That’s fantastic!!
The only downside is the stories like that providing encouragement to the rest of us to keep buying the $500 horses that usually don’t work out quite as well. Lol.
But those horses need homes too, so it’s not all bad. 
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I’ve owned a few but only went horse shopping once. I am a grown adult who knows lots of things about my preferences and what I was looking for. So here is another story to think about.
I was looking for someone to learn to jump around the 1.0m level on a budget.
I tried 6, two were unsuitable (one was much greener than what I wanted and one was a little explosive), 4 were quite suitable but very different animals.
I ended up purchasing the one that I didn’t immediately figure out and “click” with and it was 100% the right choice. He was much more finished than what I’m used to, so when approaching jumps and I pulled to nothing he just kept shortening and adding strides. Which left him jumping like an awkward deer and was pretty unpleasant. However, I knew that I wanted a teacher, and he was good and safe and listened to my stupid instructions. Two of the others I tried I felt like I understood all of their buttons and they were the horse I wanted to sit on that day. This horse has taught me to ride better than I ever have. I watched a million videos of him over the years and looked at his extensive record so I had a lot of information from that.
It was also whipping freezing rain straight sideways. So while I didn’t press his buttons correctly he was a total professional and that fact helped me know he would be patient and reasonable while I figured it out.
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That reminds me of the old saying: You don’t know what you don’t know.
But it sounds like in that case, you did know what you didn’t know. Lol.
I think for the horses that turned out to be genuinely amazing, I knew that first ride. Two I passed on on the advice of trainer/vet and two I bought. I just had this sensation on all of them that it felt fun and intuitive (even though the horse may have been green).
I am that rider who always wants to quit on a good note, I really believe in better to end too early than too late etc. It can drive my trainers nuts! But for those four horses, I was genuinely sad to jump the last jump and have the ride be over. Even over jumps that were intimidatingly big, I just believed that both of us could do it.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t really liked the other nine horses I tried and either bought or leased. But I just did not progress in the same way with the other horses. I think you should always listen to your gut at either extreme, either you can’t imagine life without the horse or you cannot wait to get off. The middle ground is tougher.
And for the two I passed on, I have watched them go on to great things. I’m not saying I could have made them do great things, but I have regrets all the same!
My previous mare was a hard no from me for several weeks. I’d taken her on as a project for a friend while my regular ride was recovering from an injury. She was surly and difficult. After 15 minutes she’d stop, buck, squeal or try to scrape me off on a tree. She was fussy with the bit. She was lazy. I took her hunting as I was trying to help sell her and the first time out she bucked, halted, backed up and was generally a disaster!
Then, one day she decided she could work with me. I think the third time out hunting she decided it was fun and her attitude completely changed. Although I wasn’t in the market for a horse and really didn’t need another horse, I bought her and she was THE BEST. She died a few years ago from laminitis and she will always be one of my top two horses.
Sometimes you need to give a horse a chance to worm their way into your heart.
My current horse I went to try out and knew I was going to buy her after the trial ride, but that’s not always how it goes.
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IME, yes - sometimes you just know. I have a pretty particular ride that I like, and I know what I like, so it’s easy for me to decide within a few minutes of riding a horse if it’s one that I will enjoy. As an amateur, I need to enjoy coming to the barn and riding my horses. Jumping, flatting, trail riding, everything has to be enjoyable on some level or it becomes hard to make the time to come ride outside of other adult commitments. I say trust your gut and consider whether it’s one you will enjoy coming to ride every day!
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Someone with far more experience at successfully putting horses and people together once told me that “if you don’t like the horse in 5 minutes, you probably aren’t going to like them in 5 months”…
But to be fair this is a person who didn’t miss, wasn’t scared (and smart enough to get off the ones that would kill you) and clearly knew all the buttons so they didn’t come with most of our typical baggage. But that truth has stayed with me and I’ve found over the decades if I didn’t immediately feel something (I can’t define it but I know it) if I found myself looking for reasons to get this particular horse, it wasn’t going to be “my” horse. I’ve had a few that just weren’t “it”, even if they weren’t bad. But damn, the two I really felt that feeling with have been my horse of a lifetime and (because there can’t be TWO horse of a lifetime), a pony of a lifetime. Are they the most successful equines ever? Of course not, but together we went far further than I ever imagined and most importantly, I like them, I always have. I like being around them, love competing but even more, the daily journey of training (my favorite part) has always been so rewarding.
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I’ve not purchased that many horses but for me there is that “pocket” where your leg fits, and if my leg goes in that pocket that’s the first plus for me, and the neck. I don’t like looking down on a real thin, narrow neck. Those are my first 2 indicators. Then its their attitude. I’ve also learned from others about the “oh we can fix that” type conversations. The only thing I might want to “fix” is weight/muscle. I made a mistake with “we can fix the canter” and plenty of horror stories from friends who were never able to “fix” whatever it was.
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I do! I at least know that I feel safe and that it’s my type of ride. I bought my current baby at the age of a few weeks old and have had him in my care since he was a weanling. He just turned four last weekend and he’s far enough along that I am riding him consistently now. As soon as I got on him this summer, I felt safe. I still was a bit anxious/took a few rides to really get to know him, but I knew I was safe. He is SO much fun to ride. He is light, forward, responsive and so game to do anything. He’s exactly the type of ride that I really enjoy and I’m so so excited to get on him every time. Every ride I end with a huge smile on my face. It was been so so so worth the wait, I will have this horse for the rest of his life and he’s such a fun partner!
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