Buying dilema

[Abacus]

I don't think I could buy anything I really didn't like the look of, although I might change my mind in buying the right horse for my son rather than me. We were given a 12.2 pony at one point who was pretty horrific mostly in conformation - she looked more like a goat than a pony - she had quite a sweet face although she was usually so filthy (grey and a mud monster) it wasn't visible unless she had just been jet washed. She was so brilliant that we grew to adore her. But wouldn't have paid actual money for her...

 

[Goldie's mum]

I'd at least try him - what do you have to lose? If he's a dream to ride you'll only be seeing the back of his head & will soon forget what everyone else is seeing.
As a (cash strapped) teenager I had a share of a mis-shapen brown creature called Rob. He looked as if he'd been made of the left over bits of other horses. He was fun, fast, comfortable, obedient, safe in traffic, affectionate. Ever since, I've been firmly in the "handsome is as handsome does" camp.
This might be the horse that changes your mind about ugly.

 

[Fransurrey]

I bought my cob for his temperament. I didn't actually think he was very good looking, but he did have a kind eye. He actually gets more nice comments on his looks than any horse I know! You've got nothing to lose by trying him and if you like him as a ride, maybe LWVTB?

 

[scats]

I like nice looking horses but don’t think I’d rule out a plain old horse if it fitted the bill. Millie has a beautiful face but a god awful body which her markings don’t help. Some of my plainer horses have actually been my more useful!

 

[smolmaus]

I wouldn’t personally let it put me off. I don't think I've met a horse I didn't EVENTUALLY find beautiful. When you love them your heart tricks your eyes ?

One I used to ride when I was younger was a big 17hh grey Irish draft mare with dinner plate feet, huge head, roman nose, ears like a donkey and looked like she was plodding grimly to her own death 90% of the time but when her owner was on her and it was Proper Work Time? She was gorgeous. When she was taking disabled riders and children round a lesson with all the care in the world the sun shone out of her.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Five years ago I had a "must have" and also a "can't-bear-to-have-at-any-price" which was basically I didn't want a pony, cob, mare, youngster, coloured, hairy-beastie with feathers.

Friend knew of two little cobs: one she'd backed the other had received "remedial" at her yard.

One of the horses came up to me in the field and just sniffed and nuzzled me. She was the just-backed: hairy, feathers, coloured, mare, youngster, pony. Everything on my "don't want" list!

The other was a sweet little mare but just not right for me.

Guess which one I brought home!

Think you should go see this horse OP..........

 

[SEL]

I would say that I like most horses, and can see the noble beast in some of the ugliest heads BUT I really don't like horses with pink noses and pink piggy skin under their docks! Horses with comical moustaches come a close second, and too much feather third. So, I think I would give this one a miss!
However, love is blind, so if you go and see him and swoon over all his other good points, then go for it.

Tarragon has just described my whole herd!!!

My Appy is very pretty (providing you're ok with pink skin) but also very broken. But she looks pretty in the field ?

 

[vhf]

Try the horse. If he makes your heart sing, then you have the advantage of knowing history and owner. Most of us would love that advantage when choosing!
If he doesn't do it for you then it doesn't matter why, just be honest and respectful to the owner and keep looking.

 

[Tarragon]

Tarragon has just described my whole herd!!!

My Appy is very pretty (providing you're ok with pink skin) but also very broken. But she looks pretty in the field ?

I hope I didn't offend! Your magnificent (Ardennes?) in your avatar is one of my favourite H&H horses

 

[Pinkvboots]

If a horses look doesn't appeal to me I wouldn't be interested I love Arab's and the way they look but I do love alot of other types like Warmbloods, Spanish, cobs but they all have to look right and I have to have that initial appeal

I do have a real appreciation for any type of horse that looks good and moves beautifully.

 

[Birker2020]

My mum always says ‘it costs as much to feed a pretty one as it does an ugly one’. Implying you may as well get a pretty one. But There are a lot o

I was also taught a lesson when trekking in the Andes where out of a herd of lovely horses I was given one of the ugliest horses I’ve seen. Massive Roman nose, small eye, missing half an ear. My heart sank a bit, it shouldn’t have mattered at all but I guess in a shallow way I wanted great photo memories of me and my beautiful steed. Well, we hit the climb to the mountain pass at 4000m and all the other humans and horses were stopping regularly and gasping for air. Not this guy, he forged his way past everyone and blazed the trail up the mountain, he climbed near vertical cliffs, he was fearless across big rivers, he sat on his butt and slid down the most ridiculous descents and I had a truly wonderful ride. The photos of him bring back really fond memories. Turned out he was the head guides favourite guide horse and I was honoured to be given the ride on him.

I’d say go see him. Judge him by his personality and actions and then decide if you could learn to love how he looks.

