I need opinion on a horse I might buy and advice. So this horse is for sale for $800 obo that is a beautiful perlino registered quarter horse. He is 5 years old and unbroke and has limited handling. When I went out to see him he was super sweet and eager to learn. He was licking and chewing and always wanted to be right next to you. He had BEAUTIFUL movement. He is registered and has great breeding. Sounds too good to be true right? Here’s the catch, he’s was just gelded a month ago. The owner told me that upfront, and he has $1500 in vet work put in to him. X rays, ultrasounds. So he’s UTD on everything and sound. But he has been separated from other horses ever since he was young because he was kept as a stud and was used to live breed three times. The person who had him before almost shot him because they were inexperienced hoSo he seems like an amazing horse but I have never been around ex studs, so my biggest concern is could he someday live safely with other horses?
I understand that it takes about a year for the gelding to settle into who he is going to become, and he may retain some stud behavior.
That said, who he will be as a gelding will be dependent on who he was as a stallion.
Some stallions live with geldings, can be stalled or even pastured in proximity to mares, can be ridden and competed in company, and are just fine.
Some not.
So the question I have about this horse is, what was he like as a stallion? Was he a good boy who had stupid or inexperienced owners, or was he a bad boy and a danger to.himself and everyone else?
What experience do you have with unbroke horses, studly geldings, studs? What kind of property do you have? Do you have good strong fences so you can keep him safe but slowly introduce companions?
Honestly from how you ask the question I suspect this horse is above your skill level. He might be a total sweety but he might also remain challenging. Remember that part of your problem will be the former idiot owners.
I’m guessing this is a bit of a rescue situation, sellers put $1500 worth of gelding etc into him and are selling him for half that. I would leave him for a more experienced trainer who has the skills and room to deal with this.
Years ago I had a 4-year-old gelded when I bought him and he has never had any issues being turned out with geldings or even mares. He wasn’t studdish to begin with though. It really depends on the horse. If you buy him, can he go in a private paddock for a bit if necessary?
Also, do you know what was going on that he needed an ultrasound?
I believe he wasn’t super study when he was intact and when I met him he did not act study at all. Yes he would be separated from other horses to begin with. Ideally I would want him to be pastured with geldings. The lady who has him said when she brought him around her other horse he reared. I believe he hasn’t been in contact with other horses besides breeding since he was a yearling. Do you think with work he could be intergrated to be with other horses?
Sent
How old are you, what experience have you had, and do you have the help of real actual adult trainers? If so what do they say?
Have you ever worked with an unbroke horse? Have you ever handled a horse that acted up, reared, struck out, in hand?
If this is your first or second horse, if this is a backyard on the cheap scenario, if you have little experience with unbroke horses, if its important this horse be a good citizen, then pass on this offer.
If you are an adult, with a good trainer on board, and are willing to spend money and time with the trainer, and if you have successfully started colts with less baggage, you might be fine.
Why are they selling him, when they aren’t even making their vet costs back? I assume they bought him to keep. Why did they change their minds?
Would you buy this horse if he was plain bay, or are you blinded by color here?
I didn’t make this post to be questions on my abilities of working with horses. I am an adult. I have been riding my whole life, spent many years working under various trainers of various disciplines. I have access to many knowledgeable trainers if needed and I have worked with many problem/ green horses.
I would buy him as a resale project.
The horses original owner, who bought him from a good breeder, kept him as a stud. The owner died. His daughter who didn’t know about horses took him and was scared of him. Her sons were just going to shoot him because they didn’t want him. Another member in the family (the person who has him now) didn’t want him to be shot so she took him. She didnt want to keep him as a stud (he didn’t perform), so she gelded him and got him UTD. He is priced under what his vet bills costed because his is simply not worth that right now, and she understands that to be sold he has to be priced cheap.
And no. I am not blinded by his color. Although it is pretty I could care less about a horses color. I see it as a selling factor when I resell him though, as it is a desirable color to those who like it.
You have commented twice on this post and never offered any real help or advice. From the comments you have made I am not even sure that you have any experience working with recently gelded horses.
Again, I did not make this post to be judged by a person behind a screen that probably doesn’t even have any experience.
I made this post to get opinions by real horse people with real experience and unless I can get a sense that you are that from your comments, please don’t comment.
Ok, thank you for clarifying that.
I asked because honestly we get more than enough posts from teens with big ideas and also posts from greenies who are in over their heads and in potentially dangerous situations.
I haven’t been around a gelding immediately post surgery, but I know of a number of horses that were gelded late in life, up to age 10, and are not substantially different from horses gelded at 2.
Some of these horses were doing a job as stallions (STB harness racer, show Arab) and some were unbroke (half a dozen backyard bred WB), and a couple others I’m not sure of their whole history.
If you have the horse skills to work with an unbroke horse, and the groundwork skills to handle a horse that may remain assertive, you should be fine.
However, from where I am, at the low end of nice horses, late gelded horses are actually fairly common. It goes along with “fallen through the cracks horses.” So I’m surprised that you haven’t run across any in years of working with problem horses. Or perhaps you did, but there was no way to tell?
Sure. I had one the same age that was off the track, recently gelded, and he was fine with other geldings. Good luck with him!
Question for the Mods:
How is this OP listed as Schoolmaster with a join date of Feb 2019 and 5 posts?
Good question.
Maybe it used the option to edit what is under your name?
