Anyone bought from Cattybrook Horses in Bristol?

Susie97

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Hello Karina
Just wondered whether you did buy from Cattybrook in the end, as we're thinking of doing so.... and if so, whether everything has worked out?
The gelding we're looking at seems just lovely, but always good to get a bit of background info.....
Thanks
 

mushting

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Hello Karina
Just wondered whether you did buy from Cattybrook in the end, as we're thinking of doing so.... and if so, whether everything has worked out?
The gelding we're looking at seems just lovely, but always good to get a bit of background info.....
Thanks
Hi! Yes we did, we got one but unfortunately he wasn't suitable so he had to go back and we got a lovely mare called bella who's perfect. Helen is lovely and we've not had any problems with them which horse are you looking at? X
 

Susie97

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Hello and thanks for such a swift reply :)
We're looking at Prince - do you know him?

Good to hear that they were prepared to take back the original unsuitable horse; did Bella come from Helen too?
They have been sooooo kind so far, but just trying to do a little bit of background work
xx
 

mushting

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H yes she did kind of, she was at a school on so we got her without meeting her first but turns out she's been spot on! Our first horse was finlay who was lovely but just a bit forward for us :-( prince looks like a handsome chap I think you pay more through cattybrook but it was important for us to be able to lease/loan the horse first good luck X
 

Susie97

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Thanks again - and so glad that everything worked out for you. We had a sneaky look at Bella's video - she looks really lovely and as though she would be such a good friend ..... We have also managed to find a friend of a friend who knows Prince and has good things to say about him, so fingers crossed xx
 

Susie97

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How exciting! Flora looks so special and kind - good luck. Shame that our paths didn't cross; we'll be there on Friday morning xx
 

Susie97

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Oh no - what a shame.
We're just visiting tomorrow but have already arranged a vetting for Monday - fingers crossed.....
We'll maybe see you tomorrow :) Good luck anyway x
 

surreygirl17

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I just had a nose..........WOW they are expensive! Selling a "sat on" 14.2 welsh D for £3000!!! I know the welsh D market and he would be £1000 privately. I'm sure they are very good but you are certainly paying for that.
 

Clare85

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I just had a nose..........WOW they are expensive! Selling a "sat on" 14.2 welsh D for £3000!!! I know the welsh D market and he would be £1000 privately. I'm sure they are very good but you are certainly paying for that.

Yes they are very expensive. We enquired about one of theirs last year, she was only 14.2hh and seemed to be pretty green with her schooling, although safe and sensible (and with a good jump). Unfortunately they wanted £4,500 (with no wiggle room) for her so we didn't even go to see her. I was gobsmacked when they told me the price - I thought they would be asking for around the £2k mark. A real shame as Helen seemed really lovely and the type of horse they have would be great for what we want.
 

Alsu Koçak

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May I ask how you contacted Cattybrook Horses? I tried calling them and e-mailed them yesterday about an inquiry and didn't receive an answer to either. The phone always goes to voicemail.

I'm interested in Minstrel, if anyone has seen him yet?
All these comments have been very helpful about what to expect! :3
 

mushting

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Hia if you look up cattybrook horses on facebook try there or helen watson she is lovely ive not been there for along time. We original had a horse called finlay on lwvtb he was suitable so swapped him for bella who weve had for 1 year now and has been perfect. Helen is lovely and after problems with finlay she was good about x
 

Alsu Koçak

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Hia if you look up cattybrook horses on facebook try there or helen watson she is lovely ive not been there for along time. We original had a horse called finlay on lwvtb he was suitable so swapped him for bella who weve had for 1 year now and has been perfect. Helen is lovely and after problems with finlay she was good about x

Thank you very much! I will look her up on Facebook and hopefully buy a horse if everything works out well!
How did the swap work? (out of curiosity =P )
 

Tibbsy01

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Oh no - what a shame.
We're just visiting tomorrow but have already arranged a vetting for Monday - fingers crossed.....
We'll maybe see you tomorrow :) Good luck anyway x

Hi Susie97 I was just wondering how the vetting went with Prince back in Feb? Did you buy him? I'am asking as I have just bought a horse from Cattybrook Horses and it has all gone horribly wrong! He is called Prince Arnold and I'm thinking maybe it could be same horse? X
 

Susie97

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Hello and so sorry to hear about your experience.
How long have you had him, and what exactly has happened?

We did indeed buy Prince - the name is just coincidence as our boy is a coloured middle weight.
All is well with him, and he's going really nicely now, but it hasn't been 100% straightforward.

He failed the first vetting due to mud fever, but we decided to keep the faith and had him vetted again once that had cleared up. It was a 5 stage vetting, and we were there. During the ridden part, he behaved completely out of character - because of the problem with the first vetting, we had met and ridden him several times by this stage - spooking and spinning quite badly. As a consequence, I refused to buy him without a month's trial at home. I was a bit surprised that this was agreed - as you'll know, it's quite unusual to be able to negotiate this - but everything went perfectly, and at the end of the month, we bought him. He has been great since, with the exception of a few difficult weeks after we moved to Scotland in the early summer - which was hardly surprising as he was on the lorry for 3 days, and was then strip grazed at the new temporary yard, whereas he'd previously been in a herd. However everything was quickly sorted out once we moved to our current yard.

He is NOT a plod - he can be cheeky and quite strong and is v enthusiastic about his jumping and therefore sometimes a bit difficult to slow down, but he is as honest as the day is long and would never put in a dirty stop or do anything intended to unseat you. There again, he wasn't sold to us as a plod....

Helen is really lovely and was extremely helpful both after the initial problem with the vetting and then when we had the difficult patch in Scotland. I think that the horses are probably a bit overpriced, but we have no regrets.... we love our boy, and he's ideal for us (mother daughter share, with my daughter doing a bit more with him than I do).

So in summary, I can only speak from our own experience, which was very positive.

As I say, I am really sorry that things haven't worked out with Prince Arnold and would be interested to hear what happened..

I hope that this is some help.
All the best
Susie
 
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