Advice on buying a foal please?

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Long story short, my competition horse is 15. We do a bit of everything but he can't go on for ever. I'm thinking of buying a foal or youngster to be in the field for a few years until it needs backing. I don't have any experience of bringing on youngsters but know experienced people who could help me produce it or I could send it away. There's a stud nearby that has some nicely bred foals I'm quite taken by. I'm in my 50's and it's something I've always dreamt of doing. Would any of you recommend this getting a foal to be your next competition horse? What sort of advice would you give me?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I have had two from yearlings and I am now looking after a yearling that belongs to my sister.

I personally wouldn't buy anything younger than 12 months.
You need to be able to introduce the youngster to the other horses safely.
You need the right companions and safe fencing.
Get one that already catches, leads and picks their hooves up for trimming.
There is no guarantee that your youngster will be your ideal competition horse.

 

[ihatework]

It’s amazing!! But…

They self harm
Get growth disorders
Are vile little critters at times
Can be so easily ruined
Grow too big
Don’t grow enough
Enjoy a different job to the one you want
Generally cost more to get to a backed 4yo than just going and buying the 4yo you like.

Id strongly recommend not keeping them at home if you don’t have other babies or on a standard livery yard. In my experience over handling creates brats.

So, if you have the finances, access to suitable youngstock livery and an open mind for risk, then do it!

 

[milliepops]

Good advice above.
It's a lovely dream but a bit of a long term and unknown ending type of dream.
If you're up for that kind of rollercoaster ride, then YOLO, get good advice and support lined up and choose carefully.

I bred one as the stars aligned and it was a lifetime ambition, hands down the best thing I've ever done and also the most worrying and stressful. Being 100% responsible for every experience she has is a big weight on my shoulders, everything i've had up to now has already been messed up by someone else so I never had that pressure before

 

[Xmasha]

in addition to the spot on advice above .. check out the sire and dam lines. See what they throw, does foal have any full siblings .. are they under saddle, whats the temperament like. Why ahs dam been bred from, did she have a ridden career, did she break etc

 

[YorkshireLady]

So I did buy a foal ....but I made sure i had a place in a foal barn winter 1 with other youngsters and then had a field for turnout spring with youngsters and older horses.

so I did the handling when in the barn etc and now do a bit each week...and obviously worming feet trim, jabs etc. You defo want them into a herd environment.

 

[sbloom]

I did it in my late 30s and it was a mistake. I sold him at nearly 3, backed (which I'd have preferred not to do for obvious reasons) for a massive loss overall on what he and the livery/backing over the years had cost me. He also cost me a certain amount of confidence, and a good deal of heartbreak when a well recommended youngstock livery yard turned out to be run by an alcoholic and 3 youngsters ended up emaciated and one of them very ill.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

It’s amazing!! But…

They self harm
Get growth disorders
Are vile little critters at times
Can be so easily ruined
Grow too big
Don’t grow enough
Enjoy a different job to the one you want
Generally cost more to get to a backed 4yo than just going and buying the 4yo you like.

Id strongly recommend not keeping them at home if you don’t have other babies or on a standard livery yard. In my experience over handling creates brats.

So, if you have the finances, access to suitable youngstock livery and an open mind for risk, then do it!

This! I’ve had my rising 4yo since he was a weanling. He’s already a whole hand bigger than he was meant to be and this summer suffered an injury in the field that has left his ridden future in question, and even best case scenario he’ll likely only ever be a light hack. I’m lucky we have plenty of space at home so he can live out his days as a very handsome lawnmower if needs be, but if we’d have been on livery I’d have likely needed to make a very difficult decision.

 

[milliepops]

I think i would have been a lot less keen if we hadn't had the space and *options* to run on at home. i knew I'd want to make all the decisions even if it took years off my life with the worry of it all. But it has only worked because we could take another young horse to bump about with her though. would have been a nightmare trying to keep her on a yard environment with older horses.

Mine has lost her young friend now at rising 2, as a precious first born she possibly is a bit overhandled but it's time to hand her over to my herd of grown ups now, to put her in her place for a bit before i want to do anything with her

 

[YorkshireLady]

I would say if my current boy was older id have prob bought a 2 year old not a foal....it is a gamble and mentally i had to write off his cost to buy as he may well self harm etc. I am also prepared to sell if he does not suit me.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

But it has only worked because we could take another young horse to bump about with her though. would have been a nightmare trying to keep her on a yard environment with older horses.

I have my horses at home so space is not an issue . Interested why it would be a nightmare with older horses?

