Can a first competition horse be got for under £3000?

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MilosDad

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Really just a yes/no cos I lack experience. Took up riding 3 years ago at 51. Now want to start eventing but my wife has said my legs will be removed without anaesthetic if I spend more than £3000. Can I look forward to eventing or wheelchair basketball?
Thanks all
 
If you are fairly new to competing then your best bet will be an older horse. They are normally better value because they are older. They will teach you the ropes but with being an older horse you need to think about the commitment that will come - It is not fair to move an older horse from pillar to post because it no longer fits in with your life for instance. Anything else under £3k will either have issues or be green so you are much better to go for the older horse. I know Figjam on here bought her mare as an older mare and has had some brilliant fun learning the ropes. Measles son was bought an older horse to show him the ropes at a good level showjumping.
If you were to buy a horse who was 14 or 15 they would have plenty of life in them. We have one who is 21 now and acts like an 8yo but still hunts twice a week.
 
I agree with LEC - my first pony was bought for £750 aged 15. He's SJed to a pretty decent level, but had had a pretty nasty injury which is why we got him for a fraction of what he would have cost had he been younger and un-injured. He taught me the ropes as he was so experienced, but I could never have sold him - partly due to his age, his attitude (he was a bit of a git at times) and his past-injuries (made it difficult to keep him completely sound) - so it depends if you are willing to potentially keep an older horse in retirement?

Another option would be to look at loaning or leasing a schoolmaster. It doesn't always work out, but sometimes it does, even if it's just a temporary thing to get you started :)
 
LEC said:
If you are fairly new to competing then your best bet will be an older horse. They are normally better value because they are older. They will teach you the ropes but with being an older horse you need to think about the commitment that will come - It is not fair to move an older horse from pillar to post because it no longer fits in with your life for instance. Anything else under £3k will either have issues or be green so you are much better to go for the older horse. I know Figjam on here bought her mare as an older mare and has had some brilliant fun learning the ropes.
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Oooh... my ears are burning?!
lol.gif


I did indeed get my Hopalong aged 15 (for £1k including her tack and rugs... all of which needed upgrading, but were enough to get started), fairly low mileage in her middle years but had done enough in her life unaff SJ/a few HTs and training etc to be a pretty good schoolmistress for me.

In the space of 18 months she took me from wobbling round my first ever competitive outing of unaff SJ at 75cm to competing BE Pre-novice confidently and schooling round some BE Novice fences. She is a super, genuine wee jumping horse who has let me make mistakes (and hopefully learn from them as we went :o ) and helped me out while giving me so much fun and confidence.

I agree with what LEC says- taking on an older horse (IMO) means you need to be prepared to reward them with a lovely forever home and not just pass them on when they have to slow down. Hopalong owes me nothing and I owe her everything, so I will be making sure she wants for nothing even if it means not riding/competing. Sadly she's out of action at the moment through injury, but she definitely doesn't act like wanting to slow down (she will be 20 this year and before her injury was still pinging 1m-1.10m easy peasy and being as keen as you like out hacking etc, certainly not a ploddy old thing!). I hope she can come back to some form of action, but not sure at this moment what that may/may not be.

Good luck, try asking around other horsey friends and contacts, instructors etc. Maybe even a horse on loan? I would happily take on a horse mid-teens as a school master/mistress as they still have a lot of fun to share. Would probably not take on one late teens/early 20s (even though Hopalong is fab, I've at least had the 5 years from mid-late teens with her) though.

You should fine something suitable early-mid teens for sub £3k though. Just make sure you look for a nice, generous horse that wants to help you out when needed and don't get sucked in to something that is cheap because it has "potential" but has "work to do". ;)
 
Agree with Figjam. As LEC said, we bought son a super, genuine, kind 15yo Grade A who taught him so much in two and a half years. I do agree that with an older horse comes responsibility - we have an outgrown 21yo pony - but we were fortunate to have a friend who took our boy to be a schoolmaster at a lower level. We'll always be there for him though and that sort of commitment can potentially cost a lot of time and money.

As was said above, any straight, easy competition horse of a younger age will be considerably more if not two or three times more.
 
Agree with everything said above, but one thing you don't say what level you want to start at. If lower level unaffilliated it might be worth trying to get something on loan?
 
