You’re a good Dad. 
The horse looks perfect for your daughter. If you buy her, just be aware that you may not get a penny of the purchase price back and that you will have some considerable horse related expenses.
Only you know if you have the budget to do this without straining your finances.
Good luck to you and your daughter. 
This was my first thought too. Buy the horse. She is worth her weight in gold.
Totally nailed me. Gosh you’re good! You should monetize your skillz.
I’ll skip telling you I love the horse and think you should buy it. In re the heart murmur- have a cardiologist look at it. My show horse vetted with a heart murmur. We got the opinion of cardiologists and vets who told us to buy the horse. This was when he was 8 years old. He’s almost 20 and has had a long successful career as a 3’-3’6 horse. still healthy and happy. The vets actually struggle to hear the murmur anymore. I believe my horse was diagnosed with mitral valve regurgitation specifically. .
It is definitely something that scares people off. The horse was supposed to be sold for $150k, but when they found the heart murmur the buyers backed out. Lucky for me. Best decision we’ve ever made.
This!
Horse ownership is much more than competing, it’s also about doing fun things with your horse, learning about empathy, and all facets of horse care. I would hope that she feels strongly connected to the horse; if not then keep looking. Also on average by the time a horse is 13-14 years old most of the nuttiness is gone. The last thing you want happening to a child is she becomes afraid by riding a young inexperienced horse.
PS thank you for getting her a horse of her own!
I had a student in a similar situation look at a similar horse. The situation was further complicated by the fact the student had a busy schedule with a lot of extracurriculars. The sweet, cheerful, wonderful, well schooled horse we found for her after looking at quite a few was older and had some maintenence issues, fully disclosed and the price reflected that. This is what I told the parents: “You are spending this money not for a horse or for an asset that has resale value, you’re spending it as insurance that your daughter will be safe and have fun for the next couple of show seasons. When your daughter goes to college, you’ll either have to retire the horse, donate him or lease for a few years before you have to pay to retire him. We can keep looking and pay more, or you can buy this horse, accept his limitations and know your daughter will safe and happy.”
They bought the horse. I felt like I had done my job by telling them exactly what they were getting. The horse was perfect for the kid. They never had to pay training board, I never had to school the horse for the kid, they never needed extra lessons or prep, the kid just put her foot in the stirrup, rode off and had fun. There was never a time that I looked at them in the show ring that I didn’t think “THAT was a good decision.”
So do your due diligence, make a plan for the horse’s eventual retirement and enjoy your daughter’s journey.
Love this horse! Buy her, that’s a decent price. Remembers she is more than just livestock, she is the family pet and as long as you plan for her retirement in a humane manner, get her.
As a horse parent, get the advice of a vet and buy the horse.
Will your child be devastated if this horse goes elsewhere? Will she be crying over this horse 6 months after it is gone, even when she’s moved on to ride other horses? Speaking from experience buy the freaking horse.
What horse obsessed kid isn’t interested in horse shopping? The one who still misses their best friend. Do not under estimate the love a kid has for ‘their’ horse. And this one seems like a perfect match for her (obviously it would be different if it was a poor match) and the price is right.
If the vet felt this horse would be sound/suitable for what my child wanted to do for at least a year or two, and I could afford to keep this horse, I would buy it. I don’t think you’ll find a better do-er. I would plan that she will likely have to be retired on your dime before too long. Maybe you’ll be surprised and you’ll be able to lease her out, but I would never COUNT on it. So I would factor into the “can I afford it” the concept of paying for pasture board for 4-5 years. But assuming that’s within your reach, this horse is NICER than what I’d expect to pay for a year lease for a horse of this type.
This lovely mare is advertised on the barn/trainers website for $35,000-$50,000. Perhaps that price might be out of date but $5,000-$10,000 seems like a unbelievable bargain. You should jump on that!
After reviewing all the vet reports, we are going to keep half leasing her with her wonderful owner, and hope we get to ride and show a healthy horse through 2021!
Thanks to everyone for all the info. She sure is a great horse and the owner did a great job of breeding her and bringing her up. I’m lucky my daughter gets to progress through the ranks on her.
Is full leasing the mare an option? If you’re worried about needing the next horse in a year or two, or a lengthy retirement, this sidesteps both of those issues. Considering how many people in your network have said they’d take her off your hands in a few years, that option should be similar for the current owner. Just an idea.
The mare looks like a gem, and your kid is dang cute. 
ETA: Posted at the same time as you. Glad you’ve landed on a solid plan. I think leasing is a great way to get comfortable with some expenses, get a sense for how fast your daughter will move up, and see which direction she wants to go as she does so. Have fun!!
@moneypitt I too sort of question why a horse like that would be so cheap, even with the vet results/limitation. $35-50K seems high to me given age/limitation/type but $5-10K seems low to me even with the above. If that horse can really be had for $5K then OP would be getting a steal of a deal. Though it sounds like they decided to continue leasing (which I had originally thought was off the table but I guess not).
I think IIRC OP only said they thought they could get a horse for that, not that 5-10k was actually the price.
I see her ad now (for $35-50,000). OP if you live in the state where this horse is listed, you live in an EXPENSIVE place for horsekeeping. If you end up buying down the road, you will want to price things out well because you live in one of the most expensive parts of the US for riding.
@Equkelly
Having seen the high end barn that has listed the horse, and their asking prices for other horses, and their general program-- it’s not adding up to me unless the owner wants to cut the OP some special deal for emotional reasons. The barn listing this horse doesn’t deal in cheap horses and I cannot fathom that you or I could call and offer $5-10K and get this horse. Maybe the owner really likes this kid or something… but it’s still a little head scratchy given the barn/trainer and how I imagine commissions/sales board work there. It looks like a place where board is something bordering on close to $5K/month. Not the kind of program that fire sales quality 2’6 horses.
I know but I’m saying maybe OP misunderstood how much the seller was actually asking for the horse.
Yeah but the OP asked about buying but won’t pursue a full lease? Then again maybe your right. Lease fee.
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