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Talk to me about horse shopping

Hunter/Jumper
#1

Just a few logistical questions for folks who have bought recently…

  • Who originally found the horse – the client or the professional?
  • How many did you go see?
  • How far were you willing to travel? Were you willing to fly, or only drive?
  • Did the trainer accompany the client to see every horse? If not, what did you do instead?
  • Was the trainer compensated for time, or was that covered by the commission?
  • Did COVID affect your shopping in any way?

Thanks!

Edited to add: I’m not a total nube, I promise. I have just never shopped with this particular trainer, and things are different than I’m used to. Wanted to see what’s the “norm” right now for others.

#2

I recently bought a horse after having to sell my other one. I worked with my trainer since she has a lot of great connections and trainers can typically find great horses that aren’t listed for sale. Basically I was willing to buy anything from anywhere in the US or Canada but would only drive to go see anything within 2 hours from me. My trainer found several in state and out of state so she went and tried the ones in state by herself to see if they would be a good fit and then inquired further on the ones we liked best out of state. I picked my favorite one out of our choices and started by pursuing that one which is the only one I ended up trying and I bought her after a very thorough PPE. Most, if not all, trainers charge a commission for horse shopping which typically ranges from 10-20% of the horses sale price from what I’ve seen around my area.

Covid didn’t necessarily affect my shopping but I think that people are more willing to purchase horses without trying them from farther distances and because of this it seems as though horses are being sold a lot quicker than I’ve typically seen since there seems to be a larger demand. Prices also seem higher as people are more willing to look at horses farther from them.

I would definitely recommend horse shopping with your trainer. If you feel comfortable and don’t mind taking a gamble, I would look out of state since your likely to find more horses that may be better suited to you. If chemistry matters a lot to you when you ride then I advise against buying a horse without trying it.

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#3

I bought two in the last year. One was a young WB that I bought with a very limited budget so my options were limited and it was right as everywhere was going into shutdown last spring. If I’d started shopping a few weeks before my answers would have been different.

  • I did
  • Just the one, the others I wanted to see required flying as they were in other parts of the country/on the wrong coast. I have bought some sight unseen before but the owners of the others I was considering weren’t able to provide enough video for various reasons for me to be comfortable doing that.
  • This was just as everywhere was going into lockdown so I was only willing to drive. I was also trying to stay in state, although the mare I bought ended up being just over the border into the next state, about 2 hours from me. If not for lockdown, my search would have been worldwide and I would have been willing to drive or fly.
  • n/a since I am not a client of any one particular trainer at the moment
  • n/a
  • Yes, it did. My search would have been much broader if not for lockdown.

Horse #2 I bought off of photos and video and I didn’t travel to go and see in person. If not for COVID, I might have, but bad weather was also a factor at the time and it was a quick purchase so I might not have gone to see him even if COVID hadn’t been a factor. He was also not in work at the time, so I wouldn’t have been able to sit on him either way. On the other hand, if not for COVID, I probably wouldn’t have bought him at all because if I were still traveling for work I wouldn’t have had time for two horses so there is some silver lining there.

#4

My answers above, but I have also heard of more horses being shipped out on paid and unpaid trials because of covid, and of course a lot of people are shopping at shows. It seems like the sales market is pretty active at WEF and in Ocala this year, and it’s more of a sellers’ market than a buyers’ market, demand is up and prices are high.

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#5

  • Who originally found the horse – the client or the professional?
    I found the horse’s sales ad and sent it to trainer who said “buy him”

  • How many did you go see?
    I think I drove out to see 7ish

  • How far were you willing to travel? Were you willing to fly, or only drive?
    I was willing to drive and stay the night if it was far enough. No more than 6 hours radius by car

  • Did the trainer accompany the client to see every horse? If not, what did you do instead?
    I went to the original visit to meet the horse. Rode the ones I liked. Didn’t waste sellers time if it really wasn’t a personality match. Trainer came with me to decide between 2 I would be happy to have in the barn.

  • Was the trainer compensated for time, or was that covered by the commission?
    trainer charged me the price of a lesson per horse. I drove. We shopped within 5 hours.

