Buying a 2 year old for showjumping

[Jumping_Jack]

Just in the very first stages of looking into the possibility of buying a youngster to break in for showjumping.

I have come to this conclusion for 2 reasons, firstly because I have had a run of "bad" or "mis-sold" horses (have found enough about them after purchase to be certain that the problems were not my doing) and secondly after having to move on such animals I am left with very limited funds.

So I have come to the conclusion, it might be feesable to buy a 2 year old, bred to jump,spend the first year handling it on the ground etc etc, and then send it away to be professionally broken and go from there bringing it on, producing it myself with the help of my trainer.

So, a few questions,

Firstly how much would I be looking to spend on such a horse. Obviously the answer is "long as a piece of string" but what is a realistic price to be expecting to pay for something well bred.

Secondly, where to look, any places/ studs/ breeders/ dealers you reccomend, either here or abroad.

Also any bloodlines that you would really look out for/ any that you would avoid, known to pass on certain habbits or quirks

Then.... what should I look for. Obviously conformation, temprement, parents reccords, but what about loose jumping. I have seen horses advertised with a loose jumping photo from as young as 1 year. Is it common practice to see a 2 year old loose jumped or not?

Finally, what do you base your decision on, when evaluating how tallented a 2 year old is. Obviously as much depends on training as anything else, but how important is parents performance, loose jump, or realistically is it always going to be a bit of a lucky dip when buying so young, because if so, I can assure you with my run of bad luck, I could go to zangersheide themselves, and still manage to buy a clumsy dinosaur that struggles round a lead rein jumping class at a local show.

Many Thanks for reading...eagerly awaiting responses

 

[BBH]

My first question wold be what level jumping you'd like the horse to attain. I ask this because if you are looking for a horse capable of GP and above I'd not start with a 2 yrs old when there is no trainability / performance to review.

If you are looking for a good national / local level horse then research your lines fully and don't be duped into buying something with a 'trendy' lineage. I bought a two years old by two Olympic SJers so on paper should have jumped the moon however he wasn't trainable, IMO he was overbred by enthusiastic amateurs who wanted the status of the lines but put together they were a disaster. Horse was professionally backed etc etc but couldn't even get him in the ring. Persevered for 6 yrs hoping he'd turn a corner but turns out he had a brain tumour and was PTS. Never even considered that as his lines meant he was expected to be tricky.


Paid £7k as a rising 2yrs old.

There are many many breeders etc and Van Overis stud in Belgium seems to be one breeder of choice atm.

Good luck as its a mine field out there and my advise is avoid SJer's unless you can find one you trust absolutely and buy what you like and think will fulfill your amibitions. How well do you ride.

 

[Jumping_Jack]

Realistically I am only ever going to be an amateur, would like something to produce through the levels. I am never going to jump bigger than a 120 (and even thats at a far strech of the imagination) but if I was lucky enough to find something special, My trainer would also compete it.

I have always had quirky, or difficult horses in the past, and have produced several RC type youngsters to sell on, so I feel with the close help of my trainer, my goal would be acheivable in reguards to my riding ability.

I know what you mean about over breeding. One of the "bad horses" I mentioned in my first post was bred upto the eyeballs, absolute textbook. Would win a 110 one day, then wouldnt jump the first fence the next. So there was no hope of ever travelling further a field, as I simply couldnt risk hundreds of pounds of diesel and entry fee's for an away show, to not jump a single fence. Said horse was also extremley nasty on the ground, to the point I was asked to leave the livery yard, or sell the horse on, as YO considered him a danger.

 

[ihatework]

I can't help in relation to bloodlines, as sj lines aren't really my thing.
However for a nice amatuer's horse high on the list would be the following ..

Dam - was she sound, did she jump well and was she rideable for an amatuer? Has she had any other offspring, how have they turned out?

Youngster - look for a calm, friendly but inquisitive nature. It helps to have a nice temprement and be a nice person, if you end up need ing to sell to another sphere

Watch the horse loose - the canter is priority, look for a good bouncy natural canter that is demonstrating balance already. Is the horse able to naturally switch leads?

I'm wary of putting too much emphasis on the loose jumping, as to do it properly takes a bit of preparation and skill. That said it is nice to be able to see a horse approach a fence confidently and try and work it out, and correct any mistakes it may have made. So for me if the horse looks to be enjoying it and wanting to have a go then thats positive. You should also have an idea of how they may use their body over a fence, although I'd be prepared to forgive a bit of dangliness as long as the shoulders were lifting.

As for price - a reasonably bred, correct type with a nice temprement - somewhere between 2.5-5K probably, depending on just how much potential is being shown

 

[BBH]

Haha that was the same with mine except he had more days of saying no than saying yes but when he did say yes he was wonderful. So inconsistent.

See thats the thing really re the money / costs it is an expensive hobby as is all horse sport and if you have limited funds I think you really do take a risk buying a 2 yrs old with no proven ability and you take a total punt on where you'll end up with it. In the current market you may be better buying something at least under saddle so you have a better guage of what you are buying.

If your heart is set on a youngster why not visit the BillyStud or the Lights just to get a feel of what your money will get.

 

[Tinks81]

I must say having bred my current one it makes a huge difference you know exactly what has happened to them

Always go on the mum - the stallion just compliments them

i guess it is pot luck too i have known some amazing 2yo loose but when broken be useless

on the other hand have seen some useless ones loose to turn into superstars !!

Remember they all mature differently

 

[Baggybreeches]

I must say having bred my current one it makes a huge difference you know exactly what has happened to them

Always go on the mum - the stallion just compliments them

i guess it is pot luck too i have known some amazing 2yo loose but when broken be useless

on the other hand have seen some useless ones loose to turn into superstars !!

Remember they all mature differently

This is really important, I used to work for a guy who did the loose jumping shows with his youngsters and I haven't seen any of them out on the circuit even though they scored well in the series!
I would be wary of 'going it alone' find somebody you feel comfortable with and get them to put the feelers out for you.

 

[hmccord]

I did exactly this a few years back and now have a nice talented 5 year old, however I don't think I would do it again - it was too nerve jingling waiting until he was backed to actually see if he had the quality that it looked like he might. It has paid off in this case but to be honest it was really quite pot luck. Coming from a dealing background I would always wait until I could sit on the horse. However, if this is the route you want to take I went to a reputable breeder, both dam and sire had competed internationally, the sire with a YR, I had seen the horse in person early as a 2yr old, liked his attitude and canter but waited again until later in the year. The second viewing showed a real improvement in his technique (he hadn't been jumped in between), but I went more by canter and attitude than flashy jump. I was looking for a horse to potentially go grand prix, for an amateur ridable horse I would certainly recommend Beach Ball as a sire, he is producing a lot of talented very easy horses in Ireland at the moment but people have realised that and they are starting to go for quite big money to the English market