I went to view a horse today, can I have some advice please

[NagNagN4g]

So, I went to view my first ever horse today (ridden nearly 30 years, had numerous loan horses just never my own).

Perfect in every way... height, colour, breed, price and location. He was a perfect gentleman on the ground, as his own said he was.

Got on and did some walking and trotting in a paddock, he’s forward going and a little bit strong (as he was advertised to be). But did lots of transitions and he listened nicely.

Thought I was ready to canter so went down to the bottom of the field to come back up again and disaster struck! I asked for canter, he put his head down, reared up slightly, went down again and as he went down I went over and fell off! His owner said he has never ever done that before, she was mortified and her immediate reaction made me believe it was completely out of the blue (I had a very knowledgeable friend with me as well).

She got straight on him, cantered around no problems. I got back on and trotted around then did a few steps of canter so I didn’t lose my nerve.

He hasn’t been in consistent work for months, this was the first time he’d been ridden properly in weeks.

So wise MNetters, what would you do? Suck it up as a ‘shit happens’ and get on with it and buy him (I fell for him the second I saw his ad), or leave it and find something else?

I feel like we could have a really good partnership, but in the back of my head I know he’s done that and wonder if he’d do it again. I do believe his owner when they said he’s never done it before. They’ve owned him 3 years.

Just had a really quick browse through a fb selling page and there are at least 2 that fit your bill. For less than 2k.

You can always find a few worth viewing and have a weekend up north looking. Scotland is definitely where you need to be for highlands tho, and possibly cumbria.

Don't rule out a rescue horse - it's worth keeping an eye on charity pages. Redwings, WHW, Bransby, the RS, HorseWorld although they always used to have some geographical restrictions on where they'd rehome. Blue Cross do horses too. You're be got the advantage that a proper, reputable charity won't bullshit you - it's in their best interests to have the horse out of the door permanently, and since they always take them back if there's a problem they've got a good incentive to be totally honest!

Thank you all again.

I haven’t heard of Jack Thomas Watson, I’ll check him out. I follow Jessica Proctor as well on Cobland.

My mate just said we can have a weekend up north at some point to try and find something around there.

I’ll be honest though, my nerves feel a bit shattered. I just went on a nice little hack with the boy I’ve been riding for nearly 2 years, and when I got on him the relief of being ‘home’ was immense. I love him so much! But I was still tense. The thought of getting on a new horse to try makes me feel a bit unsettled, I think I need to get some confidence back before I try and new ones.

Like I said, I’m going to be much more open minded though, if something fits the bill, then I’m not going to be fussy about breed or colour.

Those transport costs don’t seem bad, I was thinking much more.

Posted too soon.

What page is that on Frouby?

I never thought of rescues, I’ll keep an eye out there as well.

Thank you all. Some great advice.

The things with cobs (and to a lesser extent other non warmblood types) is that the market is saturated with lots of cheap ones so many people will tell you you they wouldn't consider paying more than £500 or so. But at that price you are inherently taking a gamble as the horses history and health is going to be an unknown and it has probably (at best) had inconsistent training and handling. In the right hands and with a fair dose of luck you can get a fairly useful animal for pennies. But there's also a fair chance it will be an absolute dud - and the trouble is that some people (me for one and I suspect you too), on finding they've got a dud will destroy their bank balance on vets, instructors etc and possibly ruin their own confidence too trying to do the best thing for the horse.

Absolutely - I know a fair few people who boast about never having paid more than a grand for a horse, and always turned them around. But the vast majority of those horses haven't lasted more than a year before they've been shot, sold on or retired as lame or unsuitable. Paying more won't guarantee you what you want, but it's more likely to get you what you need.

I'd recommend a highland too - but you really will be adding a bit to your budget for that, unless you're lucky and it's very much not show quality. They're terrific little horses. But, a good cob can also be great fun. It's just finding one amongst all the dodgy examples. You'll know when you find it - you should feel like you never want to get off, let alone give it back to the seller!

Oh, on the highland front, I've seen a couple lately for around 2k on the "Highland Pony Group" on facebook. Not show quality, over-height or unregistered brings the price down, but won't affect your uses.

Honestly - I think you need to be thinking £3-5k , you may get something for less than £2k - but I would expect it to come with something that needs work.

You can get cheap cobs - but they generally haven't been produced, a walk canter transition is not something your standard horse can do.......

