Buying a horse direct from Ireland

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claire_p2001

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Hi Guys, just wanted some advice please on buying a horse driectly from Ireland. I'm looking for a project horse/pony 14.2+ ISH or Connie/Cross about 4/5years to bring on as a nice allrounder. Having spent a long time looking online most of them seem to be advertised around the £3.5k mark just backed having only been in the UK a month or two. So I figure if I go to Ireland I could get them at a lower cost say £2k? Is this a reasonable assumption? Where should I start looking? Has anyone been to the sales and had success? I'm not looking now but will be seriously at the end of the year. Thanks for any tips and advice. :)
 
I suggest you try www.donedeal.ie in the horse section (not for the faint of heart, I warn you) if you want an idea of the myriad choices you will have over here. Attending a sale at either Cavan sales or Goresbridge horse sales (Google these, they both have websites) would also be a good plan.
 
Done Deal is pretty much the Dragon Driving of Ireland, but you'll definitely find a cheap project on there. When I was looking I was seeing nice Connies from £200 upwards.
 
Like all things there are good and bad on Done Deal, Alot of breeders are putting unbroken stock on it and coming up to the sales in Goresbridge, people put photos of horses that will be on the sale on it. I know a few people who have sold/bought horses on it and as usual it is a case of buyer beware, but a handy part of it is that you can narrow your search to a certain county or counties that you want to come over to. If nothing else its a great way of killing time browsing through it!!!!
 
We buy unseen from Ireland a fair bit. All have been decent at the right price. Just get them shipped over and crack on with it. I am normally first jockey up after they are shipped over and all have been fine! One Lux Z grew bigger than expected so was sold on. One arrived last week and is smarter than expected. We just watch videos and then chat on the phone. It makes horse buying a lot simpler. But we are not paying much money so worst case scenario is you lose the money and shoot the horse.
I have also been to Goresbridge twice which I love.
 
LEC said:
We buy unseen from Ireland a fair bit. All have been decent at the right price. Just get them shipped over and crack on with it. I am normally first jockey up after they are shipped over and all have been fine! One Lux Z grew bigger than expected so was sold on. One arrived last week and is smarter than expected. We just watch videos and then chat on the phone. It makes horse buying a lot simpler. But we are not paying much money so worst case scenario is you lose the money and shoot the horse.
I have also been to Goresbridge twice which I love.
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sorry to hyjack this thread, LEC, that is very interesting regarding buying unseen from Ireland, I have plans either later this year or next spring to get a straightforward youngster to bring on to take over from my chap as he is now getting a bit older... I generally prefer the irish types, am looking for around 16hh plus, maybe around four year old, decent confirmation and feet. moves well enough to be able to do low level ( novice) dressage and a bit of UA SJ and eventing up to BE100 level max. not an out and out eventing superstar of the future or anything but sane and good temperament. i have no idea what kind of price you would expect to pay , like the OP I have seen plenty of nice looking but I expect very green imports around £3-4000 mark (there are a couple of dealer yards near to me who have them all the time) but I am inclined to assume they buy them for a lot less and ship them over to sell. so i could get a better deal and more choice buying direct ? ? - any advice appreciated :-)
 
I've bought three off DD unseen, just from photos/video. Funnily enough, the one with the good confo shots and video turned out to be a dud, bu the two I bought from the breeder are lovely. One of them would have suited you, Connie x TB, 15.1, I sold her just broken for £1700. There's a dealer in Carlow has a couple on DD at the moment, look very nice, and they seem to sell a lot. Just ask the right questions or get at the right price then you can't go wrong. vetting is very cheap over there as well. My last one cost 100 euros for a 5 stage, and I got the vet from the Cavan sales vets list.
 
cundlegreen said:
I've bought three off DD unseen, just from photos/video. Funnily enough, the one with the good confo shots and video turned out to be a dud, bu the two I bought from the breeder are lovely. One of them would have suited you, Connie x TB, 15.1, I sold her just broken for £1700. There's a dealer in Carlow has a couple on DD at the moment, look very nice, and they seem to sell a lot. Just ask the right questions or get at the right price then you can't go wrong. vetting is very cheap over there as well. My last one cost 100 euros for a 5 stage, and I got the vet from the Cavan sales vets list.
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Cundlegreen, sorry if is dumb question, but do you get them vetted without going over there -just organise and pay for it and if it passes get it shipped to you??
 
monte1 said:
Cundlegreen, sorry if is dumb question, but do you get them vetted without going over there -just organise and pay for it and if it passes get it shipped to you??
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I rang the vet I'd chosen, he did the vetting, then I transferred the money over, remember its £15 to do an international money transfer, unless the person is in NI. Then the vet posted the cert over. Very civilised.
 
