Was it worth the wait? Buying the youngster ( weanling, yearling, two yo ) success or fail stories?

[PNWjumper]

Sounds like you’re in an ideal scenario!

I buy my sales horses as 3/4/5 year olds that are already under saddle. No guesswork, no wondering what they’ll be. But I buy all of my personal horses as young horses. The last few have been purchased at 11 months, 2 years, and 2 weeks of age. Jumpers, not dressage, but same difference in regards to looking for an athletic prospect.

The 11 month old turned out to not be what I wanted. He had a major chicken streak and wanted to be a hunter (I wanted him to be a jumper), so I sold him. In hindsight, all of his quirks were obvious from his first day under saddle. But ever the eternal optimist, I kept chalking it up to normal young horse development.

The next is my up and coming star who has been winning in the young horses classes for the last several years. She was not only worth the wait, but worth sorting through others who weren’t exactly what I wanted! She was my first purchase from the group that I now buy all of my horses from. She’s the cover photo on my website: www.flyingfsporthorses.com

And my 2 week old filly just got put under saddle a couple of weeks ago as a newly-turned-3yo, but then I went and broke my ribs (ugh!). I have no question that she’ll be exactly what I want. And there’s no way in a million years I could have afforded her as an older horse - also, I never would have been in the position of being able to buy her if I had waited.

What I’ve learned over the years is that the breeder is of utmost importance. I now work with breeders that are absolutely and ridiculously accurate when they predict what a young horse will be. I would buy sight unseen any time from this group. Without them, I consider buying a young horse to be a flip of a coin. With them, it’s a highly educated prediction that’s been spot on so far.

I dream of the day when my bank accounts overflow and I can buy the winning machine at the top of the sport, but realistically that’s never going to happen. Also, my favorite part of this sport is the development part. Don’t get me wrong, I love riding in big classes, but it’s something special to ride in a big class on a horse you started from scratch! And I’m kind of cheap when it comes to my own keeper horses. I just can’t convince myself to spend big dollars (that I don’t have) on something that’s purely for me. So I am guessing that I will stay in the exact mode you described above, OP - keeping my eye out for that young horse that speaks to me. Having your own place makes it less of a gamble. Being willing to sell the horse if it’s not “the” horse makes it even that much easier (or less risky). And being in a position to NOT buy on impulse is probably the best factor of all.

Best of luck to you!

[netg]

Just had a show this weekend, and my girl suddenly had something click so she is no longer a youngster, but a mature adult. She was absolutely fabulous despite my flawed riding, and an absolute joy to be on the ground where in the past she has been very anxious on the ground at shows.
While I wouldn’t have minded if she stopped growing sooner (we sticked her at 16.1 this weekend) she has basically turned into the horse I hoped she would be at 7, and shows all signs she’ll continue to develop the way I want in the future.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“medium”,“data-attachmentid”:9777349}[/ATTACH]

[FleetFeet]

I am on my second youngster.

My first young horse, I bought a weanling from a backyard breeder with the hopes of bringing up a low level eventer/pony club type. She was a super cute, smart and brave buckskin pinto. I loved her personality and temperament, and as my first young horse I learned SO much. But it was a really heart breaking experience. She developed a pretty severe club foot, and I didn’t know what to do about it and had little guidance. Additionally, as a 2yo she strung that same leg up in a fence panel. The result was a horse who was not going to be sound for jumping or very intense riding. I started her as a 3.5yo. It went well. I lightly rode her and kept her in pasture until she was 5 when I sold her as a trail/pleasure horse.

I took a couple years off from horses, moved, and ended up buying a yearling even though I thought I was done with young horses. After looking at a lot of horses, I didn’t want to deal with other people’s training mistakes, and I couldn’t afford the kind of horse that I wanted.

He is now 2yo and a real sweet heart. He is a well bred dressage WB. He is bigger than I would like, but its not a deal breaker. He isn’t as brave as my last horse, and a bit more reactive. But I can tolerate that in a dressage horse. He is much more willing to work, and picks up all his ground work with a lot less argument than my filly did :lol: And did I mention he is really sweet? I’m excited to see where we go, and pretty content if I just trail ride forever or go GP or something in the middle. I kinda think that is key with young horses.

[Manni01]

My opinion… It depends… When you are there and when you start to have success with your youngster, then you have the feeling it was worth it and then I think you enjoy every little step a lot more then with a horse which you bought as a made horse.
The way to that point is extremely rough and expensive though… There are so many things which can go wrong and finish everything before it started.
I think when you start a journey with a foal you have have to consider that you buy just a bunch of hope… Thats it! there are no garantees that it will turn out as you want.
If you are fine with that and if the foal survives and turns out to be a nice horse, you get highly rewarded. No risk no fun…

I am riding right now in an area with some riders who bought very expensive and very well trained horses. I think they got very nice horses and they will learn a lot from them, but I also think they thought the journey is a little easier then it turned out to be. Even if you buy a made horse you still have to ride it, otherwise there is the danger you loose a lot of money.
And right now my young horses start to be on a level that they are really fun to ride and really my personal opinion, I would not trade my horses for those expensive well trained horses… No way… But as I said before it was a very long and very bumpy road to this point.