I am not saying this is you - but my trainer sells the odd horse (and yes he gets frustrated with a lot of buyers ). I will share a story with you - he had a lovely cob , became abit of a yard favourite. Really lovely nature - super safe, can pop a jump. A women came and views her two days in a row. On the last day she sees my son lead my dressage horse out of the barn and jump on - and she turns to my trainer and say - that's what I want, a horse like that. Thing is he is 4-5 times her budget and when I bought him a year ago, he was 3 times her budget, and has had a years producing go into him.
I also doubt that she would be able to ride him..... I think he would toss her off.
My trainer politely told her he is not for sale...... she then said that when he got a cob in at half the price of the one she had tried, give her a call.
Needless to say the lovely cob sold a couple of days later to someone who saw her worth.

I just typed 'horses for sale'into the fb search button and clicked the first one that came up. Other than the Highland Ponies For Sale page I don't follow any of the others as they give me the rage.

Out of all the 'for sale' pages and forums I think Horsequest is about the most reputable looking one. And as I mentioned upthread try and find your local riding club pages, the sort you are looking for should pop up on those.

Or save for another couple of years and buy a highland. They come with a decent price tag for show standard but a good un will do you right and hold it's value of you decided to sell for whatever reason. I paid close to your budget for a 2 year old filly, so they are a bit spendy. But if you add up livery costs just over 1 year, you are probably talking 3k anyway.

If I am going to feed, keep, care for and ride a horse I don't want to look at it twice a day and think 'awww you're lovely but you would be better in bay or with a nicer eye or without sweetitch or I wish you could jump or were good enough to show'.

I am shite at selling so if something is going to be with me 20 years plus I want to like it. The purchase price is actually a miniscule amount of the cost of ownership. And while I wouldn't want to overpay for something, I would (and have) saved up for a few years to get my dream pony rather than a decent pony.

I know a fair few people who boast about never having paid more than a grand for a horse This with bells on! These are the the people putting me down every time I say I see something for £2k. Does my head in!

I feel like I’m fairly realistic with what I can get with my money, and like I said I’m happy to pay more, it’s just these people (see above paragraph) that tell me it’s not worth it etc. But I think it is!

I think I follow Horse Quest, I’ll have to check.

I’m in no rush, one day my partner of a life time will find me .

I really can’t thank you all enough for all your advice and taking the time to reply.

I spent £1300 on an unbacked 4yo so I’m also doing something wrong

Everything backed and ridden away that I’ve seen for a few hundred I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole!

Having bought and sold (because I got it wrong the first time) a lot over the years - my experience has been you get what you pay for.
My first trainer I stopped going too as her attitude was you don't have to pay much for a horse..... however everyone I bought with her had issues I couldn't or didn't want to deal with (extreme spookiness), not 100% sound (flew through the 5 stage vetting , you could only see it on canter on one rein in corners, and then honestly I though I was imagining it - it had navicular disease). Young girls she has helped with choosing a horse for - horse is extremely opinionated and nappy , and will tear to get its own way .
All these things very experienced riders will happily deal with - but I have kids, And a husband who is away a lot. I really can't afford to be injured so I need to know that I have managed the risk involved with riding as much as I can.

Anyway- good luck with your search. Someone up thread says write a list - I think that's really good advice - and have a think about what you will and won't deal with. Also find a very experienced and empathetic person to go with you for a second opinion. Someone who knows your capabilities and risk profile.

I spent £1300 on an unbacked 4yo so I’m also doing something wrong

I spent nearly 3k on an unbacked (actually badly backed and given up) 3y/old. A decade on, the horse has competed nationally in several disciplines and is a talented, reliable all rounder.

I spent nearly 2k on a yearling. Largely the same story. 4k on a cob (25 years ago), he was a very good buy. I spent just over a grand on a backed and well started 4 year old, and a couple of years down the line, she's the horse of a lifetime.

There have been others too, but my point is, a good horse isn't what it's advertised for, or even what you pay for it. Some of those were over-priced. Some were underpriced. They were all tremendous horses. Don't let people sway you - if you think the horse looks good, go and see it. And if you like it, you can afford it, and you think it's worth the money... Go for it!

Just a thought for you ……. The Blue Cross and other rescue people have some super rescue souls who are looking for an understanding owner. Could that work for you, It must be worth a try! If you do go this way successfully, would you let us know, please? It may encourage others. Good Luck.

Glad to see you've decided against the first horse. If you were willing to stretch your budget a bit and weren't completely set on getting a cob I'd suggest speaking to Nikki at Marsh Ponies. They always seem to have some lovely Irish types in who would be perfect RC all-rounders.