I would say this story reminds me quite a lot of my limited experience of affiliated jumping when loading my horse to go home having done the BN and the Discovery classes I would see people arrive for the Newcomers and Foxhunter classes later in the day. It always used to fill me with amusement when you would get a tatty looking trailer parked next to a humoungous 'see your reflection in the paintwork' lorry. The horse that would be dragged out of the trailer would have dubious heritage and limited turnout and the rider would jump on and go and win the class. Whereas the spotless WB with the equally spotless Ariat encased rider would have had 8 faults or fallen off.

Never judge a book by its cover I know, but when it comes to buying horse I can't quite accept that one myself.

 

[SO1]

There are a couple of things to consider if you have not had a cob before and nothing to do with the looks.

They can be prone to weight gain be hard to manage unless they are in a decent amount of work. Soaking hay, muzzles and restricting grazing can be hard work and difficult.

They can be prone to skin issues on their legs such as feather mites which needs looking out for.

A horse with good conformation is more likely to stay sound.

If you are not looking for a show horse and feel you can manage the typical cob issues then definitely go see him.

 

[mini-eventer]

Go and sit on him, if you enjoy riding him consider it. Sometimes big chunky thing are not pleasurable to ride in the way they feel or move

 

[Lady Tinseltime]

I would say that I like most horses, and can see the noble beast in some of the ugliest heads BUT I really don't like horses with pink noses and pink piggy skin under their docks! Horses with comical moustaches come a close second, and too much feather third. So, I think I would give this one a miss!
However, love is blind, so if you go and see him and swoon over all his other good points, then go for it.

Moustache - Clippers Feather - Clippers - can't help you with pink skin though!!

 

[mustardsmum]

Thank you everyone for all your excellent replies, there is lots to think about and actually, all really positive about cobs! I have known this horse for a while, just never sat on him so that's how I know he'll tick the boxes as I know what he's been doing and he's a real family type but has a bit of th "cob that can" about him. Whether I will like him when I sit on him is another matter but a couple of friends of have ridden him and tell me he is amazing.... In terms of managing him, I am not worried about weight etc as I already manage an ex lami and have a good set up with my horses at home. Its the continual clipping feathers, rather splodgy black bits and the pink nose. I haven't even looked to see if he has a moustache..... I keep watching the videos of him and willing myself to love him as I can actually imagine going off on a fun ride and surviving and (this is important) enjoying myself..... He's not a fan of schooling but will school and has done one or two prelims but he's not a dressage diva. So we are well matched there then. He moves nicely - he looks quite long in the leg and has reasonable conformation. I do worry about mites, but can clip feathers but a bit worried about winter clipping as he would be living out - can they survive without feathers in the winter?!? I think I do need to go and have a sit. There is definitely lots of positives and if he was bay or even beautifully marked, I don't think I would be even having this conversation!!

 

[Juniper Jack]

My mum always says ‘it costs as much to feed a pretty one as it does an ugly one’. Implying you may as well get a pretty one. But There are a lot of horses on here and on Facebook that are clearly dearly loved who are perhaps not the best put together or prettiest, but who are out and about being far more useful than my charismatic black Spanish horse and people are undoubtedly having more fun with them. BBP himself is not a particularly ‘pretty’ horse, and on first meeting him I was disappointed in how small his eye was (having had welshes, Arabs and Connemaras with huge eyes). But to me now, he is the most beautiful horse on earth, and those eyes that I thought were too small I now see as so full of intelligence and fire and joy for life.

I was also slightly deterred by the pale eyes of my connemara youngster, I found it a bit creepy, but now again I think his eyes are beautiful. And I have never been a fan of chunky connemara types, I don’t find them aesthetically pleasing usually (I like fine twiggy little horses ?) and yet judging by his site this one will be right chunk. But having spent years with the firey Spaniard in fear of my life half the time, I decided a nice person who would actually go out and do things with me was the priority. And again his type is growing on me.

I was also taught a lesson when trekking in the Andes where out of a herd of lovely horses I was given one of the ugliest horses I’ve seen. Massive Roman nose, small eye, missing half an ear. My heart sank a bit, it shouldn’t have mattered at all but I guess in a shallow way I wanted great photo memories of me and my beautiful steed. Well, we hit the climb to the mountain pass at 4000m and all the other humans and horses were stopping regularly and gasping for air. Not this guy, he forged his way past everyone and blazed the trail up the mountain, he climbed near vertical cliffs, he was fearless across big rivers, he sat on his butt and slid down the most ridiculous descents and I had a truly wonderful ride. The photos of him bring back really fond memories. Turned out he was the head guides favourite guide horse and I was honoured to be given the ride on him.

I’d say go see him. Judge him by his personality and actions and then decide if you could learn to love how he looks.

Was he a Criollo? He sounds brilliant!