I bought a horse that was gelded at 8 after being used as a breeding stallion. He was a dangerous stallion and would climb the walls at shows to try and get to the horse in the stall next to him. He was still bad for about 3-4 months after gelding. He was gelded in March I think and I bought him and turned him out with my herd (of all geldings) by February. He is super easy going. He has been around mares and could care less. I just bought another one that was a breeding stallion until he was 12 (why do I keep doing this?!?) and while he is not turned out with the herd, he is kicker and has sliding plates on, there is zero stallion behavior.
It can be done just take it slow, and base it off the individual horse. To me, it sounds like the horse has never had manners and is green/unhandled. You will need to evaluate your skill set and experience level so you give him a postive experience instead of making it worse.
Yes, to me the risks are more about the horse being unsocialized and having had little ground handling, let alone any training. Almost feral.
But the worst of both worlds, because a true feral horse has grown up in a herd and really understands body language and dominance, which is a help in training him. And an unsocialized horse can miss this learning and be a bit clueless.
There are of course very well schooled show horses that are unsocialized with other horses and lose their minds in turnout, but they’ve started their human training early.
If he’s a sweetie he may be just fine. After he heals up he could go out with some big sensible older geldings who will play a bit but keep him in line.
Maybe if we tag
@Moderator 1
We will find the answer
or maybe not
I believe since the last update, all users can set their own titles. If you don’t customize it, the system will use the defaults determined by post number. I’m guessing the OP self-selected “Schoolmaster.” Is that correct, OP?
Pass. Perlino geldings are hard sells.
It depends. But since you also say:
“The person who had him before almost shot him because they were inexperienced”
“unbroke and has limited handling”
“he has been separated from other horses ever since he was young”
…I would be swayed to say PASS on this one.
In general, a stallion is going to be well-mannered if they are handled appropriately and kept appropriately. For example, a stallion that has been kept isolated for 5 years of its life might not do well as a gelding with other horses. But a stallion that has always been socialized to other horses from the beginning may transition easily as a gelding. It really just depends.
My cousin used to have a stud that you didn’t even know he was a stud. He let me borrow him on two occasions to carry flags at an indoor rodeo (back in my rodeo queening days) and both times I stood between two mares most of the night and he didn’t make one peep or one move. VERY well behaved, because my cousin made sure he was that way.
And then of course you hear the horror stories of stallions attacking humans because they were allowed to be that way.
It also sounds strange to me that the owner has stuck $1,500 into this horse but is only selling him for $800, or best offer? (which I do see your backstory on, but it still raises some questions)
But why would they do x-rays? If they understand they are already taking a cut on him financially, why not let a potential buyer spend the money instead?
And why ultrasounds? That’s not typically done in a PPE in most cases.
Certainly some questions to look into.
It’s just impossible to answer. I would say that so far the horse’s history probably has not set him up to be successful as a gelding, especially since he has been kept completely out of contact from other horses.
Of course, if you choose to buy a “cheap” horse for $800, of course, you fully understand the risk you are taking.
The recent, late gelding is not usually much of a problem once the hormones readjust. Pretty common to wait on one that might be sold to somebody wanting a stud. The fact he’s fully grown, unsocialized and mostly unhandled is going to be your biggest challenge. As will the resale market itself, it’s a market geared towards well broke horses proven safe for most riders. The color is a niche market liked by some, not so much by many. Unless you keep him for some time, like well over a year, maybe two, to get him safely going and socialized starting from scratch? There won’t be much in there for you as a resale project, you’ll have way more in then you’ll ever get out.
Horses that have socialization problems may never grow out of them and can be a PITA to find a place to board but if you keep at home, that wouldn’t be an issue.
Since he’s unstarted and has little groundhandling at 5, he’s liable not to have much of a work ethic so it will probably take much longer to get him saleable. On top of that he’s a total unknown suitability wise for an Ammy rider, which is the biggest market and until he gets into regular work, you can not know his future soundness for regular work.
You sound experienced enough to realize that when horses are unhandled for years past their classmates, there’s typically a reason. And it’s not what they tell you.
Likewise just a reminder not to assume it’s really a registered horse until you have the papers in your hand. It may be eligible but it costs and you need the paperwork from the breeder to get it done. Typically horses that are barely halter broke at 5 also don’t have the full registration process completed. Don’t get suckered.
Dont know you, your history, your skill set or your horsekeeping arrangement. Don’t be too hard on those offering advice based on theses facts and remember that if it doesn’t pertain to you, it might help somebody else, it’s not personal. We only know what you tell us.
Interesting! 15K in vet work, radiographs and US for a horse to be sold for $800.
Many stallions are turned out with geldings. A well mannered stallion will make a well mannered gelding.
Many stallions are ridden in company with mares.
You sound entirely too green to be entertaining this purchase.
Again I think of bridges.
In response to your post. My first horse was a 4-year old TB gelding. Bought from the farm where he was born, raised and bred two mares, gelded and sold to me as an unbroken 4-year old. He had always been handled properly, had no bad habits to be corrected. He was a green slate. So with good intentions I set out to train him as a pleasure horse and do competative trail riding which we did. I’been told over and over just how lucky I was the day I bought him. We had many years of pleasurable riding he keeping me safe on many occasions. He remained “study” all,his life something I got used too… So you could have a pleasure able, and rewarding association. We certainly did.
1500 in vet work. Not 15k. Still doesn’t make sense. OP does have at least one other horse, a16.2h “grade appendix quarter horse” that’s 15 years old that she was asking questions about a few months ago. Don’t know about bridges but doesn’t sound like the project horse is a particularly good choice on top of the 15 year old she’s had for 3 years but has had some setbacks with.
