Buying a weanling/yearling?

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RosaTheFirstKnight

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Okay, here goes!

I'm hopefully getting my 19 year old 16.1 IDxTB gelding back from loan soon, and I've found him the perfect yard just up the road and got a well paid job with enough shifts to bring in about £360 a month (working saturdays and 2 nights a week), and I get £70 allowance from my parents a month too.

I've done a heck of a lot of sums, and worked out a realistic average of £200 a month to keep my boy, which leaves £200ish left over.

The problem is, the yard I'll be on has no other horses on it. I'm not happy with him being on his own, so I need to find a companion. This got me thinking, and now I've got the idea of buying a baby to bring on. I was thinking a Section D or Cob x TB or something, so it should be able to live out mostly.

I've always wanted to do this, and it seems a pefect time because Nedds won't be up to much riding-wise in a few years and so by the time the foal is ready to be started, he'll be calming stuff down.

I'm 16, and will be doing my A-levels and a horse course for the next two years, then going to uni (I'm planning on taking them with me, like I said Nedds is staying with me until the end). I'm going to do A LOT of research and learning before I take the leap, and I'd involve my instructor who's a breeder too.

I'm just not sure whether I'm being my usual naive and passionate self and being a bit short sighted, taking on too much work.

Also, would an old, fairly calm and gentle gelding and a young filly life together okay?

Well done if you've got this far ;)
Thanks!!
 
I think there is really only one cause for concern - and that is you've got huge personal changes ahead and although you may feel just now you've got lots of time, the new educational regime will be hugely different from school. Your workload could well to sky rocket.

Having had a youngster they are a lot of work. I can't comment about expertise cause my was a total 'mistake' and I knew nothing about babies but think i did okay with him but I had numerous people I could call on for a bit of advice etc. My own personal experience (and I'm not saying this is the norm at all) but where you can tend to leave an experienced horse for a few weeks / months etc when you find your super busy, I couldn't get away with that with my youngster. His 'education' really did need to be for a few minutes every day, or every other day. But that may just have been him.

I'm assuming your wages are fairly secure and your not likely to risk losing them and your left having two mouths to feed. Also young stock are relatively cheap just now so you could pick up a real bargin. As for your 'old man' - could be a youngster would learn a fair bit from having a sensible older horse around to learn that a loose crisp bag is not really that big a drama.

However personally I wouldn't do it and look for a loan to keep him company. You've years ahead of you to take on a youngster and at least it gives you the flexibility that if your life does run a bit off the norm for a while that a, you don't need to worry about them standing around not doing much or b, you can return the loan to its owners.
 
I agree with minxie, atm you have time on your hands and will be able to manage 2 but speaking from experience (as a mature student) everything will change when you go to uni, taking 2 with you will be hugely expensive, both in time and money (unless of course you are loaded), the combination of uni commitments, social life, which will sky rocket and your horses is a huge workload, and something will suffer and knowing my kids and my cohorts at uni it won't be the social life.
I would put the youngster on hold until you finish uni and enjoy being 16/17/18.
 
Thanks :)

On leaving the horses when my workload is heavy, when I had Ned first time round I was going through loads of changes in my life which took a hell of a lot of my time up, but I still managed to ride him for at very least 1/2 an hour a day, 6 days a week. I know college will be a lot of work, but I think I will be okay if I stay focused in lessons and work free periods etc. I work so much better and actually get stuff done when I have a lot of work to do if that makes sense.

Also, if I were to get a weanling I'd put a deposit down now, and wouldn't actually bring her home until October - giving me time to settle down with my new routine. And of course I could pull out if I found I find it too much and start to go crazy(er)!

And I had thought about loaning but came to the conclusion that if I'm to spend £150/£200 odd a month to keep a horse, I might as well get a horse that has a future and that I'd relish working so hard to keep.

I'll have at least £500 in the bank at all times to fall back on if there are any 'unformseen circumstances', and if that fails my parents are willing to help if absolutely nessecary.

I know I'd love having a youngster, and I know I'd work hard to bring her up right. I'm just seeing if you guys can pursuade me out of it!

Sorry about picking apart your comments Minxie!
 
Yeahh, I think I may be underestimating uni!