 

[Ambers Echo]

When my daughter was about 9 her friend bought a coloured cob mare with a wall eye. I thought she was really ugly. She was the sweetest little thing but so unattractive. 2 years later my daughter’s confidence was in pieces after badly breaking her arm coming off a very unreliable pony and when my friend decided to sell the cob as outgrown, we snapped her up. She looked after my daughter beautifully and I can’t believe I used to think she was ugly. I came to absolutely adore her, including how she looked. If you look at a pony and your heart softens and you feel happy and grateful then that pony will start looking attractive to you! Definitely try the horse.

 

[Julia0803]

I can only echo what others have said- if they are ‘the one’ their looks grow on you.

When we set out to buy ours our ‘no’s’ list was coloured, cob, too hairy, white sclera eye… guess what we came home with.

I remember viewing him and thinking to look at he was not my cup of tea at all!

Nearly nine years later my hairy, mainly white coloured cob is the most beautiful horse I’ll ever own. We all just love the very bones of him… and the white means he gives the best ever side eyes, so expressive!

 

[BBP]

Was he a Criollo? He sounds brilliant!

He was a Criollo. I was taught my second lesson on appearance at the Argentina/Chile border where was had to swap horses as the Argentinian horses weren’t allowed to cross (weird experience, up in a high mountain pass in the Andes, mountain peaks everywhere and we all took our horses bridles off and then just released them with their saddles still on to make their way back across the Andes to their home. But I digress). My steed for the descent into Chile was BEAUTIFUL. Everything I had imagined I wanted. Tall, elegant, beautiful head. Nuts. Was intent on taking the direct route down the mountain instead of the zig zag trail that we were supposed to take. My life flashed before my eyes several times. (I did get to canter along with a condor about 10m from us once we had successfully made it down the mountain though…digressing again!)

 

[EllenJay]

I always went for beautiful horses, really well bred and put together Welsh D, prior to that a fab ID, but once I retired my Welshie and gave up horses “forever”, when I got itchy feet and wanted to ride again, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to part share the ugliest horse ever! I now own this boy - he is beautiful. Has paces to die for, looks after everyone who rides him, can do a slow plod to gallop every where, trip over poles to jump 1’10 (not with me!)
everyone who rides him always have the biggest smile on their faces before the have been on board for long. He is a dude, and for an ugly boy, he is very much loved, and to us he is beautiful.

 

[lme]

You can get the temperament you want without compromising on type.

When I was looking for my current horse, I only looked at horses of the type I know I like. I have a definite type, which is 16:2 plus athletic ISH or WB mares. I compromised on pretty much everything else but not on that.

 

[ihatework]

I am exceptionally shallow when it comes to horse - I like fancy!
But over the years I’ve come across 3 (2 I owned and one belonging to a friend) that weren’t visually what I like - however riding them was such smile raising experience that I could overlook my shallowness.

So I’d say try him. If he has you beaming buy him. If he doesn’t then pass

 

[minesadouble]

When my daughter was about 9 her friend bought a coloured cob mare with a wall eye. I thought she was really ugly. She was the sweetest little thing but so unattractive. 2 years later my daughter’s confidence was in pieces after badly breaking her arm coming off a very unreliable pony and when my friend decided to sell the cob as outgrown, we snapped her up. She looked after my daughter beautifully and I can’t believe I used to think she was ugly. I came to absolutely adore her, including how she looked. If you look at a pony and your heart softens and you feel happy and grateful then that pony will start looking attractive to you! Definitely try the horse.

This 100%

I was brought up on Show Ponies, as an adult I always had TBs. When I had kids I bought RPs and beautiful sec As and Bs.

I ended up with one non-riding daughter who suddenly showed an interest at a point when we had nothing suitable for her to ride.
After consulting a PC instructor friend she put me on to a little blue eyed coloured cob who I duly bought

He literally taught my daughter to ride,.have fun and compete, and like AE I went from thinking him pretty unattractive to looking and thinking he actually has such a neat little head and is really quite pretty under all that hair ?

If I had a pound for every adult who has said 'i need a bigger version of Cookie' I'd be a rich woman!

 

[Ambers Echo]

Bizarrely the forever home that the pony went to when outgrown by Izzy has just sent me pictures of the foal the pony had this morning. They are such beautiful pictures of a super proud momma being so gentle with her baby. How could I ever have thought she wasn’t gorgeous!!