  • Did COVID affect your shopping in any way?
    PRICE! I paid like 20% premium “covid pricing” but I don’t feel bad about it because I really like him.

I will add I had also purchased a prior horse during covid. An unbacked 2 year old whom I sent out to a great trainer and had 75 days put on her. We just didn’t get along and I fire-saled her when I saw current horse’s sales video come up. The people that bought Previous Horse got a GREAT deal, and I got to go buy something I could really try and get to know better. All this to say there are some real deals with some people in a pinch*

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#6

I bought my horse kind of recently (two years ago), but I thought I would add my horse shopping experience just for more data!

  • Who originally found the horse – the client or the professional?
    My trainer found her ad while perusing a Facebook group. Out of the ones I tried, I found two on my own and my trainer found the other four through her connections.

  • How many did you go see?
    I saw and sat on six horses total.

  • How far were you willing to travel? Were you willing to fly, or only drive?
    Since I was in the beginning stages of searching, I was only wiling to look at horses located within 8 hours of me. I wasn’t wiling to fly quite yet since I didn’t really want to buy something I would have to ship over long distances. I think I would have been willing to expand my search if I was still searching for the perfect one after a year.

  • Did the trainer accompany the client to see every horse? If not, what did you do instead?
    No, my trainer accompanied me to try every horse except one. I’m a competent rider and have gone solo horse shopping in the past, but I feel much safer when my trainer hops on it first just to make sure it’s relatively safe before I get on. I’ve had my share of falls and would rather avoid getting on something that could murder my confidence again. The only one she didn’t accompany me to see or ride first was owned by one of her close friends who she trusted to honestly represent the horse. Since she trusted her and knew of the horse, I had no problem going to see it and hopping on it myself.

  • Was the trainer compensated for time, or was that covered by the commission?
    It was covered by commission. I never paid any additional fees except when we had to get a hotel for the night after driving to see a horse right at the edge of my 8 hour travel radius. The only thing I paid for that time was gas (since we took the trailer with us) and the hotel room for the night.

  • Did COVID affect your shopping in any way?
    N/A since I shopped pre-COVID.

#7

All of the above. Over the last few years between me and my daughter we’ve bought 4. I bought two off video (the most recent bc COVID). For my last one before that I looked everywhere and was willing to travel. The trainer was always very involved and once we found horses did all the talking with the seller.

All the trainers have been paid commission. For my daughter’s pony, we travelled to nearby states (WA and CA, I’m on OR). We tried 6-7, maybe 8 ponies. For my daughters horse the trainer travelled to Argentina and found the horse. I paid her travel expenses and commission, but not for travel time etc. She saw about 5-6.

#8

I never used a trainer to help me, but I did consult with a couple of people mostly vets for second opinions.

  • I found the horse by putting an ISO ad on a fb group. The horse trainer contacted me.
  • I saw I think 6 that I can remember from the top of my head.
  • We traveled as far as 7 hours to another state (ultimately unsuccessful), wouldn’t fly at this point.
  • N/A as there were no trainers involved. I got my second opinions from hubby who came along (he rides) and through video.
  • Definitely… For one we only went to see local-ish horses. We also didn’t want to travel too far. There was a horse I wanted to see in KY, but the driving was just too much. Secondly, if I’m totally honest with you, I’d buy sight unseen next time. I felt like a lot of sellers especially in fast moving categories like OTTB were pretty reluctant to have me come try the horse. The good ones also go quick. Obviously this is very rider specific, but I’d say I could’ve ridden 80-90% of the horses I saw just fine (and the one exception I didn’t even try - was warned about but didn’t believe it until I saw it). I actually ended up buying a horse I took on trial that was on the challenging side and honestly for the most part we are doing fine. Looking backwards my most important criteria for A/O jumper prospect was pedigree and athleticism. I cared strangely about papers, because I just don’t like not knowing how old the horse you buy truly is. I wouldn’t place that much emphasis on personality (unless horse is outright nasty/neurotic), especially for an OTTB that still has to fill out, settle down and grow some muscle (and horns :laughing:). Mine transformed completely (mostly for the better) during first three months. All of this makes me think that there is less value in seeing them in person at least less than I initially thought…
  • Also, not covid specific, but PPEs are such a crapshoot - we dodged a bullet with one for sure, but then for another horse we didn’t even get to x-rays, yet next week he was sold. I really liked the horse and the seller, but if I’m honest with myself that horse (older & with experience) was a better fit for my husband than myself. Lucky buyers!
#9
  1. I (client ) found the horse.
  2. Seven horses total
  3. 4 hours drive time, flights were too risky at the time.
  4. No, trainer ( coach) was shown video, info and phone consultation
  5. Trainer was paid a pre determined hourly consultation rate
  6. Yes, it made me do more research work, I ruled out horses in flight ranges. I ruled out horses “could be” right. They had to check every need box. The seven I looked at checked the boxes of what I needed them to be. Of the 7, I chose the one who I felt an emotional connection with. The others were nice but not, “it”.
#10

