Before anyone gets excited…

Its for a friend…

I promise.

Don’t get me wrong, I would not say no to another horse, not that I would ever sell Eva but, you know, I think she would love a sibling…

Well … maybe not

(But in all seriousness I do plan on getting a second horse in 2020 for various reasons, and of course it would be a second horse because I would never sell Eva as she is my first horse)

Anyway I have been speaking a lot to my friend recently about buying horses as she was on the look out and now has just successfully bought her first horse! I am so excited for her and her future with this horse!

So I thought I would write about the important points that you should really be considering when you are looking to buy a horse.

• Know you budget!
  • Obviously the initial cost of buying the horse
  • Plus all the up keep as well; the livery, tack, rugs, feed, insurance. Work it all out so you know exactly what you can realistically afford.
• Where are you keeping the horse and does the yard you are looking at, or currently at, have space?
• What are you wanting to do with this horse ?
  • Hacking – You are maybe looking at a confident horse who maybe isn’t highly schooled in fancy dressage moves or jumping high but is quite happy going for a wonder by themselves.
  • Schooling – If you only have a school to hand you perhaps want to look for a project, something that needs time to mature and develop.(This was very much Eva when I bought her.)
  • Competition – This is were you are looking for a horse that has possibly already been out a few times and has coped well with the experience. You are either looking for a been there done that or a baby who has taken to work well and ready to be produced.
  • This is also probably the deciding factor in what breed of horse you would probably go for as well. Something hot blooded would probably not suit a hacking home, but you never know, every horse is different at the end of the day.
• What age are you looking for ?
  • This is a massive factor in the experience of the horse. I hate saying this – I really do – but this is also were you might end up with “other peoples problems”, by that I mean if the person was perhaps tight through their shoulders and by doing that created tightness in the horses shoulders, you will then have to spend time undoing that. I am speaking from experience here, Eva learnt “if I throw a tantrum I get out of work” therefore I have spent a lot of time teaching her that if something is difficult throwing her toys out the pram is not the option to go for.
  • However in saying the above, if you are perhaps an inexperienced rider and don’t know how to bring on a younger horse, buying a horse who is a little older and knows their job and has been well looked after and will look after the rider while doing there job might be exactly for you!
• Height of the horse ?
  • Lets face it I am about 5 ft 10″ and while I am not particularly over weight, I am also not skinny either I have a reasonable amount of muscle therefore what with my height and weight taken into account anything under 16hh would not suit me for seriously riding.

Now its time to get shopping !

Next question, where are you going to look?

• Social media
  • Facebook is becoming far more common to find and buy horses. There are probably several groups focusing in buying and selling your area.
• Dealers Yards
  • The idea of them is great. You tell them what you are looking You go and ride a few horses. There are ups and downs of these yards, not something that I will go into in this post
• Word of mouth.
  • If it is your friend or instructor word of mouth is generally a reliable source.

Now, going for the viewing …

• Bring someone with you!
  • It can be very hard to keep level headed when there is a horse that you are considering buying in front of you.
• Arrive on time
  • It will be frustrating for the owner if they are waiting around for you to arrive.
• Have questions ready
  • It will be frustrating for you if you are driving away and think of a question to ask afterwards.

One last thing..

Remember to bring your helmet!