 

[Wishfilly]

Thank you everyone for all your excellent replies, there is lots to think about and actually, all really positive about cobs! I have known this horse for a while, just never sat on him so that's how I know he'll tick the boxes as I know what he's been doing and he's a real family type but has a bit of th "cob that can" about him. Whether I will like him when I sit on him is another matter but a couple of friends of have ridden him and tell me he is amazing.... In terms of managing him, I am not worried about weight etc as I already manage an ex lami and have a good set up with my horses at home. Its the continual clipping feathers, rather splodgy black bits and the pink nose. I haven't even looked to see if he has a moustache..... I keep watching the videos of him and willing myself to love him as I can actually imagine going off on a fun ride and surviving and (this is important) enjoying myself..... He's not a fan of schooling but will school and has done one or two prelims but he's not a dressage diva. So we are well matched there then. He moves nicely - he looks quite long in the leg and has reasonable conformation. I do worry about mites, but can clip feathers but a bit worried about winter clipping as he would be living out - can they survive without feathers in the winter?!? I think I do need to go and have a sit. There is definitely lots of positives and if he was bay or even beautifully marked, I don't think I would be even having this conversation!!

IME they absolutely can manage without feathers all year round- it is a pain in the neck to clip all year round, but if the horse is good to clip it's manageable.

FWIW, I get what people are saying about wanting to like how a horse will look, but equally, right now, I think people are selling a lot of nice looking horses with problems for a lot money. So, personally, I would take a sound, fun horse, over buying a problem.

If you don't like him long term, assuming he isn't that old, you don't have to keep him forever.

 

[Flicker]

For me, as long as the fugly did not extend to conformation problems, I am happy to look past aesthetics and go for character, temperament and the physical ability to do the job. Like nagblagger, I’ve really fallen for some extremely odd looking horses who have just loved their job and been a pleasure to have on the yard. Also, remember that when horses are fit and well turned out they look 100x better than a hairy lump pulled out of a field.
My advice is to try the horse and take it from there.

 

[Chianti]

First horse stunning Welsh cross TB chestnut mare. Second horse Beautiful bay Argentinian TB mare. Now - 13 hand coloured (mainly white) mini cob gelding. I first rode him in a riding school to take on a private hack. When they got him out of the field I thought he's too small and he's a whippet - he was too skinny. But when I got on him I knew instantly that I liked him to ride. And that's the thing- you have them to ride and as part of your family. In the end you don't really see them as they are but as you want them to be. Of course I now think that's he's the most handsome pony alive.

 

[Aussieventer]

First impressions of my pony club horse was that he was ugly… within a week of owning him after having my confidence shattered by the previous 2 horses we had won our first sj competition. He was a legend and a half who actually was referred to as ‘the wonder horse’ in pc newsletters. He won everything up to 1.05m in sj and eventing with me in pc and open comps and while hot as haydes with a confident rider would be a lamb for beginners. He was the ultimate go anywhere do anything with anyone horse. I owned him 16 yrs until he died and still feel a part of my heart left the earth with him. He became beautiful through love.

 

[conkers]

Funnily enough, the more you do with them and the more fun you have with them doing what you want to do, the more attractive they become.

 

[Red-1]

Way back, I used to teach and sometimes that would extend to helping a client buy a new horse.

One time, I was helping a client, who was a mature person and also nervous. They had a fancy horse and had gained confidence to ride in the arena but not hack. Sadly, that horse developed a physical condition and a new horse was needed.

We went to look at one, a 14.3 called Daisy. She was ugly! Hogged, fat, funny grey with odd splodges, back end bigger than the front, huuuge head that seemed to be always low (probably too heavy to lift), just all round ugly. We were early and there before the vendor but it was easy to spot Daisy in the field. The client wasn't that interested in buying just on appearances, but I persuaded her to at least ride and make an informed decision.

When the owner arrived, we caught her and I felt that she was the sort of mare I would have vaulted straight on and ridden in. She just had a lovely feel to her. The owner rode, Daisy would walk and trot in the arena but wasn't interested in canter. I rode, and she was great, canter was tricky, but she felt safe and sensible and, more than anything, she was in charge of everything, in a really nice way.

My client rode out on the road, for the first time in years, and Daisy controlled the whole scenario, keeping everyone safe in traffic, past ladders, a lawnmower, up a track and in an open field. I had a ride again and popped a small XC fence, Daisy liked jumping!

I was a little bit in love with Daisy. She made me smile when riding and made my client smile too.

I was surprised and disappointed when, back in the car, my client decided that no, Daisy wasn't what she wanted. I liked Daisy so much that I actually went home and had a serious conversation with Mr Red, as we had a 'companion' vacancy at home.

Mr Red looked at the photos and decided no :-(

I held photos of Daisy on my phone for years. I 'missed' her. She was amazing. I was sad to find that, even after being well advertised, she didn't sell and was sold for a knock down price to a riding school.

It was fine, my client did buy a better horse that did everything that she dreamed of doing, and looked smart in the process, but a bit of my heart was left with Daisy. To this day, I feel that she was the one that got away - from me, if not my client!

At the time, I was in to fancy pants horses. Daisy was different. I liked her personality.

I was hoping you had tried the ugly cob by now, loved him and were buying him!