deal breaker? Honestly if I just plain do not like the animal there is nothing that will make me agreeable. It could be its color, its gender, it habits, its position within a herd.
The deal breaker can be just about anything as it costs nearly the same to keep a bad horse as a good horse and there are just a lot of good horses out there to even think about having one you don’t like for any reason.
Like other posters, it’s more than one thing. I wouldn’t take a cribber, nasty bucker, bolter, biter, rearer, or more generally a horse with a crappy attitude on the ground or under saddle. Too many nice horses are out there, and it’s just too expensive, to tolerate persistent, daily rudeness and unsafeness.
ETA: Just saw yet another pic of a horse with its tongue sticking out. Sorry, that’s a deal killer also…
Dealbreakers for me are cribbing and aggressive behavior towards people. I have dealt with horses that offer to kick out of fear, or mares that haven’t yet learned to love having their udders cleaned, and that’s okay, but I’ve got no time for a horse that wants to hurt me on purpose just because he can. It’s not a vice, but add bad feet to the “dealbreaker” list for me, too.
I would not buy or even ride a horse that reared full height or bolted as both are potentially lethal. Horse needs full health check and possibly humane euthanasia as I believe serious internal issues can give rise to both.
I would not like to buy a horse that didn’t catch or load as both are so frustrating! However my mare used to be a difficult loader, just had to work through it, so if all else was perfect and no other animals were box ticking… I guess I might… for the right price.
After owning a horse that can be hard to catch, I never will do it again. I have lost way too many hours chasing him.
I should have known better when it took 45 minutes to catch him for his vet check :sadsmile:
I have a cribber who was sold to me without quite full disclosure. So I have him and I deal with it, luckily hes 90% controlled with a collar, he only does it after eating (rarely outside) and I have my own place.
That being said, I would 110% take a cribber over another weaver. My older horse is a weaver and again, I got him not knowing. He will trash his stall when weaving and gets in such a trance he will knock you over if you walk in and try to stop him. He has blooded his face from weaving and knocking his head on the stall walls at the KHP . Its controlled when he is outside, but it makes it really hard at shows and events. He will even do it under you when you are sitting on him.
Rearing, bucking and bolting are a no go; everything else I would consider provided the horse was perfect otherwise. I’ve owned a cribber/wind sucker, no big deal except to his front teeth. No other horse ever picked up the habit as a result. He didn’t chew wood any more than other horses tend to.
No experience with a weaver, but that sounds brutal!
Of the vices I’ve had first hand experience - cribbing and/or windsucking I just can’t do. 
Aww. You all are breaking my heart. :o My horse is a cribber, but she is wonderful in every other way. Seriously, folks would take a horse with fear or training or dominance problems over a sweet, kind, eager to please, loves to go out, gets along with others, cribber?
Some cribbers may colic. So might every other equine on the planet. It’s not just a cribbing thing. That’s like saying, “I’m not going to get a TB because they can go lame.” 
The mare I have now is my first weaver. When I got her, she did it when she was anxious - if she was in a stall, left in the paddock by herself, etc. It was her “zone” when she was stressed out. And she would weave frantically, panic-like.
I have found that with management changes that decrease her stress, her weaving has 99.9% completely disappeared - 24/7 turnout with a run-in option versus being kept in a stall, routine, and quiet handling so she now trusts me.
Interestingly enough, if she is on UlcerGard - she does not weave - even while in a stall. I’m saving up right now to run her through a REAL ulcer treatment course as I’m certain that her weaving is a symptom, not necessarily an unrelated vice.
[QUOTE=SharonA;8895413]
“I’m not going to get a TB because they can go lame.” :)[/QUOTE]
We have a lame TB who was injured as a foal in a pasture incident… left front knee damaged… even with only three good legs she is the fastest thing I have ever been around… her brain is wired to run forward fast, very fast … otherwise just the goofiest horse I have ever been around
I won’t buy a horse with OCD behaviors like cribbing, weaving, stall/fence walking.
One reason, repetitive motion wear and tear, on teeth, on knees and hooves, have seen it all.
Another reason, it bothers me, makes me anxious.
Now, we know how to make it better, even go away at times, some horses quit mostly, other than a stress times, with the right management.
The trouble, there are some times where horses have to live with some stress and that brings it back in full force and keeps reinforcing the behavior, making it harder to work around the more that happens.
Once the horse has been here without expressing those OCD behaviors and starts one, that is a different situation than buying one with those behaviors already there.
A horse we already have that was not doing those behaviors before and starts, then we look for a reason, try to ameliorate it and do the best we can to live with it.
We had a horse for years that never cribbed, now retired for four years because of ringbone from an old pasture injury, that started cribbing, from pain, we think, even on two grams of bute a day.
That is not the same as buying a horse that cribs as an OCD ingrained behavior.
[QUOTE=SharonA;8895413]
Aww. You all are breaking my heart. :o My horse is a cribber, but she is wonderful in every other way. Seriously, folks would take a horse with fear or training or dominance problems over a sweet, kind, eager to please, gets along with other horses cribber?
Some cribbers may colic. So might every other equine on the planet. It’s not just a cribbing thing. That’s like saying, “I’m not going to get a TB because they can go lame.” :)[/QUOTE]
My wonderful horse is a cribber too. The actual cribbing doesn’t bother me that much but the things he does to his collar do.
I won’t have a horse with a bad temperament. Biting, kicking, charging, striking are all no goes for me. Basically anything that increases my chances of getting hurt. Also bucking, rearing, bolting are unacceptable. Bad loaders are not something I worry about, That’/ a training issue and can be fixed.
I have 2 of the loveliest geldings you would ever want to meet. They are sensible, smart, and kind, both under saddle and on the ground. That’s why they are here. At the age of 58 I’m trying to stack the odds in my favor so that I can continue to enjoy horses and riding for many more years.
i always said that about Cribbers, but i bought a guy about 11 yrs ago and he has been an amazing horse, so that is not a dealbreaker for me. Bucking/rearing, those are. I’m not young anymore, and i don’t recover from those kind of accidents.
I’ve seen 3 horses owned by others that I would not buy:
One actually looked like his eyes were turning red when he got angry. That horse was vicious to humans and would try to bite them hard.
One was a boarder’s horse which deliberately flipped. The horse severely injured a teen at our barn who was put on the horse because the owner was afraid to get on.
One was owned by one BO and probably still is. She would charge and knock down the teenage boy and adult women who worked at the barn. Then she’d stomp them. She never bothered me when I helped out for some reason. BO thought she was pretty and nice under saddle. Yes, but she could kill you on the ground.
Everything else is relative to how good the horse is besides rearing (not flipping), cribbing, bucking, etc.
cribbing and rearing
The only thing that bothers me in a horse is dishonesty or a lack of self-preservation. Everything else, from cribbing to bolting, I can deal with. I’ve known rearers that had self-preservation and would happily work with them, but I drew (and draw still) the line for the horses that rear and do not care if they fall in the process. That lack of self-preservation to me means that either there is something wrong mentally with the horse (unfixable), the horse has no honesty (unfixable) or there is something extremely wrong physically causing great pain.
Cribbing really does not bother me, though it bothers me when owners won’t pursue things to help the cribbing. A roundbale, UG/GG, Assuregard/Ulsershield, and full turnout go a long way with every cribber I’ve met.
my deal breakers are cribbing and bucking…I’m not talking about the “whee I feel good” buck from time to time but the I want you off type I won’t tolerate in my barn.
Bolting. When you start hating to ride your horse because a pencil could fall a county away and your horse would bolt, it’s depressing and frustrating.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
