Any thoughts on these potential new horses?

[*hic*]

I've had the ride on my daughter's lovely big ShireX mare whilst she was at Uni last year. Now she's looking to take the mare up to Uni with her and I'd rather like to have something similar for myself. I thought about another heavier type of horse as I'm no lightweight at 13 stone. *blushes*

What I want to do is some general hacking about, plus some low level competing, mainly dressage, but if I could do some unaff ODE's as well that would be a bonus. Pretty much what I'd intended to do on the big mare really.

After a couple of "issues" with horses which are now field ornaments at home I'd prefer a mare, so I'd like something nice enough that should we have a disaster I could breed a worthwhile foal. I don't mind travelling to find the right horse - our current horses have taken us from Devon to nearly Scotland to find.

So these seemed possibly to fit the bill:

Love the horse, BUT it's a gelding and a bit more than I wanted to spend, also looks like he might be a bit strong for me?

I DO like a grey, she seems sweet and a good weight for me I think?


What does anyone think?

 

[illy89]

I like the grey, first one looks nice but there is a lot of horse there and i think he could be strong!!

Also if you are wanting something to possibly breed from the grey mare has already had some foals!

 

[Tinseltoes]

Both lovely.I think theyre nice looking horses. I like the grey too,thats the one I would go for myself.

 

[martlin]

The grey
Surely you don't need a 17 hands and some more gelding, do you?

 

[bj_cardiff]

Like them both, for me - I'd buy the chetsnut, for you - I'd buy the mare, if the chestnut has been a masters horse he'll be very bold and will be used to hunting for hours without tiring, he's expensive (although priced right), he's far bigger than you need and he's a gelding, he looks vey strong too..

If the pic of the mare is recent and she's in work at the moment then she's a very good price for what she is, shes graded too which is a massive bonus if you ever decided to breed. She looks more of a ladies horse too. I'd make sure she was fully vetted tho, I'm always slightly suspicious of why mares 'are' broodmares..

 

[xspiralx]

I am pretty sure that the grey is one of HenryHorn's horses so what you see is what you get. She looks lovely and a very reasonable price

 

[Chellebean]

I'd say the grey for you but I am loving the chestnut too! God I'm useless lol

 

[Cruiseonamiro]

Chesnut looks like a nice stamp of horse.. but I do agree think he might be rather a lot of horse. The mare at 12 seems a lot more established, it says she loves jumping and I think that that's a very good price could always go and see both though.

 

[Puppy]

The grey is indeed one of HenryHorn's, so definitely an honest advert and well worth a trip to try her out. She's bred some absolutely lovely foals too

 

[Magicmillbrook]

Well the first one is very sexy, but you would need to buy a ladder, how would you afford it if hes at he is over your budget. If I were you I would go and look at no 2, she seems to fit he bill and you have had a redomendation from a HHO'er, thats got to be worth something !

Let us know how you get on

 

[el_Snowflakes]

I would tend to agree with the other posts, the chesntut is lovely but i think at 17+ hands and with that build he would be enough to over-horse most riders. My 16hh mare did not feel strong when i bought her but with the upheaval of moving yards she was quite stressy & I could barely contol her from the ground as she was so strong! so bare that in mind also.... The grey looks sweet & worth a look- sensibly priced too

 

[Arkmiido]

Just wanted to say, I love the grey - looks like a real poppet. I'm a sucker for grey mares too

 

[Raych]

THe mare is adorable, and looks well priced x

 

[*hic*]

I've just been looking at the pictures again and I think I might have to put the chestnut on the back burner. I'm not too worried about the height, the ShireX is a BIG 16.3 (not much wither and also bum high) but she's a really sweet ride and I feel it's rather a long way to fall (I haven't tested that out yet though!). Closer inspection shows that he's in a cheltenham gag and although I don't have a problem with that it's used with the one rein, not two so I suspect it's mostly needed, and his rider looks as though they would be fitter and stronger than me (and younger too). He does look like a LOT of horse - wonder if Mike007 would be interested, I think he likes 'em big!

I've PMed Sue and asked her to some more photo's of the grey mare up on this thread for me if she can - I hope that's ok because I'm not sure they can go by PM?

 

[Sunny08]

I'll be looking for a suimilar type of horse next year and when trying to illustrate to my husband what I would be after I showed him the grey. I think it looks like a really, really lovely horse. If it was 6 months from now I would be looking to snap her up!
The chestnut is nice too and I am of the opinion any horse can be strong if it decides to be, however there is a lot of horse there!

 

[JanetGeorge]

They're both nice horses but I'd be worried that the chestnut, at 12 and with3 seasons as huntsman's horse, would have had a lot of 'wear & tear' - huntsman and whipper-ins horses work 3 times harder on a normal day's hunting than a field horse.

If the mare is a genuine stud reduction (and it seems highly likely she is) then you've gota nice riding horse with the opportunity to breed in the future WITHOUT (hopefully) the 'old maiden' problems.

 

[henryhorn]

Hello, the grey is mine and purely for sale as I am reducing numbers. She was by our old ID x TB stallion bred by a local farming family, then was sold as a fun horse to North Devon. Her brother was so successful (he's done BE/dressage/WH/National Novice WH Champion at the World of Colour) all with ease and carried the master of the East Kent for several seasons) so I reckoned she would be a good breeding prospect and sourced her via many phone calls and emails to buy as a brood mare. She's priced reasonably as she hasn't done a huge amount, hacked, pops a fence happily, and would with more schooling do much the same as her brother I reckon.
Her youngsters are fabulous, one has already won several local youngstock Championships and her four year old daughter is currently being prepared for sale. (she will make 16 1 or 2 HH). I wish I could keep her but the haylage this year has produced much less than usual so I have had to advertise 12 horses to ensure I can easily feed the remainder. There was no reason we didn't put her in foal other than we felt she would enjoy life being ridden for a while.
I would say in terms of wear and tear she is more like a 7 year old, as she has bred for most of her life. I think this year you may see many ex brood mares coming up for sale, as I ended up paying £28 a bale for haylage, and yesterday heard a farmer boasting that "Daft horse people" had bought over 100 bales at £50 a bale.....

 

[*hic*]

Wow, henryhorn, thank you for that info. She does look absolutely lovely - and you've got lots of others agreeing to that on here Hearing about her brother is most interesting and of course why she's a brood mare and not out having the same career as him

To my embarrassment my daughter is now wavering again about taking the big mare to Uni - I think maybe it was over-enthusiasm after grooming for a friend BE yesterday - so anyone who wants to nip down and grab this lovely girl before I know what is happening, please feel free. She really looks ready to go out and see a bit more of life now she's had her "baby days".