My 8-year old daughter has shown a real interest and ability on my new mare. However, I don’t plan on sharing and have started shopping for a true World/Congress level small-fry horse, aka a unicorn.
No one wants to part with theirs. The horses are usually spoken for before their rider ages out. They don’t vet, all require maintenance, and have been worked into the ground. It’s literally like finding a needle in a haystack.
But, having her on a good, safe, reliable, and proven mount is the most important thing. I’m afraid what it’ll cost me. Wish me luck!
I follow the Facebook sales groups because, hey, eye candy.
I cannot believe how many times the ISO’s are asking for saintly, packers, no spook, no stop, no tricks, confidence builder, kick ride, unicorn, BTDT, SAFE SAFE SAFE.
When you get old, while you still can ride wild stunts, you may not enjoy those any more, experience having shown you what all may happen if things don’t go right.
You don’t have any more to prove yourself to anyone.
No need to put up with quirky or hard to get along with horses.
You can enjoy a nice, uncomplicated, safe horse to just ride.
Then there are also the less accomplished riders, that can’t take chances of getting injured on their hobby and missing work or life responsibilities, like a family to care for.
Not that many want to train and bring along the less easy to ride horses or improve their skills with the greener or more complicated ones, with the inherent risks that brings.
Many of today’s buyers are that now older rider and the less effective/skilled ones market.
Riding is a leisure activity for most people. I understand and support the notion of wanting the 3-4 hours per week that most amateurs spend in the tack to be positive ones.
Oh boy, this is me. I’ve spent the majority of my life riding green, young and recalcitrant horses. Currently I’m putting miles on a couple of green show horses for someone else. So I want my own, personal horses to be slow-gaited, non-reactionary and simply pleasant to ride.
Look at the demographics of the US. We’re old. Like those horses we’re looking for, we’ve BTDT. Most of us old riders have the bad hip, or the bad back, or the bad shoulder, or all of the above from decades of caring for, riding, and falling off of horses. And we don’t bounce anymore when we come off, we break.
Lots of us have developed one health issue or another over the years. In my case, it’s Meniere’s Disease, which affects my balance.
Also at my age, I don’t have lofty show goals anymore. I don’t take lessons much. I just want to get on my horse, ride, and have fun, both inside and out of the arena.
If I wrote an ISO ad, you better believe that it would say something like:
It’s got nothing to do with riding ability, or lack thereof.
Part 2
Look at our society today. Where do people live? In cities and suburbs. In suburbs that were constructed on top of all those farms and riding schools and hunt clubs where people used to learn to ride. Many people can’t learn to ride as kids anymore because there isn’t anyplace within reasonable distance to learn. In most places, you certainly can’t keep a pony at the neighbor’s farm and ride all over the countryside in a pony gang like I did as a kid.
Look at the average kid’s schedule today. The day of the barn rat is long gone. If a kid is fortunate enough to 1. be able to afford to take lessons and 2. have access to a place to learn to ride, they typically go for lessons once a week. Only a very few are fortunate enough to be able to spend hours and days in the company of horses. So, yeah, when one of those kids persists and finally ends up in a position to own a horse, they’re looking for, and should be looking for:
I see both sides. I get bemoaning the fact that a certain amount of grit is not necessarily par for the course these days. I don’t have it anymore and wish I did, but it is not feasible. I used to gallop ponies bareback in fields and fell off some horse nearly every week. Now, I feel like a big baby a lot of days when I have to ride a fresh horse at home in the winter. So I have sticky stirrups, a safety vest, a deeper saddle and sometimes resort to draw reins. My hands get cold from raynauds and it drives me nuts. I am a chronic shoulder dislocator so I can’t easily put the tack on my horse without a stool. I can’t land on my head anymore because I have children and a career (but who can??). I get nervous when I don’t get to practice on calm mounts to get my eye going before a show. Wah Wah wah!
It is true that most hunters are carefully prepared and the rider becomes more of a pilot and steer-er. I feel like a golfer at most horse shows. At the same time, though, it is not easy to nail a hunter course at any height even on a prepared horse, and that is what the expectation is to be the winner and it is ok to want to be the winner. Also totally ok to have other goals!
There are no bonus points for riding a hard one, or for bringing one along yourself. If someone enjoys the process or enjoys working through quirks or is willing to deal with that to get a lower purchase price, great, but these days it is so expensive to keep and ride a horse that I can understand wanting something to pack you around and keep it fun. Also if you are working full time, you may not have time for that or may not be able to take the risk that comes with that. And even if you can ride through all of that, you may not want to. And that’s fine, it should be a matter of personal preference.
