Asking too much?

A

ApolloStorm

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 May 2012
Messages
457
Visit site
My friend is looking for her next horse. She wants something to take up the levels eventing, and we came across a nice TB gelding. 16.3hh, 8yo, has a couple of placings when racing in 2014 but stopped racing in 2016. In my opinion he is put together fairly well, nothing jumps out. Has decent paces- although he is showing willing to work softly in the arena is very inconsistent, and doesn't have anything past basic w/t/c. Doesn't hack alone but hacks in company. Doesn't have anything more on the record with shows and the like. The asking is £3.5k, my friend thinks this is steep for what he is, she wants to offer £2-2.5k as he is nicer than the usual ex racer types she's looked at, but not quite enough to be asking that! I'm not sure as I always just tend to pay whats asked rather than haggle but I see her point. Any thoughts?
 
consodering he is a TB that has raced and won’t hack alone I think he would be worth around what your friend wants to offer. I have previously had a nappy horse and it also wouldn’t leave the others to do XC and would nap going into the arena going away from horses - just something for your friend to think about if she is wanting to event! Good luck ��
 
I agree. For something that doesn't hack alone, sounds like it will be a bit of a project to school and doesn't seem to have been out and about I would offer a bit less than the asking price
 
No harm in asking. They can always just say no. I’d be upfront from the start though, before viewing and potentially wasting their time.
 
ApolloStorm said:
My friend is looking for her next horse. She wants something to take up the levels eventing, and we came across a nice TB gelding. 16.3hh, 8yo, has a couple of placings when racing in 2014 but stopped racing in 2016. In my opinion he is put together fairly well, nothing jumps out. Has decent paces- although he is showing willing to work softly in the arena is very inconsistent, and doesn't have anything past basic w/t/c. Doesn't hack alone but hacks in company. Doesn't have anything more on the record with shows and the like. The asking is £3.5k, my friend thinks this is steep for what he is, she wants to offer £2-2.5k as he is nicer than the usual ex racer types she's looked at, but not quite enough to be asking that! I'm not sure as I always just tend to pay whats asked rather than haggle but I see her point. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hasn't learnt to hack alone yet? Or WILL NOT hack alone because there are issues? And is he 100% sound?
 
wingedhorse said:
Hasn't learnt to hack alone yet? Or WILL NOT hack alone because there are issues? And is he 100% sound?
Click to expand...

They said they tried to hack him out alone and he was very nappy and refused to go past the end of the barn, though they did say they didn't push him much, I'm inclined to see this as a " doesn't much like it but WILL learn" deal. He retired from racing sound, and they said he had never had any injuries or lameness with them. Would get it Vetted anyway though.
 
ApolloStorm said:
They said they tried to hack him out alone and he was very nappy and refused to go past the end of the barn, though they did say they didn't push him much, I'm inclined to see this as a " doesn't much like it but WILL learn" deal. He retired from racing sound, and they said he had never had any injuries or lameness with them. Would get it Vetted anyway though.
Click to expand...

Your friend wants a horse to go up the levels eventing.
This is an unproven 8yo
Will it start from the xc box if it’s that nappy? Some will, some won’t ....

Given the amount it costs to produce them up the levels it seems an odd choice of raw material irrespective of the purchase price
 
If he has a nap then she'll struggle getting him out competing. I wouldn't offer anything near the asking price, nor what your friend is considering.

If she's a strong, confident rider them possibly worth a punt at 1.5k. No more.
 
ihatework said:
Your friend wants a horse to go up the levels eventing.
This is an unproven 8yo
Will it start from the xc box if it’s that nappy? Some will, some won’t ....

Given the amount it costs to produce them up the levels it seems an odd choice of raw material irrespective of the purchase price
Click to expand...

Agreed. I've seen some cracking horse out there for under 3k and if I was in the market for one and it passed the vetting I would be snapping half of them up! I think your friend can do better with her budget at the moment.
 
Sorry its a no way from me irrelevant of the price, at 8yrs old for an eventing prospect I would want it to be at least confident heading out alone, it would be a dealbreaker for me, she could spend a significant amount of time and effort getting over that but still then needs to introduce the huge environment at an event on top of that.
 
Price drop now £2,250 ono I would not expect a horse to hack alone straight away I had to teach both of mine after a lot of schooling for them to adjust to me.
 
It’s a huge risk to try to make an event horse out of an eight year old that does not hack alone .
You don’t have any company on the xc .
 
ApolloStorm said:
They said they tried to hack him out alone and he was very nappy and refused to go past the end of the barn, though they did say they didn't push him much, I'm inclined to see this as a " doesn't much like it but WILL learn" deal. He retired from racing sound, and they said he had never had any injuries or lameness with them. Would get it Vetted anyway though.
Click to expand...

If they gave up trying to get him out alone, have done nothing with him to "prove" he will make an eventer I would not even bother looking, why take on a potential issue in a horse at this age when there are plenty out there that have better credentials that have at least shown they will leave their friends.
I think the price is extremely optimistic, even at half the price I wouldn't bother from what you describe.
 
I wouldn’t buy a horse to event that naps.

My mare hacked out on her own the third time she was ever sat on, has never napped a day in her life at home but even she’s backwards at the start of some xc courses.
 
