DIY Ammies - buying a more serious jumper - what's your story?

[Feliz]

I’d love to hear people’s stories of buying (or not buying) a purpose bred jumper vs buying something with “potential”

Was it worth it? Was it a major mistake that you regretted?

A bit of background: I’m not in the US, have my own little farm, trailer in for lessons. My unknown breeding horse is mid teens now and together we’ve jumped up to 1.10-1.20m - he’d never been to a show when I got him and he is amazing. I’ve been looking for something else for a while now to bring along behind him …

My trainer’s friend has a horse that’s for sale but isn’t on the market yet. The horse is gorgeous - but more than I was planning to spend. Comparable horses are going for significantly more on the open market. (yes, yes, I know how this sounds but it’s legit, I’ve done my due diligence, friends know horse and trainer. If I go further with this I will do so very carefully)

On the one hand: I can afford to buy the horse, vetting, insurance. It’s not that much more than what I was planning on spending. If I buy a nice project for less, I’ll spend the difference in a year on lessons/training/shows etc and may still not have a horse that is what I want. I’m in my 40s and feel like my window to jump a little bigger is not going to stay open forever …

On the other hand: this is a significant sum of money for me. All the millions of things that can go wrong with horses could go wrong … at least said horse is a mare.

FYI my trainer isn’t pushing this on me, she liked a young TB that I found - but he didn’t pass a vet check. She’s been amazing with my quirky little guy and I know she’ll give it her all no matter what I buy, but she would like to see me progress on something nice.

I’m really leaning towards going to see this mare - after all, we may not even get on.

Any and all thoughts welcome, thanks

[foursocks]

Go see the mare! If you don’t click or you just don’t find her fun to ride, then there you have it.

My purpose-bred jumpers have been so much fun to train and ride that I am pretty sold on that model at this point. I’ve owned several TBs, an Appendix, and a couple of WBs, and I’ve enjoyed them all. But the TB who was purpose-bred to be a hunter (back in the day that was a thing here in the States) was amazing to jump, and my jumper-bred WBs were/are in a class by themselves.

I’d never turn down a TB, or any other breed, if it came up as a reasonable prospect when I was shopping, but the big, bouncy movement, the bred-in suppleness and reach, and the massive jump is sometimes easier to find in something bred for show jumping. My now-retired TB has scope for days and was an amazing event horse, but he came off the track traumatized (he had a very rough trainer and was scared to death of people), and that was always something we had to deal with, along with the normal retraining process.

[NancyM]

If you like the horse and can afford it, it doesn’t matter where it comes from or what breed it is. Good jumpers and good horses come from all sorts of breeds and crosses of breeds, and which suits you may be different from what suits someone else. Some people think that the more they pay, the better it is, and sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. Never pay more than you can afford to flush down the toilet. Because a green horse’s future is never guaranteed. Good luck, and happy shopping!

[GoodTimes]

I would go take a look. Most people who have been riding for awhile can tell fairly quickly if it’s a type of ride that they like.
Do a thorough vetting since it’s a lot of money.
And then cross your fingers, since ya know, horses…

[hillary_again]

@Feliz, go for it. You are right: you have the $. Spend it to get the horse that will provide you the experience you are looking for. You could spend a lot of time and money and not get there with prospects.

[Xanthoria]

I bought a jumper bred mare to event and she’s a natural. Still green but if she doesn’t go all the way it’s all down to me, not her!

No harm in going to look

[Feliz]

@hillary_again

You could spend a lot of time and money and not get there with prospects.

This sums it up perfectly - I bought a youngster 18mths ago, did my homework, got lots of pro support but he wasn’t the right horse for me - so there’s time and money gone. I’m keen to avoid that happening again!

@Turntable

still needs to be all the other things you need: sound, sane and safe

Yep, I’m very aware of this, particularly as I do so much on my own

@foursocks

My now-retired TB has scope for days and was an amazing event horse, but he came off the track traumatized (he had a very rough trainer and was scared to death of people), and that was always something we had to deal with, along with the normal retraining process.

