Frustrated

[appendix100]

Just feeling bad about life in general today, so I think mostly I am whining, but would like some advice if possible.

Older rider. Have lovely QH that I do ranch riding & hunter hack on. Said horse has had a career ending injury, so now is well loved pasture ornament. Looking for replacement. My particular combination of interests doesn’t go well together, but I am happy if I have a horse that can do reasonably well at both, even if we will never get an AQHA globe. I will not have that many years left where I feel like jumping will be a reasonable thing for me to do. I am most comfortable showing at the AQHA breed shows. Really struggling to find a new horse. I am a tall person, so I look ridiculous on a little 15.2H thing going over fences.

I feel like my options are:

1. give up jumping & just find a nice ranch rider. (don’t really want to do that)
2. give up the QH deal & just find a nice hunter & maybe switch to working equitation instead (most of my “friends” are on the QH circuit. I am not very outgoing & don’t really make friends easily…
3. any other options that would make sense?

[Heinz_57]

@appendix100

I am a tall person, so I look ridiculous on a little 15.2H thing going over fences.

this made me chuckle a little bit as a slightly taller than average person, who rides a 14.1h quarter pony. I might look slightly ridiculous, I don’t really care. But I get what you’re saying.

What seems to be the problem in your search?

Are there literally no horses that fit the bill, or are they out of price range/too far away/some other problem? Are you looking for something already trained in both, or willing to take a horse already doing one and teach it to do the other? Do you have a trainer that can make connections for you?

[appendix100]

@Heinz_57

Are there literally no horses that fit the bill, or are they out of price range/too far away/some other problem? Are you looking for something already trained in both, or willing to take a horse already doing one and teach it to do the other? Do you have a trainer that can make connections for you?

yes, yes, & yes.
I don’t have a trainer to work with. I am happy to take something that needs to learn one or the other, or both as long as it is basically well started, & has a good brain. Mostly what I am seeing is either not suitable for over fences (too downhill, too WP broke/broken), not sound, not sound & $$$$$. There aren’t many English type QH in my area to begin with, & most of them are the all around types. Which is fine if I can get a good uphill gait, but most are either not built that way, or have been trained to drag themselves around on their front end hunting truffles. Most of the western ones around me are in the 14.2-15h range & VERY cow horse type, no length of stride to make the lines over fences.

for example I did see one that was looking great, a little out of my budget but I might be able to stretch to make it work, then as I’m reading down the ad I see “requires light maintenece - stifle, hock & coffin injections annually.” Really you want well into 5 figures for a horse that needs everything but it’s knees injected?

[NoSuchPerson]

@appendix100

“requires light maintenece - stifle, hock & coffin injections annually.”

Based on my lengthy horse search last year, 1. yes, that is light maintenance, and 2. yes, if it’s a nice horse, “well into 5 figures” is how much it costs. And yes, horse hunting is a really frustrating process if you don’t have $$$$$ to spend on a horse and I don’t know of any way to make it better.

[appendix100]

@NoSuchPerson

Based on my lengthy horse search last year, 1. yes, that is light maintenance, and 2. yes, if it’s a nice horse, “well into 5 figures” is how much it costs. And yes, horse hunting is a really frustrating process if you don’t have $$$$$ to spend on a horse and I don’t know of any way to make it better.

to me that is unsound, & i’m not interested.

[NoSuchPerson]

Sure, but if the market is such that those horses are selling for that amount, and that’s all you’ve got to spend, then I guess you’re just out of luck.

I did buy a horse last year. I spent more than I wanted to and I had to “settle” for a horse that didn’t really meet all my criteria. Again, , because you can’t fight reality.

(I put “settle” in quotation marks because he really is a lovely horse and in another year, he’s going to be fantastic. But he was a compromise between my budget and my initial criteria.)

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

It sounds like focusing on one breed does somewhat limit your search, price-wise and soundness-wise, and you want a horse of a specific breed that can do two disciplines, that’s show-quality for breed shows. All of which is going to bump up the price tag.

If you want to stick with your breed show friends, what about a QH who can jump that you can retrain “well enough” for other things?

[appendix100]

@Impractical_Horsewoman

what about a QH who can jump that you can retrain “well enough” for other things?

That is pretty much what I am doing. Or an oversized ranch horse that I can teach to jump, or a started horse that I can teach both…I just want sound & sane

[appendix100]

@Impractical_Horsewoman

sounds like focusing on one breed does somewhat limit your search, price-wise and soundness-wise

Yep, that’s why one of the options I’m considering it dumping AQHA & going a different route. But I do enjoy the ranch riding…

[IndysMom]

I understand that you don’t work with a trainer. However, it may be worthwhile to do so. Many times, their network knows about a horse long before it goes in the market-if it even makes it there. I’ve seen my trainer come home with a really nice reasonably priced horse that never went public-because he put out feelers on the trainer network.