 

[milliepops]

I replied on your other thread.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

This! I’ve had my rising 4yo since he was a weanling. He’s already a whole hand bigger than he was meant to be and this summer suffered an injury in the field that has left his ridden future in question, and even best case scenario he’ll likely only ever be a light hack. I’m lucky we have plenty of space at home so he can live out his days as a very handsome lawnmower if needs be, but if we’d have been on livery I’d have likely needed to make a very difficult decision.

Sorry to hear about your boy.Hope he turns into a nice hack. I already have a TB whose been a field ornament from about 10years old. Don't think my husband would be happy with an unrideable youngster. It's a big gamble.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

It’s amazing!! But…


Generally cost more to get to a backed 4yo than just going and buying the 4yo you like.

This is what I thought and I don't have any other youngsters for them to play with at home so would have to find a foal school for them, so possibly not a great idea afterall.

 

[TheMule]

This is what I thought and I don't have any other youngsters for them to play with at home so would have to find a foal school for them, so possibly not a great idea afterall.

You really do need to keep at least 2 foals together, it is possible with only 1 but not ideal

 

[paddy555]

I've had foals and only one at a time and kept them with an older babysitter who I can guarantee will totally take care of them for the the next 3years so I don't think that is too much of a problem.

However, you are in your 50's (I am older so this is not meant to be rude) are you up to riding a recently broken 4 yo.? You may be a totally brilliant confident rider who regularly rides problem horses but riding a 4yo just broken for the first year is very different from a 15yo where you both understand everything the other is doing.
Of course the 4yo who needs a baby sitting rider then becomes a more confident 5 and 6yo who is totally positive he knows absolutely everything.

Would you be happy with that in 4 years time?

Are vile little critters at times

your foal will be delightful, totally adorable in fact. Just like a young cuddly puppy. You will wonder why everyone else doesn't get one and why they have to grow up. A month later when the arrogant little b*gger has taken over you will understand why. You will be glad to hand him over to the "babysitter"

My last foal was very sweet, didn't do any other normal miserable young horse things. Never stood up, never kicked me, the other end never tried to eat me, never did any of the usual things that young horses do.

He was certainly different, he knew instinctively how to open electric fence gate catches and in fact any other gate catch designed by man, his speciality was tearing off the ball cocks on the field troughs. A new sort of ball cock guard? give me a couple of minutes and we will soon get that problem sorted. I did start to understand OH's frustration as he was standing next to flooded water trough still overflowing as he tried to find yet another way of hiding the plumbing fittings whilst the little darling was running around him in circles with his lovely new orange ball in his mouth.

I had foals to get the breed or breeding I wanted. If you just want another young riding horse idc I would get a 3 or 4 yo that passes all the vettings and get it broken to your specs. You are a lot further forward and someone else has taken all the youngster risks which can be expensive.

 

[Caol Ila]

I would not have a foal if I had a choice (I didn't). You can muddle through keeping it at a 'normal' livery yard, depending on the yard and YO. Mare and foal have been in an adult herd since he was six weeks old, which everyone said not to do, but the yard didn't have the facilities to keep them separate for six or more months, and the YO seemed to think that the herd in question would be okay. And they were! The foal has his collection of aunties and an uncle, and they all do babysitting so my mare gets a break.

Some adult herds are fine with youngstock. But if I'd planned on having a foal, I would have looked for youngstock/broodmare livery because it has been really stressful trying to make it work at a normal yard.

 

[The Bouncing Bog Trotter]

I've done it a few times. First time was a disaster, I was not wise enough, competent enough or mature enough but still bought a foal as a teenager with winnings from my jumping pony. I kept the mare until she was about 6 and sold her on as we were not right for each other - quite simply I would not have bought her as a mature horse but she did a great job of acting as a companion for my other horse while she was growing. The second time I bought a foal I kept him until he was 13 and we had the best times together - he took me into affiliated SJ, showing and BD and we parted company when I felt that he needed a teenager to go and have a huge amount of fun with, rather than an increasingly heavy middle aged rider. Since then I have bought 2 other foals, both exceptionally talented and superb horses, but neither grew up to be a horse that I would have bought as a 4 year old, so both have new homes with people that are giving them a better life than I could.

Would I do it again? Probably as I love being part of a young horse's formative years but I would only do it on the basis that it would probably not be another long term prospect. I would not buy a competition horse but would look for a horse with a good resale possibility - around 15 hands to 15.2, able to carry a middle aged or windy rider to hack, do riding club, sponsored rides, a reasonable dressage test up to novice and maybe jump around an 80 or 90cm course.

 

[milliepops]

I had foals to get the breed or breeding I wanted. If you just want another young riding horse idc I would get a 3 or 4 yo that passes all the vettings and get it broken to your specs. You are a lot further forward and someone else has taken all the youngster risks which can be expensive.

this is a good point. I bred mine because I am sentimental about the mare's bloodlines and we knew the stallion threw nice youngstock. but it was done as an exercise in growing a hopefully-nice horse rather than with any specific aims in mind. by the time you've kept it, run it on, dealt with the routine and random emergency care that is inevitable it's probably at least the same price, and more instantly gratifying to buy something you can crack on with a bit.