My jumper has a bit of a history too and it’s definitely harder with that to work through. Part of the appeal is getting something that’s been produced well, rather than trying to undo some fundamental problems

[clanter]

@Turntable

It’s still a horse. Don’t let one area of raw natural talent blind you to everything else. This horse still needs to be all the other things you need: sound, sane and safe. Far too many working amateurs end up with a talented horse that needs more time and supervision than they have available.

the first horse we bought was bought with a specific goal, the horse had All the correct background, parents were champions in the discipline of our desire.

This horse never ever did that discipline…never. But she was a regional and national champion in two others.

From that horse learned that what we want may not be what a specific horse is great at

[vxf111]

What’s the harm in going to see a horse you might like that you can afford? Cross the bridge of whether you want to spend that much after you see if you like her.

[BlueMoonJumper]

Go see the purpose-bred.

I was in your shoes as well - feeling the relentless march of time and knowing I wanted to advance beyond the 1.15. I ended up going the purpose-bred route, though in a riskier way than what you’re considering. Long story short, I purchased in-utero and now have plenty of horsepower to achieve my goal. I’ve had good jumping TB’s in the past but my Holsteiner mare’s back cracking bascule and power feel very different.

Please tell us how it goes!

[Pennywell_Bay]

I did this, bought him, love him and never looked back. And it made me change disciplines as I’m a 50 year hunter and he’s a jumper. Together we dabble in jumpers and low level eventing. Life is short- look at the horse.

[DawgLady]

Go sit on her for sure.

I am also in my 40’s and had a similar dilemma last year. I felt the clock ticking and decided to buy a horse with “potential” to do the A/O’s at a lesser price point. Well, despite buying a nice horse, I have put a lot of $$$ into bringing him along to find that he’s realistically not going to rise to that level. We are still jumping tiny courses and probably will be for quite some time.

If I had had the budget, and could travel back in time, I would have advised myself to buy something further along.

Side note: as a rider of a certain age, the journey of bringing a greenie along isn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. It’s had an adverse effect on my confidence. I may never get to the A/O’s now (which is okay). But since your goals are bigger jumps, I thought I’d share my experience.

[Feliz]

Thanks for everyone’s thoughts so far - I’m going to have a ride on this mare - just working out when it can happen. I’m both excited and nervous.

@DawgLady

I am also in my 40’s and had a similar dilemma last year. I felt the clock ticking and decided to buy a horse with “potential” to do the A/O’s at a lesser price point. Well, despite buying a nice horse, I have put a lot of $$$ into bringing him along to find that he’s realistically not going to rise to that level. We are still jumping tiny courses and probably will be for quite some time.

If I had had the budget, and could travel back in time, I would have advised myself to buy something further along.

Side note: as a rider of a certain age, the journey of bringing a greenie along isn’t as much fun as I thought it would be. It’s had an averse effect on my confidence.

This is exactly what I’ve been through - the young one has done a bit of a number on my confidence TBH. He didn’t actually do anything bad - but he had to be tactfully ridden and I never felt really safe on him. The last true greenie I had was far, far sharper and more challenging than he was - but I was 10yrs younger and did it at a busy place with lots of support. Damn getting older and wiser

I keep looking at ads of the 4/5yos with “potential” at a slightly lower price point which is attractive - but I’m trying to be realistic. There’s risk in buying any horse, and yes, the initial outlay is greater, but the cost to keep them is going to be roughly the same.

All that being said - I love the journey with each horse. If I buy something that turns out to not jump bigger things but is a lovely horse that does everything else I want to do - it’ll probably stay

[Xctrygirl]

I went all in. I imported a going 1.15-1.20m horse from England.

