Searching for the impossible given my budget. The desire is a horse fancy enough to fit in zone 5 for EQ and jumpers. Daughter would like to be able to compete 3’6 in the next 2 and 1/2 years before she turns 18. I realize I can’t get well trained, fancy, tall, warmblood type horse that would be perfect for my very low 5 figure budget. So what should be the first things to compromise? My thought is horse height and then fanciness. Opinions?
3 Words: Small Chestnut Mare
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My first thought is to compromise on breed, and what ring you need to be competitive in. It is very highly unlikely you will find a warmblood type that “fits in” and is competitive in the big eq ring for low five figures, even if it’s 15.3, unless you get some sort of very unusual circumstance. However low five figures can definitely get you a nice Thoroughbred that can jump 3’6. It may need some more flatwork or have a quirk or two, but with a low five figure budget I would do that, and go have fun and be competitive in the jumpers.
During my last junior year, I was lucky enough to have a very nice warmblood that was competive in the eq and could also cross over into the jumpers. My budget was minuscule and this horse was far, far beyond anything I should’ve been able to afford. But, the owner knew me, had seen me ride, and really liked the idea of the horse staying with their trainer (we all rode with the same person). The owner was extremely generous and I was able to have the horse during my last junior year. So it’s possible… just very unlikely and would require a special circumstance like that.
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Lease. If I could go back and do the last few years of my junior career over again, I would lease a horse instead of buying one. I didn’t have a big budget and spent most of the remaining 2 years I had trying to get my green junior hunter to work with my time schedule. Hindsight showed me that it didn’t have to be such a struggle.
Plus, even though you don’t get (potential) money back on a resale, a year lease limits your liability on your most important variable - time - so if the horse gets a major injury, your daughter won’t spend her last summer as a junior staring at a hurt horse in a stall (speaking from experience). I showed in Zone 5 as a junior and a few years as an amateur, and I can tell you that a low-5 figure lease could get you a good horse for Ledges and Lamplight-type shows.
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Lease instead of buy?
Another vote for leasing. Particularly for a kid who is already partway through high school, it moots a lot of risk on your part (in part because one of the easiest ways to reduce cost is to buy something young and green or older and in need of a lot of maintenance, both of which can cause resale problems later if the green horse doesn’t end up great for the job and the old horse is, well, still old). Leasing a going 3’6 eq horse isn’t cheap, per se, but it will leave you with an animal you know can do the job and no burden to sell it on the back end. Because most leases are for six months or a year, you’re also able to get her the horse she needs now now, and move up to “more horse” as she does, which may be a way to eat the frog in pieces, so to speak.
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if she is off to college then I agree invest on the lease side to optimize the experience.
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Yep. Lease.
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Ehhhh… kid’s got 2.5 years, a low 5 figure budget is not going to cover 2 years of leasing a 3’-3’6" horse.
I will add “Over Age 10” to the list. There are ones that fell through the cracks and got a late start, or never really got developed to their full potential because the rider never measured up, that can do the 3’6" well into their teens. I would not even discount a 16-18 y.o. former Jr/AO Jumper or the like… some of those are real goldmines in terms of ability, but age makes them very tough to market.
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The piece of info that is missing from the original scenario is what would be the hope for the horse at the end of daughter’s junior career. Keep forever? Or really need/strongly prefer to sell on?
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I’ve been in your shoes. I agree with those who suggest leasing for the following reasons:
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It’s unwise to invest in a horse when your daughter is 2.5 years away from college. I did it, but didn’t have the money to send both horse and daughter off to school, so stuck paying board on a horse while it was up for sale (a long time).
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Kids are fickle in their interests. As sophomores they can be equine-obsessed; a year later something else captures their interest and time.
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As others have said, on a small budget the only way to go show and have fun is to ride a horse that already knows its job, especially if you don’t have years to bring a greenie along. That suggests an older guy, maybe with maintenance needs.
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You might even luck into a care lease on an older horse, especially in the fall when owners are looking at the expense of horse care throughout the winter months.
