. Thanks for your input.

[Scribbler]

@AdultEmmy

The horse is owned by an older mom who never has time to ride and has ridden him like 2x in the last few months. Even when she does ride, it’s just a little bit of trot then she just walks around. She lets him dictate what they do. Those are great questions though–I’m not sure why they wouldn’t tune him up/spend time on him for a while before selling.

I"m sorry if this is a stupid question–is swapping behind and not liking leg an immediate sign of being unsound?

I certainly don’t want to repeat past mistakes. Thanks for your input.

Swapping behind absolutely is a sign of unsoundness. Can’t recall if it’s stifle or hocks or lower back

A sound horse at liberty may do one of several things. A true flying change turning directions. Or stay on the same lead counter canter. Or change in front but not behind. Very unlikely to swap behind just for fun. They mostly like staying balanced in a true canter.

A horse learning lead changes under saddle may swap in front only or may swap in front then behind late. But they don’t swap behind in that learning process and not on the straight certainly.

It’s absolutely a red flag.

As is being pissy about the leg. Either horse can’t go faster or is in discomfort from the pressure of the leg.

You’ve defined yourself previously as a nervous returning rider back in lessons about 3 years. This is prime time to make a huge horse buying mistake. Do you not have a trainer in the loop?