 

[Caol Ila]

Maybe if I ever get brain damaged enough, I'll breed Hermosa again, intentionally. She's a good mom, throws a nice foal, and she has some interesting color genes. If you bred her to a black or a cream stallion, you'd get a striking baby.

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Really great advice from everyone, thank you. I knew you would be a font of all knowledge. Thinking i'd be better off waiting a few years and getting something 3 or 4 years old instead. Going to look at some foals tomorrow though as market research

 

[Cortez]

Just as a footnote, I used to run a biggish WB stud farm producing up to 20 foals a year. Ultimately it was cheaper to buy 2 - 3 year olds from other breeders and produce those than it was to run on the foals until saleable at 4.

 

[Patterdale]

I buy foals every year and introduce them to the established herd of yearlings upwards. That’s the worst bit.
Handling is never an issue tbh, I leave a leather headcollar on until they’re tame, but because the others are tame they just learn from them. They arrive barely handled and can be catching and leading in a couple of weeks with little effort. If you have the space and another youngster for company (with older ones) then go for it. Why not, you only live once!

However, be aware that you might not like the foal as it grows up. All of mine are lovely, well put together, well bred and good natured. But I don’t click with them all, however nice they might be. As long as you are prepared to sell if that happens. Just go into it with an open mind

 

[Xmasha]

Really great advice from everyone, thank you. I knew you would be a font of all knowledge. Thinking i'd be better off waiting a few years and getting something 3 or 4 years old instead. Going to look at some foals tomorrow though as market research

Now thats dangerous ! i expect your next post will be .. oops i bought a couple of foals Enjoy your market research

 

[Ellietotz]

I have just done it. Everything has gone pretty easily so far but I knew he was that sort of character when I first saw him. I am very cautious about what I'm doing with him, I don't want to overhandle or give him bad habits so I'm being so careful.

The bad bits are the worry of medical/physical problems, making sure you're doing the right things to produce them properly, injuries and a million other things that could go wrong.

The good parts are watching them learn and grow all the time, seeing how they fill out etc. I'm only doing very short intervals with him once or twice a week for the basics as he came to me untouched. As he was such a confident baby though, it only took 10 minutes to be able to touch him all over and pop on a headcollar. He's now leading, tying up and picking up feet. Other than this, he will be left to grow and be a baby with the odd reminder once a week. Would I do it again? Not sure yet lol!

 

[irishdraft]

I bought 2 weanlings in my late 40s with the idea of keeping 1 and selling 1 . I had them at home it was all very straightforward I didn't have any problems with them . I backed & rode away myself when they were 3/4 , one was difficult ,one was easy . Sold one at 6 he grew too big and still have the other. I loved having the journey and would love to do it again but feel at 61 I'm to old. I am very lucky I have plenty of grass at home and I was around most of the time . I'm quite confident in dealing with horses which I think you need to be with youngstock .I'm not sure I would embark on it if I didn't have the facilities at home and able to have 2 together etc but I'm sure lots of people manage in other senario s.

 

[Sleipnir]

I bought a 6mo and left him to grow and mature a bit at the breeders' so that he'd have company of other foals. During that time, he managed to injure one of his hind legs and learn from the overly kind breeder that it's okay to tear away from a handler when lead - because she was afraid to injure the foals by not letting them rip the lead out of her hands.

He is now 3.5, a bit unstable in his hind legs due to the past injury, so I'm taking things extra slow with him, and he also occassionally remembers the option to rear, strike and tear away. Not so cute now that he's 600kg and around 16.1hh.... But I'm dealing with it well and he's progressing leaps and bounds. Would it have been easier if I had bought an already well handled 3yo? Probably. But I clicked with that foal back then so well that there's no going back by now.

 

[Tarragon]

I have just bought an unbacked and largely unhandled 5 year-old. Full history known. I am 59 and thought I had one more pony in me, and I wanted to try and back him myself; having backed 3 before I really wanted to apply all the knowledge I now have and do a better job! I am thoroughly enjoying starting him as I love that part of the training and I have a physically mature pony I can start early next summer. Loving it

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

I have just bought an unbacked and largely unhandled 5 year-old. Full history known. I am 59 and thought I had one more pony in me, ...... Loving it

This is a bit how I feel..... Anyway I went to look at some foals and they were very sweet altogether in a barn but you really have no solid idea of what they are going to grow into even with the breeders experience. I actually really liked the 6 yr old they had there too. Might be a better prospect afterall but I think in reality, I might wait a few more years.