[QUOTE=WannabeDQ;8913061]
Thank you all for taking the time to respond.
I’ve been reading all the posts and it has been very helpful. Although I’m still not sure what I am going to do, I think I have identified the problem. I feel like i’m at a weird in between point where although I’ve gone up the levels, I still haven’t been doing this for that long. I am not confident that I have the dressage skill set to do a young horse justice at this point, even though with my budget that seems to be the easiest choice. I have started babies before, but for the hunter ring. I am still very much in the learning phase when it comes to dressage. I have seen PSG/I1 schoolmasters for sale or lease but I already have that, so not sure how much sense it makes to take on another. GP schoolmasters in my price range don’t exist, although that would be nice! You have all made very good points though and I have a lot to think about.[/QUOTE]
You are very smart. I’d get a nice but not at all fancy 10-14 year old horse that is showing 3rd-PSG and training piaffe. And go from there. Ride both horses and work up. People here say they don’t exist but there are lots of off-breeds and weird sized horses out there, especially in young riders and amateur divisions where a talented rider may have brought a long a horse because it was all they had or for fun. I have a friend who just got her gold on a draft cross, for example. I know another who did it on a Morgan she bought from a young rider going off to college years ago. Going with a PRE is another great suggestions as they find the collected work much easier.
Once you are a confirmed GP rider it’ll be interesting to bring a long a young horse but so so so many people in your position make the mistake of buying a talented young horse and they never get back to the level they were showing on their schoolmaster again.