I once knew someone who bought a 13 year gelding for £2000. Nothing wrong with him. Jumped nicely, but hadn't had huge competition experience. Within 6 months they were jumping 1m classes. So you can buy decent cheaper horses, but the good ones are more difficult to find. Sometimes I have found its a case of being lucky.
 
It is totally possible! Especially now the prices are so low, there are loads of gorgeous horses out there for low prices.

I'm fairly sure you could get a youngster with potential, or and oldie with experience, or even just an untapped middle ager that needs a good home for less than that.

Good Luck keeping your legs! x
 
I disagree about the prices of horses - rubbish is overpriced and anything semi decent is fetching good prices. I have been doing a bit of horse hunting for a few people and the £6k price bracket is empty at the moment with nice horses who have done a little bit for someone to go and have fun on.
 
BlueCakes said:
I'm fairly sure you could get a youngster with potential, or and oldie with experience, or even just an untapped middle ager that needs a good home for less than that.
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The first type of horse you mention would most likely be unsuitable in this instance as the OP themself is inexperienced. The 2nd type mentioned would be best as the horse is more likely to be a "point and go" type that can teach an inexperienced rider a lot and help them gain experience/confidence. 3rd type could be an undiscovered gem, but you would want to know it's "been there, done that" at least a little (ie unaff SJ, HT etc).

When I got Hopalong, I was merely a happy hacker, rarely to be found in a school doing flatwork and had had my confidence shot when it came to jumping with some heavy falls off a horse who liked to gallop at a fence then stop/duck out at last minute. So for the first year or so of having Hopalong we simply hacked out and got to know each other. She was never purchased with the intention of competing, it just kind of happened after having a few good lessons and getting a good bond/confidence up between us both. I was lucky that she happens to be very straight forward to jump and an excellent schoolmistress in this sense as I hadn't gone looking for it!
 
I sold a horse recently that would have been ideal older competition horse - unfortuantly no competition home wanted him, and I had to substantially drop the price to get rid of him.
 
Thank you every one for your advice. I shall get hold of a knowledgeable friend and go looking for an older horse.
I will let you know how it goes. If it goes well I shall be the one still going going round when all the classes have finished but giggling like a loon; if it doesn't go well just lower your gaze a bit!!
 
Ditto to most of the other replies, bought my mare 8year old £2K 2 years ago was very very green to the point that she hadnt even attempted trot poles before or even been schooled jumps very well and was set to go second half of the BE season though injured so will be last month lol but you get what I mean lol. The thing is if you get a horse that has been there done that to a high level and got ponts through it I dont know about BD or BSJA but in BE if that horse has points in certain higher levels you then cannot compete that horse at BE80 or BE90 I believe
 
FigJam said:
The first type of horse you mention would most likely be unsuitable in this instance as the OP themself is inexperienced. !
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While I agree with your post, you shouldn't rule out youngsters completely. Buying a horse is always a gamble, and myself, after having been looking for a straight experienced oldie to go out and compete on ending up getting a younger horse because he had no bad habits or bad past etc which I felt would be harder work to correct than just slowly building his confidence up over jumps.
I was lucky, but the calm and quiet youngsters do come along every so often, so I don't think they should be ruled out especially when having to stick to a low budget.

However, I do believe as I said before, that the prices have dropped considerably, and I think you'll be able to get a fantastic experienced horse that isn't too old for a decent price.

x
 
I agree with everyone about the older horse...However you can get lucky. I almost bought a horse a few years ago for £2800, 7 years, alot of scope, real poppet - I didn't buy him in the end as he was the fiirst horse I saw and I wasn't quick enough off the mark. Anyway the nosey person that I am I followed his purchasers progress with him and he has gone far for a 14.2hh pony. A few months ago I saw him for sale for £9000 :D. So if you look hard enough, then you might find something younger but probably an older horse is a better bet.

Good luck in your search!
 
