Buying a 2 year old for showjumping...

[Jumping_Jack]

(Also in C& T)
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

 

[kirstykate]

Where abouts are you?

 

[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.

 

[Snowy Celandine]

No real advice except to say that I must share your luck because I did buy a Zangersheide with a puissance Olympic winning sire, and he wouldn't jump a stick

 

[Jumping_Jack]

Where abouts are you?

I am based Yorkshire/ Lincolnshire but willing to travel.

BBH - 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.

 

[Bedlam]

Firstly - you definitely don't need to go abroad! We have some fabulous SJ breeders who will be able to help you buy something suitable right here, so do please support them rather than thinking you can only get quality on the continent.

One that springs to mind immediately is Shirley Light at Brendon Stud. I'm not hugely into SJ, I know a bit more about eventing lines than SJ, but I know that if I wanted to venture down that road she would probably be my first port of call. There are many others doing a good job too. Have a look at the BEF Futurity results for SJers as well to get an idea of what breeding is producing well made youngsters.

http://www.britishbreeding.org/FuturityResults.aspx

Try posting in breeding as well - not as many top breeders in there as there used to be, but you may get some useful contacts.