I also know plenty of middle-aged and older adults who have no aspirations of going above 2’6" and just want to enjoy their horses, and 100% need that packer. And that’s fine. But you better bring your checkbook if you are shopping for one of those, they are in demand and expensive, whether for lease or purchase!
I echo what people are saying re: older riders, but I will say that US culture coddles kids too much. I DO think we are way too ribbon-oriented and a certain grit is rarer in today’s younger riders for myriad reasons. Some of it is money, some of it is contemporary helicopter parenting, some of it is social media which telegraphs shame instantly when someone does something “risky” or “wrong”.
But older adults know what they are and are not willing to deal with. We don’t bounce the same way and we’ve put our time in on the rank broncs!
Today’s riding centers would think twice before sending a 14 year old, on a colt, the only guide for a dozen beginners, on a two hour trail ride in the hills.
That may be true at big A or AA shows. I don’t know. That’s not where I’m showing and it’s not where the vast majority of those who compete are showing.
But, come down to my world, the local unrated show series, and it is abundantly clear that this is absolutely not true.
In my tiny hyper local shows, it is almost entirely ancient packers creaking their way around tiny jumps with kids strapped on. There is one local series I refuse to even attend because the barn that hosts is so incredibly unfair to its packers.
It was only me bombing around on a green rocket, trying to get her some experience
At the ones I go to, the ancient packers are mostly in the beginner ring. In the hunter ring, even at the lowest levels, most of the horses seem to require at least some degree of actual riding, as evidenced by how often things go awry.
The wild rockets bombing around tend to be found mostly in the pony ring.
My mom can ride and she’s [a little too] fearless. But I think she’s too young to die. So for her I would want a good egg packer type she could have fun on, even if she kinda thinks she wants a baby thoroughbred.
I’ll get the baby. I’m at less risk of breaking a hip if I get bucked off. Nobody tell her I said that.
Today’s riding centers would think twice before sending a 14 year old, on a colt, the only guide for a dozen beginners, on a two hour trail ride in the hills.
Or putting a 14 y.o. who comes to try horses on a freshly off-the-track TB and then having the pair go through gymnastic grids up to 3’6” and then commented to said child’s mother that the horse is doing great for its third ride off the track and first time jumping ever. #cannonfodder
Or, piling 8-10 kids in the bed of a pickup truck before driving about 15 miles down PCH to pick up a new horse. #wedontneednostinkingseatbelts
I don’t care if other people want a dead calm packer/don’t want to put in the time to learn how to ride something less trained/whatever because…well, I don’t really care what other people want from their own horses. I’m 51, do the jumpers, have scoliosis, absolutely don’t bounce anymore, and I will probably end up with an unbroken 3 year old my next go-round because I want something with a fantastic jump but trained + jump = out of my budget.
So, everyone is different. I happen to love working with babies. Where my eyes start rolling is the lack of a budget these people have for this saintly animal AND their unwillingness to buy anything without a “perfect” PPE, whatever that means. Like it or not, unless you are willing to deal with some major maintenance and/or a much older horse, you are going to pay a lot of cash money for it. And, in this market, even the maintenance and older guys are selling high.
Even for very accomplished adults (which I’m not!), when there’s limited time to ride, having a very mentally fragile or green horse can be draining. Even horses that can’t deal with snow on the indoor roof/wind/sun. Yes, most can be coaxed through this, but not all ammies have the time after work to really put in a consistent program, and it’s hard when managing issues becomes the focus of the ride, versus relaxing and enjoying. Sometimes just finding a patch of space to ride in a crowded winter indoor is hard, forget anything ambitious! Also, I think there’s a difference between an absurd ad for a unicorn versus just a nice ol’ square of a horse who is pretty mellow.
I do think something has been lost from previous generations that grew up the saddle, TBH, or even who just grew up more active than the current one (I come from generation VCR, so I’m part of the problem). I don’t mind a difficult or stubborn horse, but one who is very anxious or fretful with a nice hard spook isn’t the horse for me, and I think part of it too is just knowing yourself and what you can or can’t cope with.
Also, not to be morbid, but in the US…healthcare costs have gone way up. I don’t have the savings to blow on an ambulance ride or major rehab. My insurance isn’t that good!
