- Work with a professional. Ask the professional questions- learn from them about horsemanship and horse management, not just riding.
- Vet check AND blood test. (There are people who will administer a sedative or other behavior modifier to sell a horse.)
- Get a trial period if possible, or ride the horse on more than one occasion. Especially if looking for a green horse.
- Read, observe, question. Your trainer is not the be-all-end-all of everything. Observe what they do, don’t think that they are the most correct, most well educated and perfect horsemen ever. Form your own opinions on things- but back those opinions up with facts, research, and experts.
- INSURANCE
- Work with good farrier and vet. Listen to advice given by said farrier and vet. Great professionals in both fields are worth their weight in gold.
- If you end up with barn mates that try to tell you about everything you do wrong and “poor maresy this, and that,” politely suggest that they report any behavior they consider to be unsafe to the BM and trainer and don’t take their words as gospel.
- Don’t let yourself get pulled into the trap of teaching your horse bad habits because you think its “cute when he rears on command.” Think about the long term consequences of behaviors and people handling your horse later on.
- Keep logs of progress, whether a log is an occasional video of a ride, or a written entry about what you did that day.
- Make sure you get a saddle that fits your horse AND you. Understand that the fit is likely to change, as many green horses are either unfit or young or both.
- Set realistic goals. Adjust them appropriately as time passes.
- Be open-minded to changing things. Don’t think that since the horse was going in this bit when you bought him, that said bit is the only option, etc.
- Teach the horse to lunge correctly- horse stays out on the circle at all times, never turns to face you, and responds quickly to commands. Lunging is a great training tool- and takes just as much study as correct riding.
- Have a contingency plan- if something happens to you/income or horse sustains major injury with equivalent vet bills, what now? Find out exactly what your insurance will and will not cover.
- The most expensive thing is not always the best thing.
For the most part, these are all lessons that I have learned the hard way. I wouldn’t have listened had someone told me some of these, but I figured I’d throw some things out there and let you take what you wanted OP. The biggest thing is to keep asking questions and feed your curiosity- and to understand that this is a passion of learning, because with horses you will always have something left to learn.
