So, where SHOULD you buy horses from?

[JessyLou32]

So those of you who have good amazing safe sane horses, where did you find them?!

I'm also questioning whether to buy at all, or just continue to share and loan.

well my own horse did not start out that way .... got her with issues via rescue and worked to make her the safe, sane horse she now is lol.

daughters horse ( well ex as daughter grew up and moved on) .... wells she was in the livery we were at at the time and her owner had lost interest so let other people ride .. may daughter was keen and after 6 months loan we bought Bonnie.

I personally have had horses on share / loan ......... good way to really get to know the horse before buying........ but not everyone with a good , sane horse will put it on loan .

There is no sure way to get the horse of ones dreams especially if its the "safe, sane" variety that you can leave in a field for 3 months ( as has been needed by loads people this yukky weather) then get on and have a calm hack . Some dealers are fine and dandy, some less than honest ............ some private sellers are great and tell the truth, some just have different definitions /standards than the possible purchaser ?

Me....... these days I would go by word of mouth and freinds reccomendatiosn if I were to ever want another horse.

I would say get one through recommendation if you can. If not go to someone who has had the horse for a while and is willing for you to go back as many times as you like to view or even have on a short trial period. Unfortunately it's quite rare to get a trial period, but some people still will do it x

Bought one from the Pony Club website (fantastic first pony), one from a private seller, after a 6 week 'courtship' between DH and his horse, one (mine) from a friend and one from a dealer (who was recommended by a happy customer), after one visit because she was a rough diamond, but you could see the quality and she was so cheap she would have sold immediately. They've all worked out really well.

I got my mare from here - Julia is about as honest a dealer as you can get, she values her reputation and doesn't want any horses returned to her. There are a few reputable dealers in the same area (Prestwood Farm if you have loads of money and Clip Clop traders are recommended on Horse and Hound). Sometimes it is worth going further a field to go to a decent dealer. Whilst I was viewing my mare, someone had travelled from Jersey to purchase from Julia.

Buying a horse is a leap of faith and as the saying goes "you win or lose the day you buy a horse" - you can only take relevant precautions, take a knowledgeable person with you, get a vetting from your own vet, get the owner/dealer to put the horse through its paces first (Julia insists her staff ride the horse for you first).

I had a good experience with a dealer but I did trawl H&H archives to see who had reasonable reputations. I also wanted some comeback in case things didn't work out (there is no comeback with a private sale as far as I am aware) but obviously reading about Safecobs that is it always the case. I suppose the measure of a good dealer is how they deal with things when they go wrong.

I prefer to buy privately as however honest a dealer, they usually haven't had the horse that long and can't know all it's quirks.
Top tips are to google phone number ( often dealers masquerade as private sellers) and ask to see photos of the horse doing the stuff it's supposed to do, anyone who loves their horse will have buckets of pictures.
When we bought sons previous mounted games pony, the dad actually had a complete fully catalogued video collection of every competition his daughter had done,that was a bit too much info !!
And honestly never trust anyone, however nice they seem, any alarm bells ring, just walk away

Aldi got some in yesterday......

I have come across one dealer that I just love. (Dales sports horses)

They do what they say on the tin but mainly competition horses.

I bought my mare from the farrier down the road. Always find word of mouth the best way to go.
No horse is perfect, they're living things & have off days just like everyone & everything.

My vet actually recommended Julia at Southgate.

The best horses I have ever had I are word of mouth and markets, don't think I would be brave enough for that now because of my age.
Has anyone had dealings www.irishcobs.co.uk/ because I have seen a lot of horse off there website and then on dealers yard/web pages.

ive bookmarked southgate - thank you.

Buying a horse is a leap of faith !
Also you never know until you get the horse home, how you keep it might not suit the horse. I used to be on a yard with a nice woman who admired my cobs, so she bought herself a cob, then kept it in 24/7 fed it rocket fuel and wondered why it turned into a turbo charged tank !

Word of mouth. Or from someone I know....or know of.

Saying that mine have always been barely broken in youngsters. Certainly not safe and sane initially.....

My friend's dd got her 14.1hh 8 year old heavy cobby pony from the RSPCA. My friend and her dd were heavily vetted and then had to have the horse for a year before the RSPCA would let them have the horse's passport following a final check.
Friend's dd (age 14) put a lot of work into the pony (Chloe) and it is a just the nicest pony

We bought most horses either directly from the breeder or privately. The horses we bought privately were generally competition horses and ponies, so we had already met them and their riders at various shows.

Once we got a pony (privately, competition pony) who turned out to rear and then let himself fall backwards - clearly very dangerous, but we did manage to sort that out. He was a brilliant dressage pony though.

All others were fine. However, everybody in my family rides, so we never needed a really calm bombproof horse.

TBH I think the key is to FIRST become a very confident and competent rider and only THEN buy a horse. So rather than buying a hugely overpriced horse I would spend that money on extra lessons/private lessons.

i agree dikker and thats exactly what im doing - i researched schools and tried loads before finding a proper old school instructor who is teaching me to ride - she knows that i would like my own at some stage and will help me find one, but for now i know i have no where near the amount of experience needed to responsibly own.

The RSPCA shouldn't be keeping the passport surely? My friend has a young cob from a rescue and they won't give the passport which is wrong as legally it has to go with the horse. If you read this it isn't even proof of ownership so there is no point in them keeping it. How can the loaner keep the vaccinations up to date when the vet has to enter details in the passport?

Word of mouth, ask locals, instructors etc

We tend to buy show types so keep an eye out for ones we like at shows and pounce on them when they come up for sale - especially if we've noticed that the jockeys have outgrown them. We also ask around to find out if the ponies have reputations - people tend to have noticed bad behaviour.

We always get them 2 part vetted including blood tests so we've not recourse afterwards.

I was lucky and bought my wonderful show cob (took me from learning to ride to hunting and HOYS) from an advert in Horse and Hound but I was probably very lucky.

If I was buying a cob now I'd certainly try Lynn Russell. The top producers have reputations they don't want to tarnish. This includes making sure that their horses are sold to suitable people. It is easy to lose your reputation and proper people will do their best to keep their good names for the long haul.

I bought a cob from Lynn Russell.................

Suspect RSPCA keep passport to prevent horse being sold during trial, there's some very unscrupulous people out there. Buying horses is one of the most difficult things to do well. If you have a lot of knowledge and can start a youngster, all to the good as no one has had a chance to ruin them. I've know brilliant horses, known in their private homes for years, change beyond recognition in a matter of months in the wrong hands.

The key is communication ... The seller needs to competely honest about what the horse needs and the buyer needs to completely honest about what they can provide, then see if the two things are the same.

I loaned my old boy out once to someone a a safe hack for her husband on the express instruction that he never be turned out alone. Safe as houses to ride alone he found lone turnout very stressful. When she asked me to collect him as he was unmanageable, unhandleable blah blah. We found stripped turnout where he had been separated from other horses. Had she told me that was her intention i woud have said no. My usually unwilling to travel boy practically dragged me up the ramp he was so happy to get away. Never loaned him again except on resident yard where i knew he would get what needs.

So, be upfront about what you need, be patient, ask penty of questions and you'll be more likely to find success. :)

Good, BTDT, bombproof horses can often be found on good riding school websites for sale.

i have been looking at mysafecobs (not to be confused with the much discussed safecobs) and she does natural horsemanship and has them for months getting to know them - i think she may be worth a look for me....ive looked on her pages and her fb page and i like her ethos - she sounds very like my RI.

Vicar the lady that runs Mysafecobs and Lia used to be business partners. But I have never heard anything bad about Mysafecobs.