Buying a young horse, helpful hints please?

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kdoug

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What are people's suggestions when looking at a young horse (3, rising 4yr old) from the field, who will be brought on to event. She was backed last spring before being turned away again for the summer. Although we are experienced with green, young horses, I have only ever purchased something tried under saddle first, so was just looking for some helpful tips on what's really good to look for/ what to ask! Thanks!
 
It really depends what has been done with him before. You can ask for her to be walked and trotted up. Also might be worth catching her in yourself if you're happy to and leading through the gateway, plus have a bit of a play - see whether she backs up, moves sideways, walks nicely next to you, stops when you stop etc. The other thing that's useful is to ask if they mind tying somewhere safe without food and then chat to them for a while and see how she reacts - does she fidget, call for other horses, look for stuff to chew on. Just anything that will give you a general picture of her.

Things to ask would just be what she's done - has she been stabled, rugged, seen the vet, farrier or dentist, been on a lorry, mounted from a block, seen poles, hacked out, had hard feed....

As you're not buying the finished article, you just want to get a good idea of where she's at in her education

Good luck :)
 
If you are buying her to event and they really are not prepared to bring her back into work so she can be tried then I would at least want to see her either loose in all paces and over some fences or lunged, ideally in tack, so you can have a clear idea of her movement, attitude, way of going and how they have handled and worked her, I would definitely want to see her over some fences to gauge her attitude and have some idea of technique.

The handling on the ground is important but less so to me than whether she shows enough potential to do the job although if she is easy on the ground it will make selling easier if she does not prove good enough to do the job she was bought for, ensure they have the facilities for you to see her and also for a proper vetting whether you want one or not, I am afraid I would want to know why they are selling from the field rather than getting her back in, it should only take a couple of weeks to get her back in basic work and they should find her easier to sell and they will get more money if she was up and ready to go, it is not quite the same as totally unstarted.
 
I bought a yearling - main things I learnt were to ask to see the passport before you decide to purchase (check vaccs etc are up to date and for proof of breeding etc). I got my boy vetted (only stage 2 as they cant be ridden for the stage 5) and that was really helpful, you are taking a leap of faith buying a youngster based on its potential so its good to have a vet asses the horse against its future purpose - in your case eventing - they will spot little things that you wouldnt even notice. My boy looked great to me but vet spotted that he has a very slight outward deviation of the front left hoof; something that wont affect his movement and wont be a problem for dressage but just needs the farrier to be aware and trim accordingly. Little things like that are invaluable, I've been aware of it from the date I bought him and hence have been able to work with the farrier to trim in accordance and its much better now (he's 2 and a half).

I'm not 100% certain what you mean when you say she was backed last year but she's 3 rising 4 - was she backed at 2? Or backed this year (2015) in the spring? Is she 3 this year (2015) and will be 4 in 2016? As someone else has pointed out I wouldnt even view anything that was worked as a 2 year old, so I'd be careful with that and do some digging about how much work she's actually done. If she's been worked a lot from the age of 2, even with lunging and then backed early its a lot of pressure on a young horse's growing bones & joints; for a horse that is going to event in the future soundness is going to be a big deal for you, so too much work too young is likely to be detrimental further down the line.

Other than this, you are mainly looking at conformation, how she moves - needs to be straight in her movement and freedom of movement - if she is overly flashy I'd probably discount her as there is a bit of a trend at the moment for breeding horses with big flashy trots but that comes at a compromise of the rest of the paces. Carl Hester's rule of making sure the horse has a good walk and good canter is the best to follow; the trot can be trained and improved over time, whereas you cant change a walk or canter much so they need to be good. Ideally for you, you'd see her loose jumping or if that's not possible popping a small jump on the lunge.

Having her lunged or loose schooled is important; you need to see the movement. My yearling was let off loose in an indoor school when I went to view him, this was an enormous help as it meant I could watch not only the movement in all 3 paces but saw a bit of his character too; he wasnt calling for his friends in the barn (he was with a herd of 30 at the time at a stud) and he was investigating his surroundings so it was clear he was brave and fairly confident as a one year old. I didnt want a dressage horse who was too hot for an amateur like me so I needed to see that his temperament was trainable and not too silly.

DabDab had some great suggestions to help gauge what her manners are like and what groundwork has been done with her; nothing is impossible to train with a young horse, but ideally you'd want her to stand tied up calmly, have perhaps travelled once or twice just to help when you move her to your yard, pick feet up, lead calmly....etc.

And finally I'd check if she's had her wolf teeth out yet, and when the dentist, farrier and vets have last been out to her.

Hope that helps and good luck!
 
I might have got the wrong end of the stick, and obviously am not aware of all the circumstances. However it's not clear to me why someone would have taken the trouble to back her in spring in order to sell her in winter as a horse that can't be tried under saddle. I would be concerned that something didn't go well in the backing process, either due to the horse's temperament, the way the backing was done, or due to an underlying pain/medical reason.
 
Buy the best you can possibly afford, reject anything with poor conformation and have a good hard look at the sire and dam, including what they have achieved and search for progeny.

For a broken/backed/ridden away horse I would want to see it ridden, even if it was just a simple get on and wander around the school and leave the yard.
 
I would expect them to bring it back into work so that it can be tried under saddle, it shouldn't take more than a few weeks tbh.

Cynical me thinks why would they sell from the field, they have done the hard bit, and the horse will be much easier to sell under saddle.
 
When I bought my now 5yo he was advertised from field as had been out of work for a while (had been backed the same year so hadn't done much at all anyway). I went to view him and saw him handled, handled him myself and then saw him loose schooled. Asked to then see him tacked up and then (much to the shock of the seller?!) to sit on him. Just an "on, quick walk round, off".

If they've been broken/backed/ridden away, but the seller is insistant that they can't be ridden (for whatever reason) I would still want to see how they react to the tack, a riders weight, and some simple aids.
 
She was backed as a 3 year old this spring and I am under the assumption she is 4 within the next few months! (Will check her passport for exact dates when seen) She is still with her breeder who hasn't had time to re back her again, but will definitely dig further into this when we see her, thank you very much for all your advice!
 
I agree with LJR if it is broken I'd want it re done & see it under saddle! If they had time to break it before they have time now ! If it was done properly in spring they could be back on within a week. It's not like you expect it to be schooling perfectly, just to see that it can !

If you view it I'd want it trotted up, lunged in tack & loose jumped. If you then like it I'd say you will give them the money if you can see it under saddle !
 
Tbh, it is a lot less risky selling a horse from the field unridden than selling a just backed youngster with buyers coming to ride. Particularly if it's a breeder with limited facilities who may not have much experience of selling ridden youngstock. Once you've viewed and shown yourselves to be competent and sensible, they may be happy to show you her ridden.

Don't be too quick to judge, they may have had their fingers burnt before.
 
DabDab said:
Tbh, it is a lot less risky selling a horse from the field unridden than selling a just backed youngster with buyers coming to ride. Particularly if it's a breeder with limited facilities who may not have much experience of selling ridden youngstock. Once you've viewed and shown yourselves to be competent and sensible, they may be happy to show you her ridden.

Don't be too quick to judge, they may have had their fingers burnt before.
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This is very true DabDab, will definitely bear that in mind, thanks for your advice, it's been fab!
 
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