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Thanks for all of the opinions. I have considered leasing but taking my budget and dividing by 3 show seasons doesn’t give me a lot of money to work with. Daughter has been riding consistently since she was 6 so i don’t think she is going to up and quit because of disinterest, although teens do strange things. That said she understands that keeping a horse when you are in college isn’t really very doable so that factors into things too. Probably should have introduced her to running when she was little instead 
way more economically manageable for a middle class family.
I agree that leasing a 3’6" horse for three season will be way out of a low five figure budget. I would say try to find a jumper who is on the downslope of their career, or a smaller horse, or older that needs maintenance. If the latter, may have to be prepared to retire the horse or sell for much less than you pay now. Our horse is a competitive 3’6" hunter and eq horse but is quirky to ride and requires maintenance which is the only way we could afford him. We also live knowing every show could be his last which isn’t fun but at least she’s learning and having fun.
Do you guys have any amatuers in the barn that might consider doing a share board? Maybe an amatuer that has a nice horse, but due to work or other commitments can’t always be out at the barn. Might be a win win for your daughter and the other person? Also ask your daughter what she would rather do most? Eq or jumpers? Because you can get a child/adult jumper for your price range all day long. Having a horse thats able to do both is not going to happen. Sit down and have a serious talk with your daughter about this is what we have to spend on the horse. Would you rather have a horse that can get you ribbons in the jumpers, have fun, and be able to show your last juniors years or a chance at big eq thing that might have to be cut short because we can’t afford to lease or buy a nice enough horse?
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Forget fancy. Look for a safe, competent, good-minded jumper with a relatively conventional style and plan to put flatwork on it. And look outside the hunter ring to find it- a horse that is eventing prelim has the scope and the flatwork, and your time will be spent in teaching the horse a different way of going, not teaching the horse how to go at all.
Does she need tall or are you equating tall with the picture of an equitation horse? If she doesn’t need it, forget it. If she is leggy, don’t rule out a horse with less altitude who has a big body.
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I think your daughter is very lucky to have a mom like you.
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This would be a great option if you could find it!! My jumper whose also a lovely packing eq horse I half leased out to a deserving kid in my barn - it helped me bc as a working amateur I couldn’t ride 6 days a week and I don’t show but a few times a year.
Her lease also covered my half of board which was nice! And for her the lease fee plus half expenses was really about what it would cost to just pick up the bills on one. I know this probably isn’t easy to find but it does exist!
Another option is people are sometimes much more flexible with lease prices if the horse stays at their barn - we have a few of these at our barn too! Lovely 3’6 horses with low or free yearly leases just bc they want it to stay in the same trainers care.
If this doesnt come up id say look for an older horse, a jumper needing to move down would be your best bet. Possibly something that doesn’t pass the vet but is manageable?
This is what I did with the added bonus of Not A Preferred Breed. Horse did well enough to make me competitive in both the hunter and eq rings in Zone 1, year end ribbons and a decent trip around Medal finals.
She had some…quirks. She needed a double stall on the van, you couldn’t crosstie her and she hated your average indoor ring. But she wasn’t particularly marish and she would happily leave the ground from anywhere. You have to figure out what you can and can’t live with.
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Daughter wants to do eq. and jumpers? Not hunters? the first thing to compromise then is “fancy”. The 2nd thing I would do is expand search outside the hunter/jumper world - check out some event horses - there’s plenty of nice event horses out there more than capable of successfully doing eq and jumpers. I would focus on talent and what would be a good partner for your daughter… don’t get blinded by fancy. I did that once and learned my lesson. Totally inappropriate horse for me but I couldn’t get past the fancy. Look for the horse to be a partner, not a breed or a look. The right horse will take your daughter successfully around the ring.
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Has your budget considered that if you were to buy, you would have to pay monthly fees ( board, presumably), vet, farrier, etc? If you add that expense to what your purchase budget it, does that change the picture on what you can spend to lease and show?
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