Advice needed ! Should I get an unbroken 3 year old ?

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Tiggy72

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Hi, I've been riding for almost 30 years (ouch I'm getting old) and had my own horse for the last 12. I sadly lost him just before Christmas.

I am now considering getting my next equine friend and have been to visit a couple. The one I saw at the weekend would be the perfect height, great mix (cob x Hanovarian) and seemed a really nice sort.....the problem is he's only just 3 and whilst handled has yet to be backed. I always used to toy with the idea of bringing on a youngster so it's not completely out of the question and not just that he was good looking and I want him!

Now I'm happily confident doing ground work and am in no imeadiate rush to back and ride so taking time to build up a friendship first is fine and preferable. I am also lucky to have friends in the world of dressage and eventing who are used to backing and bringing on youngsters so have all the support I could possibly ask for.

My only concern is, what if the horse when eventually backed and educated turns out a bit too sharp for me to handle (have only been used to hacking my semi retired boy for last year) and I have to sell him on ? I wont know unless I try but worry that I'm not being fair to the horse if things don't work out.

Has anyone else been in this position and can offer any advice / success / bad luck stories etc ?

Urgent responses needed as I think he'll be sold pretty quickly as he's so lovely - HELP!
 
I have just bought an unbacked 3 year old - am 33 and have no desire to back horses anymore so I have a friend who has an interest in her as she is doing all of the backing and handling work. If the mare turns out to be too sharp for me then she will have to be sold, unfortunately I do not have horses as pets, but if that happens then at least she has been given the best of starts.
 
Be prepared / plan to send him to 'boarding school' , perhaps with one of you experienced friends for starting, esp if you work, as the time needed every day , with competent helper may be difficult. And a cob X Hannovarian might not repay your 'freindship' without professional traning in ridden work at start with

Be prepared to sell him if he has too much scope at age 5 for your requirements, or if he is really good, become an 'owner' wiht someone competing him for you,
 
I bought Bear nearly 2 years ago as a 3 yr old, he's a Cob x, I broke him in in 4 weeks in the September, hacked him out quietly all winter and done our 1st m+m ridden class last year and came 1st! We did really well all season, Im a real wimp when it comes to jumping, but we did a couple of XCs together and made it round! This winter I hunted him twice and he was brilliant
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We are going to do showing/XC and maybe try a ODE this year and definitely hunt through winter!
I dont regret buying him as an unbroken 3 yr old at all, If I had bought him broken in he would have cost me about £1500 more and I wouldn't of had the pleasure and satisfaction of what we as a team have achieved together
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God that sounds so soppy!
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I brought my cob as a 2 year old!! He was unbroken and in a complete state!!

I had very little confidence at the time after havin lots of nasty little ponies!! However with the help of dad we broke him in, he has given me all my confidence back and is the best horse I have ever had!! We have the best bond.

And is so rewarding to see how he has grown in to such an amazing horse!!
 
Likewise I think I'm realistic enough to know my limits when I face them so I would sell him if he was too much. But I guess at least I would have tried (with my friends help doing the scarey bits!) first so I'd know for future.

I'm still a bit nervous about saying yes (I havent yet) but my learned dressage friend is giving me a lesson tomorrow to give her opinion on my ability before I arrange a second visit.

Thanks for your response and best of luck with yours
 
Hi Sophie did you have any prior experince of breaking in horses ?

I've handled a few at the yard on the ground but have only been at the end of a rope whilst my a fearless friend has been balancing over their backs - something I find a little daunting !
 
I've currently got an unbroken 3yr old Welsh Cob I bought 10 months ago and am in the process of getting her started.

She'll be the second one I'll have broken in (fingers crossed we get there and all's well) and the first one was my other Welsh D whose now 15yrs old.

I had a lot less experience than it sounds like you have when I backed the first youngster, plus kept her in a totally unsuitable place with no help whatsoever.

I have to admit because of the above, it wasn't a fun time, but I can honestly say that at every level she gained, I felt proud that it was all my own work.

That's not to say there's more lows than highs or vice versa, but sounds like you're in the perfect position to give this a go, and if you buy something else now and it is rideable for 20yrs you may have lost your chance your buy a youngster and start him yourself.

if the worse comes to the worse you can sell him. Heart breaking at the time but you soon realise it was for the best if the reason for selling him is that he's too much for you. But at least you tried.

I'd go for it.

Good luck
 
I have done youngsters from first steps before, but our current youngster will be started by someone for us.
If a youngster needs more time on a certain day, they need it, and having to rush to work, after a session, or trying to get help in the evenings is not ideal and her education is too important to have to be fiited in around wokr and other commitments.
I also do not bounce or repair as quickly as I did 30 or 40 years ago!
 
U know when u a see a horse if he is going to be right for u i think go with your heart.
I think 3 is a nice age to buy as long as he has been handled up to a 3 yr old.
You can bond with him doing all the lunging and long reining and then when u get to get on his bk he will have trust in u.
One thing i will say is Long Rein Long Rein Long Rein the more long reining out on hacks and in the school the better it has done my youngster the world of good and made it so easy to bk him and bring him on.
good luck let us know what u decide but go with ya instincts
oh and u have got the benefit of him not being ruined by someone already.
 
I bought my boy as a two year old. You can get a feeling for their temperament from just being on the floor and how they cope with your handling. I didn't have any experience of backing, I left this to a professional yard, but i haven't looked back, he is wonderful and hasn't changed his temperament since the day i went to view him. somehow you build a relationship with them as well before you even sit on them. I have learnt so much along the way, hes now 5. I have a 3 year old as well, his full brother. I can tell he is going to be a bit sharper but we will wait and see.

I say go for it. Its hard work but the rewards are fantastic, just watching them grow and learn new things.
good luck.
 
Go for it girly - you sound like you need to go with your gut!!! I did with my one - she's not 3 though she is nine and was only properly backed last year!! Long story - late starter and all that but she is proving to be loving her work. I was worried about taking a green inexperienced horse and it does have its high and lows but I think the highs are definately outweighing the lows. Good luck
 
I think you are being very level-headed and relistic about your abilities and wether or not to sell of horse wasnt right for you, therefore if you hve the time, money and patience and you feel that the horse is 'the one' then Go For It!!!! I bought an unbacked (and pretty much untouched) 3 yr old last year and so far i haven't regreted it!
 
You sound like you are sesible so go for it. I backed my old SJ and having had a older mare(pity purchase!) inbetween I will be getting a youngster again. It is always a bit of a gamble, but you could get the perfect horse. As other have said you should get an impression of what they are like from the ground. As long as you have the time and the money go for it.
I am hopefully going to see a 3yo this weekend (car permitting), but I will be looking for the opposite - I like them sharp
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I bought Chancer at 13 months and took him home at 16 months - I have never had a youngster before though have ridden horses for years including green ones.

Chancer has been the perfect first youngster - gypsy cob - calm, laid back and to date so easy to train.

He is now rising 4 and we are doing a little canter etc in the school and he is still great.

What I did was to have an instructor come in every couple of weeks to teach me, start things with him and make sure I wasn't doing anything incorrectly. My instructor still comes in and he has started doing some ridden work with Chancer as part of his continuing education.

Sitting on Chancer and knowing I was the first to do so is a feeling I will never forget.

If your youngster is an easy going sort and you can afford to bring in professional help, then go for it. I have never regretted buying Chancer and have great hopes for his future.
 
I did pretty much the same as you Theresa_F, I had someone out once a week for an hour for 4 weeks, and he was backed and broken in! I had lessons to bring him on a bit once he chilled all winter just being hacked out, I didn't rush him. I loved doing it!
 
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