This is somewhat off topic now but as a number of people are suggesting rescues, I'll add my two pennies worth. My two mares are effectively rescues, one came from a rescue centre and one was effectively a rescue as I took her off an acquaintance's hands for pennies when she couldn't keep her. Whilst it's a brilliant thing to do to rescue a horse and there are indeed rescue centres up and down the land trying to give away healthy, nice-tempered horses (mainly cobs and TBs!) who have the potential to be really lovely, useful riding horses, I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone who simply wants a no-stress safe, enjoyable riding experience (and by that I mean absolutely no offence to OP or anyone else who falls into that category).

Don't get me wrong, I love my two to pieces and they are 'successes' in that they are now both fun all-round rides, but it has taken literally years and a lot of hard work, self-doubt, plenty of experienced help and, to be honest, expense to get them to that point, and even now they aren't novice rides or 'easy' at all. I could never sell them on as their future would be too uncertain, so you really need to be prepared to make a true lifelong commitment to a rescue horse. It would have been a hundred times easier and almost certainly cheaper in the long run for me to have spent a few thousand pounds upfront and go out and buy something ready made, and if/when I ever get another that is probably what I will be doing.

Frankly the horse I described up-thread who is the nice, safe, sound all-round horse with plenty of experience with a novice or nervous rider, will almost never be found in a rescue centre, as s/he would be worth quite a bit of money and so an owner unable to keep him or her for whatever reason will have been able to sell on to a good home and have no need to put into rescue in the first place... hope no-one recommending rescues takes this amiss as (as I say) it is a really good thing to do if you have the time and commitment to it but really not something you should enter into lightly!

"but it has taken literally years and a lot of hard work, self-doubt, plenty of experienced help and, to be honest, expense"
"it is a really good thing to do if you have the time and commitment to it but really not something you should enter into lightly!"
Couldn't agree more, mines not a rescue as such and no one has been cruel to him but you have to change his mindset and understanding of life from what he's experienced in the past to what is happening now and that takes lots of time effort and patience and there are lots of ups and downs. Definitely not for everyone.

You poor thing, what an awful thing to happen. I think it was definitely the right decision to walk away. I absolutely hate horse shopping, after a while it becomes soul destroying.

Have you thought about putting up a wanted ad in local tack/agricultural stores and also online? I put an ad up on local Facebook horse selling sites and was lucky enough to find my new horse that way. Good luck with it all and keep us posted.

The key thing is to see loads of horses and don't go to see any particular one with a set opinion. It's no point falling in love with them from their advert which of course will have been presented in the best possible light.

The more horses you see the better your instincts will become and you'll get an idea of what the current market value is. You may also change the sort of type/breed/height you want.

I do agree with posters who say you generally only get what you pay for. We have friends who only buy cheap/free ex racehorses and that's fine but they take time, effort and knowledge to retrain and they have often have leg problems when asked to do cross country etc.

When you go to see a horse imagine how much it would make at auction. If something is so cheap why hasn't it been snapped up already?

I did have a look at the rescues, but non are suitable, a lot of them are youngsters.

I have thought about putting up a wanted ad, but I’m going to wait a bit first and see what’s around. I’m in no rush. If it gets the new year and one hasn’t come up then I’ll put an ad up.

I did mesage Jessica Proctor at Cobland about one she has the moment, I’ve sent two messages and she hasn’t replied Why do people do that? Pisses me off. She read the first one I sent on Sunday but hasn’t even bothered to read the second. I get she’s busy, but it’s her business. If she didn’t think I was suitable for him, all she should do is reply back and say exactly that. Not just ignore my messages. Rant over .

Thank you all again for your replies.

I've always called if I'm interested in a horse. When I was selling I found the ones that messaged were often the ones that either asked a lot of questions and then disappeared, arranged to view and didn't turn up or expected to ride 4 or 5 times with no intention to buy. I have no issue with coming back to view once maybe twice more, but if after that you're still unsure the horse probably isn't the one for you.

Maybe I’ll call them, I just thought Facebook messaging was the way forward with these businesses running pages from it. Everything seems to be done over messaging theses days!

Have a look at ad 195773 on Horsequest. 15.1 7 year old. Sounds like he has some joint issues but my vet reckons most horses in work do to some level and it usually doesn't affect them.

Oh wow, he looks lovely.

If he has arthritic change to his coffin joint does that mean he actually has arthritis, or that it’s imminent? How would it be managed? Feed supplements?

Changes just mean changes. It can be bad or it can never cause an issue

Sorry posted halfway through!

Good shoing, work on good footing and decent nutrition will all help. You'd need your vet (or a lameness/joint expert) to look at the films and see exactly what was going on.

But it wouldn't put me off in a young horse who is sound and in work (like he sounds to be)