[fivestrideline]

Yep same here. My trainer brought home some NICE horses, and when they told me the price (love how open they were with us clients, a pet peeve of theirs is the ambiguity in horse sales), I was shocked. Like, tens of thousands of dollars type of difference. All because of connections.

OP I 100% sympathize with you, horse shopping is a nightmare. It does sound like you’re looking for something very specific and not all together common. I know “sound and sane” seems like a low bar, but add in AQHA, taller, and jumping built + ranch riding capable brain, and you have quite the diamond or $$$$$ animal.

To me, it would be perhaps easier to focus on finding an over fences QH or Appendix, and teach it ranch riding. I’m in a few FB groups and while I do see some strange horses, there have been quite a few very cute 16h++ horses that could get a piece at the USHJA shows here. Most of them are priced at low 5s.

It might be worthwhile to make a list of Needs and Wants, as well as a list of Absolute No’s and I’ll Compromises. Try to be realistic, and take into account that horses are coming off the track with no restart at $5k, and going for $12-$15k with a few rides and a jump school. Often with some kind of maintenance or findings. Obviously you’re not looking at OTTBs but they’re a good divining rod for the mid/lower end of the horse market.

[moonlitoaksranch]

What about another stock type breed? We had an Appaloosa that was very versatile. He was big enough to look the part of a ranch horse and brave enough to jump.

[Lusoluv]

What about Paints? They are mainly QH-type, I believe. We have a couple at my barn that are not loud colored and were sold very cheaply due to their “plain-ness”. Both are chestnuts.

[findeight]

Might be an unpopular opinion but your jumping years might be limited. Whether you want that or not, all it takes is one bad fall as you near 60 to change your continuing to ride options. Teaching even a safe and sane QH to go over fences is likely to result in a mishap or two. Might not be a good choice with limited funds, no trainer and numerous other requirements.

If you are older, you do NOT have anything to prove to anybody, including yourself. Seems to make more sense to me to invest in one you can continue to enjoy for a good many years plus allow you to get a better horse for your money without the jumping requirement. You can pop just about any horse over a few fences just for fun without extensive show training and another zero on the price.

Just food for thought.

[2DogsFarm]

@findeight

Teaching even a safe and sane QH to go over fences is likely to result in a mishap or two.

Curious why this Blanket Statement
Have you heard of the Eventer Quartermaster?
Perhaps an outlier, but friend’s granddaughter has a Just Turned 4 Appendix with a very good brain & the height (16.2).
I’m thinking they paid low-mid 5s for him as a 2yo.
Horse is bring geared towards WP & has proved sane & capable (kid was 13th in her class at Congress last year) & likes to jump.

[Heinz_57]

I am obviously not findeight, but I think they meant that teaching any horse - even a safe and sane QH - to jump is likely to result in a mishap or two. They take a flyer, they run out at the last second, pull a dirty stop, overjump like a deer… lots of ways to be lawn-darted by a green jumping horse, if you can’t stick the antics, and for those who don’t bounce well anymore that can be dangerous.

OP, I think the safest bet is to find a horse that already jumps and try to teach it the other things you want to do. All horses “can” jump, yes, but not all of them are good at it or look pretty doing it It could be years before the horse is even ready to show in the hunter hack. And if you can’t find one that is AQHA in budget, I’m sure you would make new friends on a new circuit.

[RedHorses]

Possibly because any horse learning to jump is going to do some gymnastic contortions, stop, take a wild flyer, or stumble through a jump - any of which could unseat the rider. And as we age splat tends to be a more likely landing than bounce.

[NancyM]

All I know is that if you are looking for a nice horse for not a lot of money, you have to look in unlikely places. In places that other people are not looking. And you have to do some training to get exactly what you want. Yes, some QHs jump well. If you find something that you like but has no jumping training, free jump it a bit. Doesn’t have to be a big jump, one or two foot high cross pole will be fine, you are just looking for how naturally he takes to it, how he solves simple problems, and his natural form. If he finds free jumping easy and enjoyable with nice natural form, it’s easy to put the polish on his training in this respect. Good luck and happy shopping.

[Jealoushe]

What about auctions?

[2DogsFarm]

Same can be said for even the older & experienced Hunter
Horses = Surprise!
But, there are ways to see how your young horse feels about jumping w/o being in the saddle yourself.
Freejump on a longe
Jump through a chute
I did both with a 3yo OTTB (last raced the month I bought him) before trying him over poles with a rider.
No guarantee of no hijinks, but same for any horse.
Happens.
My worst riding injury was a separated shoulder jumping my trusty TB (he of years of show success mileage) over an X.
He tripped, I rolled over his shoulder & landed with just enough torque to put me in a sling for weeks.
I was in my late 40s at the time.