[Manni01]

something to add… Right now I would say it was worth it

I was so pleased today, We lunged my 3 year old today for the first time with a saddle and she was soooo cool!!! Her mom had a very dramatic moment at the first time with the saddle, so I was a little scared about the moment but she was totally cool about it. 2 little bucks and that was it. And she looks so promising …

I made the breeding decision for her mom and so many people told me that that combination would not work out at all (Lancet Sandro Hit)…
Then I drove her mom 9 hours through Germany to get to the Stud because the semen did not work after shipping and left her there until she was pregnant.
Then I imported her mom in foal to the US and this was my first foal born here.
She was born in July and gave us a big scare because she was totally apathic and had fever until we found out that she had problems with the heat. So I bought a huge fan (which she still has and she loves that fan) which solved the problem.
Last year she caught a horrible fungus which I thought she might not survive and now she is a stunning beautiful 3 year old who really enjoys to learn things…

Now we only have the backing moment left and if she looks with rider the same like without on the lunge, then everything was worth it!!!

[normandy_shores]

I accidentally bought a 3 year old unbroke (was sold to me as 4). The difference is I didn’t buy her because she was fancy (or big! She’s a pony) but because of her temperament. My assessment of her temperament has been spot on and she was quite easy to start. She’s turned out to be brave, trail rides alone, and handles new things well. She’s 4 now so the training hasn’t gotten very advanced but she w/t/c, leg yields and pops over little xrails with no problem.

I do wish she’d grow another inch or three, but considering I thought she was older than she was I didn’t expect it. Guess we’ll see what the next year brings, and if she stays game for Dressage and eventing.

[Tigre_Horse]

I might consider it now - only because I’m finally working with a fabulous trainer who has a marvelous eye and a real talent for picking young horses with potential and the right temperment.

I’ve been watching her work, for the past year, with a fellow boarder’s horse. OMG - what a fine job she’s done, and continues to do, with this youngster. And because this youngster definitely has FEI potential and it would be so easy to want to rush or push her - and this is so not the case - the training is so deliberate, so careful, so correct - it is such a joy to watch - to see the talent unfold so naturally. I just can’t even describe it.

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

It depends on your ability to start horses, or the ability to start horses of trainer you work with, and their SYSTEM!!! As a breeder, I worked with a few people starting my horses, and seeing the babies owned by others started. Super easy. A few started under a different system though, I had to question what was going on. My system has worked even for people who were barely more than beginners and wanted to start their own. Some, starting under very experienced trainers, using a different system were totally different. Some systems just make breaking easy, others, not so much, and it can leave lifelong issues.

[Dutchmare433]

@Fairview Horse Center

It depends on your ability to start horses, or the ability to start horses of trainer you work with, and their SYSTEM!!! As a breeder, I worked with a few people starting my horses, and seeing the babies owned by others started. Super easy. A few started under a different system though, I had to question what was going on. My system has worked even for people who were barely more than beginners and wanted to start their own. Some, starting under very experienced trainers, using a different system were totally different. Some systems just make breaking easy, others, not so much, and it can leave lifelong issues.

This I have to agree with. Sure, there are horses who will always be tougher than others, but in general it doesn’t have to be hard.

[Displaced_Yankee]

If you had asked me 4 weeks ago: No, not worth it. Last October: Totally! Spring 2016: Nope, never again.

Currently, he is nearly the horse I bred him to be. I’d like him to be a smidge taller (but he’s half pony) and maybe just a smidge less opinionated (again, half pony).

My point is be prepared for the emotional roller coaster. While mine has had a long, slow start by no fault of his own, I am glad I have stuck with him. I would say I didn’t really have a good feel for how much I enjoyed riding him until we were solid walk/trot/canter. It was a major fear that I would not like riding the horse I had bred.

My advice if you do it: concentrate on making them a solid citizen, undersaddle and on the ground. This will encourage a better resale value and a softer landing if you choose to sell.

[Manni01]

@Displaced Yankee

If you had asked me 4 weeks ago: No, not worth it. Last October: Totally! Spring 2016: Nope, never again.

Currently, he is nearly the horse I bred him to be. I’d like him to be a smidge taller (but he’s half pony) and maybe just a smidge less opinionated (again, half pony).

My point is be prepared for the emotional roller coaster. While mine has had a long, slow start by no fault of his own, I am glad I have stuck with him. I would say I didn’t really have a good feel for how much I enjoyed riding him until we were solid walk/trot/canter. It was a major fear that I would not like riding the horse I had bred.

My advice if you do it: concentrate on making them a solid citizen, undersaddle and on the ground. This will encourage a better resale value and a softer landing if you choose to sell.

I agree!! It is an emotional roller coaster. But I really have to say, in order make it a success, you have to stay really calm through it and you really really have to believe in the horse.

I think the moment where you can have doubts is BEFORE you buy the horse. Afterwards its too late… Then you have to believe in your horse and just try to overcome any obstacles…

I had so many times last year, where I thought everything was over (when she had the fungus) and I even thought this year at one point she might have a long-lasting problem with it, although my vet told me she would not… But it turned out, it was a simple abcess, and since then she was amazing…
So if you start with a youngster, the most important thing is to have faith in the youngster and the next thing is to be organized and either work with an amazing professional or have enough knowledge to do everything yourself… (and my advice would also be, if there are problems, believe more in your youngster then in your professional…)

[RTF]

I am finding the joy in groundwork again. All of the little boring sessions that make a good horse better. I will say I am super excited about both of my current two year olds, and hope both of them become success stories. Thank you to everyone for sharing, good and bad.