im looking at buying a yearling as my next horse. Any suggestion on what to specifically ask and look for and be prepared for?? I’ve never had a horse this young. Only 4 year olds.
What are your goals with the yearling? Are you interested in showing on the line prior to starting u/s? Do you have plans to compete later? If so, is there a specific discipline you are targeting? Are you looking to work with the yearling yourself or will you have a trainer helping you?
Different breeders will handle their youngsters to varying degrees, so that is something to be prepared for. Some breeders will have yearlings that are show ready, have been in the ring, know how to lead and be stood up, and are generally very well behaved. Others may not have had the yearlings in the ring, but have done basic handling so you can fiddle with them relatively easily. On the other end of the spectrum are breeders that don’t do anything with their horses. I visited one, where some two year olds weren’t even halter broke!
Some questions to ask would be about the stallion, the dam, and siblings (if there are any). It can be hard to judge youngster sometimes, but you can learn a lot by seeing siblings and knowing what they are doing in terms of discipline, showing, etc.
If you are going to visit yearlings, I’d ask to see if loose in a paddock or ring so you can see how it moves. I’d also ask to handle it and then see how it reacts to basic grooming and having a human work over it. Prior to a visit, you can also ask what kind of handling they have had, etc.
I have two youngsters, both purchased as weanlings. For the first one that is a coming 2 year old, I studied the stallion, the dam, visited both, also looked at video of full siblings, and then also got to see half siblings in person. That made it easier to get an idea what that particular weanling might develop into.
The other weanling I bought from the same farm who owns the sire of the first youngster. I already knew a lot about their horses, so I didn’t ask as many questions this time, mostly looked at siblings.
One thing that was very important was seeing the personality of the stallions. In both cases, the stallions were absolute sweethearts. You wouldn’t even know they were stallions unless you looked. They were so quiet and well behaved. When people came to the gate, they nickered and walked over to get a pat.
Both of the horses I bought have personalities very much like this. total in your pocket types. Judges at major shows such as DAD have even commented on this, so I figured it must mean something.
Looking for a barrel horse. Up until then just planing on doing all the desensitizing and sorts
When it comes to the babies, I always say expect the worst behavior and be ecstatic if they are good. LOL. No matter how the babies act or their parents act, you are changing their routine when you buy them and take them home. The thing you can do to help them is to treat them like a horse. i.e. groom them, bath them, take them for walks, take them into an arena, trailer them. Do all the things you would do with your older horses. Learning these things when they are young goes a long way in their mental development. But remember they key to the young horses is to have more time than they do. Patience and time are the keys to winning the “fight”. Have fun!!!
From birth until they are full grown they go through stages and behaviors just like human children. My filly is 30 months old and we are currently in the toddler/teenager stage. She is still a sweetheart as far as overall personality, but they are constantly challenging boundaries.
But very rewarding. Current youngster is the 3rd generation of my mares.
And remember - yearlings can be UGLY - don’t think that what you see in front of you is how they will look forever. Take seriously those pre-weaning photos. Look at conformation then, not the yak-like pencil-necked goober you might be seeing in front of you now.
