A true school master...

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fools_ gold

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Unfortunately I'm not in the market for one, but was just musing on the subject.... How much would a true school master cost? I know this is quite a broad topic so I'll give you an example... 16hh or there abouts, not necessarily amazing breeding or anything, but nicely put together. Lets say a show jumper, that could take you round a decent sized track.

Most horses I see advertised as a 'school master' don't actually sound like what I think of as a 'true' school master ie: A horse that you can put virtually anyone on, not spooky, never bucks etc, and will teach the rider rather than the other way round. One that knows the ropes out at comps etc.... Maybe I'm way off. What do you consider a true school master?

Also do these kind of horses ever come up for sale? Probably not!

The dogs just aren't up for a chat tonight... Some human input on the subject would be great! :)
 
Rarely but when they do, I'd expect anything from £2000-£5000+.

The £2000 one being say an older, wanting a quieter life doing riding club level activities for a few years, then hacking/lighter work.

Or £5000+ for anything 'current' aged [say 7-12] who has a clean bill of health and fit to go for many years.
 
My cousins horse was, sadly retired now tho but he was a grade A show jumper and was literally perfect. When i was about 10 i used to jump on and he would take me round a course of 1.10 with me simply sitting there and pointing him to the fence and off he goes, was so calm and graceful seriously the best horse i'd ever ridden, was lovely natured on the ground too, wouldnt hurt a fly. To buy a horse like him you'd have to have silly money
 
tbf they are like gold dust.

Been looking for a while and prices range from 2k-9k I seen an ad for a 19yo Grade A and they wanted 7k for it.

the lower budget like your 2k horse's I have found that there is something wrong with them or not as described and looking for a quite life. They can be found but excpet to pay a pretty penny for them.
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
Rarely but when they do, I'd expect anything from £2000-£5000+.

The £2000 one being say an older, wanting a quieter life doing riding club level activities for a few years, then hacking/lighter work.

Or £5000+ for anything 'current' aged [say 7-12] who has a clean bill of health and fit to go for many years.
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Yeh that's kind of what I was thinking
 
You Wont Forget Me said:
My cousins horse was, sadly retired now tho but he was a grade A show jumper and was literally perfect. When i was about 10 i used to jump on and he would take me round a course of 1.10 with me simply sitting there and pointing him to the fence and off he goes, was so calm and graceful seriously the best horse i'd ever ridden, was lovely natured on the ground too, wouldnt hurt a fly. To buy a horse like him you'd have to have silly money
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Wow sounds like an amazing horse, rare to find I'm sure.
Horses like that must be worth a fortune!
 
I was having this discussion today with someone where there is a bit of a grey area for me, a true schoolmaster isn't necessarily something you can put anyone one, that is (or should be ;) ) a riding school horse.

It should be able to teach you but only if you push the right buttons and ride it properly otherwise it isn't teaching you, this could include bucks if you don't treat it right. A dressage school master might be terrible at hacking or spooky in certain situations but should be able to teach you the job.

However the price should reflect any of the 'quirks', the more quirks the lower the price.
 
I have what I would class as a school master on full loan, I know I could put anyone on and he'd behave like a saint, infact I've had my 8yo brother on him and he didn't put a hoof wrong.

Having said that he does have to be asked properly or he won't go, he's on the lazy side. He's a dressage school master, teaching me far more than I'm teaching him, he used to compete at adavanced medium dressage.

I've had him in open fields, while my hacking buddies mounts spooked and where took off he was content to stand and wait for them to calm down.

I feel really lucky to have him on loan as to buy a horse like him would be out of my price range, even though he is an older gent! Id expect to pay at least 2k for him, possiby more, then id have his wardrobe and extras to consider. So far he's the perfect first horse :)
 
To put another spin on it....got a fabulous ex-international/Nations Cup/WEG horse once, who was well in his 20's, for under a £1000. He was utterly gorgeous. Sound through flexions which was surprising and didn't have anything awful wrong with him, he'd also still school 5ft at home, do all schooling like a dab-hand with a complete novice on them if you told where to put their aids[flying changes, pirouettes etc] and still loved competing.


But, at his age, most would be put off by it and with his earnings, he couldn't do any affiliated jumping any more with anyone, as he had far too many winnings and would have to compete at the level he was registered at! And equally...would be pot hunting to go round doing unaffiliated with him a tad!!!! But, for someone wanting a fabulous horse to have lessons on, have a well schooled horse to ride each day and who doesn't compete much.....he was everything and more for that!
 
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Batgirl said:
I was having this discussion today with someone where there is a bit of a grey area for me, a true schoolmaster isn't necessarily something you can put anyone one, that is (or should be ;) ) a riding school horse.

It should be able to teach you but only if you push the right buttons and ride it properly otherwise it isn't teaching you, this could include bucks if you don't treat it right. A dressage school master might be terrible at hacking or spooky in certain situations but should be able to teach you the job.