Why dont you look at the latest sales catalouge for York Auction? Could be a few in there meeting your description
 
I recently (end of march) got the most stunning little horse from Ireland for not much money.
He was almost totaly unhandled, 4yrs old coloured ISH. should make a very very nice small hunter!
If you can spot them in the rough then you can get a serious bargain.
This is mine when I went to see him
6045E29A-CDC1-4E02-B097-36B04732731B_zpstbgsg9pw.jpg


This is him at a show 10 weeks later
P1000731_zps09784679.jpg

P1000739_zpsaa66da92.jpg


This is a video of him 4 weeks after he was sat on for the first time
http://youtu.be/xuDk0VJyN0w

The Lady I bought him from breeds connies, ISH and ID's. She has some very very nice connies, I caan send you a link to her advert on Donedeal if you want
 
monte1 said:
sorry to hyjack this thread, LEC, that is very interesting regarding buying unseen from Ireland, I have plans either later this year or next spring to get a straightforward youngster to bring on to take over from my chap as he is now getting a bit older... I generally prefer the irish types, am looking for around 16hh plus, maybe around four year old, decent confirmation and feet. moves well enough to be able to do low level ( novice) dressage and a bit of UA SJ and eventing up to BE100 level max. not an out and out eventing superstar of the future or anything but sane and good temperament. i have no idea what kind of price you would expect to pay , like the OP I have seen plenty of nice looking but I expect very green imports around £3-4000 mark (there are a couple of dealer yards near to me who have them all the time) but I am inclined to assume they buy them for a lot less and ship them over to sell. so i could get a better deal and more choice buying direct ? ? - any advice appreciated :-)
Click to expand...
We have contacts now which helps so buy from a breeder. Put it this way we rarely spend over £2k on a horse though they are often advertised at a different price. But I will add that we are hugely experienced between the two of us and the horse will go hunting if it does not suit me for eventing or selling on. If it was my money I probably would not be buying unseen but I have an investor.
 
conniegirl said:
I recently (end of march) got the most stunning little horse from Ireland for not much money.
He was almost totaly unhandled, 4yrs old coloured ISH. should make a very very nice small hunter!
If you can spot them in the rough then you can get a serious bargain.
This is mine when I went to see him
6045E29A-CDC1-4E02-B097-36B04732731B_zpstbgsg9pw.jpg


This is him at a show 10 weeks later
P1000731_zps09784679.jpg

P1000739_zpsaa66da92.jpg


This is a video of him 4 weeks after he was sat on for the first time
http://youtu.be/xuDk0VJyN0w

The Lady I bought him from breeds connies, ISH and ID's. She has some very very nice connies, I caan send you a link to her advert on Donedeal if you want
Click to expand...


WOW! He is absolutely gorgeous!
 
LEC said:
We have contacts now which helps so buy from a breeder. Put it this way we rarely spend over £2k on a horse though they are often advertised at a different price. But I will add that we are hugely experienced between the two of us and the horse will go hunting if it does not suit me for eventing or selling on. If it was my money I probably would not be buying unseen but I have an investor.
Click to expand...

Thanks LEC, does sound very tempting .. I guess it is always a risk, I am not 100% sure I would be confident I wasn't buying a dud with a pretty face... LOL ! Certainly food for thought though and as you say could always sell on if doesnt suit the job you want it for.
 
I have bought from that dealer in Carlow and I would advise everyone to stay away.. Only bought my lad because I couldn't leave him behind but whilst there I saw a horse that was being powerhosed another being clipped in a crush which had had no handling so you can imagine the state it was in! The dealer has a great eye for a horse but showed me 2 which stood out one which he said couldn't jump so badly it had fallen on it's rider twice despite everything they did to make it jump (I dread to think) the second was one he had taking in exchange and said it was wrong behind but that's some poor ****** on donedeals problem.. I love my boy but had to completely restart him couldn't stand on his right side, or touch his legs realise his is a tad off topic but just beware of dealers on there and the rest I suppose! Cavan and goresbridge are great places to pick up a bargain! Have a very green 7 yr old (could be 8) ish entered in the performance sale in September an expect very little for him as he has done very little but will make someone a fab eventer/dressage horse in time I hope someone lovely buys him!
 
Agree with Spins comment, please be careful when buying from Done Deal there's a lot of dodges on there! I'm in Ireland every 2 weeks (am seeing a horse dealer out there!) and it's quite scary seeing what people have bought unseen when the transporter comes to his yard! I'd find myself a dealer with a good reputation and go from there, I know a lot of the dealers (good and bad) so if anyone wants any further information please pm me.
 
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