GTRJazz said:
Price drop now £2,250 ono I would not expect a horse to hack alone straight away I had to teach both of mine after a lot of schooling for them to adjust to me.
Click to expand...

That's the first thing I did with my horse about half an hour after we got him off the lorry! And my first solo hack on my mare was about the third or fourth time I'd (ridden) hacked her and she had only hacked alone once before I got her.
I would absolutely expect a horse, especially an 8 yr old to hack out alone straight away!
 
I wouldn't consider a nappy horse suitable to take up the levels eventing. At a base level it shows a lack of self confidence in the horse, a mis-trust of the rider and that the tendency is established to down tools and say 'no' if it doesn't like something. If it was a 3/4 year old, maybe it could change, but at 8 thats an established behaviour. I'd also agree with the other poster that it could mean a nappy horse in the start box or leaving the warm up.

Any of the nice eventers i've ever ridden were very self confident, brave and happy to stride off into any situation.

The only way i'd touch the horse was
-if it was very well built
-extremely trainable
-under 1500k
- and i just wanted to enjoy the training process and not have expectations of going up the levels on it.
 
ApolloStorm said:
They said they tried to hack him out alone and he was very nappy and refused to go past the end of the barn, though they did say they didn't push him much
Click to expand...

this sounds like absolute bull***** to me. he refused to go past the end of the barn and they didn't 'push' him. Any normal horse would go past with a few growls and a smack, especially at a yard used to horses. If they didn't push him its because they knew it would end in a battle and they'd end up with a rearer or something. Who gets on a horse and lets it say and just goes 'oh ok then?'. it doesnt add up.
 
NO! As Ian Stark said, the most important thing in a an event horse is the desire to get over the fence. If it can't even go out for a ride by itself how are you going to get it fit and maybe it won't want to leave the lorry park.

My horse has never, ever napped, even as a just broken in 3 year old, he just wanted to see what was round the next corner.
 
Just because a horse naps at a certain point doesn’t mean it won’t event! Depends entirely if it is being naughty or genuinely doesn’t want to leave its friends. Genuinely doesn’t want to leave is harder to guess if will train out but I would try it cross country with another horse, have that horse stand at one end and then see if your horse is Happy to leave.

A horse on yard used to be a terrible Napper out hacking but never napped cross country or out of the start box. Never happened anywhere else but hacking. Now they hack out alone/company with no napping. It did take a while to train out hacking naps (I used to get a call to come with a brush, hold it behind horse so when they back up they feel the Bristles which encourages to walk forward) but it was successful.

A season out hunting would help confidence levels as well!
 
Last edited:
So what *does* this horse have going for it? Won't hack alone and has learned no one will make it if it says no, is inconsistent and very green in the school, has worked hard at a young age, has no evidence of attitude to, or record in, competing. You can get a perfectly nice ex racer with reasonable conformation and decent paces that has done nothing for much less than that, so why would you pay more for one that has done nothing AND has a known issue?
 
More to that horse than meets the eye, and wouldn't touch it! Its also well over priced. However I do have one who naps hacking that goes xc, and has never refused to leave the start box, although she has plenty of other issues.
 
My lad isn't the bravest hacking alone but is the best xc horse I could ever hope for. So reluctant to hack solo doesn't always equate to won't go xc, but I suspect mine is a rare exception. Also don't under estimate how difficult it is to keep an event horse fit that won't hack alone.
 
I have a retired eventer/driving horse that won't hack alone. It was never a problem at competitions, as his problem was leaving home alone, not hacking in itself. As long as he was driven somewhere and therefore already away from home there was no problem. My experience is, that this is often the case.
Training was a nightmare though. I had him from 5 yo and he never learned, so I was always dependent on others going training with me or had to live with the "fun" that is a rearing horse that won't go anywhere.
This horse seams to have little going for it anyway, at least for the price they are asking, so even when not considering not being able to hack alone, it would be a no from me.
 
only_me said:
Just because a horse naps at a certain point doesn’t mean it won’t event! Depends entirely if it is being naughty or genuinely doesn’t want to leave its friends. Genuinely doesn’t want to leave is harder to guess if will train out but I would try it cross country with another horse, have that horse stand at one end and then see if your horse is Happy to leave.

A horse on yard used to be a terrible Napper out hacking but never napped cross country or out of the start box. Never happened anywhere else but hacking. Now they hack out alone/company with no napping. It did take a while to train out hacking naps (I used to get a call to come with a brush, hold it behind horse so when they back up they feel the Bristles which encourages to walk forward) but it was successful.

A season out hunting would help confidence levels as well!
Click to expand...

For sure there will be plenty of examples of nappy horses who won’t hack who go on to event. But I suspect there are far more examples of nappy horses that don’t!!

There is one on my friends yard who is a complete and utter witch about pretty much everything. And I would go as far as to say the trickiest horse to manage I have known. It’s a paid competition ride (we would not have handed over any money for her!) and came as last Chance saloon. Well it didn’t get seen in public for a year and then last season won a couple of novices. We had to micro manage the start box, and generally pray she lost no forward momentum at any stage!! She looks really classy to the bystander, and jockey thinks most talented jumper on the yard but we are still tentively expecting her to jack it in at some stage. It’s 8/9 and will not leave yard on its own. Jeez it also try’s to kick the nanny given half a chance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top