However the price should reflect any of the 'quirks', the more quirks the lower the price.
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This! Those schoolmasters without quirks, competing at a decent level, aged between 8 -12 will be at least £20K+. By decent level I would say BE Intermediate level (or the equivalent BD or BS level). However if they are proven at junior or young rider level the price can easily go into 6 figures :eek:! An older one (16+) will still have a good value, even though they will probably need some form of veterinary maintence. I sold one for £5K despite him being 16 and needing veterinary assistance to stay sound enough for BE100 (had competed at 2*)!
 
ChristmasSparkles said:
To put another spin on it....got a fabulous ex-international/Nations Cup/WEG horse once, who was well in his 20's, for under a £1000. He was utterly gorgeous. Sound through flexions which was surprising and didn't have anything awful wrong with him, he'd also still school 5ft at home, do all schooling like a dab-hand with a complete novice on them if you told where to put their aids[flying changes, pirouettes etc] and still loved competing.


But, at his age, most would be put off by it and with his earnings, he couldn't do any affiliated jumping any more with anyone, as he had far too many winnings and would have to compete at the level he was registered at! And equally...would be pot hunting to go round doing unaffiliated with him a tad!!!! But, for someone wanting a fabulous horse to have lessons on, have a well schooled horse to ride each day and who doesn't compete much.....he was everything and more for that!
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Wow, he sounds amazing... I want one! I love my baby horses to bits, but some days I wish I could just get on a horse that knows what it's doing :)
 
Batgirl said:
I was having this discussion today with someone where there is a bit of a grey area for me, a true schoolmaster isn't necessarily something you can put anyone one, that is (or should be ;) ) a riding school horse.

It should be able to teach you but only if you push the right buttons and ride it properly otherwise it isn't teaching you, this could include bucks if you don't treat it right. A dressage school master might be terrible at hacking or spooky in certain situations but should be able to teach you the job.

However the price should reflect any of the 'quirks', the more quirks the lower the price.
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Yes, agreed.
 
Not quite what you are hypothetically looking for but! Saw a 19yr old school mistress 12.2 games pony for FIVE GRAND yesterday :eek: going to have to get cracking on my wee welshie as I could never afford that for my daughter:D
 
It depends on your definition of schoolmaster - I don't think a schoolmaster means a horse that will carry a novice in any discipline. To me a schoolmaster is a horse who has attained a certain standard in a discipline consistently. It is a horse that with someone who asks correctly will jump a set of jumps or do a say medium dressage test or complete an xc course, not a horse you can plonk any rider on and expect grand prix moves without understanding how to ask etc..
 
FfionWinnie said:
Not quite what you are hypothetically looking for but! Saw a 19yr old school mistress 12.2 games pony for FIVE GRAND yesterday :eek: going to have to get cracking on my wee welshie as I could never afford that for my daughter:D
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Ha ha ha I would look amazing on a 12.2hh, think my feet would touch the floor :)
When I was younger, used to want one of those super push button ponies all the other kids had. But never had the budget, always ended up with a youngster to bring on instead. Did teach me to actually ride though :)
Was laughing with my Mum the other day about my first day at pony club camp (loooong time ago). When my little welshie Willow, b*ggered off at full pelt, up the drive of the big manor house they were holding the camp at, me holding on for dear life. Whilst all the other kids sat on their perfectly behaved ponies... Was funny looking back, but I was mortified at the time.
 
I've been pondering this today, but my definition if a school master is definately not a horse I'd expect to put my granny/5yo niece on, i'd expect to look for a 'bombproof saint' for that kibd of thing.

To me a school master is something like an ex Grade A, who a rider of reasonable competance can learn on to orogress up levels. Say someone thats competing Newcomers BS would get said ex Grade A to learn to jump 120/130 before riding a less experience horse round same tracks.
This is, ideally, the horse I'm after (if miracles happened) but I'd be expecting to pay at least 15k.
 
YasandCrystal said:
It depends on your definition of schoolmaster - I don't think a schoolmaster means a horse that will carry a novice in any discipline. To me a schoolmaster is a horse who has attained a certain standard in a discipline consistently. It is a horse that with someone who asks correctly will jump a set of jumps or do a say medium dressage test or complete an xc course, not a horse you can plonk any rider on and expect grand prix moves without understanding how to ask etc..
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Yeh this is what I meant, although I didn't really word it right. By virtually anyone, I didn't mean my gran. But someone with reasonable riding skills.
 
Agree with those who say a schoolmaster is one who will do the job asked of it, if it is asked correctly. Not a horse who will the do the job with a passenger on board.
 
Fools gold I was exactly the same except they were hairy highland types lol.

I need some tips on how I can school this pony to be a superstar games pony, from the ground :o
 
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