Where do you find appropriate horses?

[Invite]

[QUOTE=sdlbredfan;4558589]
I highly recommend Saddlebred Rescue, which is a 501©3 because horses are evaluated by professional trainers as to what their skill level and temperaments are. Best of all, once you have become an approved adopter, you can specify that you are looking for a certain type of horse, including physical characteristics, gaits or whatever, and if one comes along, you’d be notified if you do not notice on your own, on the forum they have, that one matching your needs has become available. Saddlebreds are very versatile, and come in a variety of sizes and body styles. They sometimes have other breeds as well.
see website www.saddlebredrescue.com[/QUOTE]

Thanks! I’ll check out that website.

[quietann]

I second the suggestions for Morgans and Saddlebreds, with a slight caveat about hotness in Some of them. My Morgan could get very hot when I first had her; she’s calmed down a lot but still has her silly moments. BUT – she does not have a mean bone in her body, and we really just needed a lot of work on trust and bonding as she is a “one person horse” and she really preferred her first person (her breeder). She is not as perfectly sound as I’d hoped for, but it’s because of her particular history and conformation. In general the breed is renowned for being sound, having fabulous hooves (they are often barefoot), and living a long time. My mare is almost 12 and I get asked regularly if she is 5 or 6.

[system]

I too recommend Saddlebred Rescue.

Many, though not all, of the “Treasures” available ended up as Amish road horses. They were generally trained as saddle horses. They tend to be willing, good thinking, intelligent and unflappable.

One of the most notable things about SBR is they have a full time trainer. The horses are worked regularly and FULLY evaluated. These horses are never brought in then put to pasture to wait for an adopter to show up. SBR takes great pains to match horse and rider. If the right horse for you isn’t there they will tell you outright.

Here is a link to the area of the discussion forum where availble horses are listed:

http://forum.saddlebredrescue.com/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2

Please contact Pat Johnson, SBR’s Executive Director, she will happily discuss matching you with the right horse. Her contact info is on the home page. Click on the tab “About Us”.

[Invite]

Thanks for all of these responses

So many of you have great ideas. A friend suggested looking for an older, former Big Eq horse, as I would be able to start right out at 3rd level with the horse and it wouldn’t be spooky. I’m looking into that also. You guys have given me lots of starting points. Thank you

[sdlbredfan]

Invite, sorry if you mentioned and I forgot, are you mostly interested in dresssage or ??? You might want to look at Gonzo, who has been in a lesson program, mostly hunt seat (see picture on page 3 of his thread which shows quite a transformation from the skinny boy he was when the rescue got him) and now is looking for a new home. Although not really big in the barrel, he seems to be a good-sized horse in general. One of my current favorites over there is Pair of Jacks, be sure to read his whole topic http://forum.saddlebredrescue.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3060 and take a look at the cute pix on http://forum.saddlebredrescue.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3060&whichpage=2 that show he has rounded out in the barrel
and he has a video http://www.saddlebredrescue.com/jmolback/Videos/Jacks.mpg
Jeanie the enabler, LOL

[Kareen]

The Hanoverians have a programme named Hannoveraner erleben (experience the Hanoverian) that should cater to the needs of riders with special requirements. If you google the programme or search on Youtube there should be a couple of videos available illustrating the programme.

[ASBnTX]

I just checked out the current listings at Saddlebred Rescue, and they have some wonderful sounding horses there now!

[SmartAlex]

And they often have horses available that are not on the website yet. I adopted my broodmare from there a couple of years ago and recommend them very highly. In fact, I warned my husband the other day that there will come a day when I do it again. I’ve been wanting a safe safe safe driving horse.

And of course, if the first one doesn’t work out for you for whatever reason, you can swap out for a better match.

[Leena]

Invite,

I broke a Canadian horse while on chemio and he was a doll to work with…16.1 hands, big barrel.

[Invite]

That sounds really cool

[QUOTE=Kareen;4559851]
The Hanoverians have a programme named Hannoveraner erleben (experience the Hanoverian) that should cater to the needs of riders with special requirements. If you google the programme or search on Youtube there should be a couple of videos available illustrating the programme.[/QUOTE]

I will have to take a look at that. Of course if it only occurs in Germany, I am a little too far away

[Invite]

[QUOTE=sdlbredfan;4559830]
Invite, sorry if you mentioned and I forgot, are you mostly interested in dresssage or ??? You might want to look at Gonzo, who has been in a lesson program, mostly hunt seat (see picture on page 3 of his thread which shows quite a transformation from the skinny boy he was when the rescue got him) and now is looking for a new home. Although not really big in the barrel, he seems to be a good-sized horse in general. One of my current favorites over there is Pair of Jacks, be sure to read his whole topic http://forum.saddlebredrescue.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3060 and take a look at the cute pix on http://forum.saddlebredrescue.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3060&whichpage=2 that show he has rounded out in the barrel
and he has a video http://www.saddlebredrescue.com/jmolback/Videos/Jacks.mpg
Jeanie the enabler, LOL[/QUOTE]

I might have forgotten to include that I am indeed a DQ…maybe I was trying to hide that dirty little secret, but yes I am one of the dressage people.

[sdlbredfan]

Beth, that is awesome. Have you ever looked at a video of Harry Callahan? If not, Google it (or other search engine of your choice) and you can get an idea of why the Saddlebred is very well suited for dressage. Better yet, here is a cool website http://www.americansaddlebreddressage.com/
What is so cool about this breed for that discipline is most are built uphill, and have a fabulous work ethic.
I really like this website too, http://www.saddlebredsarefun.com/
Jeanie
p.s. (Did you know that Chuck Grant, Arthur, and Alex Konyot were Saddlebred aficionados?) I love this breed and wish more people would discover they can do so much more than just prance on green shavings.

[TrueGrit]

Police Mounted Unit “retirees”

What about contacting your local or regional ( and for Canadians, the RCMP ) for Mounted Unit retirees?

These horses are big and bombproof and used to be given away to good homes when they were retired. I don’t know what their retirement protocol is these days, but it’s well worth looking into.

[equineartworks]

[QUOTE=TrueGrit;4560972]
What about contacting your local or regional ( and for Canadians, the RCMP ) for Mounted Unit retirees?

These horses are big and bombproof and used to be given away to good homes when they were retired. I don’t know what their retirement protocol is these days, but it’s well worth looking into.[/QUOTE]

I second this as well. Give classicsporthorses a pm, she has Black Jack a retired perchx and Doc (they lost Doc this fall ) Black Jack has been the key to building back my DD’s confidence. He is amazing!

[Invite]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I really appreciate the help. I was lucky enough to gain some confidence on a wonderful mare named Daphne. Unfortunately for me, she is pregnant and currently having time off while she awaits the birth of her early spring foal. I was able to have a few lessons after my accident and Daphne made me feel very secure.

I have so many interesting places to search for horses now! Thanks guys

[clanter]

a Morgan will fit the bill

[EightBelles134]

since you are located in New Hampshire you could try looking at UNH…i know for a fact that they have several former therapeutic riding mounts that are looking to be retired from the program…here is the link if you’d like to check it out: http://www.equine.unh.edu/about/horses.html