I had done 1.20 here (not so well, but not atrocious either) I had trained my own OTTB’s from off the track myself for the last 14 years, now 18, when I bought him. I wanted a made OTTB to learn on. Newsflash, they do NOT exist in the budget I had in the USA. LOL

So bought my 2nd “horse of a lifetime” and have had a hell of a ride. Hopefully more to come this year.

He’s my rock and I adore him and regret NOTHING. Admittedly it likely shouldn’t work out this well on paper, but it has.

Em

[Pokerface]

Disclaimer: I do hunters. But, I am in my 40s and like to do my own work, as well as have horses nicer than I can afford to buy made. I also enjoy the process. So I have done this. A LOT. It has gone both ways for me. Sometimes the horse turns out to need a different ride than I can reliably give, sometimes the horse just didn’t end up with the potential I felt like I needed at the time. My advice is to really be aware of what you need in a horse to have fun and feel safe. I’ve had a few where we just didn’t “click” and so we misread each other, and as a result, I didn’t feel secure on them. My current young horse can be a chicken, but it’s about very specific situations, and it’s easy for me to read him and I’m generally able to ride through everything. So, while there are things I wish he was braver about some things (riding out in the fields and trails being one of them), I actually do feel safe on him most of the time. This horse also is INSANELY talented, and is a great jumper, he seems to LOVE that part of his job. So I know what we can do to make both of us happy as I help him become braver and more confident. My horse before him was a sweet OTTB that I took off the track. He never had the potential to jump the jumps I wanted, but he was so kind, brave, and safe, that I thoroughly enjoyed my time with him. I had that horse for about 2 years before selling him, and I count him as one of my favorite horses I’ve ever owned, even though I never jumped him above 2’3. It does help that, when asked, that horse could gallop full speed through a field as though he was racing. It was the most exhilarating feeling, to be going faster than I ever have on a horse, and know that he was doing it for “fun” at this point. If I ever got uncomfortable, I could pull him up quite easily, but I was very comfortable letting him go as fast as we could.

So, my point is, be sure of what you are comfortable with, and I hope this ends up being a horse you can have a lot of fun with!

[vxf111]

Your TB sounds like a gem

[Pokerface]

Oh, he is the saintliest. I cried when I sold him. But he really helped me to understand where to find joy in my riding. And that’s what we all deserve, to find joy with our horses.

[anon40672407]

You aren’t getting younger. At this stage in life, extra money doesn’t buy horseflesh so much as it buys the training you don’t have the time to invest.

When we were 20, we could bring along a horse for 5 years. When we were 25, same, when we were 30, same.

Now, you should be on horses that don’t need to be brought along for 5 years. 2, maybe. Not 5.

Gad, this is a brutal post. I don’t mean it in the brutal way – just think it’s an important realization that many people don’t get to until they’ve wasted their 40s.

[Justice]

I have also done this a lot, and imported many 1.30 jumpers that turn into hunters as soon as I set foot in the iron . I imported a 3 yo last year with fantastic bloodlines. The good news? He loves, loves, loves to jump. The bad news? He considers riders optional for this activity and jumps in & out of my paddocks at will. The highest I’ve ever shown is 1.20, so exactly why I felt the need to buy a horse of this caliber is unclear. But I will say… sometimes it’s about more than what you need. Sometimes, in your 40s, it’s about what you want. This horse has been sheer joy to bring along. He has zero expectations of getting a perfect ride (lucky for both of us), and when he occasionally jumps to the top of the standards over a .85 jump he has been known to pick his head up to get me back in the saddle. If you love riding the horse and you can swing it, do it. I’ve never heard anyone say that they wish they hadn’t bought such a nice horse.

[pony_grandma]

@Justice

I’ve never heard anyone say that they wish they hadn’t bought such a nice horse.

Also why I haven’t sold some very nice horses that would have made big money for me. Because as a long-time horseman what is the purpose of this?? - to ‘have’ that nice horse, certainly not for someone else to have my nice horse! I’ve had 16 GOOD years with the homebred standing here now.