  1. My trainer had previously used a broker, so we utilized the same broker’s services.

  2. Saw 25-30 horses over four days.

  3. We flew from NY to Ocala, FL in November. We’d been attempting to search locally for 3 months but weren’t finding anything even close to what I was looking for.

  4. Trainer came with me to see each horse. She was able to be my “crash test dummy” on some of the greener ones to make sure my nervous ammy self wasn’t going to become a lawn dart.

  5. Her fee was a 10% commission on the sale price for the horse we eventually ended up purchasing. That said, we also covered her airfare, lodging, and meals.

  6. Yes. We decided that we were both going to get tested prior to travel and after returning home. It was a good thing that I got tested before we left - I had an asymptomatic case of COVID and had no idea. We postponed the trip. Thankfully, the airline, hotel, and broker were all incredibly understanding and flexible, and we had no problem rescheduling for a few weeks later, once I had completed my 10 day quarantine. In hindsight, it may have been one of those “everything for a reason” situations because the horse I ended up buying wouldn’t have been on the market yet had we gone to Ocala when we were originally supposed to.

3 Likes
#11
  • Who originally found the horse – the client or the professional? I did surprisingly.
  • How many did you go see? We looked at 15+ total very seriously. We saw more than I can count over the course of a year. Very few fit my needs.
  • How far were you willing to travel? Were you willing to fly, or only drive? We looked all over the US. As COVID worsened we changed our approach to shopping (see below)
  • Did the trainer accompany the client to see every horse? If not, what did you do instead? Trainer looked at every single horse first. Her husband is an equine vet that would look at them (via video and in-person) prior to me trying them out. This was to prevent me from being attached in any way (see PPE disaster horse arrived deathly ill).
  • Was the trainer compensated for time, or was that covered by the commission?
    No. Unique situation where I lease a 3-ring horse to her daughter. So, she helped me buy another for free.
  • Did COVID affect your shopping in any way?
    Yes, it impacted my ability to actually travel freely. So, any horse we were serious about was brought to us. I paid the trainers who brought the horse to me for time, mileage, hotels, etc.
#12
  • Who originally found the horse – the client or the professional? I did from ISO ad
  • How many did you go see? 3
  • How far were you willing to travel? Were you willing to fly, or only drive? drive 2-3 hr max (we were looking for a lower level horse)
  • Did the trainer accompany the client to see every horse? If not, what did you do instead? Yes trainer went to see horse once I decided it was worth her going. I went more than once for one we bought, trainer went once.
  • Was the trainer compensated for time, or was that covered by the commission? No, our trainer is a little different than most and did not charge us but I gave a her a small cash gift for her time.
  • Did COVID affect your shopping in any way? Yes, we lost out on a horse because we wanted a trial since we couldnt try it more than once due to covid.
#13

I looked for 7 months. From local to foreign countries. Finally found an awesome mare from Argentina.

  1. Who originally found the horse – the client or the professional?
    In the case of my mare, an agent found her.

  2. How many did you go see?
    I kept a spreadsheet, and it has 114 rows - each one was a horse I inquired about, or a trainer I called to ask what they had, and of those I went to see 22 horses.

  3. How far were you willing to travel? Were you willing to fly, or only drive?
    I would not fly - I drove. Max was 4.5 hours each way. Many of the horses I looked at were out of state (NC, VA,) quite a few in Ireland and Germany.

