I have a big 8 yo warmblood cross that I would like to have finished. He would be better suited as an eq horse as he is a little too tense to look soft in the hunters. Big step and very handy. At the point where he can canter balanced and off his forehand with the right rider. Looking for a professional who can “finish” him and make him junior rider ready. I think this one could be the real deal if I find the right program for him. Recommendations?
Location?
Budget for boarding and training? Is it started over fences? Many really well known trainers are on the road too much to take anything that needs alot of at home schooling time. Ideally he’d be confirmed at 3’6" if you want to create an Eq specialist out of it without winning the lottery.
Mid Atlantic. would consider anywhere in the northeast.
would spend 1K a month. He schools 3’, has shown 3’3’ but needs more miles and confidence, hence a good program.
Cedar Brook Farm may have what you are looking for
Cedar Brook Farm in Madison Ct has a bunch of junior eq riders at the moment and may be able to help you out. Kristi Smith is the head trainer. PM me if you would like her contact info.
$1k a month is not going to suffice for most programs in the northeast, IMHO
You would be closer to the $2,500 too$3,500.00 range in the NE and at 8 years old that would take a couple years or more before he was ready to be competitive in Big Eq and lots and lots of show miles , The cost of Making a big Eq horses can easily exceed what you can buy one for and that is why many serious riders lease one for finals , and that in itself is costly . You might be better off “free leasing him” to a young talented rider who is ambitious and rides with a solid Eq trainer … They can put some miles on it for a couple years… but he would already have to be jumping around at 3 ft with a solid change and good attitude to find a serious rider who would be interested in investing the money in board and expenses for 2 years
I made up my own the last time, although he wound up preferring the hunter ring. I was young rider age so could only do the USET for equitation (except maybe one show that had a 3’6 adult medal). He went in the jumper ring (slowly). Did the 3’6 and 4’ hunters. Did the USET, and then if lucky enough to have a show where you could qualify for some “equitation challenge” class, we did that. Later on, as a working student, I gave some less experienced horses some miles in the USET (being an adult, I paid the show bills but worked for the opportunity to be able to ride these horses in a barn’s eq string). Several of those were for sale, as the more experienced ones owned by the barn were usually leased out to students with deeper pockets. However, they were able to get around the height by that point and do the basic tests. This is needed to market the horse as a “finished” eq horse.
If your horse is not yet ready to go around at 3’6, you are likely looking at 2 years at least of sending him off to go show if you want him in that kind of program. That could cost you $1k a week on a show week…$1k a month is not going to do it. Save your pennies maybe for when he’s ready to show at 3’6-3’9. In the meantime, get him more miles in other ways. Do some low jumpers, get him into some local medals with a kid or adult, if there is an adult medal.
Or try to find someone like me in your area…I was happy to get some saddle time as a re-rider and helped out a lady with her green WB learn the basics for the eq for free. He only made it to the 3’ by the time I stopped riding him but considering he didn’t even have changes when I started, that wasn’t so bad for a little over a year. Even after I bought my own horse, I still rode that one a couple times a week for several months, and it was nice to have something a little more broke to sit on than my youngster. I think that it’s not so hard to find some cheap/free talent…I recently met another young adult who also had all the big eq experience who is now horseless and looking for a free or cheap lease or project to just have time in the saddle. To get the next step in basic education towards the eq horse goal in a pro training program is going to cost more than $1k a month in a lot of markets. Again, put that money into getting the horse noticed when he is actually ready to step into the big eq ring at 3’6+. If you are lucky and the horse is the real deal, you could offset some of the expense by having the pro lease him to some of the eq kids on a show by show or class by class basis.
[QUOTE=tigger;8813138]
I have a big 8 yo warmblood cross that I would like to have finished. He would be better suited as an eq horse as he is a little too tense to look soft in the hunters. [/QUOTE]
The quality eq horses are not tense. They have to softly canter/gallop around a challenging course (with spooky jumps) add strides, leave out strides, gallop and come back all while making it look effortless on the rider’s part. A tense horse generally doesn’t want to answer all of those questions, many of which might come within the same round.
If it is his “tenseness” that is making you think he’s not going to be a hunter, then I’m not sure that an eq career is going to suit him either.
Honestly, I’d bet you’ll come out better financially getting him solid and confident at the 3’ - 3’3" level over the next year and selling him, versus spending the $ it would take to get him eq broke and confidently showing at the 3’6". In the Mid-Atlantic, you’d be looking at considerably more than $1k per month at home, plus the cost of showing. Years ago, I sold a horse finishing up his 3’3" pre-green year for six figures, and at the end of the day, I broke even on what I had put into the horse (purchase plus three years of training and showing). The costs of training and showing are just obscene.
It’s not just finding a less expensive rider. They need access to quality coaching and, equally important, quality jumps and courses set at home to learn the exact skills needed in the ring. Then they need those pricey show miles to prove it, doing it at home really doesn’t matter when establishing a reputation that would interest potential Eq horse buyers.
Best bet for you within in your budget is miles in the Child Adult Jumpers. Those skills usually transfer to the Eq ring, they see honest, solid fences and it’s not quite as pricey (or subjective) as Hunters, can pay better if you pin well too. Try some 3’ Medals and Eq too.
Enjoy your horse for what you can do with him.
Good equitation horses are time consuming to make up. They need to be educated as well as forgiving. They need to be exposed to all kinds of jumps including water. They need their flatwork to keep progressing like a dressage horse. If you are working on a budget, you may want to find a trainer you like and ship in. If you are near a college you may be able to find a kid with eq experience that has aged out and maybe wants to bring one along. Not sure if your said budget of $1000/month was for training or included showing as well, but either way it will be hard to put legitimate miles on in that budget. Perhaps having a trainer you like evaluate would really be the right place to start so you had a better idea of what you are looking at.
[QUOTE=tigger;8813243]
would spend 1K a month. He schools 3’, has shown 3’3’ but needs more miles and confidence, hence a good program.[/QUOTE]
Lol if you want someone with the skill set to make you up an equitation horse in a “good” program with full care and training you are going to have to pay them more than $250 a week.
