I think it is hard for us Ammies who invest a lot emotionally in a horse. It is not just a matter of being a certain height, able to do certain things, it is also how we feel about working with that horse long term.
When I was looking for my previous horse, my budget and criteria were pretty minimal. Still, it took me six months. During that time I tried some horses that should have worked out. But I just didnt feel good riding them and I wasnt excited and found myself trying to talk myself into buying. Eventually I found a horse that was greener and hotter than I thought I wanted. But he gave me a great feeling and I was excited about working with him. I had him for the next 20 years.
Current horse was a bit different. I wasnt really looking, but came across his ad when looking for a friend (who became my BO) Something just struck me about his description and video. Still he was young and very green and I was 20 years older and out of shape… I did some shopping and tried more horses and no other horse really appealed to me. So I drove across two states a couple more times and bought him!
It is not a simple thing!
When I was shopping, I wanted a broke, sane, over five yo and preferably closer to 10 yo horse that would pass a PPE.
I bought a 2.5 yo WB who wasn’t even halter broken, hadn’t been dewormed or seen a farrier in a year or so, and I literally threw him in the trailer and tore off with my tires afire with no thought to a PPE and never saw him do more than walk :lol:. Granted something broke would have been nice but I wouldn’t trade this retarded trouble-maker for anything.
So…ya know… be flexible :lol:
IF you like him a LOT, be patient and his price will likely come down quite a bit. But be prepared for him to fail the vetting.
IME, there’s a lot of shady dealing in many sales barns. It sounds like you have the skill and knowledge along with the assistance of your trainer to do your own leg work.
If you happen to be on the western side of Canada, and are willing to consider OTTBs, there are scads of gorgeous youngsters coming off Portland Meadows right now, priced in the low four figures. All colors, shapes, sizes, temperaments, etc. many with nice movement and solid breeding.
Someone else has the same requirements, which may be why it’s so hard to find.
Here’s a recent Facebook post:
“ISO: Don’t need a freaking Unicorn or Olympic mount, just a solid 3-7 year old 16.2-17.2 Warmblood, attractive Dressage mount with potential to move up the levels, with clean X-rays. Prefer West Coast! Budget around 25K in the US, No Imports…!”
I think I’ve taken all the advice in this thread to heart and have found an “exciting” unstarted 4 year old on the clear opposite side of the country. :lol:
What I should be shopping for is an ammy safe all rounder for trails and schooling shows. That I can try before buying and my trainer will approve of.
Yes I admit I saw that and shamelessly stole it! I had another thread a few months back about horse shopping and it was amazing how quickly folks project Grand Prix aspirations on me, so I like the idea of stating up front that is not what I’m looking for.
Tell me about it. I feel bad for the absentee owner who has probably been paying bills for months on a horse who isn’t being shown in their best light imho and not moving because it’s over priced. I had asked about registration and was told this horse was not, they couldn’t even tell me what it was crossed with. I recently totally randomly happened to come across the owner on FB and turns out the horse definitely is registered. I don’t need a horse with papers, but when shopping from a sales barn it’s nice to have verification of age at least.
Yes I have been looking at them. Some cute ones for sure! That could be my fallback plan. I do have a connection at my local track if I decide to go the OTTB route.
Yes I can very much relate to this. I can afford board for one horse, and I do this for fun! See above, not going to the Olympics. I’d like to find something that I want to buy rather than feel like I ought to buy because it ticks some boxes.
Is it against COTH rules to tell us what you’re looking for? Then anyone with promising leads could PM you.
[edit] I am an ex-breeder and current seller and I too, am pulling my hair out at the insane prices vs age and levels of training, being advertised out there. Are people actually getting those prices? I also marvel at the slew of ads for “apparently” crazy talented, highly accomplished 3, 4 and 5yo horses generated from Poland, UK and Germany to the American market. Wow. Are we actually buying them?
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