  4. Did the trainer accompany the client to see every horse? If not, what did you do instead?
    No. She went out to ride one horse for me, at the start of the search. She also commented on videos I sent, and gave a thorough critique when paid for her time. I quickly learned it wasn’t worth sending her the vast majority of horses, because I have a very clear idea of what I want and need from a horse, and a set of questions for sellers that helps me understand what’s on offer.

After going over the non-negotiables on the phone, I would request any rads (for out of state horses it’s important, and for foreign horses for me it’s required). My vet would look them over - if nothing awry, we would proceed to asking for specific photos of conformation, hooves etc and more questions. If he saw something iffy, he’d send rads to a radiologist. If all that looked good, I’d PPE. Attending vet would stop the show on the day if they saw anything off. (PS they never did - they were either very laid back about stuff like kissing spines and ringbone for an eventer, or my vet is more detail oriented than any other vet I have met.) Post PPE, all DICOMs went to my vet, and again if good he sent any needed to the radiologist.

By the way, I made it easy for vet and radiologist to access everything they needed to know: placed rads, photos, videos on Dropbox in labeled folders, had a doc in there with horse name, age, breed etc too.

  1. Was the trainer compensated for time, or was that covered by the commission?
    No commission - she was paid her lesson hourly rate.

  2. Did COVID affect your shopping in any way?
    YES. I would have flown to see horses. I also would never have believed I would buy a horse sight unseen. I ended up doing a PPE on 5 horses - 4 of those were the full toe to tail set of rads and clinical, and only two of those had I laid eyes on/ridden. I cannot believe how much the search cost, and how horse prices have jumped.

And of the 114 rows on my spreadsheet, half had seller issues (price too high, already sold, no reply, seller had a bad reputation etc) and half had horse issues (rearer, bad gaits, stopper, too short, failed the PPE etc). And one I bought!

If I had known what I know now about this hunt, I would have been quicker to look out of state (at first I really could not see buying sight unseen) and I would not have wasted my time on some of the earlier horses. I would also INSIST on seeing a horse jogged/lunged on a hard surface before PPEing, INSIST on good clear shots of hooves from side and front, and know that a good agent or seller will not be offended or argumentative when you pass on a horse - they will move on to the next horse right away. Also remember that Europe is a veritable factory for lovely horses, and there are thousands available there!

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#14

I know, probably not the most relevant answer but I’m also not a no0b and my instructor is not someone I consider “my trainer” though I do greatly value her opinion - I just don’t need handholding.

#15
  • Who originally found the horse – the client or the professional?
    I did. I posted a very targeted ISO add on facebook and someone tagged his owner in it and she sent me videos. I sent them to my trainer and decided I would go try him. This is how I found most of what I looked at.
  • How many did you go see?
    Oh man I don’t remember now, probably ten or less in this particular search.
  • How far were you willing to travel? Were you willing to fly, or only drive?
    Drove and flew. Drove a good 8 hours for one weekend of looking at several horses in one place. Flew to see the one I ended up buying. One happened to be in the same area I was in for a business trip so that one I flew to see but not on my own dime.
  • Did the trainer accompany the client to see every horse? If not, what did you do instead?
    No, another experienced amateur road tripped with me the one weekend. The one I flew to my mom came with me. She’s not an expert on anything other than my happiness. She could tell I loved him as soon as I saw him. Our barn is unique in that unless we’re buying from the overseas seller we prefer to work with, or she’s helping a kid or super inexperienced client shop, we handle our own horse shopping. We find stuff we like and get our trainers opinion on it before seeing it, try to take someone with us and take video when we sit on it, and get our trainers opinion after. If the horse is in reasonable driving distance of the barn we’ll take our trainer to see it for a second trial if that’s an option.
  • Was the trainer compensated for time, or was that covered by the commission?
    Our trainer does not take commission due to her minimal involvement. She will sometimes charge for time.
  • Did COVID affect your shopping in any way?
    Oh I shopped pre-covid so no. We had one that shopped during covid so she didn’t fly and only drove to try horses.

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