I agree with everyone in that an older horse with some experience would be the right one for you. However not sure if I agree that there are really good ones available for £3000 or under. i have just sold a really nice 15 year old PC/RC for considerably more than that in a couple of days and had well over 10 serious enquiries for him, so there is huge demand for a good straight forward schoolmaster. Think the key for getting a bargain is to take your time looking and defintiely take an experienced friend/trainer with you to sift the wheat from the chaff and also do as much research as possible into the horse's past to check they really will do the job you want. i think the bargains will be the ones being sold privately by owners without the time or resources to promote their horse and are looking for a quick and easy sale, but there will also be plenty of people offerring horses with problems for the same amount of money. A completely different approach that I recently took was to go to Goresbridge sales in ireland where there were hundreds of horses going for under £3000. Only recommend this to an experienced rider though as lots of rubbish or problems amoungst some genuine young horses and you need to think quickly and ask the right questions to vendors. Even so still quite a risk, albeit an exciting one, and I came back with a stunning 5 year old who would have cost atleast 3 times the amount in a producers yard in England.
 
LEC said:
I disagree about the prices of horses - rubbish is overpriced and anything semi decent is fetching good prices. I have been doing a bit of horse hunting for a few people and the £6k price bracket is empty at the moment with nice horses who have done a little bit for someone to go and have fun on.
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I completely agree with LEC and know how hard it is to locate sound, sane and safe yet quality horses. Take an experienced friend with you as you propose and very best of luck
 
BlueCakes said:
While I agree with your post, you shouldn't rule out youngsters completely. Buying a horse is always a gamble, and myself, after having been looking for a straight experienced oldie to go out and compete on ending up getting a younger horse because he had no bad habits or bad past etc which I felt would be harder work to correct than just slowly building his confidence up over jumps.
I was lucky, but the calm and quiet youngsters do come along every so often, so I don't think they should be ruled out especially when having to stick to a low budget.

However, I do believe as I said before, that the prices have dropped considerably, and I think you'll be able to get a fantastic experienced horse that isn't too old for a decent price.

x
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Fair enough, but for a person who is coming into the sport later in life and is inexperienced themselves (as the OP has stated), adding a young, inexperienced horse into the mix (no matter how quiet and sensible) is really not what I would suggest as the best Plan A?

I have seen a few cases of people around me where an inexperienced rider thinks "oooh, young horse with no experience = much cheaper than an older schoolmaster and we can 'learn together' " and it hasn't led to the fun, confidence giving introduction to competing that the older horse would have provided. Just my experience of watching others of course...

Different case if you are (even slightly) more experienced and have a good support network/funds in place for regular instruction etc. But as a first horse for someone looking to gain competition experience... I'd think twice.

Just my opinion though and we all know that no one on here ever agrees 100% anyway! ;)
 
I think the issue is that, as a lot of people have picked up, I am inexperienced in terms of my riding and my ability to judge a horse as suitable. I am still at the stage where the more I learn the less I know.
I think if I bought a youngster to 'bring on' neither of us would have a good time and my riding instructor would most likely disown me.. She would rather I had a schoolmaster but unfortunately her proposed budget is in amputation territory so I have to cut my cloth to suit.
You have been most helpful.
 
Just be careful when looking at schoolmasters not to buy one that has only been ridden by a pro, they don't cope with normal amateur riders. They are used to being perfectly placed and when we go 'eeek, help, can't see a stride' they go 'No thanks'. So if you are looking up horses records also look at the riders as it does tell you a lot.
 
'Especially now the prices are so low, there are loads of gorgeous horses out there for low prices'

Where are these cheap horses?, everything I see advertised under about 10k, hasnt generally managed to jump a clear round in the last 2 years!
 
While I agree you need something older that has been there and done that. you do not need one that has done affiliated stuff.

Just something sane and sensible that has done a bit of everything confidently
 
Dear all,

Thanks to your advice I think I have found a suitable horse. Irish draft/TB bloodlines of King of Diamonds and Flojo.
 
blue2262 said:
'Especially now the prices are so low, there are loads of gorgeous horses out there for low prices'

Where are these cheap horses?, everything I see advertised under about 10k, hasnt generally managed to jump a clear round in the last 2 years!
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Really?

You're looking in the wrong places........and I'm very pleased that I clearly know the secret that is Horsequest - because otherwise I would never have found my saintly 11 yr old Intermediate/2* eventer for enough under £10K to allow me to buy him........

They're out there - keep looking.
 
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