But then again, Ned has to come with me anyway. A welshie/cob cross should be able to live out pretty much 24/7, meaning livery shouldn't be crazy, and again I would get a job and work my socks off ;)
 
Hi. I was in the same situation as you! but i already had my baby! I got him at 5 months old. I was doing a horsey course at college a weekend job and had 2 horses and coped fine! BUT the time issue was a problem especially with college as i expect you will be doing a duite week now and then which means a 7am start at college. This will be in the winter months mainly aswell so you wont get any day light hours with your horses. I was very fortunate to have the oportunity to keep both my neds at college! So i did, which made everything a lot easier! So it is doable! the only concern would be your plans for uni and taking them with you... I really do doubt any uni student could afford living costs for themselves AND 2 horses. Also a youngster takes up a lot of time and patience. you need to make sure you can manage the time you have and spend with your horse. But not everything is impossible my boy is now 4 and broken in and it is very rewarding to know you have done it yourself :). Good luck with what you decide :) x
 
I'm just finishing my A levels after buying a 3yo early last year. I am very lucky in that she is a quick learner and remembers all that I've taught her. However, if she hadn't been this easy it would have been quite a struggle. Juggling work and a youngster is really quite troublesome, and I couldn't have done it over the winter without the help of my parents so I had the time to get my work done.

I'm not going to lie, there have been times when I have thought to myself WHY did I burden myself like this? Even now on study leave I'm pushed for time.

I am having a gap year which gives me the time to finish her. You say you want to take your horse to Uni, which is what I originally wanted to do. I have decided not to, due to money and time restraints. If you are paying for your horse at Uni, you will have to have a job as well - which leaves you little time to ride, socialise and do work!

This is just where I stand on this issue. I do love my youngster, but if she were difficult, I would probably have resented buying her.
 
I would suggest find a livery for your companion. This would give you extra flexibility (share some chores, help you out at times you need to work/revise/fancy and early finish or late start etc) AND extra cash. What would happen if less shifts were offered at work?

(FWIW we have 2 at home, and I struggle enough with 10 year old daughter doing the bulk of it and all the riding)
 
to be honest I would probably do as someone else has sugested and get a 'livery' in to keep ned company. Your life does sound pretty hectic at the mo and I know how much time youngsters can take up - I spend an hour and a half with mine a day. There's always so much that can go wrong and that £500 will be gone in a flash. They are NOT cheap to keep. Not really any cheaper than a fully grown one either!

I personally would wait a few years til you are out of eduaction and then perhaps buy a 2/3 y/o. by doing this you reduce the risk and costs quite significantly.
 
I think that everyone on here is giving you good advice and viewpoints however when I was at uni in Plymouth, I moved to Cornwall. I would say that for the last 18 months I commuted 100 miles or more 4 days a week from Cornwall, I also held down a full time Job and kept my horse, my mare was a particularly 'intense ' horse and needed lots of work, she was a bit of a diva, used to getting away with murder and not doing anything, she was 7 and had done and learnt very little! There were really really trying times, but I can honestly say that although I had little time for much else, I absolutely loved the fact that I could unwind from uni and work by riding her and working on her development. I truly think that, without being able to 'unwind with the horses' I would not have coped nearly so well with the pressures of commuting, a full time job and university, contrary to being an added pressure, having a project in the form of my mare was my saving grace.

I would add this though, I had a full time managerial job, and student loan, I was very much able to afford the commute, university, the odd night out with friends and anything needed for my mare, but even then things were a pinch sometimes. Having a youngster (the most accident prone of all equine categories) could throw up any amount of financial ‘hidden costs’ and emergencies. £500 is nothing, and if you hit a rough patch it just will not help you. If you are serious about doing this then I would urge you to budget for an extra £50 per month and be very strict, put the £500 you have in a savings account and add £50 to it each month, so that you really don’t get caught out.

If you go ahead with it, I wish you all the luck :)
 
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Bear in mind that youngsters spend their first three years trying to injure themselves! A few hundred pounds buffer is nothing! My friend's two yr old just fractured its leg. Another friend's ran into a fence. You think you've got everything covered and they find something else.

Its a very romantic view " everything that this horse is is down to me..." You may be very lucky, like the other poster on here was. I have another friend who thought that - insisted on buying a weanling despite everyone with knowledge advising her against it. In three years she has taught it to bite, kick, rear, and now its broken in, buck everyone off. So its been ruined because of her...

I would say get some more experience, put you money in a high interest account and buy something further down the line when you know where you're going with your future. You may well get to uni (presuming you're doing a horsey degree - can't remember) and everyone has competition horses - leaving you feeling left out.
 
Okay, I talked everything through with mum and she says that there's no way my dad will let me take on anything- that means no younster or loan or anything.
So I guess that makes my decision easier!

And we were thinking about looking for a livery, but the owner of the field isn't in a position to advertise yet and has no idea when she will be so that isn't really an option at the moment.

The good news is that I went to look at another field today - 9 acres for half the price of the other place, and with 4 horses there already!

So I guess that extra money will just go into a savings account, and hopefully I'll have enough to buy something half decent when Neddster goes :) :(

Thanks everyone, I needed snapping out of my daydreaming! I do tend to get carried away sometimes ;)
 
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